JavaScript Framework Comparison - Popup Windows

I have a simple function for opening new windows. I want all anchors with the class external (or contained in a parent with this class name) to open links in a new window using this function. So I look at the various frameworks for doing it. In this case, I am comparing jQuery with Prototype (more may follow soon in an edit to this post).

function popup()
{
 window.open(this.href);
 return false;
}

This function is the same, regardless of framework used (so as to emulate a real world scenario).

HTML code:

<p>In a div</p>
<div class="external">
 <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a> |
 <a href="http://search.yahoo.com">Yahoo</a> |
 <a href="http://search.msn.com">MSN</a> |
 <a href="http://www.ask.com">Ask</a>
</div>
<p>In a list</p>
<ul class="external">
 <li><a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://search.yahoo.com">Yahoo</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://search.msn.com">MSN</a></li>
 <li><a href="http://www.ask.com">Ask</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Standalone</p>
<a href="http://www.google.com" class="external">Google</a>
<a href="http://search.yahoo.com" class="external">Yahoo</a>
<a href="http://search.msn.com" class="external">MSN</a>
<a href="http://www.ask.com" class="external">Ask</a>

jQuery

$(window).bind("load",function()
{
 $(".external a,a.external").bind("click",popup);
});

Works as expected in Internet Explorer 6 (Windows 2000), Opera 8.5 and Firefox 1.5.

Prototype

Event.observe(window, 'load', setPopup);
function setPopup()
{
 var nodes = $A(document.getElementsByClassName("external"));
 nodes.each(function(node)
 {
  if(node.nodeName == 'A')
  {
   Event.observe(node, 'click', popup);
  }
  else
  {
   var subnodes = $A(node.getElementsByTagName("a"));
   subnodes.each(function(node)
   {
    Event.observe(node, 'click', popup);
   });
  }
 });
}

It could just be me not knowing enough about Prototype, but that seems like far more code than necessary. It doesn't get any better though. Firefox and Opera opens the new window with the right page as expected, but return false is ignored. Internet Explorer opens a new windows and does not seem to ignore return false, but this.href ends up being undefined

Summary

In this case, jQuery wins out. Far less code is needed (both the framework and the page code) and it works in all tested browsers. So it shows that depending on the circumstances, it is not always best to go with the framework with the most features.

Tags: ,

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Select box manipulation with jQuery

If you read the jQuery mailing list , you may be aware that I have updated my plugins for working with select boxes . Summary of changes: addOption replaces any options with the same value (so think of it as an add/replace options plugin selectOptions selected options in addition to what was already selected, but there is now an option for it not to do this There are two new methods: copyOptions which is for copying options between select boxes ajaxAddOption allows you to add options via AJAX (i.e. could be used for create options dynamically from a server script)
Read more

iTextSharp: Generating a Basic PDF file (ASP.NET/C#)

iTextSharp is free library for .NET that allows you to create PDF documents. It can be used to dynamically create PDF's which can be streamed to the user. As there is no HTML being sent to the user, a WebHandler (ashx file) is a more appropriate way to generate your PDF than an aspx page. Download itextsharp-3.0.10-dll.zip (latest version as of 08 Feb 2006) and save the dll in the archive to your websites bin directory. Here is a basic sample of creating a PDF (more complex samples may follow in future posts). BasicPDF.ashx <%@ WebHandler Language="C#" Class="MyNamespace.BasicPDF" %> using System; using System.IO; using System.Web; using iTextSharp.text; using iTextSharp.text.pdf; namespace MyNamespace { public class BasicPDF: IHttpHandler { public bool IsReusable { get { return true; } } /// <summary> /// Font used for any hyperlinks added to the PDF /// </summary> private Font LinkFont { get ...
Read more

Popup Window Countdown (JavaScript)

This code opens a new popup window that contains a timer that counts down, then closes the window when it reaches 0. Will not work if user has a popup blocker blocking the page. <html> <head> <title>Popup Timer</title> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/JavaScript"> // popup window var var popup; // At what number shall the countdown counter start? CounterStart = 10; // This function CustomAction() can be modified to do // whatever you want done every second. function CustomAction() { popup.document.timer.timeleft.value = CounterStart; } // end of function CustomAction() // end of JavaScript customization function Decrement() { CounterStart--; CustomAction(); if(CounterStart <= 0) { popup.close(); alert('Timer reached 0'); } else { setTimeout('Decrement()',1000); } } function StartTheCounter() { openPopup(120,100); setTimeout('Decrement()',1000); } f...
Read more