Since we last posted an article on Learning Dojo, things have changed dramatically. Dojo has become an early adopter of AMD, with a new build tool to match; there is a new grid; the documentation has been vastly improved, and there are tutorials galore!

In fact, there is so much information out there on learning Dojo, it might be overwhelming. In a way, Dojo 1.7′s migration to AMD amplifies the problem, in that many previously-published articles no longer reflect the most recent best practices. This post aims to start you off on the right foot by pointing to relevant up-to-date resources for getting started with — or catching up on — Dojo 1.8.

Why Dojo

10 Reasons your Projects Should use the Dojo Toolkit
Slides: Dojo 2.0: Modular, Mobile, and Reinventing Web App Development
Interview with Dojo Toolkit Co-creator Dylan Schiemann

Getting Started

Tutorial: Dojo Start – Answers many common questions asked by newcomers
Tutorial: Hello Dojo – Guides through the first steps in exploring Dojo

Transitioning from Dojo 1.6

Tutorial: Modern Dojo – Explains key differences between Dojo before and after 1.7
Slides: Moving to Dojo 1.7 and the path to 2.0 – Presents features new to Dojo 1.7 and up

AMD Resources

Tutorial: Defining Modules – Explains how to define and load modules, and configure the loader
AMD: The Definitive Source – Explains the reasoning and benefits of AMD
Slides: Modular JavaScript: AMD & CommonJS modules – Discusses the evolution of AMD
AMD API – Wiki containing AMD API specifications

Learning Dojo

Tutorial: Making Functions with hitch and partial – Explains execution context and how to control it
Tutorial: Classy JavaScript with dojo/_base/declare – Explains Dojo’s chief inheritance mechanism
Tutorial: Ajax with dojo/request – Introduces Dojo 1.8′s new Ajax API
Tutorial: Getting Started with Deferreds – Introduces Deferreds, crucial for asynchronous logic
Tutorial: Dojo Deferreds and Promises – Discusses Promises and their relation to Deferreds
Tutorial: Dojo Object Stores – Explains the dojo/store API, new since Dojo 1.6
Reference Guide: Dojo – Index of reference material for the Dojo package

Learning Dijit

Tutorial: Understanding _WidgetBase – Details the module forming the basis of all widgets
Tutorial: Layout with Dijit – Discusses Dijit’s layout widgets
Tutorial: Creating Template-based Widgets – Describes Dijit’s templating capabilities
Recipe: Creating a Custom Widget – Walks through implementing a widget
Reference Guide: Dijit – Index of reference material for the Dojo package

Developing Applications

Tutorial: Using dojo/hash and dojo/router – Discusses Dojo’s utilities for managing the browser hash
Recipe: Application Controller – enumerates an approach to writing a small app
Dojo Boilerplate – Provides a starting point for creating a Web application with Dojo
Tutorial: Getting Started with dojox/mobile – The first in a series of tutorials to build a mobile app

Build Tool Resources

Tutorial: Creating Builds – Thoroughly explains the various facets of a custom build
Working with Dojo and AMD in Production – Enumerates approaches to loading production builds
Reference Guide: The Dojo Build System – Definitive documentation on the new build system
Dojo Web Builder – An online tool for creating Dojo builds

Dojo Packages

Dojo Foundation Packages – Explains the role packages play in Dojo’s future
dgrid – Web site for dgrid, a Dojo Foundation package

Community

As always, the Dojo community is the best around.  If you get stumped or have an advanced question, you can get more answers by leveraging the following resources:

• Dojo Community, including a forum interface to the dojo-interest mailing list
• Mailing Lists
• Web client for the #dojo IRC channel on irc.freenode.net

If you find that a self-guided tour or community support is inadequate, SitePen also offers workshops taught by Dojo experts, as well as highly responsive support services.