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resource for javascript without jQuery

Is there any repository of code snippets, tutorials, whatever, that concentrates on pure JS, without the use of frameworks?
I first approached javascript through scriptalicious then jumped to jQuery. I am now a seasoned jQuery developer, and I've done quite a lot in jQuery throughout the years.
My problem is, I've almost never coded in pure JS. By the time I got advanced in coding in general (I mean, cross-language), my JS coding style relied already heavily on jQuery.
Plus, each time I research a solution for a problem, the first results (or pages of results) in google involve jQuery, or, more rarely, another Js framework. Which leads me to this problem: since I have developed a lot of custom plugins, some fairly complex, for jQuery, I am quite sure I do know a lot of JS. But I can't tell the difference!
So I decided that from now on, and as long as I feel the need, I am going to try to use pure JS, at least at the beginning of each project (leaving myself enough time to revert to good old jQueryScript if I get stuck). My problem is I am way too advanced to follow beginner's tutorials. I would like to know if any of you guys has a suggestion for a place to begin my training. Some website where I could learn advanced JS, without frameworks.

I actually think Resig's book, Pro Javascript Techniques would be a great fit. I read it a while ago and my memory of it was that he walked through a lot of the kinds of cross browser issues one can experience with Javascript and talks about how one could create code to help remediate those issues.
Ultimately that thinking is what jQuery is all about, but this book is not a jQuery book at all, more focused on JavaScript, approaching the same kinds of problems jQuery makes you not have to think about.
Might be a great fit for where you are, and it is by no means a beginner book.
http://www.amazon.com/Pro-JavaScript-Techniques-John-Resig/dp/1590597273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310240944&sr=8-1

If you want learn more about JavaScript in general and really master it, there are two books that I would recommend:
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
JavaScript: The Good Parts
Both are excellent resources with great depth and cover fairly advanced topics.
If you would like to explore the possiblities of JS outside the browser and explore some cutting edge JS then take a look at the Node.js and CommonJS projects.

I recommend using this Google group:
http://groups.google.com/group/jsmentors

Is there any need to learn JavaScript DOM methods for web development, now we have jQuery et al?

With the availability of JQuery, is there any need to learn direct DOM manipulation with Javascript in order to be a professional web developer/site builder/etc.?
This probably could be asked with Prototype, MooTools, etc. too, but I'm not familiar with them apart from their names.

Note: This question was rephrased so
my answer reflects the initial
question but I kept on adding.
Absolutely. Jquery IS Javascript and while it does abstract a lot of the cross-browser DOM discrepancies, one is still prone to the same exact parsing errors, scope misunderstandings, and so forth.
Using jQuery without knowing basic DOM knowledge or necessary Javascript knowledge is what I would consider dangerous, somewhat like giving a very powerful gun to a child who just may accidentally shoot himself in the foot without knowledge of how to use such a powerful tool the proper way.
A person that's taught straight with jQuery would have absolutely no idea how to debug issues if the error being thrown refers to anything in the DOM. For something as simple as comparing to see if an element is another element ( for things like current state ), they would try something maybe like:
if ( $('a.current') == $('a.current') ) { }
Which would return false since two unique jQuery objects are created. If they had known how to grab the reference to the DOM nodes they could have just done $('#el')[0] == $('#el')[0].
Anytime you use a jQuery plugin and run into some mysterious behaviour, without DOM knowledge you pretty much have to rely on someone else to help you out. Developers with DOM knowledge would be more able to debug and know the root of the problem, so you're only setting yourself up to lose more time scratching you head puzzled in jQuery land.
Furthermore, if one wishes to ever get to a high knowledge level and not just be an ordinary joe jQuery developer then he would greatly need a vast knowledge of the DOM discrepancies and Javascript in general otherwise you're limiting your skill level by a huge margin.
If you stick around Stackoverflow for awhile you'll see this in day to day questions, in which people who took the easy shortcut lack the basic JS/DOM knowledge necessary to solve their issues.

In some circumstances, you could conceivably not want the overhead of a DOM manipulation library.
E.g. for mobile development, mobile internet connections are still a bit slow at the moment, so you might want to save bandwidth by forsaking a library and going with native DOM code. (And possibly save a bit of execution time, as mobile devices are currently a bit slower at running JavaScript than desktop computers.)
But the devices, libraries and internet connections should all get faster as time goes on, so I reckon it’s unlikely you’ll do a lot of direct DOM scripting in mainstream day-to-day web development.

If you don't want to learn the underlying basics, sure it is :)
If you're not interested in how stuff works, sure it is....
If you want to cry for help each time you hit the limits of jQuery, sure it is!
If you want to depend on people here answering you simple questions, sure it is :D (reps for us...)
"The fool wonders the wise man asks."
In other words, know how the tools you use work, otherwise you'll end up with a horrible dependency.

