
Ask HN: What are the best HTML5 UI Frameworks? - harrisreynolds
I'm curious what other UI hackers are using to build rich HTML5 applications?  Ideally a framework that has a layout manager and a large component set.<p>ExtJS is nice but expensive and has a very restrictive licensing scheme.<p>KendoUI doesn't look as nice as ExtJS, but still has a fairly good list of UI controls.<p>jQueryUI just doesn't have very many controls.<p>What is the HN community using in this space?
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dkaneda
Note: I work for Sencha (who makes Ext JS). I am also the creative director,
so I would agree, we look the best :)

Now, "best" is relative, depending on your goals. Both of our frameworks, Ext
JS and Sencha Touch, include every bit you need to make an app: Layout system,
UI widgets, MVC, data binding, templates, I could go on. We also include a
build system, so you can only use the pieces you need, so, even with all that
we offer, your app is not "bloated."

That said, there are pros and cons to modularity vs. a unified system. There
are some great microlibs out there, and independent devs are in an exciting
stage right now, being able to mix and match frameworks as they see fit. From
a team-based or enterprise perspective, though, this is not ideal: You are
working with various APIs, certain frameworks can have duplicate code (ie.
there's overlap in what jQuery and Underscore provide), and you're relying on
individual devs or the open source community for fixes and enhancements. It's
also a bit of a testing nightmare, as you need to re-test every time you
update an individual component.

Also, we have a JavaScript-based API to creating things with our framework,
which is quite different to the progressive enhancement method of other
frameworks. The benefit to this, again, is performance, and a better
architecture for an application. On the downside, this can be harder for
novice web developers (those who focus on HTML/CSS instead of JavaScript).

At any rate, hope that helps some in making your decision. Let me know if you
have any other questions-

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toddanglin
Disclaimer: I work for Telerik (who makes Kendo UI).

Kendo UI is a relatively new entry in the HTML/JS UI space, but the
engineering is based on over a decade of building professional UI for the web.
We are working hard to build a complete framework that has everything you need
to build sites and mobile apps with HTML5 and JavaScript.

Some of our advantages: \- Based on jQuery (familiar & less overhead for
jQuery fans) \- Built for performance (JSPerf us against anyone. We're fast.)
\- Clean, simple, easy to learn API \- Lightweight and modular (use what you
need) \- Aggressive roadmap (3 major releases each year) \- Affordably priced
($399 with a year of updates/support!)

We just shipped a beta of Kendo UI Mobile, and our next major release will
happen in March. The best way to compare Kendo UI, though, is to download it
and give it a try. It's fun to use and I think you'll enjoy the developer
experience.

<http://www.kendoui.com/get-kendo-ui>

Hope that helps.

-Todd Anglin @toddanglin

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mixmastamyk
Dojo has some nice widgets:

<http://dojotoolkit.org/widgets>

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kls
Right I would second Dojo, one thing to remember with Ext is they switched
their licensing between versions, so if you are releasing a commercial
product, you will have to make available your source code or pay for
alternative licensing. It may not be an issue for your project, but there are
a good deal of quality liberally licensed toolkits in this space such as Dojo,
YUI and MooTools. For me personally I tend to use Dojo or a bolt together
pattern of (Require, Backbone, jQuery, jQuery UI widgets both free and
commercially sold ones).

