Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Polygonjs VS p5.js

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

Polygonjs logo Polygonjs

Create amazing & interactive 3D scenes for the web

p5.js logo p5.js

JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences
  • Polygonjs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-27
  • p5.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22

Polygonjs features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Polygonjs offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface that allows users to efficiently create and manipulate 3D scenes without needing extensive prior experience.
  • Node-Based Workflow
    Utilizing a node-based approach, Polygonjs allows for a modular and flexible design process, enabling users to easily adjust, reuse, and combine different elements of their 3D scenes.
  • Web Integration
    Polygonjs is designed to integrate seamlessly with web technologies, making it suitable for developing interactive 3D applications directly on the web.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The platform offers extensive documentation and tutorials that help users to quickly understand and maximize the utility of the software's features.
  • Customization and Extensibility
    Polygonjs supports customization and allows developers to extend its functionality with their own plugins and scripts, ensuring high adaptability to specific project needs.

Possible disadvantages of Polygonjs

  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic operations are user-friendly, mastering advanced features of Polygonjs can be challenging for new users who are not familiar with 3D graphics concepts.
  • Performance Limitations
    As a web-based application, Polygonjs might experience performance limitations when dealing with extremely large or complex 3D scenes.
  • Dependence on WebGL
    Being reliant on WebGL can be a disadvantage, especially when considering compatibility issues or performance on older devices or less supported browsers.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Due to its web-based nature, working offline can be restrictive unless specific solutions are implemented to handle such workflows.
  • Community and Support
    As a relatively new platform, Polygonjs might have a smaller community, which may limit user-driven support, readily available community plugins, and resources compared to more established tools.

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.

Polygonjs videos

Polygonjs WebGL design tool demo

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Polygonjs and p5.js)
3D
46 46%
54% 54
Javascript UI Libraries
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Charting Libraries
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 Polygonjs and p5.js

Polygonjs Reviews

We have no reviews of Polygonjs yet.
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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.

Social recommendations and mentions

p5.js might be a bit more popular than Polygonjs. We know about 146 links to it since March 2021 and only 138 links to Polygonjs. 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.

Polygonjs mentions (138)

  • Show HN: Checkers Twist – The game Checkers/Draughts/Dames on an irregular grid
    - some corners will connect less than 4 tiles. This does the opposite of the previous point, as this removes diagonals. This limits your moves in a specific direction, but can also protect you from your opponents. It's the kind of features that can be used both as a defense and as attack. And the boards are procedurally generated, so you can play unique games each time (or you can re-use the same boards if you... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • On the importance to make games during the game engine's development
    That's the path I took with Polygonjs ( https://polygonjs.com ), and a game I've just released ( https://polyreplay.com/minesweepertwist ), with more coming shortly. But it didn't start like that. It only started as a tool I could use to deliver client projects, as I was trying to become a freelance for interactive 3D scenes for the web. Project after project ( some examples here: https://polygon-lab.com/ ), I... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Threestudio – A unified framework for 3D content generation
    I'm building one, called Polygonjs ( https://polygonjs.com/ ), you have a few examples to play with ( https://polygonjs.com/docs/examples ). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • how can I convert a 3D model into an SDF, a signed distance field
    You can have a look how I do it in Polygonjs (which is a node-based design tool based on threejs), in this example scene. Source: over 1 year ago
  • ThreeJS capabilities
    If you're familiar with Houdini, I invite you to try Polygonjs, which is based on threejs and inspired by Houdini. You can basically build threejs in a procedural way, with just nodes. Source: over 1 year ago
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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 / 2 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 / 2 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 / 3 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 / 5 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 / 6 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

Spline - Design tool for 3d web experiences

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

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

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

Three.js Journey - The best course to learn how to create stunning 3D websites

Vectary - Vectary is a free, online 3D modeling tool and sharing platform.