You can use a library like jQuery with little knowledge of Javascript and almost no knowledge of the DOM, but that will only get you as far as the library lets you. You will only be able to do things that others have done before you.
Knowing how the underlying system works will also let you use the library more efficiently. Knowing what the library has to deal with lets you know why there is a big performance difference for certain ways of using the library, and why some things doesn't work at all.

There's a great many things that jQuery simplifies for you, but knowledge of the underlying JavaScript that jQuery calls can make things a little faster:
$('<div />').appendTo($('body'));
and
$(document.createElement('div')).appendTo($('body'));
are both equivalent, but the latter is a shade faster (albeit only in the order of milliseconds), since you're using JavaScript directly, rather than having jQuery calling document.createElement() on your behalf. Again, this is definitely a ridiculous micro-optimisation.
Other examples are working with Date, Math and string objects/functions. jQuery doesn't implement replacements for these (wisely so, since they're fairly easy to work with already).

Is it necessary to learn JavaScript before learning jQuery? [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Closed 12 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Is it a good idea to learn JavaScript before learning jQuery?
I am about to start learning JavaScript. However one friend suggested me to go in for jQuery instead since he says future is jQuery. I heard that jQuery is created from JavaScript.
In short, give me one simple reason why developers like me should invest in JavaScript. What is its future?

Part of being a good programmer is having an interest in understanding how things work. You can't understand how JQuery works without knowing JavaScript.
A good programmer has a diversity of skills. Knowing both the JQuery way to do things and the JavaScript-only way makes you more versatile.
Most employers who are looking for someone who knows JQuery are probably also looking for someone who knows ordinary JavaScript.
You can never achieve true expertise in JQuery without understanding JavaScript.
Sometimes even a fairly lightweight framework is more than you need.
If you don't ever learn to do things the hard way, you won't appreciate what's so great about doing it the easy way.
Moreover, if you start by learning to do things the easier way, you'll have that much harder a time motivating yourself to learn to do it the hard way.
Learning the language first without the fancy frameworks builds character.
Who knows, maybe you'll want to make your own framework someday. Or even work on a new version of JQuery. To do that, you'll need to know the language.

jQuery is JavaScript and yes, it makes things a lot easier for you and you can use it without much JavaScript knowledge, and yes, it will probably become even more popular in the future.
BUT: Wherever is jQuery, there will be JavaScript. jQuery is "just" a tool. You still need "plain" JavaScript to solve some problems, e.g. string manipulation.
Imho: You cannot master jQuery if you don't master JavaScript.
And there will be situations where jQuery might be not the best solution, e.g. when you really need high performance.
For me, this is similar to other questions I read here on SO about web frameworks and programming languages, like: Do I have to learn/know PHP if I want to use [Zend | symfony | CodeIgniter].
Seriously: If you don't understand the basics, you cannot use a tool efficiently.

JQuery is a library, written in Javascript, the language. It is almost always the case that learning the library without learning the language is impractical if not impossible, irrespective of the library and the language in question.

jQuery will come and go.
You are a web developer, right? Javascript is huge. Think how much time people spend using a web browser. The entire time they are interfacing directly with html dom, css, and javascript. Or, less and less, flash and "actionscript" (which is basically javascript).
Learn javascript, learn css, learn the dom. Refer to ecma-262 versions 3 and 5 and publications by w3c and whatwg. Read mozdev, cross-check msdn.
After that, take a look at jQuery if you want. You will probably find that you don't need it for 99% of the stuff people use it for.

Every browser has its own implementation of Javascript ( the language ) and the DOM ( library for manipulating elements on the page ). Because of the inconsistency of each browsers Javascript + DOM with another, jQuery ( created with Javascript ) was created as a wrapper that internally deals with these inconsistencies so you can use the easy API.
Underneath the hood, most of your problems are already solved for you so you don't have to think about issues like:
invoking functionality for the DOM ready event
a consistent way of attaching event handlers for click, mouseover and other events, attaching multiple functions to the same action
returning the proper values for elements as well as viewport ( window ).
Because jQuery is a Javascript library you won't master it without mastering Javascript. See my previous answer for recommendations for learning Javascript.

