Platform-as-a-Service company dotCloud has combined its cloud knowledge base with its JavaScript pedigree to produce the logically named dotCloud JS, a new environment for the prototyping and development of web applications based entirely on JavaScript and HTML5.

Promising functionality resulting after "just a few lines of code", web developers are offered a curated selection (no less!) of cloud APIs, which are presented without the need to write backend code or worry about servers. The beta release includes APIs for data storage, real-time data synchronization, as well as integration with the Twilio and Twitter APIs.

"What the cloud needs right now is a 'starter pack'; an environment that is super-simple and lets you build new things very fast, without locking you into a proprietary straight jacket. That's what we're building with dotCloud JS," says Solomon Hykes, CEO of dotCloud.

Hykes details dotCloud JS' main features as a fully featured JavaScript SDK and an open stack — based on NodeJS, MongoDB, Redis, and websocke. The platform offers free deployment, with unlimited sandbox applications and what the company likes to label as a "complete ecosystem" of 14 cloud services via the dotCloud platform.

"With this release and our recent announcement of new pricing and support services, we are beginning to redefine the role of PaaS and its responsibility to developers and IT organizations," Hykes said. "Cloud platforms are now a legitimate alternative for critical business applications. The technology works and it scales. Smart technology leaders are looking for the right PaaS vendor that they can trust with reliability, long-term support, and compliance. That trusted vendor is what we're building."