News

Syncfusion Invites JavaScript Developers to Play

• By David Ramel
• July 20, 2015

JavaScript heads the "what's new" page for Syncfusion Inc.'s new development studio suite, reflecting the traditionally Microsoft-centric company's embrace of other technologies for building Web, cross-platform and native mobile apps -- including iOS and Android.

Recognizing the ascension of JavaScript into near-ubiquity in the development world, Syncfusion has evolved with the times, branching out into new directions with its numerous development products and customized controls.

In fact, last week's news release about the company's updated development studio features new boilerplate text that reflects the company's change in direction: "Syncfusion is the enterprise technology partner of choice for software development...." The company's Web site "About Us" page hasn't been updated yet, though, still reflecting its Windows roots: "Syncfusion is the enterprise technology partner of choice for Windows development...."

Highlighting the increased emphasis on JavaScript, the company unveiled a new JavaScript Playground where developers can fool around with code and instantly see their changes reflected in an output pane right next to the code pane.

Syncfusion said the playground is "an IDE-like environment that greatly simplifies creating and sharing code samples that use Syncfusion JavaScript components." Along with the built-in live previewer that can handle Web, iOS, Android and Windows Phone code, the tool facilitates downloading, editing and sharing code samples offline. "With support for all Syncfusion JavaScript components, as well as popular third-party libraries like jQuery, AngularJS, Bootstrap and Knockout, JavaScript Playground is a vital tool for Web developers hacking out new interfaces or experimenting with new designs," the company said.

The tool, similar to JSFiddle and other tools, also provides Syncfusion-specific tutorials for Web and mobile development, teaching how to create widgets, set and get properties, invoke functions and work with wire events.

Other JavaScript-focused enhancements in the newly updated Essential Studio 2015 Volume 2 include Bootstrap dimension support for all of the suite's JavaScript controls, along with new features added to many existing controls.

Other technology segments received new features and updates also, with several new controls being announced, many of which facilitate cross-platform development. New features include:

• A new Spreadsheet control for WinRT.
• A new DataGrid control for Xamarin.Forms.
• New Map, AutoComplete, NumericTextBox and Navigation Drawer controls for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

"Cross-platform development is made easier with new components for Xamarin, a C#-based framework for building native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone," Syncfusion said. "At the forefront of new Xamarin.Forms controls is a high-performance DataGrid control that provides a smooth, responsive experience for end users, and a robust built-in feature set for developers. For Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS, a new Maps control streamlines displaying geographical data, and a new NavigationDrawer control, modeled after the native Android component, grants developers the ability to organize content beyond the edges of a display. AutoComplete and NumericTextBox controls round out the new Xamarin controls to give developers sophisticated tools for capturing user input."

A 30-day trial of the suite is available, and pricing details are listed here.