kutty 0.0.1 has been released!

Kutty 0.0.1 Release

I’m pleased to announce the 0.0.1 release of kutty, the successor to intercooler.js!

Like intercooler, kutty brings features of modern browsers that normally require javascript (AJAX, CSS transitions, etc.) directly into HTML.

Why the rename?

I chose to rename the project for a few reasons:

• I wanted the freedom to clean up mistakes and remove ideas that hadn’t worked out as cleanly as I wanted
• The JS in intercooler.js implied a javascript-orientation. The more I developed intercooler the more I realized that it was really about enhancing (completing?) HTML, not javascript. This project doesn’t really compete with tools like angular, vue or react, it’s something different, so I wanted a different name.
• kutty is short and memorable, kutty.org was available, and it has consonance with “cuttlefish” which is the official cephalopod of kutty development.

So what’s new & different about kutty vs. intercooler?

• First and foremost, kutty has no external dependencies ! No more dragging in jQuery just to do HTML-oriented web development. It has been tested with IE11.
• It follows conventional naming and behavior standards more closely than intercooler does (e.g. innerHTML and outerHTML)
• Kutty isn’t the kitchen-sink-of-features that intercooler is. Kutty is more focused on the features that are amenable to a declarative approache and less on replacing javascript entirely.
• Kutty has a better swapping mechanism which introduces a settling step, which allows for nice CSS transitions with minimal complexity. Check out the progress bar to see how this works: by returning HTML in the old web 1.0 style, you can get nice, smooth CSS-based transitions. Fun!

Beyond that, basic kutty and intercooler code will look a lot a like:

  <div kt-post="/clicked">Click Me!</div>

This will issue an AJAX post to /clicked, in a manner familiar to anyone who has used intercooler.

What will happen to intercooler?

I’m planning on maintaining both projects. Intercooler is a slow moving project anyway, and the code is stable and works fine for people who want to go the jQuery route. I have a large application written with it and I’m not planning on moving that to kutty any time soon.

How hard will a port to kutty from intercooler be?

Depends a lot on how into the weeds you got with intercooler. The core attributes are pretty close to one another but if you were using ic-action or event handlers extensively it will be a project.

OK, so what should I do?

The usual:

• read the docs
• star the repo
• tell your friends
• enjoy fully functional HTML, the way Roy Fielding intended it

Cheers!