frontend-toolbox

Actively maintained list of useful web developments tools, libraries, assets and any other open-source goodies.

"★" recommended and currently used by the maintainer

General

• ★ HTML5 Spec for Web Developers: This specification is intended for authors of documents and scripts that use the features defined in this specification.
• DocHub: Alternative documentation repository for: CSS, HTML, JavaScript, DOM, jQuery, PHP, Python
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1: you should read through it at least once
• ReFiddle: Regular Expression (regex) tester... better than the rest

Feeds

• Web browser, frontend, standard and webapp feeds to follow

Compatibility

• When can I use...: Compatibility tables for support of HTML5, CSS3, SVG and more in desktop and mobile browsers.
• HTML5 & CSS3 Readiness: We don't have to wait for entire specs to be completed, we can start using some hawtness now.
• HTML5 Please: Use the new and shiny responsibly.
• HTML5 Polyfills

Performance

• HTTPArchive Performance stats and trends for the worlds most popular sites

Runtimes

• Ruby Installer for Windows
• NodeJS win/linux/osx
• HomeBrew missing package manager for OSX

Debugging

• Chrome Developer Tools for chrome

• Firebug for firefox

• DragonFly for opera

• Fixing These jQuery how to debugger to debug jquery

Maps

• Gmaps makes it easier to use Google Maps
• jVectorMap svg based maps for ie6+, maps included
• Leaflet an open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps

Charts/graphs/visualization/reporting

• ★ datavisualization tools a collection of tools that we, the people behind Datavisualization.ch, work with on a daily basis and recommend warmly

• ★ flot Attractive JavaScript plotting for jQuery

• D3 a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG and CSS.

  • Rickshaw a JavaScript toolkit for creating interactive time series graphs.
  • Cubism Time Series Visualization

• gRaphael SVG charts

• flotr2 Graphs and Charts for Canvas in JavaScript.

• RGraph interactive Javascript charts and graphs for your website using the HTML5 canvas tag

• Sencha Touch Charts - paid

• HighCharts - paid

• dygraphs

• ZingChart

• Fusion Charts

• MilkCharts for MooTools weirdos

• Google Chart Tools API based

• Envision is a library for creating fast, dynamic and interactive HTML5 visualizations.

• ArborJS a graph visualization library using web workers and jQuery

• TimelineJS beautifully crafted timelines that are easy, and intuitive to use.

• jQuery Sparklines

UI Toolkits

• Twiter Bootstrap
  • ★ Compass Twitter Bootstrap
  • BootboxJS alert, confirm and flexible dialogs for Twitter's Bootstrap framework
• jQuery UI

Documentation

• ★ Docco: Quick and dirty, literate-programming documenation generator
• Groc: is an attempt to further enhance the idea [of Docco]

Total process build tools, Assemblers, et al

Should this be merged with 'JavaScript Build Tools' section below?

• ★ Yeoman: a robust and opinionated client-side stack, comprised of tools and frameworks that can help developers quickly build beautiful web applications.
• ★ Brunch: A lightweight approach to building HTML5 applications with an emphasis on elegance and simplicity.
• ★ Middleman: a static site generator using all the shortcuts and tools in modern web development.
• Lumbar: Lumbar is a js-build tool that takes a general codebase and list of platforms to generate modular platform specific applications. (from Walmart Labs)
• LiveReload: CSS edits and image changes apply live. CoffeeScript, SASS, LESS and others just work. (OSX app only)
• CodeKit: CodeKit helps you build websites faster and better. (OSX app only)

JavaScript

• Modernizr: detects HTML5 and CSS3 features in the user’s browser.
• Underscore: JavaScript utility belt
  • lodash: same api, but faster, and more trendy
• JSON3: JSON parser/stringifier
• Idiomatic JS: Principles of Writing Consistent, Idiomatic JavaScript
• JavaScript Garden: growing collection of documentation about the most quirky parts JavaScript
• JSConf
• Google JavaScript Style Guide

Standalone libraries (no dependencies)

• Widow Tamer fix typgraphic widows
• SwipeJS lightweight mobile slider script
• accounting.js number, money and currency formatting, with optional excel-style column rendering
• money.js currency conversion library, done right - with no dependencies
• moment.js A 4.8k javascript date library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates.
• cookies.js

Headless DOM/Browsers

• PhantomJS: Headless WebKit with JavaScript API
• ZombieJS: Insanely fast, headless full-stack testing using Node.js

Build tools

• ★ Grunt: a task-based command line build tool for JavaScript projects
• UglifyJS: js minifier, beautifier
• Closure Compiler
• r.js (RequireJS optimizer)

Modules and Script loaders

• RequireJS The awesomest AMD script loader
• LabJS script loader
• YepNope conditional loader for polyfills

Package Managers

• Bower package manager for the web
• Volo Create front end projects from templates, add dependencies, and automate the resulting projects
• Ender the no-library library

Books

• ★ JSbooks: crazy collection of free JS books
• ★ JavaScript Web Applications
• ★ JavaScript:The Definitive Guide
• ★ JavaScript: The Good Parts
• Understanding JavaScript OOP
• JavaScript Patterns
• Maintainable JavaScript

Free/online

• Eloquent JavaScript
• Essential JavaScript Patterns

jQuery

• jQuery: Write less; do more.
• Zepto: jQuery alternative for mobile apps (super light-weight)
• jQAPI: Alternative jQuery Documentation
• 10 Things I Learned From the jQuery Source
• jQuery Fundamentals Massively awesome online course/ebook

Useful jQuery Plugins

• ★Select2 jQuery based replacement for select boxes. It supports searching, remote data sets, and infinite scrolling of results.

• FormatCurrency

• MaskedInput

• Fresco beautiful, responsive lightbox

• Chosen

• jQuery File Upload best uploader on the planet

• BigVideo

• jQuery Masonry A dynamic layout plugin for jQuery; the flip-side of CSS floats (think pintrest layout)

• Sisyphus client side drafts (think gmail) and more...

• jQuery Credit Card Validator

• jQuery Tagit! transform text inputs to accept deliminated tag strings

• VisualSearch enhances ordinary search boxes with the ability to autocomplete faceted search queries

• Grumble tooltips around a 360 degree circle

• Complexify determine complexity of passwords

• SlabText

• SimpleWeather

• jQuery Sparklines

Mobile

• Zepto
• jQuery Mobile

Testing

• Jasmine
• Mocha new, trendy, lightweight
• QUnit j-unit inspired (i think)
• Vows async BDD

Test Drivers

• JSTestDriver remote, automated testing of javascript on different browsers
  • Jasmine JSTD adapter for using Jasmine

Assertions

• Chai: assertions lib
  • should: foo.should.be.a('string')
  • expect: expect(foo).to.be.a('string')
  • assert: assert.typeof(foo, 'string')
• should.js 'should' style assertions
• expect.js 'expect' style assertions

Mocks, stubs, spies

• SinonJS

Transcompilation Languages

• ★ CoffeeScript: a little language that compiles into JavaScript
  • Little Book on CoffeeScript
  • CoffeeScript Tutorials
  • CoffeeScript Style Guide
• IcedCoffeeScript: drop-in replacement interpreter for CoffeeScript with async control flow semantics.
• LiveScript: aims for increased expressiveness and code beauty, while adding features to assist in functional style programming, imperative and object oriented programming, and has an optional class system with inheritance, calls to super, and more.
• Roy: an experimental programming language that targets JavaScript and tries to meld JavaScript semantics with some features common in static functional languages.

Linters

Tools to detect errors (syntactic, semantic, otherwise) and potential problems in JavaScript code.

• JSHint: New hotness
  • Sublime Linter: Sublime plugin for JSHint.
• JSLint: Old and busted.

Frameworks (MV* et al)

• Backbone.js

  • Backbone Fundamentals
  • Backbone Koans
  • Marionette: composite app architecture on top of backbone
  • Chaplin: application architecture
  • Backbone LocalStorage

• Ember.js

• AngularJS

• Spine

• KnockoutJS (MVVM)

• YUI

• Batman.js

• Closure

• Google Web Toolkit

• CanJS

• Meteor

• Derby

• SocketStream + jQuery

• Ext.js

• JavaScriptMVC

• RivetsJS declarative data-binding; framework agnostic

Templates

• Template Chooser
• Mustache
• Handlebars as featured in Ember
• DustJS fast, streaming
• HoganJS super lightweight, mustache-compatible
• Jade Templates as featured in Express/Node
• EJS like ERB but for javascript
• Google Closure Templates
• Underscore Templates
• MicroTemplating
• ICanHazJS
• DomJs
• DotJS
• JsRender
• Plates
• Transparency

