Prototype

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Prototype is a Javascript framework similar to jQuery. It aims to ease development of dynamic web applications. Prototype is open source and available under MIT licence.

Javascript itself, do not provide advanced features and is not completely compatible with all browsers. Each browser interprets a program written in Javascript in its own way. We have come a long way from the early days of Javascript where Microsoft with Internet Explorer and Netscape with Netscape Navigator had each their own Javascript implementation and were fighting on the back of the developers to make their implementation the de facto standard. Today this got much better, but there are still discrepancies which makes a developers life hard and raises the development costs for Javascript functionality.

Javascript frameworks are improving this situation by adding a layer between Javascript and the developer. They take care of the browser incompatibilities and offer their own functions which work on all browser. Additionally they offer much more powerful functions than what Javascript offers itself.

Thus Javascript frameworks make developers life much easier and development much more cost effective.