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I was looking at a couple of months ago - definitely a cool project! However ultimately I don't see what the big advantages of using processing.js are compared

by ido 16y ago

I was looking at a couple of months ago - definitely a cool project! However ultimately I don't see what the big advantages of using processing.js are compared to plain js with html5?

mryall 16y ago
Processing is a graphics language that gives you a great abstraction for writing time-based animations with useful primitives. Neither Canvas nor SVG provide the same high-level starting point, meaning it takes more effort to achieve the same effects.
- ido 16y ago
  Thanks! I think that is also what the website says, but when I experimented with both it didn't seem like drawing shapes/blitting bitmaps on canvas with js was all that different from doing it with processing, although I didn't try doing any animations. One downside that turned me off about processing is that the available tools (IDEs, debuggers, profilers) are even worse than what js has - you basically have to use the js tools on the generated js. Another down side is that the language is less powerful than js, but then again you can also code in js and use processing.js as a drawing library, which alleviates both issues.
mdg 16y ago
It is pretty much a direct port of the Processing language (originally written in Java). So you can bring your Processing projects to the browser without the need for an applet.
- ido 16y ago
  Oh, I know that - was just wondering why I'd be better off starting a new project in processing.js instead of in plain js/canvas. It's a lot easier to see the point with java/processing, since java2d is quite a bit harder to work with (or rather, it has many more gotcha's) than js/canvas.
  - mdg 16y ago
    Apologies. Personally, I use processing.js because I can use all the existing Processing examples as a point of reference. It is easier to get the ball rolling as opposed to starting from scratch. As a plus, the experience I get with processing.js, I will be able to apply to Processing (as you probably know, Processing is often used to graph output from an Arduino board, something else I have as a hobby).

by ido 16y ago

I was looking at a couple of months ago - definitely a cool project! However ultimately I don't see what the big advantages of using processing.js are compared to plain js with html5?

mryall 16y ago

Processing is a graphics language that gives you a great abstraction for writing time-based animations with useful primitives. Neither Canvas nor SVG provide the same high-level starting point, meaning it takes more effort to achieve the same effects.

ido 16y ago
Thanks! I think that is also what the website says, but when I experimented with both it didn't seem like drawing shapes/blitting bitmaps on canvas with js was all that different from doing it with processing, although I didn't try doing any animations. One downside that turned me off about processing is that the available tools (IDEs, debuggers, profilers) are even worse than what js has - you basically have to use the js tools on the generated js. Another down side is that the language is less powerful than js, but then again you can also code in js and use processing.js as a drawing library, which alleviates both issues.

mdg 16y ago

It is pretty much a direct port of the Processing language (originally written in Java). So you can bring your Processing projects to the browser without the need for an applet.

ido 16y ago
Oh, I know that - was just wondering why I'd be better off starting a new project in processing.js instead of in plain js/canvas. It's a lot easier to see the point with java/processing, since java2d is quite a bit harder to work with (or rather, it has many more gotcha's) than js/canvas.
- mdg 16y ago
  Apologies. Personally, I use processing.js because I can use all the existing Processing examples as a point of reference. It is easier to get the ball rolling as opposed to starting from scratch. As a plus, the experience I get with processing.js, I will be able to apply to Processing (as you probably know, Processing is often used to graph output from an Arduino board, something else I have as a hobby).