Quizzes

• JS Assessment
• PerfectionKills JS Quiz
• So You Think You Know JavaScript
• Rebecca Murphey's Challenge
• NetTuts Quiz: jQuery Basics
• NetTuts Quiz: JavaScript

CSS

• CSS3.info: All you ever needed to know about CSS3
• CSS3 Please: The Cross-Browser CSS3 Rule Generator
• Semantic Grid System: Page layout for tomorrow (SCSS, LESS, Stylus)

Linters

• Recess Twitter's CSS hinter

Preprocessors

• Sass: Sass is an extension of CSS3, adding nested rules, variables, mixins, selector inheritance, and more.
  • SASS Tutorials
  • Compass: Compass is an open-source CSS Authoring Framework.
    • Compass Tutorials
    • Compass Twitter Bootstrap
  • Susy:Responsive grids for Compass.
• LESS: The dynamic stylsheet language
• Stylus: Expressive, dynamic, robust CSS
  • Nib

Editors

Sublime Text 2

Install and use Sublime Text 2 Package Control for these and other plugins.

• ★ ZenCoding: editor plugin for high-speed HTML coding and editing
• ★ Markdown Preview: A simple plugin to help you preview your markdown files; works with LiveReload.
• ★ LiveReload: A web browser page reloading plugin.
• ★ Sidebar Enhancements: Enhancements to Sublime Text sidebar. Files and folders.
• ★ SublimeREPL:run an interpreter inside ST2
• ★ Git: Plugin for some git integration
• ★ SublimeLinter: Inline lint highlighting
• ★ JsFormat: javascipt formatting plugin (prettifier)
• Sublime Prefixr: run CSS through the Prefixr API
• Search StackOverflow: Simple search on Stack Overflow utility

TextMate

• Official Site
• Source (on Github)

Vi/Vim

• MacVim: More mac-like than the command line
• gVim: More PC-like?

Themes (TextMate or SublimeText)

• TextMate Theme
• NodeJS: dark
• Tomorrow: multiple, dark/light
• Django: dark green

Design

• This Is Responsive: also see https://github.com/bradfrost/this-is-responsive.git
• Starbucks Style Guide

Icons

• ★ FontAwesome: The iconic font designed for use with Twitter Bootstrap
• IconSweets: a huge FREE icon set containing over a 1,000+ icon
• Glyphicons: designed primarily for toolbars and navigation bars in OS X Lion, the application for iPhone, iPhone 4, iPad and other Apple devices. (CC license)
• Glyphish: Free set published under a Creative Commons Attribution license
• FamFamFam: oldie, but goodie
• LED Icon Set: .png icons make a professionally looking small icon set and are totally free in commercial and open source apps / websites.
• Fugue Icons: 3,480 icons are included in PNG format (16x16 pixels) + bonus. (CC license)

Typography

• Beautiful Web Type: A showcase of the best typefaces from the Google web fonts directory.
• FontBomb: To blow up other websites, drag and drop this link fontBomb to your favorites bar

Free Fonts

• DaFont
• FontSquirell

Web Font Services

• typekit: the easiest way to use real web fonts, by Adobe (paid, but free/limited version available)
• Google web fonts: free, easy to use, lots of fonts (500+)
• WebFonts
• FontDeck
• FontSpring
• TypeFront
• FontsLive
• WebINK
• typotheque
• kernest

Textures

• SubtlePatterns: tons of really nice, subtle patterns, love this site!
• Noise Texture Generator

Favicons

• Piecon: Pie charts in your favicon!

Education

• CodeAcademy: the easiest way to learn to code. It's interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends.
• NCZOnline: 'Computer Science': Nicholas C. Zakas presents computer science concepts using JavaScript as language of choice
• Stanford OpenClassroom: Full courses. Short Videos. Free for everyone.

---

Shamelessly aggregated from the following resources:

• A Baseline For Frontend Developers
• Brunch plugin wiki
• Tooling & The Webapp Development Stack: Notes from a talk by Paul Irish
• DailyJS: Excellent JavaScript blog
• JavaScript Jabber Podcase: Kick-ass JavaScript podcast
• Smashing Magazine: Best web-development magazine
• Hipster Dev Stack: A curated directory of artisanal development tools that we used to like before they went mainstream.
• NetTutsPlus: Web development tutorials, from beginner to advanced
• Sublime Text Workflow That Beats Coda and Espresso