Best “must know” open sources to build the new Web

Best “must know” open sources to build the new Web

Best “must know” open sources to build the new Web

Share/Bookmark In Molokoloco | 18 May 2011

[Edited 25/06/2011]

Here the dump of my ultimate collection of online Web development resources and directory, oriented for the Front-End user Interface (UI).

HTML5 and all related open standards are moving fast, but for now, building a whole Website/WebApp on top of that can be very inconsistent, especially across various browsers experiences.



So… how to embrace new awesome web technologies ?

Now, as Web Developers and Designers, we have to build on top of more stable framework. It’s here that come JavaScript jQuery, acting like interface into browser’s implementations. That how we can expect more stability and consistency.

There is not only JS, building a state-of-the-art webSite. That now like making a big movie, with hundred specialized tasks and jobs…

From A to Z, this is huge ! Even if i think we don’t need to be an expert for all… (Thus we try) ^^

Best things in life are free, time to learn !


LEARNING HTML 5, CODING AND DESIGN

    ★ HTML5 Rocks : Learn HTML5 by Major Feature Groups  (HTML5 Demos, tutos and playground). Sources by Google
    Awesome HTML5 Dashboard by Mozilla
    WhatWG Developers, A clear technical specification of HTML5 for Web developers
    ★ StackOverflow : Welcome to Q&A for professional and enthusiast programmers
    ★ Addyosmani, jQuery & JavaScript articles and tutorials for the community
    Sohtanaka, jQuery & JavaScript articles and tutorials for the community
    ★ Nettuts+ is a site aimed at web developers and designers offering tutorials and articles on technologies, skills and techniques to improve how you design and build websites. We cover HTML, CSS, Javascript, CMS’s, PHP and Ruby on Rails.
    Codrops, tutorials and web resources
    WebAppers, best Open Source Resources for Web Developers
    Tutorialzine – PHP MySQL jQuery CSS Tutorials, Resources and Freebies
    Mozilla JavaScript guide for developers
    WebDev and jQuery wiki codes snippets, compiled by myself ;)


SERVER SIDE SOFTWARES

    ★ Node.js is a server-side JavaScript environment that uses an asynchronous event-driven model. This allows Node.js to get excellent performance based on the architectures of many Internet applications. Sources and live demo.
    PhantomJS is a server-side headless WebKit with JavaScript API. It has fast and native support for various web standards : DOM handling, CSS selector, JSON, Canvas, and SVG
    Lighttpd is a lightweight open-source web server. News, documentation, benchmarks, bugs, and download. Lighttpd powers several popular Web 2.0 sites like YouTube, wikipedia and meebo.
    NGinx, high performance and lightweight web server as well as a reverse proxy and e-mail platform
    The Apache HTTP Server Project is an effort to develop and maintain an open-source HTTP server for modern operating systems
    ★ PHP :  Hypertext Preprocessor. Server-side HTML embedded scripting language. It provides web developers with a full suite of tools for building dynamic websites
    FFmpeg – Tools to record, convert, stream and play multimedia content including libavcodec and libavformat, two libraries used by many other open source projects
    And… Ruby, Python, Erlang, Perl, Java, .NET, Android, C++, Go, Fantom, CoffeeScript, D, …


PHP FRAMEWORKS AND TOOLS

    ★ WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog
    Drupal is an open source content management platform (CMS).
    Come for the software, stay for the community
    Centurion is a new open-source CMS delivered as a flexible PHP5 Content Management Framework. We simplify the use of Zend Framework, which is ZF extended. Our components are generic, simple, clear and reusable.
    phpBB is a free flat-forum bulletin board software solution
    ★ SimplePie : Super-fast, easy-to-use, RSS and Atom feed parsing in PHP
    ★ PHPthumb, PHP image manipulation library
    ★ PHPMailer is a fully featured email transfer class for PHP
    A simple, open, server-to-server web-hook-based pubsub (publish/subscribe) protocol as an extension to Atom and RSS. Parties (servers) speaking the PubSubHubbub protocol can get near-instant notifications


DATABASE MANAGEMENT

    ★ Apache CouchDB provides a RESTful JSON API than can be accessed from any environment that allows HTTP requests and allow document-oriented database that can be queried and indexed in a MapReduce fashion using JavaScript. CouchDB also offers incremental replication with bi-directional conflict detection and resolution. Sources.
    MonoQL is an AJAX web application to manage MySQL databases. MonoQL will provide all major features of phpMyAdmin for MySQL, including database & table design, data browsing & editing, advanced querying & more
    MariaDB is a community-developed branch of the MySQL database, under GPL status, as opposed to any uncertainty of MySQL license status under its current ownership by Oracle.
    ★ SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine.
    SQL online designer editor


