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JSDoc VS Compodoc

Compare JSDoc VS Compodoc and see what are their differences

JSDoc logo JSDoc

An API documentation generator for JavaScript.

Compodoc logo Compodoc

The missing documentation tool for your Angular application
  • JSDoc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-17
  • Compodoc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-11-02

JSDoc features and specs

  • Improved Documentation
    JSDoc generates detailed HTML documentation from comments, which improves the maintainability and readability of the codebase.
  • Enhanced Code Understanding
    By using JSDoc, other developers can easily understand the purpose and usage of functions, parameters, classes, etc.
  • Autocomplete and Type Checking
    When integrated with editors like Visual Studio Code, JSDoc comments can provide better autocomplete suggestions and can be used for TypeScript-like type checking.
  • Consistency
    JSDoc enforces consistent documentation across the codebase, ensuring that all parts of the code are equally documented.
  • Easy to Use
    It is relatively straightforward to incorporate JSDoc comments into existing JavaScript code with minimal effort.
  • Supports Multiple Formats
    JSDoc supports various formats and tags, making it versatile for different documentation needs.

Possible disadvantages of JSDoc

  • Learning Curve
    New users may need some time to fully understand and utilize all the features and tags available in JSDoc.
  • Manual Effort
    Writing JSDoc comments requires a manual effort from developers, which can be time-consuming especially for large codebases.
  • Not Enforced
    Without proper enforcement, developers might omit JSDoc comments, leading to inconsistent documentation.
  • Overhead
    Too many comments can make the codebase cluttered and harder to navigate in some cases.
  • Limited to JavaScript
    JSDoc is primarily designed for JavaScript, which can be limiting if the project includes multiple languages.

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.

JSDoc videos

ep1 - Documenting your javascript code like a pro, setting up JSdoc

More videos:

  • Review - How JSDoc Support was Added to TypeScript pt1 - TypeScript PR Reviews
  • Review - How JSDoc Support was Added to TypeScript pt2 - TypeScript PR Reviews

Compodoc videos

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to JSDoc and Compodoc)
Documentation
63 63%
37% 37
Documentation As A Service & Tools
Developer Tools
76 76%
24% 24
Knowledge Base
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare JSDoc and Compodoc

JSDoc Reviews

20 Best Web Project Documentation Tools
It is to Sass what JSDoc is to JavaScript: a documentation system to build pretty and powerful docs in the blink of an eye.
Source: bashooka.com

Compodoc Reviews

We have no reviews of Compodoc yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JSDoc should be more popular than Compodoc. It has been mentiond 54 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.

JSDoc mentions (54)

  • Documenting Web Components With Storybook
    One of the best tools available in Web Component development is the Custom Elements Manifest. It's a JSON representation of all your available components, covering all the attributes, methods, slots and events they support, powered by your JSDoc comments and TypeScript types. You can customize the manifest generation through plugins to support custom JSDoc comments, allowing you to power more pieces of your... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Just Say No to JavaScript
    I've seen several ways of annotating Javascript that IDEs seem to understand. They usually involve using comments before fields, classes, or functions. The most compliant one seems to be using [JSDoc](https://jsdoc.app/). JSDoc is mostly intended for generating documentation. However, the Typescript compiler can validate types (and can even interoperate with Typescript definitions), if you configure it as such. In... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • TypeScript (and JSDoc) vs JavaScript
    If you choose to use JSDoc instead of TypeScript, this only con that TypeScript has is gone, but a new one appears: JSDoc doesnt work very well with more complex types if you dont use classes to represent them. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • How to document your JavaScript package
    Thanks to JSDoc it's easy to write documentation that is coupled with your code and can be consumed by users in a variety of formats. When combined with a modern publishing flow like JSR, you can easily create comprehensive documentation for your package that not only fits within your workflow, but also integrates directly in the tools your users consume your package with. This blog post aims to cover best... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Deep Dive: Google Apps Script - Testing APIs and Automating Sheets
    Note: For simplicity, I will omit the JavaScript documentation, but for a production grade code you may want to add the documentation (see jsdoc.app website for more). - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
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Compodoc mentions (11)

  • πŸš€ Angular 18 + Cypress, Material + Transloco + Jest, EsLint + Docker + Prettier πŸš€
    βœ… Angular 18 βœ… Angular Material βœ… Unit Testing with Jest βœ… End-to-End Testing with Cypress βœ… Internationalization with Transloco βœ… Auto documentation with Compodoc βœ… Provide component examples with Storybook βœ… Analyse your project with source-map-explorer βœ… Docker βœ… ESLint βœ… Prettier βœ… Commit Linting βœ… AuditJS Audit this application using Sonatype OSS Index βœ… Auto-generate a CHANGELOG with... - Source: dev.to / 9 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
  • πŸš€ Angular 14 + ESLint, Material + Transloco + Jest, TestCafe + Docker + Prettier πŸš€
    βœ… Angular 14 βœ… Angular Material βœ… Unit Testing with Jest βœ… End-to-End Testing with TestCafΓ© βœ… Internationalization with Transloco βœ… Auto documentation with Compodoc βœ… Analyse your project with source-map-explorer βœ… Docker βœ… ESLint βœ… Prettier βœ… Commit Linting. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing JSDoc and Compodoc, you can also consider the following products

JSOLint - Format, verify, and lint JSON effortlessly with our powerful Validator Tool. Generate pretty JSON and validate online for free. Simplify your JSON tasks

TypeDoc - A documentation generator for TypeScript projects

Doxygen - Generate documentation from source code

DocFX - A documentation generation tool for API reference and Markdown files!

swagger.io - Swagger is an open source RESTapi Documentation Tool.

JSONFormatter.org - Online JSON Formatter and JSON Validator will format JSON data, and helps to validate, convert JSON to XML, JSON to CSV. Save and Share JSON