Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PlayCanvas VS D (Programming Language)

Compare PlayCanvas VS D (Programming Language) 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.

PlayCanvas logo PlayCanvas

PlayCanvas is an open-source game engine built on WebGL and WebVR.

D (Programming Language) logo D (Programming Language)

D is a language with C-like syntax and static typing.
  • PlayCanvas Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-22
  • D (Programming Language) Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-09

PlayCanvas features and specs

  • Browser-Based
    PlayCanvas is entirely browser-based, which means you don't need to install any additional software. This allows for easy access from any computer with a web browser.
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    Multiple developers can work on the same project simultaneously, thanks to PlayCanvas's real-time collaboration features, similar to what you find in Google Docs.
  • Cross-Platform
    Games developed in PlayCanvas can be played across different platforms, including desktop, mobile, and VR with little modification.
  • Open Source Engine
    The PlayCanvas engine is open-source, which allows developers to understand, modify, and improve the underlying code to better suit their needs.
  • Fast Load Times
    The engine is highly optimized for performance, offering fast load times and an efficient execution of game code.
  • WebGL Support
    PlayCanvas leverages the power of WebGL, allowing for advanced 3D graphics directly in the web browser without needing plugins.

Possible disadvantages of PlayCanvas

  • Subscription Costs
    While there is a free tier, certain advanced features and additional storage require a paid subscription, which may be a barrier for smaller studios or hobbyists.
  • Internet Dependency
    Because it's browser-based, you need an internet connection to access the editor and some collaborative features, which can be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Limited Asset Store
    PlayCanvas’s asset store is not as extensive as some competitors, meaning developers might need to spend more time creating or sourcing assets from third parties.
  • Learning Curve
    For those new to browser-based game development or the PlayCanvas engine specifically, there might be a steeper learning curve compared to other more established engines like Unity or Unreal.
  • Performance Limitations
    While PlayCanvas is optimized for web performance, it might not handle very large or complex games as well as some native engines.
  • Community and Support
    The user community and official support resources for PlayCanvas are smaller compared to larger engines like Unity or Unreal, potentially making it harder to find solutions to specific issues.

D (Programming Language) features and specs

  • Performance
    D is designed to be a high-performance systems programming language, offering performance comparable to C and C++ through native machine code compilation.
  • Expressiveness
    D features a rich standard library and modern language constructs, such as garbage collection, first-class arrays, and advanced templating, making it easier to write expressive and maintainable code.
  • Memory Safety
    D offers optional garbage collection along with manual memory management. This hybrid approach can help in developing safer applications by reducing memory-related errors.
  • Interoperability
    D can easily interoperate with C API, enabling seamless integration with existing C libraries and systems. It also supports better C++ interoperability compared to other languages.
  • Built-in Unit Testing
    D has built-in support for unit tests, allowing developers to write and run tests as part of the language itself, facilitating test-driven development.
  • Concurrency
    D offers built-in concurrency support with message passing, similar to the actor model found in languages like Erlang, making it easier to write concurrent and parallel programs.

Possible disadvantages of D (Programming Language)

  • Adoption
    D is not as widely adopted as other languages like C, C++, or Java. This limited adoption means fewer libraries, frameworks, and community support.
  • Toolchain Maturity
    While D's compilers and tools have improved over the years, they may still lack the maturity and feature set of more established languages, which can affect developer productivity.
  • Learning Curve
    D's richness and combination of paradigms (such as imperative, object-oriented, and functional programming) can present a steep learning curve for new developers.
  • Garbage Collection
    Although D offers optional garbage collection, its reliance on it for memory safety might be seen as a drawback for real-time system development where deterministic memory management is crucial.
  • Ecosystem
    The ecosystem for D is less vibrant compared to more popular languages, leading to potentially fewer third-party libraries, tools, and resources.
  • Standard Library Documentation
    The standard library documentation can be inconsistent or less comprehensive compared to other languages, making it difficult for developers to fully utilize all features of the language.

PlayCanvas videos

PlayCanvas Turns 1.0! Open Source 3D HTML5 Game Engine Is All Grown Up

More videos:

  • Tutorial - PlayCanvas Revisited -- Bowling With PlayCanvas Tutorial
  • Review - WebGL R&D: Unity vs Unreal vs PlayCanvas Comparison.

