Day by day, i’ve understood why so many developers use libraries (or frameworks) such as Mootools or jQuery: It’s a matter of typing.

document.getElementById("test"); //native Javascript
$("#test"); // with jQuery

At the same time i’ve learnt that libraries aren’t always worth their weight. Small projects don’t need them, and just writing a shortcut like:

function id(string) {
   return document.getElementById(string);
}

can make your life better (and more lightweight).

Introducing Bicycle 1.2

That said, here is a new version of Bicycle, my little “JavaScript Collection”. As from the name, it’s a lightweight and load-cost-effective library (about 9Kb minified) with everything is needed to keep your code simple and cross-browser. Here is a sample code:

var el = $getEls("test");  // get the element with id "test"
var input = $TN("nametext");  // get the first element with name "nametext"

Chainability

Anyway, if you need something more, since this new version Bicycle features a convenient chainability wrapper, with even new methods such as mouse and DOM-ready events and AJAX handling.

The chainable structure is bound to the $b namespace, so that you can use it along with other libraries. Here is a sample code:

$b("#test").css("color","red").txt("New text!");

See the documentation for more methods.

Form Handling

Finally, as a bonus, i’ve added a smart piece of code called Telegraph, which is basically a form handling library to quickly get and manipulate form inputs:

$b.getForm("myForm").value("testinput"); // get an input value
$b.getForm("myForm").serialize(); // serialize form data in a JavaScript object

Grab a copy

At last, more code can’t mean same weight, but i suppose you won’t mind it, ’cause  Bicycle core + chainability + new methods + Telegraph is just 22Kb minified.

Head to the main project page to get more infos and documentation, or grab a copy of the source code and “take a ride” with your brand new Bicycle.