API AND ONLINE DATA

    ProgrammableWeb, Most Popular Web Services and API Directory
    The following Google services provide APIs that implement the Google Data Protocol. Each API has its own set of guides and resources, including information about using client libraries
    Yahoo! Developer Network – APIs & Tools
    Yahoo! Pipes An interactive feed aggregator and manipulator
    ★ The Yahoo! Query Language is an expressive SQL-like language that lets you query, filter, and join data across Web services


ONLINE CODE AND MEDIA EDITING

    ★ CodeRun Studio is a cross-platform Integrated Development Environment (IDE), designed for the cloud. It enables you to easily develop, debug and deploy web applications using your browser.
    Cloud9 IDE – by javascripter for javascripters
    ★ jsFiddle – Simple and powerfull online editor for the Web (JavaScript, MooTools, jQuery, Prototype, YUI, Glow and Dojo, HTML, CSS)
    Akshell, a server-side JavaScript development and hosting. Create web apps in JavaScript right from your browser
    JSONeditor, easy editing of json strings
    ★ TinyMCE is a powerful WYSIWYG editor control for web browsers such as MSIE or Mozilla that enables the user to edit HTML content in a more user friendly way
    Ext Designer is a desktop application that helps you create interfaces faster than ever in an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop environment.
    ★ Wireframes / UI Design  From static wireframes to rapid prototypes, web developers can do it all with LucidChart. Collaborate with your client and design team in real-time to cut down on iterations.
    Balsamiq Mockups, online sketch helping you in your design
    Color Scheme Designer 3
    ★ Pixlr, Photoshop like image editing direct in your browser
    Aviary, free online photo editor. Plus Aviary API for developers
    Favicon Generator


CODE RESOURCES AND VERSION CONTROL

    ★ GitHub is the best way to collaborate with others. Fork, send pull requests and manage all your public and private git repositories.
    Git is an extremely fast, efficient, distributed version Source Code Management tool ideal for the collaborative development of software.
    Google Code est destiné aux développement relatif à Google. L’entreprise y diffuse des codes sous licence libre ainsi que la liste des API utilisables
    The Google Libraries API is a content distribution network (CDN) and loading architecture for the most popular, open-source JavaScript libraries
    Code Snippets, Snipplr Social Snippet Repository


JAVASCRIPT FRAMEWORKS FOR DESKTOP

    ★ jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development. Sources, API, API Browser, Fancy Doc.
    ★ The official jQuery User Interface (UI) library (Demos and Doc). Sources, Themes Roller, Download.
    YUI 2 — Yahoo! User Interface Library
    Mootools, a super lightweight web2.0 JavaScript framework
    Prototype provides class-style Object Oriented and AJAX
    Dojo unbeatable JavaScript Tools – The Dojo Toolkit
    ★ EXT4, the industry’s most advanced JavaScript framework for building the next generation of cross-platform web apps.
    PHP.js, PHP functions implemented client-side in JavaScript


JAVASCRIPT FRAMEWORKS FOR MOBILE AND TOUCH

    ★ jQuery Mobile : Touch-Optimized Web Framework for Smartphones & Tablets
    A unified user interface system across all popular mobile device platforms, built on the rock-solid jQuery and jQuery UI foundation. Sources.
    Zepto.js is a minimalist inlinable framework for mobile WebKit browsers, with a jQuery-like chaining syntax. Sources.
    MicroJS : Fantastic Micro-Frameworks and Micro-Libraries for Fun and Profit !
    ★ PhoneGap : Embed your code and access core functions on Android, iPhone and Blackberry using JavaScript. Sources.
    ★ Sencha Touch allows you to develop mobile web apps that look and feel native on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry touch devices
    JQtouch, a jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone, Android, iPod Touch, and other forward-thinking devices. Sources.
    DHTMLX Touch is an HTML5-based JavaScript library for building mobile web applications. It’s not just a set of UI widgets, but a complete framework that allows you to create eye-catching, cross-platform web applications for mobile and touchscreen devices


