The JavaScript Archive Network (JSAN) is an on-line collaborative resource to develop Open Source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

 libraries

Library (computer science)

In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....

 and software for JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....

. JSAN's aim is to create the JavaScript equivalent of Perl

Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...

' s CPAN

CPAN

CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, is an archive of nearly 100,000 modules of software written in Perl, as well as documentation for it. It has a presence on the World Wide Web at and is mirrored worldwide at more than 200 locations...

. For example, the module Joose

Joose (framework)

Joose is an open-source self-hosting meta object system for JavaScript with support for classes, inheritance, mixins, traits and aspect oriented programming....

 is an equivalent to the CPAN module Moose

Moose (Perl)

Moose is an extension of the Perl 5 object system. It brings modern object-oriented language features to Perl 5, making object-oriented programming more consistent and less tedious.-Features:...

. In addition there is Test.Simple and other modules that are very similar to their Perl counterparts.

Background

JSAN was created by Casey West in 2005. Due to social reasons Casey West left the project. With the master website lost, people could not upload modules, and JSAN had several other limitations in its development, and it was considered "dead". On May 2009, the site was revived and new modules started being added.

Design

JSAN works as a CPAN module, using a nearly identical testing system and directory structure. Documentation is written in POD

Plain Old Documentation

Plain Old Documentation, abbreviated pod, is a lightweight markup language used to document the Perl programming language.-Design:pod is designed to be a simple, clean language with just enough syntax to be useful. It purposefully does not include mechanisms for fonts, images, colors or tables...

 which is used within JavaScript comments. The documentation is then converted to HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

 and other formats with Perl POD modules. Some of the newer techniques used in JSAN are considered to be "test runs" for new features to be added to the design of the "6PAN", the CPAN

CPAN

CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, is an archive of nearly 100,000 modules of software written in Perl, as well as documentation for it. It has a presence on the World Wide Web at and is mirrored worldwide at more than 200 locations...

 upgrade intended to match the Perl 6

Perl 6

Perl 6 is a major revision to the Perl programming language. It is still in development, as a specification from which several interpreter and compiler implementations are being written. It is introducing elements of many modern and historical languages. Perl 6 is intended to have many...

language.