The Plan

With each library, create the same canvas element, which will contain a mousedown event, which will then create a multipart object, consisting of a bitmap, and text. The object will then rotate, scale, and decrease in opacity, and eventually be removed from the stage. I will also show the canvas element in multiple stages, as it progresses to completion.

The Libraries

Cake

Includes a .min.js lib, which makes me feel a lil' warm on the inside.

Doodle

Protected with a BSD license, instead of the standard MIT license.

Easel

A library which I've actually used before, and created by the prolific Flash developer turned JS developer, Grant Skinner, my hero.

Fabric

A library, which, according to Andy Walpole over at Suburan Glory is lacking in documentation. At first glance for myself, however, seems to be plenty documented now.

Gury

Pronounced "Jury".

JSCanvasScript

A seemingly new, well-documented, and appropriately proportioned library for creating WebGL drawings/animations.

Raphael

A library that draws SVG elements, instead of using the canvas. It also has an interesting sibling project, Donatello, used for drawing with pure CSS.

Introduction

I'm starting this blog with the intent to learn more about the various Javascript canvas libraries that are out there. I've seen far too many libraries with the same goal, and far too little written about the differences between them. More than creating a standard blog, I'm hoping to quantify my findings in a tabled view, for those who'd rather not have to read through this entire blog.

Before I begin serving up my thoughts on Javascript programming, I'd like to offer a little information about myself. Currently, I'm a 27 year-old web developer
thriving
surviving in San Francisco. My interest in programming began in high school with a TI calculator application. The only parameter it accepted was the users birthday, and the only value it returned was the age the user would die at. Seven years later, I'd be writing Actionscript for a Facebook application that would accrue millions of users in less than a year. In between, existed 4 years of college, most of which was spent in computer animation, and a couple years at my entry-level tech job, working mostly in the front-end.

A couple years after the success of my Facebook Flash application, I realized that Flash was dying, and Javascript was quickly growing up to take its place as king of the web animation scene. Unlike Actionscript, however, Javascript doesn't have a team of engineers constantly overseeing its evolution, and building out a single vast, consolidated library. Instead, Javascript has hundreds of people, working independently from one another, constructing their own canvas libraries. That's the way open source works. It's capitalism, only the capital isn't money, it's pride, it's fame. And it's my goal to figure out who's earned the most brownie points in the JS community.

As a programmer, I write every day, but it usually consists of lines that are only ever read by computers. It's been a long time since I've written anything with the intent for it to be read by human eyes. Hopefully, with this blog, I can entertain at least a few people, and enlighten a few more.

Check out my personal blog at nerdlifesf.blogspot.com