JQUERY PLUGINS

    jQuery Waypoints is a small jQuery plugin that makes it easy to execute a function whenever you scroll to an element with or without infinite scrolling enabled
    This jQuery plugin is an on-demand plugin loader, also known as a Lazy loader
    TweenJS : A simple but powerful tweening / animation library for Javascript
    Css3-like Easings for jQuery animations
    Spritely is a jQuery plugin for creating dynamic character and background animation (Pan, Scroll, Sprite)
    Timeline.js is a compact JavaScript animation library with a GUI timeline for fast editing [NEW]
    jQuery File Upload User Interface Plugin 4.4.1
    JQuery Slideshow/Carousel Plugin. Sources.
    Roundabout for jQuery, 3D effect carousel with sprites (Div) that turn around an axe [NEW]
    Supersized – Full Screen Background/Slideshow jQuery Plugin
    jQuery Masonry is a layout plugin for jQuery that arranges elements vertically then horizontally according to a grid, minimizing gaps. Sources.
    jQuery simple Layout Demo that manage slidable and resizable, multi-pane
    Flexigrid – jQuery datagrid plugin
    Isotope, an exquisite jQuery plugin for magical layouts Reveal & hide items with filtering Re–order items with sorting Dynamic, intelligent layouts
    The Super Gestures jQuery plugin records gestures made by the user’s mouse. This is great for touch interface web applications
    jQuery MouseWheel is a plugin that adds cross-browser mouse wheel support
    AutoSuggest jQuery Plugin, add some auto-completing functionality
    qTip is an advanced tooltip plugin it provides you with tonnes of features like rounded corners and speech bubble tips
    jQuery Charts and graphic tool
    jQuery Tools – The missing UI library for the Web


OTHER JQUERY RESOURCES



    http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/04/07/useful-javascript-and-jquery-tools-libraries-plugins
    http://webdesigneraid.com/weekly-html5-news-and-inspirations-%E2%80%93-tutorials-tools-resources-and-freebies-v-2/
    http://www.designer-daily.com/15-useful-jquery-plugins-and-tutorials-5207
    http://www.julien-verkest.fr/22/11/2007/240-plugins-jquery
    http://www.hotscripts.com/blog/10-great-html5-experiments-apps/
    http://www.noupe.com/jquery/excellent-jquery-navigation-menu-tutorials.html
    http://www.noupe.com/php/20-useful-php-jquery-tutorials.html
    http://aext.net/2010/04/excellent-jquery-plugins-resources-for-data-presentation-and-grid-layout/
    http://webdesigneraid.com/html5-canvas-graphing-solutions-every-web-developers-must-know/
    http://gestureworks.com/features/open-source-gestures/
    http://edtechdev.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/some-exciting-new-html5javascript-projects/
    http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/30-developers-you-must-subscribe-to-as-a-javascript-junkie/


HTML5 VIDEO PLAYERS

    ★ Popcorn.js is an event system for HTML5 Video, with strong syntactic sugar for chaining < video > methods and adding events to the timeline. (From Mozilla)
    LeanBack Player HTML5 Video Player with Subtitle-Support (From Google)
    A single URL for your video. Vid.ly keep up to date with the thousands of smart phones, features phones, and tablets on the market and which type of video they support. When a mobile device visits your vid.ly url we deliver up the correct video format


JAVASCRIPT AUDIO PROCESSING AND VISUALISATION

    ★ Using HTML5 and Flash, SoundManager V2 provides reliable, simple and advanced, cross-platform audio under a single API
    DSP, sound Digital Signal Processing for JavaScript
    The Radiolab Hyper Audio Player v1, brought to you by WNYC Radiolab, SoundCloud and Mozilla Drumbeat
    jPlayer, a jQuery HTML5 Audio / Video Library with comprehensive API


JAVASCRIPT GRAPHICS AND 3D

    ★ Processing.js makes your data visualizations, digital art, interactive animations, educational graphs, video games, etc. work using web standards and without any plug-ins
    ★ Javascript 3D Engine : ThreeJS by Mr Doob
    The aim of the project is to create a lightweight 3D engine with a very low level of complexity — in other words, for dummies. The engine can render using <canvas>, <svg> and WebGL.
    Shader Toy, online shaders visualizer and editor (2D/3D)
    PhiloGL, a WebGL Framework for Data Visualization, Creative Coding and Game Development
    What Firebug and Developer Tools are to HTML/JS, WebGL Inspector is to WebGL
    WebGL frameworks listed by the Khronos Group
    EaselJS, a JavaScript library for working with the html5 canvas element. Sources.
    Free JavaScript Game Frameworks To Create A Web-Based Fun
    Raphaël is a small JavaScript library that should simplify your work with vector graphics on the web (SVG). If you want to create your own specific chart or image crop and rotate widget, for example, you can achieve it simply and easily with this library.
    jQuery SVG plugin that lets you interact with an SVG canvas
    Display live data on your site Google chart tools are powerful, simple to use and free. Try out our rich gallery of interactive charts and data tools.
    Arbor.js, a graph visualization library exploring nodes and relations and using web workers and jQuery


JAVASCRIPT BROWSERS INTERFACES (HTML5)

