Extensions, Plugins, Resources

Dependencies

Underscore.js

Backbone's only hard dependency. http://underscorejs.org

JSON2.js

Needed if you'd like to parse and serialize JSON in older browsers (read: "Internet Explorer") https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-js

jQuery

Recommended for DOM manipulation and Ajax. http://jquery.com

Zepto

Recommended as a jQuery alternative for mobile apps http://zeptojs.com

Model

Backbone Forms

Generate customisable forms from your model schema. Features include custom editors, nested forms, editable lists and validation.

• https://github.com/powmedia/backbone-forms

backbone-deep-model

Improved support for models with nested attributes. Get and set attributes and listen to changes on them using a path, e.g. get('user.address.ln1').

• https://github.com/powmedia/backbone-deep-model

Backbone-Nested

A plugin to make Backbone keep track of nested attributes.

• http://afeld.github.com/backbone-nested/

Backbone.Memento

Create undo points to store / restore your model's state.

Get the code and read the documentation:

• https://github.com/derickbailey/backbone.memento

Backbone.actAs.Mementoable

Memento pattern realization for Backbone.js models with more flexible API than in Backbone.Memento

• https://github.com/iVariable/Backbone.actAs.Mementoable

Backbone.actAs.Configurable

Simple helpers to configure your models from one configuration object.

• https://github.com/iVariable/Backbone.actAs.Configurable

Backbone.Articulation

• Provides per-attribute serialization and deserialization (using Underscore-Awesomer's _.toJSON and _.parseJSON functions).
• Useful for client-side localized string lookups, custom Date storage (for CouchDB views), attribute validations, and much more!
• https://github.com/kmalakoff/backbone-articulation
• https://github.com/kmalakoff/underscore-awesomer

Backbone.Validations

• Declarative per-attribute validations
• Subscribe to error events per attribute (i.e. 'error:name')
• Maintains original interface.
• http://github.com/n-time/backbone.validations

Backbone.Validation

• Validations are declared on the model
• Conventionally updates your html with error classes and error messages
• Easy to extend with custom validators
• http://github.com/thedersen/backbone.validation

Backbone.Validator

• Validations are declared on the model
• Easy to extend with custom validators
• Provides the replacement of out-of-range values with data from the defaults hash
• http://github.com/toddself/Backbone.Validator

Backbone.ModelRef

• Lets you build your views while you wait for models to load.
• Notifies you when a model unloads so you can change your view state.
• Compatible with Knockback.js (https://github.com/kmalakoff/knockback)

Pretty much just a collection and model id reference. Simple, but useful.

• https://github.com/kmalakoff/backbone-modelref

workflow.js

• Finite-state machine (FSM) for for Backbone.Model. Elegant syntax, and very short. Patterned after the Ruby workflow gem.
• https://github.com/kendagriff/workflow.js

Backbone Dotattr

• Lets you model attributes with dot-syntax.
• e.g. song.get('album.title')
• https://github.com/amccloud/backbone-dotattr

Backbone.Mutators

• Enables you to override getters and setters with logic
• https://github.com/asciidisco/Backbone.Mutators

Backbone.Chosen

• One Collection, different model objects, mapped easy via configuration
• https://github.com/asciidisco/Backbone.Chosen

Storage

Backbone.localStorage

• LocalStorage adapter that overrides Backbone.Sync
• https://github.com/jeromegn/Backbone.localStorage

backbone.couchdb.js

• Making it easy to use backbone with couchdb.
• https://github.com/pyronicide/backbone.couchdb.js

Small Backbone ORM

• https://github.com/juggy/backbone-orm

Backbone.ioBind

• Bind Socket.io events to backbone models & collections.
• Includes optional replacement for Backbone.sync for use with Socket.io.
• https://github.com/logicalparadox/backbone.iobind

Backbone-websql

• WebSQL adapter that overrides Backbone.sync
• https://github.com/MarrLiss/backbone-websql

Backbone-slet

• Get and set local variables that won't persist on save() calls
• https://github.com/jrs2ea/backbone.slet

Backbone.SharePoint

• Work with SharePoint items and list as Backbone Models and Collections.
• https://github.com/lstak/Backbone.SharePoint

Backbone.SAP

• Connect to SAP business data through SAP Gateway.
• https://github.com/lstak/Backbone.SAP

Backbone.Offline

• Allows your Backbone.js app to work offline
• https://github.com/Ask11/backbone.offline

Backbone.Rpc

• Allows your Backbone.js app to fetch and store data based on the JSON-RPC protocol
• https://github.com/asciidisco/Backbone.Rpc

Relations

Ligament

• Relational associations for Backbone
• https://github.com/dbrady/ligament.js

Backbone-relational

• Get and set relations (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one) for Backbone models
• https://github.com/PaulUithol/Backbone-relational

Backbone-associations

• Inspired by Backbone-relational. Provides a lightweight and performant implementation of setting up associations between models
• https://github.com/dhruvaray/backbone-associations

Collection

Backbone.actAs.Paginatable

Load your collections piece by piece. Very useful for large model sets.

