[development] Improving drupal.js

[Nedjo Rogers]

There's a lot of interest among the AJAX/Javascript group at 
http://groups.drupal.org/ajax-developers in putting some energy into 
improving the good Javascript beginnings we made in 4.7. Ideas include: 
introducing a Drupal namespace, refining some of our implementations, 
improving event handling, registering behaviors, isolating effects so 
they're accessible to effects libraries. There's interest as well in the 
potential of adopting one of the leading js development libraries (jQuery 
http://jquery.com/, Prototype http://prototype.conio.net/, etc.) as a 
development base.

To this end, we're considering a drupal.js Drupal Enhancement Proposal, 
http://groups.drupal.org/node/603, and have started a working group at 
http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-js. timcn has begun to sketch in a proposed 
approach at 
http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/modules/drupal.js/. I 
also posted a note to the jQuery mailing list about the possibility of 
jQuery being available under GPL or LGPL and got an encouraging response 
from jQuery author John Resig, see the thread "Would you consider making 
jQuery available under the GPL?" at http://jquery.com/discuss/2006-May/, in 
particular http://jquery.com/discuss/2006-May/001414/.

If you'd like to contribute, please wade in with your comments and 
suggestions on the draft DEP, http://groups.drupal.org/node/603, and join 
the drupal-js group.

Cheers, Nedjo