It is beyond me why there are so many "codebase APIs" cropping up all over the place, heck even King Microshaft decided to put out a framework.

This isn't really what AJAX is supposed to be about - it is about enabling content developers to create fresh content without moving pages, and should be taken seriously.

It seems that everyone wants a band-aid system that has all the "gadgets and goodies" built into a package, but that still has to be highly customized, templated, tested, and has tons of code bloat.

Am I just blowing this out of proportion here, and if not, is there a real reason for all these tons of AJAX libraries now? I use simple prototype 1.4 and build everything off of its codebase.

I would love to hear pros and cons from anyone.