I’m currently working on a web application that’s sort of similar to Google Reader (at least in terms of what kind of information is handled). I’ve built a rudimentary prototype using just plain Javascript and jQuery, but I’ve quite quickly found out that it becomes very messy, very quickly.
So today I’ve been looking at what MVC frameworks are out there for Javascript apps. It’s a development architecture that I’m familiar with, and it fits very well with what I’m trying to do. A few of the alternatives that I’ve found are SprouteCore, Backbone.js and Knockout.js (not MVC, but close enough). They all have their pros and cons, but I’m not sure which one would be right for me.
What I need is a framework that allows me to automatically update the view when the model changes (so if I in my view display all items from an array, and I then add another item to the array, the list in the view should update itself), and that allows me to cleanly separate my Javascript from my HTML (at least as much as possible). Extra points would be awarded if it already had a nice interface for fetching information for the models from a RESTful API via AJAX calls – but that’s not strictly required.
Any thoughts on how I should go about this? I’m not terribly experienced with Javascript, but I’m not completely wet behind the ears either. I’ve looked at combining Backbone.js with ICanHaz.js+Moustache.js, but I’m not entirely sure if that solves my problem with wanting the view to “update itself” whenever a change is made to the model.
you’re describing the very properties of the MVVM pattern. I’ve successfully used Knockout.js in several solutions for what resembles what you want to do. In addition, Knockout has some convenience functions for Ajax calls but you can allways use jQuery or both if you need total control.