The Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)
1. What is the YUI Library?
The Yahoo User Interface (YUI) Library is a coherent collection of JavaScript and CSS resources that make it easier to build richly interactive applications in web browsers. Some pieces of YUI, like the Event Utility, operate under the hood and are simply there to make in-browser programming easier. Others, like the Calendar Control, comprise visual widgets that can be placed on your page with a default look-and-feel. The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses.
2. Why would I choose YUI?
The YUI Library is free, licensed under a liberal BSD license that permits both commercial and non-profit use. YUI is backed by developers at Yahoo!, where YUI code is used and refined on pages viewed billions of times each day. YUI is increasingly comprehensive, well-documented, and supported by a growing community in the YUI forums.
3. Where can I go to download YUI?
YUI is distributed via our SourceForge project page. You can download the distribution directly by clicking here.
4. Does YUI work in all web browsers?
No; there is no full-featured JavaScript or CSS library that can work in every browser. But YUI supports the vast majority of browsers that are in general use. Moreover, we have a comprehensive, public approach to browser support and we are committed to making sure that our components work well in all of what we designate as "A-Grade" browsers. To stay up-to-date on what browsers we support, bookmark our table of A-Grade browsers and subscribe to the YUI Blog, on which we publish quarterly updates.
5. When I download YUI, I notice that each component's JavaScript file has a "-debug" version. How do I use this resource?
The -debug versions of YUI JavaScript files contain additional code that outputs messages to the YUI Logger Control. These messages include information about any "interesting moments" that happen during an interaction; for example, all Custom Events that are used within a YUI component are automatically logged to the Logger console. To make use of these files, include the -debug version of the file on your page and include the YUI Logger Control. Be sure to create a Log Reader instance so that you'll see your messages logged to the screen. Note: The -debug versions of YUI JavaScript files are not hosted on Yahoo! servers. If you wish to use these files, you'll need to download YUI from SourceForge and host them on your own servers. YUI scripts containing debugging statements perform much more slowly than do the optimized and minified -min versions of the files; never use -debug files in a production environment.
6. How is "YUI" pronounced?
Within the YUI team, we tend to pronounce it "why-you-eye". However, in the wider world we more often hear it pronounced "yooey ."
The Yahoo User Interface (YUI) Library is a coherent collection of JavaScript and CSS resources that make it easier to build richly interactive applications in web browsers. Some pieces of YUI, like the Event Utility, operate under the hood and are simply there to make in-browser programming easier. Others, like the Calendar Control, comprise visual widgets that can be placed on your page with a default look-and-feel. The Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses.
2. Why would I choose YUI?
The YUI Library is free, licensed under a liberal BSD license that permits both commercial and non-profit use. YUI is backed by developers at Yahoo!, where YUI code is used and refined on pages viewed billions of times each day. YUI is increasingly comprehensive, well-documented, and supported by a growing community in the YUI forums.
3. Where can I go to download YUI?
YUI is distributed via our SourceForge project page. You can download the distribution directly by clicking here.
4. Does YUI work in all web browsers?
No; there is no full-featured JavaScript or CSS library that can work in every browser. But YUI supports the vast majority of browsers that are in general use. Moreover, we have a comprehensive, public approach to browser support and we are committed to making sure that our components work well in all of what we designate as "A-Grade" browsers. To stay up-to-date on what browsers we support, bookmark our table of A-Grade browsers and subscribe to the YUI Blog, on which we publish quarterly updates.
5. When I download YUI, I notice that each component's JavaScript file has a "-debug" version. How do I use this resource?
The -debug versions of YUI JavaScript files contain additional code that outputs messages to the YUI Logger Control. These messages include information about any "interesting moments" that happen during an interaction; for example, all Custom Events that are used within a YUI component are automatically logged to the Logger console. To make use of these files, include the -debug version of the file on your page and include the YUI Logger Control. Be sure to create a Log Reader instance so that you'll see your messages logged to the screen. Note: The -debug versions of YUI JavaScript files are not hosted on Yahoo! servers. If you wish to use these files, you'll need to download YUI from SourceForge and host them on your own servers. YUI scripts containing debugging statements perform much more slowly than do the optimized and minified -min versions of the files; never use -debug files in a production environment.
6. How is "YUI" pronounced?
Within the YUI team, we tend to pronounce it "why-you-eye". However, in the wider world we more often hear it pronounced "yooey ."