Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

p5.js VS Qt

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

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p5.js logo p5.js

JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences

Qt logo Qt

Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.
  • p5.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22
  • Qt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

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.

Qt features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Qt allows developers to write applications that can run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, without the need for significant code changes.
  • Rich Documentation
    Qt provides extensive and well-maintained documentation, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot the framework.
  • Mature and Stable
    Being a mature framework, Qt has a long history of stability and a strong track record in producing robust applications.
  • Comprehensive UI Components
    Qt offers a wide range of built-in UI components, which can significantly speed up the development process and provide a native look and feel on different platforms.
  • Strong Community Support
    Qt has an active and helpful community, which can be beneficial for developers seeking support or looking to collaborate on projects.
  • Performance
    Applications built with Qt tend to be efficient and performant, due to close-to-the-metal coding options and optimizations available in the framework.
  • Tooling
    Qt Creator, the official IDE for Qt, offers powerful tools for designing, coding, testing, and debugging applications, enhancing productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Qt

  • Licensing Costs
    Though Qt offers an open-source option, commercial licenses can be expensive, which can be a significant constraint for smaller businesses or independent developers.
  • Learning Curve
    The framework can have a steep learning curve for beginners, especially for those unfamiliar with C++ or the specific paradigms Qt employs.
  • Large Executable Size
    Applications built with Qt can have larger executable sizes compared to those built with more lightweight frameworks, which might be a concern for some applications.
  • Dependency on C++
    While Qt has bindings for other languages like Python (PyQt, PySide), its core is based on C++, which might not be ideal for developers looking for a more modern or different programming language.
  • Complexity in Customization
    While Qt offers many features out-of-the-box, deep customization, especially for non-standard requirements, can become complex and time-consuming.
  • Build Times
    Due to its comprehensive nature, applications using Qt can have longer build times, which can slow down the development cycle.

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

Qt videos

Review of Qt 5.4

More videos:

  • Review - QT.HAIR Wet & Wavy/ Dream Straight Review |Which is Better?
  • Review - QT HAIR REVIEW| Affordable Brazilian Bundles

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to p5.js and Qt)
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
Rapid Application Development

User comments

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Reviews

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

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.

Qt Reviews

Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
Qt is a versatile C++ framework known for its efficiency and flexibility. With Qt, developers can create cross-platform applications with native-like performance.
Source: www.miquido.com
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Qt is a mature, cross-platform native framework for building apps and devices using C++. Qt sees extensive use in embedded systems requiring slick UIs on low-power devices with limited memory. It compiles nearly identically to straight C++ while adding conveniences like signals and slots that feel akin to JavaScript event handling. But apps targeting desktops, servers, and...
Best GUI frameworks for Go
Qt is a cross-platform application development framework widely used for developing desktop, mobile, and embedded systems. Qt provides a powerful, easy-to-use, and flexible C++ class library for building GUIs and other types of applications. Qt has a wide range of built-in widgets, including buttons, labels, list boxes, and more.
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Written in C++, this cross-platform framework is used for native embedded, desktop, and mobile applications using GUI widgets and quick modules using QML language. C++ is a backend and QML (QtQuick 2) is a frontend side. Its meta-object compiler runs before the build. Qt can be used in several programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and others due to language...
Top Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
Qt is a pretty mature GUI and cross-platform app development framework that dates back to 1995. Developers can use Qt for crafting applications for mobiles, embedded platforms, or desktops. As Qt is based on C++, any developer with a decent C++ experience (pretty easily found) can help you craft a cross-platform app using Qt with a single codebase.
Source: www.pangea.ai

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

Qt mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

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

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

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

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

GTK - GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.

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

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies