Jax is headed your way. Soon. I’m probably within a few weeks, at most, from the first release. I’m going to spend that time trying to cram a few more features into the framework and fleshing out as much of what’s already in there as possible.
This blog is where I’ll talk about major developments going forward. If something changes, this is where you’ll find out about it. If I’m working on adding a cool new feature, this is where I’ll do my bragging.
This isn’t where you’ll find live demos. At least, not at this time. I’ll post prerecorded videos and whatnot, but if you want the live stuff, you’ll have to head over to the Jax Demos Page.
It’s also not where you’ll find documentation. That’s being hosted over at the Wiki. You should check that out, though. It’s quite a treasure trove of information — or at least, it will be, when Jax is officially released.
So, what are we looking at supporting in the first version of Jax? All of the following is in place today:
- Support for multiple simultaneous WebGL contexts
- Flexible, extensible and customizable shaders
- Lighting support for directional, point and spot lights
- Shadowing support via shadow maps
- Flexible 3D model construction
- Texturing and normal mapping (DOT3 bump mapping) support
- Automatic cross-browser capturing of keyboard and mouse events — just define a function!
- WebGL Context initialization in as little as 1 line of JavaScript code
- MVC architecture segregates rendering, business logic, and scene setup/teardown for better organization and, therefore, code base maintainability
- Raw data is stored in plain human-readable files and converted to JavaScript automatically
- Application generator sets up the Jax application skeleton for you
- Controller and model generators remove the need to copy-and-paste files
- Unit test files are automatically generated and integrated into the dev environment — just start writing tests!
- Material generators take the guesswork out of 3D models
- Light source generators remove the need to programatically build scene lighting
- Static assets are mirrored in development, so you know your dependencies will work upon deployment
- Special generators for packaging and bundling your Web app completely automate the task of bow-tying
- Test server is included, so you can get started with nothing but a text editor
- “…And so much more!”
As you can see, Jax ain’t your average framework. It’s way more than a simple JavaScript library. It’s an entire suite of development tools designed to get you from zero to production in as rapid a process as possible. It’s been nearly 6 months in the making, (so far), and that’s with yours truly coding into the wee hours of the morning and on most weekends. I’ve put a lot of work into this, and it’s all about to pay off. We’re almost there.
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