You do not need to know JavaScript in order to use jQuery.
This depends what you want of course.
If you want to put together web pages and don't consider yourself the 'programming type' or you simply don't like JavaScript, then don't bother, spend your time where it will matter most.
Your also asking this question on a site where majority of users are developers so your going to get a lot of people who say you should learn JavaScript, I say learn it if it interests you.
There are pleanty of jQuery solutions out there and support so that you don't need JavaScript.

jQuery IS JavaScript. When you are writing jQuery, you are writing in javaScript. All a library like jQuery consists of is a premade collection of functions you can use in your JavaScript programs.
So, you have to know JavaScript syntax and the core language in order to use jQuery at all. A good book for that is Douglas Crockfords the Good Parts.
What you do not need to know as much about is the DOM API, since that is mainly what jQuery smooths over for you. It helps a lot to understand the concepts of the DOM, though. You still need to know what an element is, and what attributes are.
You also need to know about CSS in order to use jQuery effectively. The key concepts here are classes, IDs, positioning, visiblity and display, among others.

Yes you CAN use jQuery without knowing JavaScript. In fact, I knew very little about JavaScript originally but by using jQuery it sparked my interest to learn it and so I did. Years later I can say I am very proficient with both.

As you progress in your programmer expertise you would find that you go from library writer to library user. This is quite natural and OK. When you are starting off, all you have is the basics. You write your code in terms of those basics and over time find that you need to bunch common code in a library for easier reuse.
Sometime later you find that someone has already done just that and created a library that's even better than yours. You then switch from being library writer to library user. jQuery is one such library and you really need to know JavaScript to be able to draw a line in your head as to where jQuery is and where JavaScript is.
My advice, in light of the above, would be to learn the underlying technology before getting started with the library (which is what jQuery is). However in this case I would make an exception - skip DOM manipulation. DOM is a stupid abstraction and will have you tear your hair out in no time flat. jQuery wraps it up quite nicely, might as well get stuck into that after you understand JavaScript basics.

you can read this
edit
However one friend suggested me to go
in for jQuery instead since he says
future is jQuery.
If you go for jQuery, of course you are still learning Javascript...
You can not understand jQuery if you can not understand how Javascript works.
Some programmers learning jQuery wihtout the knowledge of javascript thought that they are learning a new programming scripting language. But they did not know that jQuery is not. They are just using jQuery as a tool. They are still coding Javascript...
If you want your Javascript codes to be cross-browser,
with less hassle, go for jQuery... but still you need the basic (or at least) knowledge of Javascript.

Are there any guides on converting between Javascript frameworks?

I have a date picker library written for MooTools that I want to port to Prototype. It's looking to be a long arduous task and I'm wondering if anyone has seen or written guides on the differences between the two. A translation dictionary of sorts, where I can look up a Moo function and see the prototype equivalent, or vise-versa.
The same would also be nice for jQuery to Prototype.

I've wanted to find something like this for a while. It got so I wanted to make my own and a few weeks ago I started ArtLung Rosetta, an effort to have a "Hello World" page with various techniques in many major libraries. It's a work in progress.
However, a few weeks ago I came across this EXCELLENT resource by Matthias Schütz. The JavaScript Library Comparison Matrix. That reference site has syntax comparisons with links to relevant documentation for: DOM Ready, DOM Basics, DOM Filtering, DOM Manipulation, Effects, Transitions, Events, Custom Functions, Ajax, and Classes.
I enjoy comparing the various libraries approaches -- I find I learn a great deal about the libraries themselves, and my own programming style and how I can improve it by carrying out the same task in multiple frameworks.

I'll take a stab at this. If you haven't found any resources after a thorough google search, I'd say you're stuck with just opening up the API's of each and just consulting them back and forth and looking at the examples.
I'm actually going from Prototype to jQuery on a project right now. (Aside: I'm much happier with jQuery having used both for awhile.) My basic work flow is just referencing the API as needed.
I would be surprised if there was such a mapping of one to the other though. In either framework, there are many ways of doing any given task, and on top of that they work in different and important ways. Sure there's some 1:1 correspondence like "addClass" vs. "addClassName", but jQuery DOM manipulation typically works on sets of elements (which may be just a set of 1) while Prototype works on single elements (which may be wrapped by an each statement to work with sets).
Fortunately, both have pretty good and easy to use/reference API's.
Good luck.

As mentioned by Keith, there is no a 1:1 correspondance between the features provided by libraries.
Even more importantly: different frameworks require different mindsets. It's very little about renaming functions, it's more about writing the code in the style of another framework. Thinking like "What would be the jQuery way of doing this?"
If you're porting code from framework A to B and don't know B very well, you can easily end up with with something quite ugly.

I can't think of any guides on converting. But there have been a few Library1 versus Library2 blog posts where libraries are compared and contrasted. Probably worth hunting those down and reading them.

What should I choose? jQuery, mootools, yui, scriptaculous or prototype?

Duplicate: Which Javascript framework (jQuery vs Dojo vs … )?
I am totally new to JavaScript, but I want to implement Ajax features into my website. Which JS framework should I learn? Please recommend or which one you are using and why you use it?

jQuery is currently extremely popular, so you're probably going to have the most luck finding recent tutorials/plugins/etc for it, as opposed to one of the other frameworks. That's probably a fairly good selling-point from the perspective of someone new to this.

