Welcome to the Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)

Thanks for downloading the YUI Library of JavaScript and CSS components. The files you've downloaded contain all of the source code for YUI (in the /build directory) as well as functional examples for each component. They also contain documentation in the form of API docs. PDF cheatsheets for most components are available as an external download.

Getting Started:

1. Check out the examples of YUI in action. We recommend starting with the Event Utility and Dom Collection examples; Event and Dom provide an important foundation for JavaScript developers using YUI. Once you've reviewed those two foundational pieces, go on to explore utilities like Drag and Drop and Animation or UI controls like Button, Calendar and TabView. If you're interested in YUI's CSS components, read through the examples for Reset, Base, Fonts, and Grids in that order.
2. Remember that there are full user's guides for each component on the YUI website (external link). If you have any questions about a component as you play with the examples, check out the component's user's guide or the searchable API documentation.
3. Remember that you can download cheat sheets (external) for most YUI components. These one- or two-page printable PDFs make for a good starting point as you explore the various aspects of YUI.
4. Start building. You can include YUI scripts and CSS from this distribution (in the /build directory) or directly from Yahoo! servers. The YUI Loader Utility is a client-side loading package that can dynamically pull in YUI scripts as needed, whether from your servers or from ours.
5. Become a member of the YUI community. YUI developers and implementers share thoughts and solutions and provide a helping hand in our forums (external link; requires a Yahoo! ID). YUI developers also contribute to the YUIBlog, where you'll find in-depth articles, videos and other great content about YUI and the world of frontend engineering.

YUI Functional Examples Included with This Download:

Along with the source code for YUI, your download includes 275 functional examples and tutorials that demonstrate each component in action. Use the list below or the menu at left to review these YUI demos — they're the best way to get oriented to what YUI can do and to grab sample code that can help you get started. Remember that these examples and more, in addition to user's guides for each YUI component, can also be found on the YUI website (external link). (Note: Almost all examples in this distribution will work if you are browsing them from your filesystem, but some examples included here do need to be deployed on a PHP-enabled http server to function properly; if you don't have access to such a setup, just check out those examples on our website to see how they work.)

More from the YUI Project:

The YUI Project also includes the YUI Compressor, a safe and powerful server-side JavaScript/CSS minifier. We use YUI Compressor to pack the YUI Library's -min files, and you can use it on your own files as well. Check out the YUI Compressor page on the YUI website.