jQuery and Mootools are just two JavaScript Frameworks that are not trying to do the same things as they have overlapping functionalities and seem to be heading in two opposite directions. JQuery is framework for people who purely want to put JavaScript functionalities to implementation in an easy manner where as Mootools targets most of the core JavaScript Developers. JQuery JavaScript Framework is actually meant for people who do not want to get into the depth of JavaScript whereas Mootools is an object oriented JavaScript Framework for people aiming at hardcore JavaScript Web Development. This is the reason why people find it difficult to use Mootools in comparison to jQuery. If you use jQuery it will be easier for you to work with DOM but in case you are using Mootools it will not only make DOM easier but will as ease your task of working with JavaScript Language.
Rather you can say both jQuery and Mootools are fanatical frameworks but the better question that you can ask yourself is as to which one is better for your projects. Nevertheless this aspect will actually determined by the circumstances which might not be under your control because the project leadership might have already selected a framework for you or the application development framework that you are planning to develop is by now using it one over the other and you would want to ensure that your application does not bloat up with multiple libraries resulting in increased load times.
If you just want to know about what the World’s most popular PHP Content Frameworks use then you need to understand that Drupal and WordPress use jQuery whereas Joomla uses Mootools.
jQuery and Mootools
- Mootools is ideally acceptable and a solid JavaScript Framework and thus it is suggested that you add this framework to your list of well known technologies instead of tearing it out and replacing it with jQuery. It is in no way good to combine both the frameworks as you are later going to face troubles fixing the conflicts. In any Benchmarking process the concept is that one should not compare the Oranges and Apples and it is unfortunate that it obviously happens so. After the adoption of a selector engine Sizzle by jQuery people have started comparing it will Mootools.
- jQuery has been designed to change the manner in which you write JavaScript and it is a pretty fast and concise JavaScript Library that ease the traversing of HTML documents , animations , event handling and Ajax Transactions for quick web development. However Mootools is a compact modular framework that is meant for intermediate to advanced designers. You can write flexible, strong & powerful, and cross browser compatible code with elegant, consistent and well drafted API.
- Mootools was earlier known for its wide ranging DOM facilities and Silky Smooth Effects with performance at their end. However if you consider jQuery it has to follow a friendliest syntax with the use of selectors and chaining with more effects to increase you hunger. This is likely to frustrate the user because once they become comfortable with the JavaScript Framework and something really disturbing peeps in.
- jQuery gives the true feel of JavaScript whereas Mootools has more of enhanced non native functionality of JS just like the Object Oriented exemplar. There are several similarities and many places where the functionality will actually overlap. Web Developers are often forced to think that the libraries are interchangeable but that is not the case because they have basically varying goals.
- jQuery focuses more on the casual part of JavaScript making web development easier for developers as it abstracts all the basic requirements of the developers such as selectors, use of animations and everything like that. However Mootools mainly targets advanced web developers and shines at its best when developers are trying to do something extra intense with JavaScript Development.
- Mootools lays emphasis on inheritance, legibility, maintainability, reuse and extension whereas jQuery lays emphasis on expressiveness, easy and quick coding. If you consider these two frameworks one the opposite ends of a scale you can notice that jQuery will transform into something that is very easy to get started with and you can observe quick results with it but the problem is that the code written wil be difficult to be reused and maintained however that is problem with you and not with jQuery. If you see Mootools it requires lot of time to learn and you will have to write bunch of code beforehand lots much before you experience the results but at a later point of time the code will be more maintainable and reusable.
If you want to make a choice on as to which one is better then you cannot actually say it as both eh frameworks are excellent choices in themselves with good number of merits. Manipulation and Dynamic Elements creation is excellent with Mootools but jQuery has a huge and highly active community. JQuery can be learnt with ease because of the well drafted documentation but Mootools provides an add on mechanism of Inheritance that is just ideal if you are using OOP. So to conclude with jQuery and Mootools both have their own pros and cons however to be precise they both are great choices.
If you simply assess the functions jQuery provides then you will notice that there often a counterpart to it in Mootools but if you look at the functionalities provided by Mootools you can in no way emulate these in jQuery as jQuery emphasizes on DOM. Mootools provides broadened functionalities when compared to jQuery however you will not find any feature of jQuery which will prevent you from doing those things.
If you are working in one of these environments then you are definitely going to view jQuery and Mootools as mere tools and not as competitors. You can just have an edge over the other but when all’s said and done they are just JavaScript and there is only right tool for doing the job at hand.