General

What are You Trying To Do Here?

I'm trying to build the infrastructure for Web 2.0, and beyond. JSAN aims to be the catalyst for more application driven Open Source JavaScript development.

How does the website work?

The JavaScript Authors Upload Server (JAUSE) allows contributors to upload their software. There is an Incoming system that processes new uploads and generates the website.

Please read the Distribution Format documentation for an idea of what your distributions should look like.

What do the JavaScript people think of this?

People seem to fall into two camps. The first are people who consider themselves programmers or application developers. They like JSAN because it allows you to develop in an application style. Thinking about modular components is important in software design. The second group of people consider JavaScript a scripting language, something you write small things in. I think both definitions are true, and both types of code can live on JSAN.

Are You Building some kind of Framework?

No. However, the JSAN Library brings something to JavaScript that it has been lacking, an import system. Most programming languages used for application development have a system that allows you to write your code in concise, structured pieces. Until now you have had to do this with multiple <script> tags or by writing one thousand lines of JavaScript in a single file.

That being said, JSAN is not a framework, it is infrastructure. The JSAN Library is not a framework either, but many authors like its abilities and write their code to take advantage of them. Good developers are letting you either use JSAN or not with a small amount of compatibility code.

Do I Have to Write My Code Your Way?

No. Your code does not have to take advantage of the JSAN Library to be on the JSAN infrastructure. There is a small barrier to entry, you must create a distribution and consider the naming of the files you put under the lib/ directory.

How do I Just Upload My Script?

Just do it. But within your distribution place the script in the lib/script directory. If you are going to upload a greasemonkey script consider putting it in lib/script/gm, for example. Your code may just be included using <script> tags, and that's okay!

Why Haven't You Completed Feature X For this Community?

Because I haven't had time to get there yet. Please consider contributing or at least mentioning the features you would like.