5 ms·

The problem is, the right tool does not exist on the Web. WebGL doesn't have very good support, especially on mobile. That's why one would choose to use SVG.

by xigma 8y ago

The problem is, the right tool does not exist on the Web. WebGL doesn't have very good support, especially on mobile. That's why one would choose to use SVG. Also, just to get it to do something requires a lot more expertise and code. Would this project have worked out better on Canvas? Yes, most certainly, but some people have to find out the hard way.

kowdermeister 8y ago
Padorn? Yeah, poor Opera mini users will suffer. https://caniuse.com/#search=webgl https://caniuse.com/#search=webgl
- xigma 8y ago
  The fact that a browser supports WebGL tells you nothing about which devices support it. It all depends on the GPU and its drivers, browsers have blacklists of GPUs, but even if your device is not blacklisted, it may simply screw up, especially on mobile.
  - kowdermeister 8y ago
    If you rely on WebGL on mobile then I would feel insecure too, but progressive enhancement is a thing. I got recently asked to do a project in WegGL and the target audience has the latest gadgets so it will fly on mobile as well. A transaction will cost around $50k so it's a safe assumption, but I'll do more research.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- lucideer 8y ago
  @xigma technically true but not a widespread problem these days statistically. The blacklists cover a small usage percentage.
lucideer 8y ago
> WebGL doesn't have very good support, especially on mobile. That's why one would choose to use SVG. This statement isn't even vaguely true. SVG support is quite incomplete and inconsistent across all browsers (both desktop and mobile), while Webgl has been comparatively well supported on mobile for many years (Android 4.4 lacked support; Android 9 is now out). The only issues you might have with most common webgl applications on mobile is performance & battery drain but that's equally true of SVG.
- xigma 8y ago
  Another opinion from someone who presumably looks at "browser support" tables and green checkmarks and forms an opinion that way. How much actual WebGL vs. SVG development have you done? How many devices have you tested?
  - viraptor 8y ago
    This applies to a few of your comments, but: you're not telling us anything interesting, you're just antagonistic. GP's experience is not really relevant here. If you think you have more experience, tell us about your opinions and how your justify them. Knee-jerk disagreeing and suspecting everyone to have less experience than you will just get you downvoted everywhere.
    - xigma 8y ago
      > you're not telling us anything interesting First of all, that's a pretty condescending thing to say and you're obviously not speaking for everyone. I wouldn't mention that if you weren't tone-policing me. I'm telling you that if you make technical decisions based on "feature support" charts, you're going to fall flat on your face with WebGL. That's pretty useful information unless you never have to do any actual work with that technology, but then your opinion is also irrelevant. > Knee-jerk disagreeing and suspecting everyone to have less experience than you will just get you downvoted everywhere. Nobody who has experience with WebGL and SVG will say WebGL is better supported across the board. You'll have to take that at face value, there's no scientific study for it and I'm not going to just give out more information than I'm comfortable with. I'm getting downvoted across the board here, presumably for using "bad" words like "terrible" to describe everyone's favorite Web technology they never really used. Or if they have used it, they don't know how poorly it compares to something "evil" like Flash. People want "the good guys" to win, which means "free and open source" and "standard". It makes them upset when somebody criticizes that harshly, but it's the reality. I got some upvotes initially, by the way. Not that I care either way, I'm not paid in upvotes.
shripadk 8y ago
Why does WebGL not have very good support on mobile?
- xigma 8y ago
  Because mobile GPUs have terrible drivers that rarely get updated and browser vendors can't be bothered to deal with that combinatorial explosion. Having said that, iOS isn't that bad.
j45 8y ago
Hoping WebAssembly will eventually be in a position to help.

by xigma 8y ago

kowdermeister 8y ago

Padorn? Yeah, poor Opera mini users will suffer. https://caniuse.com/#search=webgl https://caniuse.com/#search=webgl

xigma 8y ago
The fact that a browser supports WebGL tells you nothing about which devices support it. It all depends on the GPU and its drivers, browsers have blacklists of GPUs, but even if your device is not blacklisted, it may simply screw up, especially on mobile.
- kowdermeister 8y ago
  If you rely on WebGL on mobile then I would feel insecure too, but progressive enhancement is a thing. I got recently asked to do a project in WegGL and the target audience has the latest gadgets so it will fly on mobile as well. A transaction will cost around $50k so it's a safe assumption, but I'll do more research.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
lucideer 8y ago
@xigma technically true but not a widespread problem these days statistically. The blacklists cover a small usage percentage.

lucideer 8y ago

> WebGL doesn't have very good support, especially on mobile. That's why one would choose to use SVG. This statement isn't even vaguely true. SVG support is quite incomplete and inconsistent across all browsers (both desktop and mobile), while Webgl has been comparatively well supported on mobile for many years (Android 4.4 lacked support; Android 9 is now out). The only issues you might have with most common webgl applications on mobile is performance & battery drain but that's equally true of SVG.

xigma 8y ago
Another opinion from someone who presumably looks at "browser support" tables and green checkmarks and forms an opinion that way. How much actual WebGL vs. SVG development have you done? How many devices have you tested?
- viraptor 8y ago
  This applies to a few of your comments, but: you're not telling us anything interesting, you're just antagonistic. GP's experience is not really relevant here. If you think you have more experience, tell us about your opinions and how your justify them. Knee-jerk disagreeing and suspecting everyone to have less experience than you will just get you downvoted everywhere.
  - xigma 8y ago
    > you're not telling us anything interesting First of all, that's a pretty condescending thing to say and you're obviously not speaking for everyone. I wouldn't mention that if you weren't tone-policing me. I'm telling you that if you make technical decisions based on "feature support" charts, you're going to fall flat on your face with WebGL. That's pretty useful information unless you never have to do any actual work with that technology, but then your opinion is also irrelevant. > Knee-jerk disagreeing and suspecting everyone to have less experience than you will just get you downvoted everywhere. Nobody who has experience with WebGL and SVG will say WebGL is better supported across the board. You'll have to take that at face value, there's no scientific study for it and I'm not going to just give out more information than I'm comfortable with. I'm getting downvoted across the board here, presumably for using "bad" words like "terrible" to describe everyone's favorite Web technology they never really used. Or if they have used it, they don't know how poorly it compares to something "evil" like Flash. People want "the good guys" to win, which means "free and open source" and "standard". It makes them upset when somebody criticizes that harshly, but it's the reality. I got some upvotes initially, by the way. Not that I care either way, I'm not paid in upvotes.

shripadk 8y ago

Why does WebGL not have very good support on mobile?

xigma 8y ago
Because mobile GPUs have terrible drivers that rarely get updated and browser vendors can't be bothered to deal with that combinatorial explosion. Having said that, iOS isn't that bad.

j45 8y ago

Hoping WebAssembly will eventually be in a position to help.