For the past couple weeks I’ve spent some time getting back in to the Rails. Well, not particularly rails, but I used Rails to get a some playtime in with Backbone.js. I was a bit skeptical at first. I’ve never been a fan of “heavy” javascript front-ends, because they tend to produce massive amounts of untested code.

However, after spending a half a day with backbone.js … I was sold. The awkwardness of linking jQuery directory to DOM elements is gone. The nested jQuery handlers are much more structured in the hands of backbone.js. The eventing system that it provides is top notch and the seamless integration with RESTful back-ends (such as Rails) is excellent.

On top of that the structure that it puts around some of your javascript really allows people who aren’t very familiar with Javascript to recognize simple patterns, because of the structure and readability of the code.

I recently listened to a podcast on Backbone.js and came to the realization that there are a ton of these libraries popping up around the web (knockout.js, spine.js). Of course, each of these libraries has their own personal take on things, but if you haven’t taken a look at one of these frameworks under the assumption that “jQuery works just fine for my needs.”

I would highly recommend checking one of these libraries out.