Google Releases Internal JavaScript Tools Online
On Thursday Google released "Closure Tools" -- a collection of JavaScript tools that the company said it has used to create many of its own Web-based applications -- to the wider development community via an open source licence.
The Closure package, now available on Google's Labs code site, includes four apps:
- Closure Compiler: Allows JavaScript to "download and run faster."
- Closure Inspector: A debugging tool that works with Closure Compiler.
- Closure Library: A "broad, well-tested, modular, and cross-browser" collection of JavaScript controls and widgets.
- Closure Templates: Reusable and modifiable templates that are both Java- and JavaScript-compatible.
"Like developers everywhere, Googlers want great Web apps to be easier to create, so we've built many tools to help us develop these (and many other) apps. We're happy to announce the open sourcing of these tools, and proud to make them available to the web development community," the company wrote in its blog post announcing the release.
"Closure Compiler, Closure Library, Closure Templates, and Closure Inspector all started as 20 percent projects and hundreds of Googlers have contributed thousands of patches. Today, each Closure Tool has grown to be a key part of the JavaScript infrastructure behind Web apps at Google," the post continues. "That's why we're particularly excited (and humbled) to open source them to encourage and support Web development outside Google."
More information on the Closure Tools can be found here. Other Google Labs projects that have been released to the public can be found here.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is the director of online media for 1105's Enterprise Computing Group and executive editor for several of its sites, including Redmondmag.com and ADTmag.com. Contact her via e-mail or follow her on twitter at @beckynagel.