Signal vs. Noise weblog on using script.aculo.us for Backpack

37signals’ Signal vs. Noise weblog writes on how drag and drop came to Backpack:

It’s never been easier to bring higher-level interactivity to your web apps.

Be sure to check out the video on how intuitively drag-and-drop integrates with Backpack!

On his personal weblog Loud thinking, David writes:

But the real reason this is a big deal is because the rocket science department has been put on leave. With the script.aculo.us Javascript library by Thomas Fuchs, that builds on the great Prototype library from Sam Stephenson, it’s silly easy to add advanced drag’n’drop to your Rails (or any) application.

By taking the complexity out of the ordeal, it becomes more accessible, less of a project, and more something you just do. Rails initial support for Ajax through Prototype had the same characteristics. Make it as easy as not to. And thus, Backpack was filled to the brim with Ajaxing goodies. Something it certainly wouldn’t have been if we were doing it old skool style with loads of custom Javascript build by experts.

So, the script.aculo.us Web 2.0 Javascript libraries will be included with the next release of Ruby on Rails!

To get the very latest releases of the libraries, point your browser to the instructions on how to access the SVN repository – hosted on the Ruby on Rails development site of course.