• https://github.com/iVariable/Backbone.actAs.Paginatable

Nesting.js

Simple helper function that makes it easy to work with nested Backbone collections

• Source: https://gist.github.com/1610397

Backbone Query

Provides NoSQL queries (like MongoDB) for backbone.js collections

• good readme documentation
• runs on node.js and in the browser
• https://github.com/davidgtonge/backbone_query

Query Engine

Provides extensive querying, filtering, and searching functionality for backbone.js collections

• includes live interactive demo
• source-code documentation only
• runs on node.js and in the browser
• supports NoSQL queries (like MongoDB)
• supports filters (applying a filter function to a collection)
• supports search strings (useful for turning search input fields into useful queries)
• supports pills for search strings (e.g. author:ben priority:important)
• supports optional live collections (when a model is changed, added or removed, it can automatically be tested against the collections queries, filters, and search string, if it fails, remove it from the collection)
• supports parent and child collections (when a parent collection has a model removed, it is removed from the child collection too, when a parent collection has a model added or changed, it is retested against the child collection)
• https://github.com/bevry/query-engine

View

LayoutManager

• A manager for templates & layouts in Backbone.js
• Source: https://github.com/tbranyen/backbone.layoutmanager
• Screencast: http://tbranyen.com/post/announcing-backbonejs-layoutmanager

Backbone.Marionette

Make your BackboneJS apps dance with a composite application structure!

• Better application startup structure through application initializers
• Built in event aggregator, for convenient application level events
• RegionManagers to properly display / remove view instances, including memory leak cleanup
• Source: https://github.com/derickbailey/backbone.marionette
• Reference application: http://bbclonemail.heroku.com

Yabbe (Yet Another Backbone Binding Exension)

• Data binding that's designed to feel familiar to Backbone users
• Examples: http://tantaman.github.com/yabbe/examples/YabbeViewExamples.html
• Project: https://github.com/tantaman/yabbe

Synapse

• Data binding between any object, bundled support for Backbone views, models, jQuery (and thus DOM elements or via CSS selectors), Zepto and plain objects (plain objects can only observe)

• Use new Synapse(object) to return a Synapse object or leave off the new and it will return the object with observe, notify and sync methods for more transparent usage.

• Define your own hooks for custom behavior or to support other types of objects

  • Minimal example: https://github.com/bruth/synapse/blob/master/src/synapse/hooks/object.coffee
  • Robust example: https://github.com/bruth/synapse/blob/master/src/synapse/hooks/jquery.coffee
  • Docs here: https://github.com/bruth/synapse/blob/master/src/synapse/hooks/README.md
  • Register your hooks Synapse.addHooks(hook1, hook2, hook3, ...)

• Source: https://github.com/bruth/synapse

• Docs & Examples: http://bruth.github.com/synapse/docs/

• Interactive Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/bruth/bufeK/

Backbone.ModelBinder.js

Simple, flexible and powerful bidirectional view-model binding for backbone. A javascript only solution (no markup in html) that relies on jQuery delegates for binding. Similar to how backbone view event blocks work.

• Handles partial view binding, nested views, formatting, type conversion, arbitrary html attributes and most html element types.
• JS Weekly Article
• Git

Backbone Bindings

Bi-directional bindings between Backbone.View elements and Backbone.Model attributes.

• Simple binding definitions like Backbone.View.events
• Bind to any element with by selector
• Bi-directional transformation
• Tested
• https://github.com/amccloud/backbone-bindings

Backbone.ModelBinding

Awesome model binding between models and form input elements, and more

• KnockoutJS-style data-bind attribute support
• Bind form fields to models and vice-versa
• Convention based
• Pluggable with your own conventions
• Extensible to bind to more than just form input elements

Get the code and read the documentation:

• https://github.com/derickbailey/backbone.modelbinding

Knockback.js

Knockout bindings for Backbone.js models and collections.

• includes localization hooks

• integrates with Backbone.ModelRef (https://github.com/kmalakoff/backbone-modelref) for lazy loading scenarios

• Github: https://github.com/kmalakoff/knockback

• jsFiddle sample: http://jsfiddle.net/kmalakoff/QSkpv/

Backbone on the Couch

A little plugin for use in leanback apps, where someone is sat on the couch using a remote control to use your app.

• Simple use - keypad.bind("key:up", function(){//do something on up});
• Events can be triggered on anything that extends Backbone.Events
• Extensible to capture other key events
• http://tomphilip.me/index.php/backbone-on-the-couch/

ProxyDollar

Plugin that proxies jQuery/Zepto/$ functions for Backbone Views.

• https://github.com/h4rry/backbone-proxyDollar

Backbone.declarative

A small plugin that adds declarative model and collection event binding to Backbone Views.

• https://github.com/Codecademy/backbone.declarative
• Tested and passes all Backbone tests.

outback.js

KnockoutJS-inspired declarative binding solution for Backbone Views.

