Recognizing the power of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, ComponentOne, a leader in software development, has unveiled a tool for building Rich Internet Applications with these technologies. This new tool is called Wijmo.
jQuery and jQuery UI are the de facto JavaScript libraries and have been embraced by developers worldwide. Wijmo extends the standard jQuery UI suite with additional features and entirely new widgets for creating interactive Web sites and applications.
Chris Bannon, product manager at ComponentOne, said, “Wijmo was born out of necessity – we needed it!” He added, “When we wanted to completely rebuild our ASP.NET tools, we looked to jQuery UI as our client-side framework. It was perfect for what we wanted: a powerful, yet lightweight framework for JavaScript UI components. There was only one problem with committing to using it: the lack of UI widgets. Since we embraced jQuery and jQuery UI, we decided to build on top of them, using their frameworks and guidelines. We have also looked to technology like SVG to build interactive charts without requiring any plugins. Wijmo is a tool for building the future of the Web.”
Wijmo is split into two kits, Wijmo Complete and Wijmo Open. Wijmo Complete is a commercial kit filled with powerful application building widgets like charts and grids. Wijmo Open is completely free and open source under the MIT/GPL licenses and includes a variety of UI widgets, such as menus, calendars, and list boxes.
Richard D. Worth, jQuery UI release manager and UI developer, stated, “We are really excited that ComponentOne, a company that has so much experience building commercial and enterprise-level components, chose the jQuery UI widget factory as a foundation. We are thrilled to have this donation and collaboration with Wijmo.”
A key feature of Wijmo is its ease of use. Bannon commented, “The interactive charting inside Wijmo is as easy to use as Microsoft Excel.” Interactivity is key for Web design. Bannon went on to say, “Unlike most charts that use plugins, Wijmo’s charting is powered by SVG and works everywhere, including iPhone devices. What is amazing is how I can turn any HTML table into a chart to visualize the data.”
Wijmo is attracting many followers, and it was featured this past October in the jQuery conference keynote in Boston. The following month, it was highlighted in a start-up discussion at the Future of Web Design conference.
Wijmo features a demonstration site loaded with interactive samples and documentation to help novice to advanced users get started with Wijmo.
Availability
The company offers purchase options online at http://wijmo.com or by email at sales@wijmo.com.
