Dojo Toolkit

I once tried using Dojo and now I decided to stop using it. Not that I am against this framework, I just realized that my programming practices do not meet with Dojo. I love to program in a loose environment but Dojo expects me to be too organized. When I started using Dojo, it required me to have upfront knowledge how to use it. And when I went to its documentation to get some help, it feels like it was insufficient. Their community is not even active for support. I think now they had improved, but I am still thinking about revisiting it.

This toolkit supports powerful graphics, charting, and data visualization API. All of these are also supported with couple dozens of themes which you can customize depending on your needs. Dojo also works seamlessly with REST services. It only loads what you need and it does that smoothly and efficiently. But I see an issue with this framework. For me, it lacks proper documentation and I cannot find much examples from their site. It supports many browsers but I encountered problems with old browsers like IE 8. I hope improvements are present in their latest build, this toolkit can be the next big thing.

As how I see it, Dojo is a fantastic toolkit. It contains a lot more features compared to other libraries but it means that one will go through a much higher learning curve. It has great support for integrating with data store from the back end. It also has code optimizers, build tools, and plugins for some IDEs like Aptana and others. You can choose from hundreds of widgets for either mobile apps or desktop programs. Though it has many advanced features, one can be intimidated and overwhelmed. So I guess using this framework needs someone to really know what features they really need.

I am a Java developer and I love how this library embraced the structure of Java look and feel. I don’t have to adjust so much and it is easy for me to understand how it works. Just like other JS frameworks, like Ember and Angular, Dojo also supports the client-side MVC. I also consider this toolkit as a full featured JS library because it is packed with complete DOM manipulation tools, mobile component, UI components, and graphing and charting tools. Because of Dojo, I can now write less code but even able to achieve more.