Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Slate API Docs Generator VS ESDoc

Compare Slate API Docs Generator VS ESDoc and see what are their differences

Slate API Docs Generator logo Slate API Docs Generator

Create beautiful, intelligent, responsive API documentation.

ESDoc logo ESDoc

Documentation generator for JavaScript
  • Slate API Docs Generator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-30
  • ESDoc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-02

Slate API Docs Generator features and specs

  • Clean and Modern Design
    Slate offers a visually appealing and responsive design that enhances readability and user experience. The clean layout ensures that your API documentation looks professional.
  • Easy Setup
    Slate is relatively straightforward to set up using Markdown. It simplifies the process of creating API documentation, especially for developers who are familiar with Markdown.
  • Interactive Documentation
    The platform allows you to create interactive API documentation, making it easier for users to try out API calls directly within the documentation.
  • Version Control
    Slate supports version control via Git, which allows you to track changes and roll back to previous versions of your documentation easily.
  • Customization
    It offers good customization options through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, allowing you to tailor the look and feel of your documentation to match your brand.

Possible disadvantages of Slate API Docs Generator

  • Performance Issues
    Slate can be slow to render large volumes of content, which may affect the user experience for documentation that is extensive.
  • Dependency on Ruby
    Slate is built on Ruby, so you will need Ruby installed on your environment, which can add a layer of complexity if you are not already using Ruby.
  • Limited Scalability
    While Slate is suitable for small to medium-sized APIs, it may not scale well for very large APIs with extensive documentation requirements.
  • Limited Plugin Ecosystem
    Compared to other documentation generators, Slate has a smaller ecosystem of plugins and extensions, which might limit its capabilities if you have specific needs.
  • Static Site Generation
    Slate generates static sites, which means that dynamic content or real-time updates to the documentation are not feasible without additional tooling.

ESDoc features and specs

  • Comprehensive Documentation
    ESDoc generates detailed documentation including class methods, properties, and inheritance, which aids developers in understanding complex codebases.
  • Easy Integration
    It can be easily integrated into existing projects with simple configuration, making it a convenient choice for teams looking to implement or improve documentation quickly.
  • Markdown Support
    Allows developers to include custom markdown files, such as tutorials or guides, in the generated documentation, providing flexibility in presentation.
  • Customizable
    Provides customization options such as themes and plugins, allowing developers to tailor the documentation to their project's needs and branding.
  • Documentation Coverage Analysis
    Offers tools for analyzing the coverage of documentation, helping ensure comprehensive docs and highlighting missing sections.

Possible disadvantages of ESDoc

  • Limited Support for Non-ES Modules
    ESDoc is primarily designed for ECMAScript modules, so projects using other module systems may face integration challenges.
  • Less Active Maintenance
    Compared to some competitors, ESDoc may have less frequent updates and community support, which can affect bug fixes and feature enhancements.
  • Complex Setup for Large Projects
    For large-scale applications, setting up and maintaining documentation might require significant initial investment in configuration and may become complex.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may experience a learning curve, particularly if they are not familiar with JavaScript documentation standards or ESDoc's specific conventions.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Occasional compatibility issues with newer JavaScript features or external libraries can arise, necessitating workarounds or updates to the tooling.

Analysis of Slate API Docs Generator

Overall verdict

  • Slate API Docs Generator is a strong choice for creating API documentation, especially for those who value aesthetic and straightforward design. It's particularly beneficial for projects that require a clear presentation of complex API information.

Why this product is good

  • Slate is a popular API documentation generator because it creates clean, readable, and visually appealing documentation with a three-panel layout. This layout includes an information panel for navigation, detailed explanations, and code examples, which makes it user-friendly for developers. It also supports Markdown, allowing for easy content creation and updates. Additionally, its open-source nature provides flexibility for customization according to specific needs.

Recommended for

  • Developers and teams needing to create API documentation with minimal setup
  • Projects that require visually appealing and easy-to-navigate documentation
  • Open-source enthusiasts looking for customizable documentation solutions
  • Organizations seeking to provide comprehensive and clear guidance for API usage.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Slate API Docs Generator and ESDoc)
Documentation
76 76%
24% 24
Documentation As A Service & Tools
Knowledge Base
74 74%
26% 26
Knowledge Management
68 68%
32% 32

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Slate API Docs Generator seems to be a lot more popular than ESDoc. While we know about 13 links to Slate API Docs Generator, we've tracked only 1 mention of ESDoc. 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.

Slate API Docs Generator mentions (13)

  • How do i document my api ?
    Https://github.com/slatedocs/slate this ! Big company use it ( stripe etc ). Source: over 2 years ago
  • [ARTICLE] Stripe Releases Their Documentation Framework
    The second most common question being "What framework does Stripe use to build their documentation?" and the answer has unfortunately always been "They use a custom setup they built themselves and isn't available." - so then Slate gets brought up as a suitable replacement. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Twelve Amazing Free Hugo Documentation Themes
    DocuAPI is a multilingual API documentation theme for Hugo created and maintained by Bjørn Erik Pedersen, the lead maintainer and co-creator of Hugo itself. It’s built on top of the Slate API docs generator, which itself was inspired by Stripe’s and PayPal’s API docs. The JavaScript section of DocuAPI has been rewritten from Jquery to AlpineJS.​​​​​​. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Best way to document Express API
    I've used Slate to document APIs which similarly will produce a local website. You can host that privately or there's built in support to push to github pages if you're hosting it in a github repo. The documentation itself is all written in markdown and managed separate from your API code. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Building API Docs
    We used to use Slate - https://github.com/slatedocs/slate for our APIs in my previous job. That was pretty neat. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
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ESDoc mentions (1)

  • How to properly document a React/Redux application?
    In this post, the tool react-docgen is presented, and I have stumble upon esdoc as well. Whereas esdoc does automatic generation of documentation, react-docgen extracts the information of the React components and puts it into a JSON file. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Slate API Docs Generator and ESDoc, you can also consider the following products

Doxygen - Generate documentation from source code

JSDoc - An API documentation generator for JavaScript.

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

Swagger UI - Swagger UI is a dependency-free collection of HTML, Javascript, and CSS assets that dynamically generate beautiful documentation from a Swag

Compodoc - The missing documentation tool for your Angular application

DocumentJS - JavaScript documentation engine. Create beautiful, articulate, multi-versioned documentation.