I first heard about Scriptaculous during a Carson Workshop held by Thomas Fuchs, the creator of the framework. Since then I've used it pretty extensively up until a few months ago when I converted all my code to use jQuery. The latest version of the framework, currently in Alpha, isn't called Scriptaculous though. The framework is now called Scripty2... which makes it sound like it's trying to be "hip" to win over more users.
scripty2 is a complete rewrite and reimplementation of script.aculo.us, with a
remodular structure intended to ease the development of highly customized user interface effects and behaviours.
Anyway, the name aside, what is more important is it's feature set, it's ease of use, and it's footprint. The downloadable file contains both a distributable version and the source code should you wish to make any changes. The filesize of the libraries now compare as follows:
| Framework | Downloaded Filesize |
|---|---|
| Scripty2 | 127 kb |
| Script.aculo.us | 141 kb |
| mooTools | 65 kb |
| jQuery | 244 kb |
In the above table Script.aculo.us is the only one which is not minified as the filesizes are for the full available packages in whatever form they are available. If you don't need the full jQuery UI package (which you're likely to not need in full) then you can customise it before downloading the minified file. For example to give it more or less the same feature set as scriptaculous it would be 163kb. So looking at Scripty2's footprint it actually isn't all that bad with only mooTools being smaller.
Moving on, the framework is now divided into 3 sections: core, FX, and UI. For this first alpha there is nothing in the UI section, and so to start with is a little drab, but I'm sure the usual drag/drop, etc. functions will be available in no time. The core section includes many DOM helper functions, such as the particularly useful viewPortOverlay which can be used when creating lightboxes. The new effects engine is packed full of goodies such as morphing (CSS changes) and translations (movement). There is the usual ability to chain effects in a effects queue, but what I like about the rewrite of the effects engine is that it is now scalable, or rather, it degrades nicely for machines with performance issues as it will drop animation frames where necessary.
In terms of usability it's as easy as any other framework, but I don't think we can give a definitive answer of where this new framework fits in the grand scheme of the web until the final version is released.
