Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

p5.js VS JavaScript

Compare p5.js VS JavaScript and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

p5.js logo p5.js

JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences

JavaScript logo JavaScript

Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions
  • p5.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22
  • JavaScript Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05

We recommend LibHunt JavaScript for discovery and comparisons of trending JavaScript projects.

p5.js features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    p5.js simplifies the process of learning and creating interactive graphics with its intuitive syntax, making it accessible for beginners.
  • Web-Based
    As a JavaScript library, p5.js runs directly in the web browser, enabling easy sharing and embedding of interactive sketches online without the need for additional plugins.
  • Creative Coding Community
    p5.js is supported by a vibrant community that shares a plethora of examples, tutorials, and resources, facilitating learning and troubleshooting.
  • Extensibility
    Its modular architecture allows for easy integration with other libraries like p5.sound, p5.dom, and even external JavaScript libraries, enhancing its functionality.
  • Accessibility
    p5.js emphasizes inclusivity, offering features that make it easier to create accessible web content, such as screen reader support.

Possible disadvantages of p5.js

  • Performance
    p5.js may not be as performant as other lower-level graphics libraries or frameworks, which can be a limitation for highly intensive graphical applications.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While beginner-friendly, mastering complex features and fine-tuning performance in p5.js can require significant effort and understanding of JavaScript.
  • Not Ideal for Large Projects
    Due to its simplicity and focus on learning and prototyping, p5.js might not be suitable for large-scale, production-grade applications.
  • Limited 3D Support
    Although p5.js offers 3D rendering capabilities, these are less developed and performant compared to dedicated 3D libraries like Three.js.
  • Dependency on JavaScript
    Since p5.js is built on JavaScript, it inherits the language's limitations and quirks, which might be a hindrance for developers accustomed to other programming languages.

JavaScript features and specs

  • Wide Browser Support
    JavaScript is supported by all modern web browsers without the need for any plugins, making it highly versatile for client-side scripting.
  • Asynchronous Programming
    JavaScript supports asynchronous programming with features like callbacks, Promises, and async/await, which helps in efficiently handling tasks such as HTTP requests.
  • Rich Ecosystem and Libraries
    The JavaScript ecosystem includes a vast amount of libraries and frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, and Node.js, which streamline development processes.
  • Community Support
    JavaScript has a large and active community, providing extensive resources, documentation, and forums for troubleshooting and development advice.
  • Event-Driven
    The language is inherently event-driven, making it suitable for developing interactive web applications that react to user inputs.
  • Full-Stack Development
    With the advent of Node.js, JavaScript can be used for both client-side and server-side development, enabling full-stack development using a single language.

Possible disadvantages of JavaScript

  • Security Issues
    Being an interpreted language that runs in the browser, JavaScript code is visible to the user, making it susceptible to security risks such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS).
  • Browser Compatibility
    While JavaScript itself is widely supported, different browsers may implement JavaScript functions and standards differently, leading to compatibility issues.
  • Performance
    JavaScript is generally slower than compiled languages such as C++ or Java. Heavy computations can lead to performance bottlenecks.
  • Single Inheritance
    JavaScript uses prototypal inheritance instead of classical inheritance, which can be confusing for developers coming from object-oriented programming backgrounds.
  • Dynamic Typing
    JavaScript's dynamic typing can lead to runtime errors that are hard to debug, as variable types are checked at runtime rather than during compilation.
  • Fragmentation
    The ecosystem has many competing libraries, frameworks, and tools, which can make it overwhelming for developers to choose the right technologies for their projects.

Analysis of p5.js

Overall verdict

  • p5.js is a highly regarded tool for creative coding, offering a versatile platform for interactive graphics and art. Its simplicity and powerful functionality make it a popular choice in the creative coding community.

Why this product is good

  • p5.js is considered good due to its user-friendly interface and extensive documentation, which make it accessible for both beginners and experienced developers. It's designed to make coding easy and approachable for artists, designers, educators, and beginners, focusing on the creative potential of programming.