Microsoft apparently blessed jQuery, so for now that's your best bet.

I'm currently writing a paper on JavaScript frameworks. After all the research I've done so far, I can tell you this...
Seriously, nobody can tell you which framework is best for you. There's only one way to find out: try playing around with all the different libraries you're considering. It's a matter of personal preference.
See this excellent JavaScript Library Overview, a presentation by John Resig (who happens to be the lead developer of jQuery). It contains small code samples for all the listed frameworks. After viewing those, you'll probably know which framework to choose, depending on which coding style you prefer.
Also, this SO topic might be of interest.

Jquery is probably the best of the lot, it actually lets you "do more, write less"

One more for Jquery..Awesome plugins!!

Built in intellisense for jQuery in VS2008 (sp1 I think?) was one consideration for us, but essentially we've played with mootools, prototype, scriptaculous and jquery, and have found jquery to be the easiest for us all to understand/support.
We have a mixed team here, and even our business logic guys can pickup the logic/approach in jquery.
We also use telerik controls, and they've now announced more support for jquery - it certainly seems its star is in the ascension.
Try all of them, but if you're from a .net background, I think it's the logical choice at the moment.

I use jQuery now because it is easy and has lots of features. Before I was using prototype and scriptaculous.

I noticed Dojo wasn't included on your list. It's a framework that's geared to heavy-weight AJAXified pages.
http://dojotoolkit.org/
That said, JQuery appears to have the most momentum at the moment, and other frameworks (like Dojo) are working on putting more JQuery-like functionality into their product, so I would recommend learning that.

Im having a really good time with jQuery myself. Thers lots of good documentation and tutorials for it, which is excellent if your new to Javascript.
If its only the ajax features your after I recommend checking out http://docs.jquery.com/Ajax . Also the tutorials at Themeforest is really brilliant. For example the jquery tutorial for absolute beginners day 10 is showing you the basics of jQuery + Ajax.

FORK Ajax. It does the job well, and it's very small (5KB minified) and simple.

I'll plug Mootools. Of course the reason anyone prefers any of these over another is "I started using XYZ first."

jQuery is my go-to framework of choice, but you really have to look at each ones' strengths and see how they align with your project
The important thing is, use a framework -- really any framework. The benefits of using a framework, no matter which one, are so enormous. The best ones get rid of all or most of the cross-browser headaches you are bound to experience.

The best thing to consider is what you want the framework for. jQuery was designed to make manipulating the DOM easier. So if that is the main focus of what you want to be doing, then great. It is a super rad framework and it is really is amazingly natural and easy to pick up.
That having been said, it is worth considering what the others have to offer. Other frameworks like prototype and mootools are most interested in turning javascript into a more powerful programming language with richer object oriented programming capabilities and functionality for arrays, strings and numbers. I don't know enough to be able to compare/contrast prototype and mootools, but maybe someone else could fill in on that.
This is a great article that explains the difference between mootools and jquery - jqueryvsmootools.com/
The good news is that you don't necessarily have to decide. Although you might occasionally come up with bugs, you should be able to use jQuery with either mootools or prototype (see here). Basically just call jQuery.noConflict(); before any script on which you want to use jQuery and everything should work just fine. This allows you to use jQuery for all of it's slick DOM manipulation and rad UI library while also giving access to a more powerful framework when that is what you need.
Please let me know if I've missed anything here and I hope this helps.

When I was new to JavaScript, after a week I found out that life is much easier with a framework. Anyway, I did not even knew, what exactly they are for; I've got some glue about $() that it's a smart replacement for window.getElementById(), and I assumed that there are some other comfortable methods for other purposes, like AJAX request.
I did not wanted to spend lot of time on learning a framework, so I was decided that I will choose that which I fall in love first sight. Then I was spending about a whole month with googling. I have not missed any of the "big names", but I dropped them soon. The main reason of the dissatisfaction was their site, the documentation: after reading a whole page of text, I was yet as dumb as before. What is it for? What they do? What is the input, what is the aim, what is the output?
Then, I found DOMAssistant. It's small, perfect, and well-documented. Just take a look on the first paragraph of the opening page, it's a totally clear definition of the JS framework:
What is DOMAssistant?
The idea of DOMAssistant is to provide
a simpler and more consistent way to
script against the Document Object
Model (DOM) in web browsers. The idea
is that everything starts with the
element(s) in question, selected
through id or CSS selectors, and then
perform various methods on it, such as
adding or removing classes, events
etc.
So, I say, if you finally choose another, more fashionable framework, DOMAssistant is a must-to-see. And if you have no need for animated flying windows, it's also a good choice.