Ext JS

Ext JS Overview

Ext JS is a cross-browser Javascript library for building rich internet applications. It includes:

High performance, customizable UI widgets
Well designed and extensible Component model
An intuitive, easy to use API
Commercial and Open Source licenses available

Browser Compatibility

Ext JS supports all major web browsers including:

Internet Explorer 6+
Firefox 1.5+ (PC, Mac)
Safari 3+
Opera 9+ (PC, Mac)

History

The best summary I have seen of the History of Ext JS came form the user Animal in this post on the Ext JS Forums

"It grew from a tiny magic bean. I was a mere spectator really, but I saw Jack planting the bean, and tending it, and was able to offer a few lines of code and a little help.

Basically, Jack was blogging about YUI, posting examples of how to use the framework (along with good Javascript coding practices) to create rich UIs in a browser.

The examples coalesced into a whole set of foundation classes and widgets: yui-ext.

That was separated out from any dependence on an underlying library using an adapter layer which could be based upon YUI, jQuery prototype, or a very lightweight Ext base layer: Ext 1.0.

Then the object model, life cycle management, and layout management was fundamentally redesigned to provide an all-encompassing Container->Component nesting of the widgets: Ext 2.0

Ext 3.0 promises more great innovation."