DocFX VS Compodoc

DocFX

A documentation generation tool for API reference and Markdown files!

Compodoc

The missing documentation tool for your Angular application

Landing page //
2023-05-11

Landing page //
2021-11-02

DocFX

Website: dotnet.github.io
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Compodoc

Website: compodoc.app
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DocFX features and specs

Open Source
DocFX is an open-source project, which allows for community contributions and transparency in development.
Multi-platform Support
It supports generating documentation for .NET projects across different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Comprehensive Documentation
DocFX can generate documentation from source code files as well as markdown files, making it versatile for different types of documentation needs.
Customization and Extensibility
The tool allows for customization of templates and supports plugins, enabling users to tailor the output to their specific requirements.
Static Site Generation
DocFX can generate a full static website from the documentation, which can be easily hosted on platforms like GitHub Pages.
Integration with .NET Core
DocFX integrates well with .NET ecosystem, making it a convenient choice for .NET developers for both code and conceptual documentation.

Possible disadvantages of DocFX

Complex Setup
The initial configuration and setup might be complex for users who are not familiar with the tooling, requiring careful reading of the documentation.
Performance Issues
For large projects, DocFX can be slow during the documentation generation process, which may affect productivity for large-scale documentation.
Limited Non-.NET Language Support
While it is excellent for .NET projects, DocFX offers limited features when applied to projects in other programming languages.
Documentation Quality
Some users might find that the generated documentation lacks polish out-of-the-box, requiring additional effort to meet professional publishing standards.
Learning Curve
There can be a learning curve for new users in understanding how to use DocFX effectively, especially in customizing templates and themes.

Compodoc features and specs

Comprehensive Documentation
Compodoc generates a full-featured documentation for Angular applications, including interactive diagrams for modules and relationships, which help developers easily understand the project structure.
Automatic Updates
With Compodoc, the documentation stays up-to-date as it automatically regenerates every time the codebase changes, reducing manual effort in maintaining documentation.
Markdown Integration
Developers can enhance documentation by incorporating custom markdown files, allowing for extra content and examples to be added to the generated documentation.
Easy Integration
Compodoc is easy to integrate into existing Angular projects and can be run as part of a continuous integration pipeline to ensure documentation is always current.
Search Functionality
It includes a powerful search feature that allows developers to quickly find specific information within the documentation, improving efficiency when navigating large codebases.
Support for Multiple Themes
Compodoc offers support for different themes, allowing developers to customize the look and feel of the documentation to match project needs or personal preference.

Possible disadvantages of Compodoc

Angular-Specific
Compodoc is tailored specifically for Angular applications, which limits its use case to developers working with the Angular framework and not others like React or Vue.
Potential Performance Issues
For very large Angular projects, Compodoc might become slow in generating documentation, particularly if the project has extensive comments and documentation files.
Dependency Management
As with any tool that requires integration, Compodoc can add additional complexity to a project's dependency management, requiring updates and compatibility checks over time.
Limited Customization
While it supports customization through themes and markdown, some users may find the extent of customization insufficient for certain complex or highly customized documentation needs.

DocFX videos

+ Add

Generate Java documentation with DocFX

Compodoc videos

+ Add

NestJS Crash Course 05 | Documenting our REST API with Swagger and Compodoc

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DocFX and Compodoc)

Compodoc

Documentation

59 59%

Documentation

41% 41

Documentation As A Service & Tools

51 51%

Documentation As A Service & Tools

49% 49

Knowledge Base

54 54%

Knowledge Base

46% 46

Tool

100 100%

Tool

0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using DocFX and Compodoc. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Compodoc should be more popular than DocFX. It has been mentiond 11 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DocFX mentions (7)

TSDocs.dev: type docs for any JavaScript library
This is a better looking version of what Java and C# have had for a long time (kudos to the author for that!), is that the inspiration for this tool? https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/windows/javadoc.html https://dotnet.github.io/docfx/ I saw the author mentioned in another comment that they found themselves peeping inside type declaration files "too often". While I do often use sites generated... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
What Does Microsoft Use to Create their KB Articles?
Actually, we use it for OptiTune, it's called "docfx" https://dotnet.github.io/docfx/. Source: over 3 years ago
Library / Codebase Documentation - Multiple aggregated libraries - How to create? DocFx does not support this?
We would really prefer to use a somewhat generic pre-made tool for this (such as DocFX) compared to rolling our own solution. We can roll our own solution... But would prefer not to so that we can minimize development and maintenance overhead. Source: over 3 years ago
CSharp Docuementation Site
I use docfx from microsoft to generate documentation for all my oss libraries. Source: over 3 years ago
What platform is Microsoft Docs hosted on?
My best guess would be that there's a CI/CD pipeline in GitHub that utilizes DocFX to convert the Markdown files to HTML. The constructed HTML files are then placed in an Azure Storage account that configured for Static Website Hosting combined with Azure CDN. Source: over 3 years ago

Compodoc mentions (11)

🚀 Angular 18 + Cypress, Material + Transloco + Jest, EsLint + Docker + Prettier 🚀
✅ Angular 18 ✅ Angular Material ✅ Unit Testing with Jest ✅ End-to-End Testing with Cypress ✅ Internationalization with Transloco ✅ Auto documentation with Compodoc ✅ Provide component examples with Storybook ✅ Analyse your project with source-map-explorer ✅ Docker ✅ ESLint ✅ Prettier ✅ Commit Linting ✅ AuditJS Audit this application using Sonatype OSS Index ✅ Auto-generate a CHANGELOG with... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
Documentation culture
Properly written code, there are documentation tool like this for Angular and others. Https://compodoc.app/. Source: over 2 years ago
Are there any Angular Modules, components, services relationship Mapping tools? Apart from Angular Augury.
Compodoc is a good tool for generating docs for an angular project. The documents generated also includes visual maps of dependencies. Source: over 2 years ago
I write more documents than code, but it comes with its struggles. Do you feel the same?
App documentation, here is compodoc (https://compodoc.app/) It is generated when the dev does a git commit and build in the pipeline. Source: over 2 years ago
🚀 Angular 14 + ESLint, Material + Transloco + Jest, TestCafe + Docker + Prettier 🚀
✅ Angular 14 ✅ Angular Material ✅ Unit Testing with Jest ✅ End-to-End Testing with TestCafé ✅ Internationalization with Transloco ✅ Auto documentation with Compodoc ✅ Analyse your project with source-map-explorer ✅ Docker ✅ ESLint ✅ Prettier ✅ Commit Linting. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago