As i developed javascript and Ajax Applications in the last year i have use several really good tools that helped me with a fast and clean development of code. Some of them ill name here and now.

Firefox Browser
The Firefox Browser is the best browser for developers and is needed for most of the tools and plugins described here. Its standard compilant, so if youre developing for xbrowser compatible Apps, you better start with firefox comapt and the move towards InternetExplorer
get Firefox here

Fire Bug
Shipped as a Plugin for Firefox, firebug helps you look into your application, some features:

• Status bar icon shows you when there is an error in a web page
• A console that shows errors from JavaScript and CSS
• Log messages from JavaScript in your web page to the console (bye bye "alert debugging")
• An JavaScript command line (no more "javascript:" in the URL bar)
• Spy on XMLHttpRequest traffic
• Inspect HTML source, computed style, events, layout and the DOM

A Must have if you code javascript and like to know what you Application is doing NOW ;)
get Firebug Here

Web Developer Toolbar
Shares some Features with firebug, but most of them are unique. This toolbar has the following Features

• cookies, ( view, edit, delete)
  
• css (disable, inplace edit, borders around boxes)
  
• forms (copletition, show form vars, convert to get / post)
• images (disable, infos etc)
  
• informations on all elements on the page
  
• outline elements
• zoom in and out
  
  

I guess i saved miriads of time since i use that one
get the Tolbar here

Selenium IDE Webtester
Tired of doing all the same click and test workflow all the day ? Wanna concentrate on coding ? Usethe Seleium IDE to record ypour clicks on the Application and replay whenever you need them ...

Links
OpenQA
Selenium IDE
Driven selenium reference
Story about Selenium

JSeclipse by Interakt
No need to say more than the homepage stats, its simply the best js editor i have stumeled upon:

JSEclipse is the the best and most popular Javascript plugin for the Eclipse environment. Its benefits are visible from the simplest tasks like editing small sections of code for your site to the more complex ones like working with the next big AJAX library or developing plugins for a product that embeds JavaScript like Dreamweaver or Photoshop.

get JSEclipse


So have fun and get to the sun instead of using the wrong tools and waste time ;)

I have replaced the first evals in jsObjects

that code
    eval(gridName + ".element = gridTable");    //element
    eval(gridName + ".createColumn = GridPubCreateColumn");    //method
    eval(gridName + ".createCell = GridPubCreateCell");    //method
    eval(gridName + ".createRow = GridPubCreateRow"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".editRow = GridPubEditRow"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".removeRow = GridPubRemoveRow"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".moveRow = GridPubMoveRow"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".newButton = GridPubNewButton"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".getGridData = GridPvtGetGridData"); //method
    eval(gridName + ".cellClick = doNothing");    //event
    eval(gridName + ".editDone = doNothing");    //event
    eval(gridName + ".deleteDone = doNothing"); //event
    eval(gridName + ".GridParent = gridParent");    //property
    eval(gridName + ".GridRowCount = 0");    //private property
    eval(gridName + ".CurrentCell = ''");    //private property
    eval(gridName + ".currentRow = ''");    //public property
    eval(gridName + ".rootDir = rootDir");    //private property
    eval(gridName + ".id = gridName");    //private property
    eval(gridName + ".textChecker = null"); //public property
    eval(gridName + ".readOnly = false");    //private property
    eval("tbObject = " + gridName);    //assignment

became


    var tbObject = {
        element:         gridTable,
        createColumn:    GridPubCreateColumn,
        createCell:        GridPubCreateCell,
        createRow:        GridPubCreateRow,
        removeRow:         GridPubRemoveRow,
        moveRow:         GridPubMoveRow,
        newButton:         GridPubNewButton,
        getGridData:    GridPvtGetGridData,
        cellClick:         doNothing,
        editDone:         doNothing,
        deleteDone:     doNothing,
        GridParent:        gridParent,
        GridRowCount:    0,
        CurrentCell:    '',
        currentRell:    '',
        rootDir:        rootDir,
        id:                gridName,
        textChecker:    null,
        readOnly:        false
    };

;))))

I guess i will have to replace a lot of the code, just for optimization issues ;)

With a little help from e-voc i made the json serializer work.
No well go soon to be async and the all will be much better.

Besides i started work hard on the integration of jsobjects. I guess ill have to rewrite some of the code to make it work w.o. evil eval.
The grid example is still simple, dropping notices etc .. but the api is growing. I dont have this much time, bus as ill make pnAjax a important component on the pncommerce project, reusing the grid and the tree for basic gui layout, it will get a lot of commits anyway.

The big Ajax discussion has come in place to postnuke. Again it looks like writing down things, instead of write code in the first blink of an idea is considered to be a bad thing there. Markwest requested a unified ajax Project for the postnukeworld, but i guess that will not take place .. why ?

The Approaches are too different

Chestnuts Ajax example is
- not using serialization
- relies on handcoded servers
- has no framework components
- has no event model catching errors from the serverside

Frank Schummertz pnForum Stuff:
- is using AHAH data (returning HTML instead of XML or serialized data
- relies on handcoded servers
- has no framework components
- has no event model catching errors from the serverside

pnAjax
- uses json data serialization
- has a tested gui kit / framework
- relies on no handcoded server to use ajax funcs on the client
- has a event model catching errors from the serverside

Anyway, i am really opposing doing 3 times the same work, but as i see from the mailing list postings, there is a request for a lot of functionality that is already in pnAJax. So i guess it was worth the time to sit down and thing of a framework that can totally integrate with postnuke instead of building stuff on top, that might be sexy, but is ugly code.

You migth call me a thread , but if there is no movement twoards a performant approach for the data stuff and nothing more that, hey, integrate scriptacolous into postnuke, Ill not be the one to jump in and make the lead on such a project .. ill guess it takes a year to explain to others what they need to develop .... pnAjax is rather complex on the code side of the project development ... but easy to use for the final developer, implementing his own apps with just a buch of loc.