Liferay DXP’s front-end is extendable, flexible, and future ready.
Like previous versions, many components are written using AlloyUI. AlloyUI is based on YUI, and is no longer under active development. Because of this, we have included jQuery and also have developed a new framework called MetalJS.
MetalJS
Metal.js is a JavaScript library for building UI components in a solid and flexible way. Metal is built from the ground up with performance in mind and is flexible enough to be built as global objects, AMD modules, or jQuery plugins. Metal is cutting edge JavaScript, using ECMAScript 6 (ES6)/ ECMAScript 2015 (ES2015), which provides you with clean code that’s easy-to-read.
Figure 1: Metal.js is a new framework for building UI components.
For more information see the Metal.js docs.
ES2015
ECMAScript 6 (ES6)/ ECMAScript 2015 (ES2015) is enabled by default in your plugins, so you can write your own modules using the latest improvements to the language.
You can learn more about how to leverage ES6 in your modules in the Preparing Your JavaScript Files for ES2015 and Using ES2015 Modules in your Portlet tutorials.
AlloyUI
AlloyUI is an open source front-end framework built on top of Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI). It leverages all of YUI’s modules and adds even more cutting edge components and features to help you build terrific UIs. AlloyUI provides the following key benefits:
- Create modern UI components that provide a consistent look & feel across Liferay DXP.
- Server-agnostic, so you can use it with any technology.
As of Liferay DXP 7.0, AlloyUI has been officially sunsetted. This means that we are no longer developing new features for it, but it is still included in the product and actively maintained.
Figure 2: AlloyUI is sunsetted as of Liferay DXP 7.0.
jQuery
jQuery is a cross-platform JavaScript library designed to simplify the client-side scripting of HTML. It is the most popular JavaScript library in use today. The syntax is designed to make it easier to navigate a document, select DOM elements, create animations, handle events, and develop Ajax applications.
While jQuery is great for small websites, once you start creating highly scalable applications like Java portals, you’ll need a more robust solution. That being the case, we strongly recommend you to use one of our other provided solutions mentioned above.
Figure 3: jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library.