Sugar: A Javascript library for working with native objects.

What is Sugar?

Sugar is a Javascript library that extends native objects with helpful methods. It is designed to be intuitive, unobtrusive, and let you do more with less code.

What is Sugar not?

Sugar is a not a framework for AJAX, animation, or DOM manipulation. In fact, Sugar is not tied to the browser in any way.

getLatestTweets(function(tweets) {

  var users     = tweets.map('user').unique(),
      total     = users.sum('statuses_count').format(),
      top       = users.max('followers_count'),
      followers = top.followers_count.format(),
      started   = Date.create(top.created_at);

  return users.length + ' users with a total of ' + total + ' tweets.\n' +
         top.screen_name + ' is the most popular with ' + followers + ' followers\n' +
         'and started tweeting ' + started.relative() + '.';

});

Sugar...

■extends Javascript natives with helpful, intuitive methods.
■is simple to understand and easy to use.
■layers in functionality when it is broken or missing.
■defers to native implementations when they are available.
■is test driven from the ground up and has a massive test suite.
■enhances dates and can parse and format multiple languages.
■plays nicely with other frameworks and third-party code.
■is modular so you can include only the packages you need.
■is fully ECMAScript compliant.

So it's Prototype then...?: Sugar adds methods to native Javascript objects, much like Prototype, but has none of the weight of ajax, DOM, or inheritance oriented frameworks. Sugar also prefers native Javascript conventions and syntax to Ruby.
Okay, so then it's Underscore...?: Sugar is intended as a support library for functional programming like Underscore. However, it differs quite a bit with what and how it chooses to implement.
Then surely it must have something to do with jQuery...?!: Sugar fits right in with jQuery, especially in data-heavy applications. However, it is in no way dependent on jQuery, or even on the browsing environment.
Will Sugar break my existing code?: Sugar never overwrites methods that already exist, and does not modify Object.prototype. It can be safely opted in, even over existing frameworks like Prototype and MooTools.
But Sugar modifies native objects! Isn't that Evil™?: Probably not as much as you think. Sugar sidesteps the biggest pitfalls of extending natives, and approaches the rest with caution and a huge suite of unit tests. Read more.
Any help for someone coming from another language/framework?: The library comparison page shows a method-by-method comparison of Sugar to other libs and even languages like Ruby and Python. Also, if you're coming from Prototype or Underscore check out the analyzer script which gives dynamic, inline tips on using Sugar and also steps through your code and fires warnings at exactly the point something needs to be changed.
Is Sugar available for Node.js?: Yes!

Sugar. Javascript, sweetened.

What is Sugar?

What is Sugar not?

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Sugar...