Your Guide To
Selecting a JavaScript Canvas Library or Framework
The canvas is great for games, art and apps in a Browser
Welcome readers from ◎ Your Guide to Coding Creativity on the Canvas
The canvas is a relatively new tag in HTML with a JavaScript API that allows coders to dynamically draw images to display in a Browser. In theory, the canvas is an open source alternative to rich media plugins like Adobe Shockwave (Flash) R.I.P.
The JavaScript canvas API is relatively low level. It allows you to make shapes, text, images, apply blend modes, manipulate pixels and a few other things. It was quickly apparent that helper libraries would be needed to replace Flash.
Brief History of the Canvas Libraries and Frameworks
A caveat… Dr Abstract happens to be a founder of a JavaScript Canvas Framework. Let’s see if you can guess which one by the end of the article.
At the dawn of the canvas, the two main libraries were EaselJS (part of the CreateJS suite) famous for remaking the Atari Arcade and Pixi.js out of the United Kingdom. Both these were made by former Flash developers who have generously upgraded twenty years of Interactive Media knowledge to the world of mobile.