• KnockoutJS-compatible binding handler API
• Explicit control over dependencies (e.g. cascading select boxes)
• Unobtrusive (i.e. code-based) and declarative (i.e. markup-based) configuration
• Multiple binding contexts for separating transient and persistent models.
• Tests, TodosMVC, and examples.
• https://github.com/politician/outback

Templates

Backrub

• https://github.com/juggy/backrub
• Uses Handlebars.js and Backbone.View to keep your template updated on the page. Based on Sproutcore TemplateView.

Helpers

Builder (DOM Builder for Backbone Views)

• Source: https://github.com/syntacticx/builder

Widgets

Slickback (integration with SlickGrid)

• Source: http://github.com/teleological/slickback
• Example: http://teleological.github.com/slickback
• Documentation: https://github.com/teleological/slickback/wiki

Vienna IKS Editables

• Homepage: http://wiki.iks-project.eu/index.php/VIE
• Annotated Source: http://bergie.github.com/VIE/

Backbone.Aura

Backbone.Aura is a decoupled, event-driven architecture on top of Backbone.js for developing widget-based applications

• Homepage: http://addyosmani.github.com/backbone-aura/
• Source: https://github.com/addyosmani/backbone-aura

Routing

jQuery Mobile Routing

• https://github.com/azicchetti/jquerymobile-router - a replacement for Backbone's routing, which is compatible with jQuery Mobile

Before/After Filters

• https://github.com/angelo0000/backbone_filters - provide Rails-like before & after filters on your Routers; especially useful for user access control
• https://github.com/boazsender/backbone.routefilter - Before and after filters for Backbone.Router. Similar idea to backbone_filters above, but takes a different approach, and has a different API.

Query Parameters

• https://github.com/jhudson8/backbone-query-parameters - provides query parameter support to backbone routes; especially useful for routes with optional parameters. Traditional parameters can be used in conjunction with query parameters.

Frameworks

Backbone Boilerplate

• https://github.com/tbranyen/backbone-boilerplate - A set of best practices and utilities for building Backbone.js applications

Backbone.CQRS

• https://github.com/jamuhl/backbone.CQRS - Backbone extension to provide CQRS integration down to clientside

Brunch

• http://brunch.io - provides a powerful, rails-like directory structure & includes great "wheels" (eco, stitch, jasmine)

Capt by Ben Nolan

• http://bennolan.com/2010/12/13/capt-a-tool-for-backbone.html

Mixin.js

• Provides mixin classes for a local collections (not stored on a server) and for mixing Backbone.Events into any class (including a check if they are mixed-in).
• Provides a facility to use Backbone.Events trigger('destroy') to do memory cleanup instead of a destroy method (event-based instance life-cycles).
• https://github.com/kmalakoff/mixin

Backbone Module (Module loader for Backbone apps)

• Not a JS loader like require.js, but a way to structure your code in big Backbone app projects.
• Load JS without worrying about load sequence and dependencies between modules.
• Source: https://github.com/juggy/backbone-module

Singool.js

• http://fahad19.github.com/singool/ - lightweight framework on top of Backbone for developing single-page web applications.

Backbone-Traversal

• https://github.com/dgreisen/Backbone-Traversal
• Quickly write single-page apps following a hierarchical design pattern.

Other

Backbone.Analytics: Drop-In Google Analytics For Backbone's Router

• https://github.com/kendagriff/backbone.analytics

Backbone-Callbacks: Node.js style callbacks for asynchronous methods

• Homepage: http://lorenwest.github.com/backbone-callbacks
• Github: https://github.com/lorenwest/backbone-callbacks
• Works in the browser and in node.js (commonJS)

Backbone.jFeed: RSS/ATOM Feeds For Collections

• https://github.com/kendagriff/backbone.jfeed

Cleaning Up And Preventing Memory Leaks With Your Views

• http://lostechies.com/derickbailey/2011/09/15/zombies-run-managing-page-transitions-in-backbone-apps/

Thingy-Client

• Tiddlywiki-like client for managing topical content. MongoDB back end.
• Work in progress. Feedback welcome.
• https://github.com/mlanza/thingy-client

Backbone (adapted for MooTools)

• https://github.com/jeromegn/backbone-mootools

Backbone-Factory

• Easily create Backbone models in unit tests.
• https://github.com/SupportBee/Backbone-Factory

Backbone.StateMachine

• Make a finite-state machine out of any object.
• Backbone stateful views.
• https://github.com/sebpiq/backbone.statemachine

Backbone.Shortcuts

• Defines and dispatches keyboard shortcuts
• leverages keymaster.js
• https://github.com/bry4n/backbone-shortcuts

Backbone Tastypie

• Modifications to Backbone's Model an Collection so that they play nice with django-tastypie. Includes a way to easily paginate over a resource list and a way to access the associated meta information.
• https://github.com/amccloud/backbone-tastypie

Backbone Interface

• Errors are thrown when Backbone instance does not have all the required methods of the interface.
• Better organized code. Keep your interfaces separate, with comments - a well-documented reference point for the methods in your Models, Collections, Views, and Routers. (Not for production).
• https://github.com/luke-siedle/backbone-interface