Recommended for

  • Artists
  • Designers
  • Educators
  • Students
  • Beginners in programming
  • Anyone interested in creative coding and visual arts

p5.js videos

Processing or p5.js? My opinions

More videos:

  • Review - Q&A #1: Side-Scroller in p5.js
  • Tutorial - 17.11: Sound Visualization: Frequency Analysis with FFT - p5.js Sound Tutorial

JavaScript videos

Learn JavaScript in 7 minutes | Create Interactive Websites | Code in 5

More videos:

  • Review - Top 10 JavaScript Interview Questions
  • Review - Learn JavaScript in 12 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to p5.js and JavaScript)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Language
0 0%
100% 100
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using p5.js and JavaScript. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare p5.js and JavaScript

p5.js Reviews

20+ JavaScript libraries to draw your own diagrams (2022 edition)
A JS client-side library for creating graphics and interactive experiences, based on the core principles of Processing to make coding accessible to artists, designers and educators. Beyond drawing, this project provides offers web audio functionality, collision detection and even generation of graphical user interfaces from p5.js sketches.
8 Best Free and Open-Source Drawing Libraries in JavaScript
The p5.js library is a great option for people who are looking for a library that doesn't have a steep learning curve, but which can create very complicated systems if necessary. The get started with P5.js page on the official website has a functional example that draws circles wherever you move your mouse in only a few lines of code.

JavaScript Reviews

Top 10 Rust Alternatives
In simple words, the main goal of JavaScript is to develop web pages and is used for authentication procedures. Some of the pros of using JavaScript as an alternative to Rust are follows.
Top 15 jQuery Alternatives To Know
ExtJS, as the name suggests, stands for Extended JavaScript. As an offering from Sencha, it depends on YahooUserInterface. ExtJS helps in creating data intensified HTML5 apps with JavaScript. It consists of a huge collection of customizable and high-performance widgets that assist in creating cross-platform mobile and web apps, for any type of modernized device.
The 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn Today
JavaScript skills are always in high demand – most of the world's top websites and apps rely on JavaScript in one way or another. Plus, JavaScript is a great springboard for learning more complex programming languages.
Source: ict.gov.ge

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, p5.js seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 146 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.

p5.js mentions (146)

  • Ask HN: Who Are Your Favorite Photography and Generative Coding Artists?
    p5.js is a JavaScript library that I've enjoyed messing with. It's related to Processing. https://p5js.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Art Blocks and the Future of Open Source with Blockchain
    Art Blocks, founded by Erick Calderon in 2020, is a platform that enables artists to create generative art using blockchain technology. It operates on the Ethereum blockchain, leveraging smart contracts to mint unique art pieces as NFTs. The process begins with artists submitting scripts that define the artwork's parameters. Once approved, these scripts generate unique pieces upon purchase, offering collectors a... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Rant: state of generative AI in code generation.
    In my experience with AI code generation, in visual projects like UI development or JavaScript based animation (using three.js or p5.js) etc. AI tools work pretty well. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Procedural Generation and Noise
    For this most recent assignment we were tasked with contributing a larger feature to an open source project. During my time with the previous assignment I worked on a game engine called Litecanvas, inspired engine by libraries like raylib and p5.js/Processing. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Antirez/load81: SDL based Lua programming environment for kids similar to Codea
    Let’s not forget P5js which has a long and esteemed history of helping to teach kids and more to program. It’s browser based so it’s compatible with every OS and requires no install. FOSS with an active community of users and contributors. I personally taught some middle schoolers with zero programming experience how to make interactive monsters in 1 hour. It was awesome! https://p5js.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
View more

JavaScript mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of JavaScript yet. Tracking of JavaScript recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing p5.js and JavaScript, you can also consider the following products

Pixi.js - Fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

Processing - C++ and Java programming at the speed of thought.

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language