JavaScript programmers, rejoice! It's been a good week for open source from big companies. Earlier this week Yahoo! released its Traffic Server it acquired from Inktomi, and now Google has unleashed Closure Tools. These are part of the toolset that Google uses to create JavaScript-heavy applications like Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Maps.

The tools from Google include templates, a JavaScript optmizer, a library of User Interface (UI) widgets and controls, and more. If you're sensing a love of JavaScript here, you're not wrong.

The Closure Compiler is a tool that optimizes JavaScript so it runs faster. It also provides warnings about "common JavaScript pitfalls," so developers can get some insight into writing better code. The compiler comes in several flavors -- a CLI tool, a Web app, and a Firefox extension. Nice to see Google playing well with other browser projcts.

The Closure Templates are for HTML and UI elements, and should be not only easy for developers to use but also to localize. This is pretty important for projects that hope to serve an internation