While Ext JS turns 3 and already had a turbulent past, the development team has come up with a new project & licensing structure.

While it is still in beta, Ext JS seems to have been split up in an Ext JS Core library, which is a complete alternative to jQuery, Prototype, Dojo, Mootools,… and the upcoming full Ext JS library, which will probably include the features you know Ext best for: the slick user interface.

Together with the beta release of the core version, a bunch of popular widgets have been mimicked: Lightbox, Tabs, Image rotation and Context menu’s.

The Ext JS Core is MIT licensed, which basically means it is completely free. There was of course no other way to go because of the competition. But since the core version completely eliminates the use of any other JavaScript framework, it will pave the way even more for the full version. Together with the already huge Ext community (> 70000 registered members), world domination can’t be far away.

Although I have had a lot of fun with jQuery, I guess I no longer have a reason to use it. They seem to have done a fine job to offer a replacement (with a file size that almost matches)!

Until now: they have partnered with CacheFly.

If you, for instance, need the complete library, use:

• http://extjs.cachefly.net/ext-2.2/ext-all.js
• http://extjs.cachefly.net/ext-2.2/resources/css/ext-all.css

This is great. Ext JS can be one of the bigger libraries (even minified & packed).