D (Programming Language) videos

D Language Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PlayCanvas and D (Programming Language))
Game Development
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Language
0 0%
100% 100
Game Engine
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
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 PlayCanvas and D (Programming Language)

PlayCanvas Reviews

Best Game Engines for Linux in 2021
PlayCanvas is an advanced WebGL game engine. With PlayCanvas, you can create interactive VR and 3D games. This game engine runs directly from the browser.
Source: kerneltips.com

D (Programming Language) Reviews

We have no reviews of D (Programming Language) yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, D (Programming Language) should be more popular than PlayCanvas. It has been mentiond 56 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.

PlayCanvas mentions (29)

  • Normal Map Interpolation on Deferred Shading
    For some reason that I cannot understand in my case the calculated shading normals are pixelated. Compared to playcanvas.com (probably a forward renderer), mine is like utter shit. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Migrating from WordPress After 12 Years
    PlayCanvas has been using WordPress for 12 years now. Generally speaking, it's been fine. However, after much consideration, we have migrated away to Jekyll + GitHub Pages. I thought our experience might be of interest to other WordPress users (if only to confirm why you wouldn't consider switching): Https://blog.playcanvas.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-jekyll-a-case-study/ Interested to hear peoples' thoughts... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I made a 3D editor that models in pure CSS+HTML
    It's just a cool tech demo that pushes CSS to its limits, but it's completely useless if you want to create usable 3d models. If you want to model in the browser, you can check out vectary, playcanvas, or spline. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I made a 3D editor that models in pure CSS+HTML
    The model in the video has no spheres, which is why the performance is decent. In any case, I agree with you for the most part, I'm just lazy and didn't expect anyone to actually want to use this for serious modelling. You should check out playcanvas or vectary if you are serious about in-browser 3D modelling. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Help With Web AR App Project Completion?
    Hey, I do not have any experience with deepar.ai so I’m not super familiar with the process using that platform. In my opinion I’d probably recommend another platform to try and accomplish this. Since you mentioned that you have everything set up in a engine already (lens studio) I’d recommend you just use a webxr engine. In my experience the two best engines are https://playcanvas.com and... Source: almost 2 years ago
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D (Programming Language) mentions (56)

  • Koto Programming Language
    >For me the biggest gap in programming languages is a rust like language with a garbage collector, instead of a borrow checker. I cannot agree more that's the much needed sweet spot/Goldilock/etc. Personally I have been advocating this approach for some times. Apparently the language is already widely available and currently has stable and wide compiler support including the venerable GNU compiler suite (GDC). It... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Apple didn't fix Swift's biggest flaw
    Those languages are definitely with us, https://dlang.org/ https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi https://www.mikroe.com/mikropascal-arm https://www.eiffel.com/ https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/objectada. - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Berry is a ultra-lightweight dynamically typed embedded scripting language
    Show examples on the main web page. Try and find an AngelScript example. It's stupidly hard. Compare it to these web sites: https://dlang.org/ https://koka-lang.github.io/koka/doc/index.html https://vale.dev/ http://mu-script.org/ https://go.dev/ https://www.hylo-lang.org/ Sadly Rust fails this too but at least the Playground is only one click away. And Rust is mainstream anyway so it doesn't matter as much. I... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Small Joys with Odin
    >and D The D language, that is. https://dlang.org. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Red Programming Language
    You are both right it seems. GP seems to have omitted withour GC. Number one on your list could be Dlang no? Not affiliated. https://dlang.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PlayCanvas and D (Programming Language), you can also consider the following products

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Nim (programming language) - The Nim programming language is a concise, fast programming language that compiles to C, C++ and JavaScript.

Unreal Engine - Unreal Engine 4 is a suite of integrated tools for game developers to design and build games, simulations, and visualizations.

Go Programming Language - Go, also called golang, is a programming language initially developed at Google in 2007 by Robert...

Blender - Blender is the open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation.

V (programming language) - Simple, fast, safe, compiled language for developing maintainable software.