I began working on MooTools in 2005, and, after a year of development, I released the very first version to the public. MooTools slowly gained popularity, ascending to its current position as one of the top JavaScript frameworks.

MooTools, however, has a rather steep learning curve and a very big codebase. It was never written with absolute beginners in mind, so users are often intimidated about trying to learn it. This is unfortunate; they're missing out on the great power and customizability MooTools offers, simply because it looks scary.

It is not all MooTools' fault, of course. There's a distinct lack of useful information available on the subject, though I must admit that MooTools itself hasn't done enough to correct the situation. People who want to learn the framework are left to their own devices—and that can get really at times.

Fortunately, that's where this book comes in. Pro JavaScript with MooTools will take you on a journey from the building blocks of JavaScript, through the prototypal concepts, to the very inner workings of MooTools. By the time you're finished reading it, MooTools will hold no more secrets from you.

When I think about the best MooTools articles I have ever read on the Web, Mark's blog, Keetology, comes immediately to mind. Mark has been writing awesome JavaScript and MooTools material for years, in articles (like his "Up the Moo herd" series) and in actual code (Raccoon!). His blog is a must-read for anyone wanting to learn or expand his knowledge of MooTools, or JavaScript in general.

Pro JavaScript with MooTools isn't simply a well-written technical book. This book thoroughly explains how object-oriented programming works in JavaScript, and then gradually takes advantage of your newly acquired knowledge to explain how MooTools operates, and how you can build awesome stuff with it.

And awesome stuff is what we want you to build! MooTools is no longer an obscure framework that sprang from a simple effects library. It's now a full-fledged development tool with a great set of core developers, an active and growing community, and a huge roll of user-developed applications and extensions.

But development doesn't end with the recent successes. While this book is about MooTools 1.3, the most recent release, it is also a preparation of sorts for version 2.0. MooTools 1.3 reflects the direction we're heading in the future—toward a better, faster, and more powerful MooTools. We're working to make the strong parts of the framework even stronger, and we're going to improve the parts that need improvement.

However, we want you to share in these exciting developments, and the first step toward that is learning more about MooTools. You don't need to be an expert to learn MooTools, as this book will show you. All you need is a little patience, creativity—and a whole lot of milk.

Back in 2005, MooTools was just a small framework I created for fun and experimentation. It never occurred to me that it would eventually become the subject of a book, a book whose range, I must say, is as impressive as its depth. It makes me proud of what MooTools has achieved.

Things are just gonna get more awesome from here...

Valerio Proietti

MooTools Founder and Lead-Developer