    ★ Modernizr – Feature detect HTML5 and CSS3 features, with handy css and javascript hooks so you can progressively enhance to your heart’s content. Sources. Useful list of cross-browser Polyfills
    HTML5Shiv : The latest HTML5 JavaScript shim for IE to recognise and style the HTML5 elements
    Polyfills : A way of getting the browser to behave and support the latest specifications. This is a collection of code snippets that support different native features of browsers using JavaScript (and if required, Flash in some cases).
    YepNopeJS : An Asynchronous Conditional Resource Loader helping detecting browser missing features. Sources.
    jQuery CSS3 Finalise : Tired of adding prefix for each browser when it comes to the new CSS3 attributes ?
    ★ Amplify.js : Store, request and pub/sub. Amplify API  goal is to simplify all forms of data handling by providing a unified API for various data sources. Amplify’s store component handles persistent client-side storage, using standards like localStorage and sessionStorage, but falling back on non-standard implementations for older browsers. Sources.
    History.js gracefully supports the HTML5 History/State APIs
    Socket.IO aims to make realtime apps possible in every browser and mobile device


JAVASCRIPT TOOLS

    ★ Minimal templating with {{mustaches}} in JavaScript
    json:select(), CSS-like selectors for JSON
    HeadJS, Asynchronus JavaScript loading. The only script in your <HEAD>
    JsDoc Toolkit is an application, written in JavaScript, for automatically generating template-formatted, multi-page HTML (or XML, JSON, or any other text-based) documentation from commented JavaScript source code.
    Responsive image, an Experiment with Mobile-First Images that Scale Responsively & Responsibly
    UglifyJS JavaScript API, to compress JavaScript code
    Dhteumeuleu, interactive DOM scripting and DHTML open-source demos, powered with native JavaScript
    Backbone give your JS App some Models, Views, Collections, and Events
    Backbone supplies structure to JavaScript-heavy applications by providing models key-value binding and custom events, collections with a rich API of enumerable functions, views with declarative event handling, and connects it all to your existing application over a RESTful JSON interface.


CLIENT SIDE AND EMULATING

    BrowserShot, check Browser Compatibility, Cross Platform Browser Test
    Test everything… Enter a URL you want to test
    Android browser emulator
    Iphone browser emulator
    Opera browser emulator
    ★ Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.


CSS3 and FONTS

    ★ CSS3 Maker and generator
    Create amazing WebKit CSS3 animations with ease.  Sencha Animator is a desktop app to create CSS3 animations for WebKit browsers and touchscreen mobile devices. Create rich experiences for today’s most popular devices.
    CSSwarp – CSS Text to Path Generator
    Gradient Editor, a powerful Photoshop-like CSS gradient editor from ColorZilla
    ★ Google Web Fonts lets you browse all the fonts available via the Google Web Fonts API (open source license)
    @font-face Kit Generator, convert fonts for the Web
    Typetester, compare fonts for the screen
    Media Queries. a collection of responsive web designs
    Pattern TAP, Users Interface (UI) components


WEBSITE (FULL) TEMPLATES

    ★ HTML5 Boilerplate A rock-solid base HTML/CSS/JS template for HTML5 awesome, for a fast, robust and future-proof site.
    After more than three years in iterative development, you get the best of the best practices baked in : cross-browser normalization, performance optimizations, even optional features like cross-domain Ajax and Flash. A starter apache .htaccess config file hooks you the eff up with caching rules and preps your site to serve HTML5 video, use @font-face, and get your gzip zipple on. Sources.
    HTML5 starter pack is a clean & ordered directory structure that fit for most projects, a few of the most common files (html, css, js), as well as a basic Photoshop web design template, again with an groups structure fit for most projects.
    ★ Initializr is an HTML5 templates generator to help you getting started with an HTML5 project, in 15 seconds !
    Animated Portfolio Gallery with jQuery
    Making a Slick MobileApp Website with jQuery & CSS
    How to Build an RSS Reader with jQuery Mobile
    ★ Building Single Page Applications With jQuery’s Best Friends (Backbone, Underscore, …)
    Google TV Optimized Templates, to make website optimization for TV easier, we are providing templates – 2 in HTML5 and 2 in Flash – that developers can download and modify with their own content and style. The HTML5 version of these templates are utilizing the Google TV UI library, jQuery based and Closure based. The UI library can be used independent of the templates.





I know this is a monkey list ! Keep calm, you don’t have to read all… at least if you click on all starred links, it’s cool ;)

PS : Come take a look to my browser start page portal, giving WebDev an efficient access to Web resources… And don’t forget #TAG searches in this site

PS2 : Thanks a lot to #FOWD providing me wifi connection and inspiration ;)
Tags : Browser, Code, CSS3, Editor, Framework, Freedom, HTML5, Interface, Internet, jQuery, Open Source, Ressources, Tools, UI, Web

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