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Three.js VS Underscore.js

Compare Three.js VS Underscore.js and see what are their differences

Three.js logo Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Underscore.js logo Underscore.js

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional...
  • Three.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-05
  • Underscore.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-17

Three.js features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Three.js simplifies the complex task of 3D rendering with an intuitive API, making it accessible to developers who may not have deep expertise in 3D graphics.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Three.js is built upon WebGL, ensuring compatibility across modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The library offers extensive documentation, examples, and an active community, which helps in quickly resolving issues and understanding implementation.
  • Integration with HTML and CSS
    Three.js can be easily integrated with HTML and CSS, allowing for the blending of 2D and 3D elements in web applications.
  • Extensive Features
    It supports a wide range of features including cameras, lights, materials, shaders, and post-processing effects, making it highly versatile for various 3D projects.

Possible disadvantages of Three.js

  • Performance Overhead
    Despite its powerful capabilities, Three.js can have significant performance overhead, especially for complex scenes, which might require optimization.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than raw WebGL, Three.js still has a learning curve, particularly for those new to 3D graphics, requiring time to become proficient.
  • Limited Built-in Advanced Tools
    Although feature-rich, Three.js lacks some advanced tools out-of-the-box compared to more specialized or industry-standard 3D engines, necessitating custom solutions for certain tasks.
  • Dependency on WebGL
    Three.js relies on WebGL, meaning it cannot be used in environments where WebGL is not supported, which can limit accessibility and compatibility.
  • Frequent Updates
    The library is actively developed, which is generally positive, but frequent updates can mean breaking changes, requiring developers to frequently refactor their code.

Underscore.js features and specs

  • Utility Functions
    Underscore.js provides a wealth of utility functions for common tasks such as map, reduce, filter, and more, making it easier to perform operations on arrays, objects, and collections.
  • Consistency
    The library offers a consistent API, which can make your code more readable and maintainable by providing a standard way to perform common programming tasks.
  • Lightweight
    Underscore.js is lightweight compared to full-featured libraries like Lodash, which can be a benefit if you're looking to minimize your application's footprint.
  • Browser Compatibility
    It supports a wide range of JavaScript environments, making it a good choice for projects that need to work across different browsers and Node.js.
  • Quick to Learn
    Easy to pick up for developers with even a basic understanding of JavaScript, due to its straightforward documentation and familiar function names.

Possible disadvantages of Underscore.js

  • Performance
    Underscore.js may not offer the same level of performance optimizations as more modern utility libraries like Lodash, potentially leading to slower execution for some tasks.
  • Limited Functionality
    While it covers many basic utility functions, its feature set is not as extensive as Lodash or other similar libraries, which provide a broader range of capabilities.
  • Outdated
    With the advent of ECMAScript 5 and later versions, many of the functions provided by Underscore.js are now natively available in JavaScript, reducing its necessity.
  • No Modularization
    Underscore does not support modular builds in the same way Lodash does, meaning you might end up including the entire library even if you only need a few functions.
  • Community and Maintenance
    While still maintained, Underscore.js has seen less active development and contributions compared to newer libraries, which could impact its long-term viability and support.

Analysis of Underscore.js

Overall verdict

  • Underscore.js is a reasonable choice if you need a lightweight library for concise, functional programming helpers. While newer libraries or vanilla JavaScript have made some of its functions less essential, Underscore.js remains useful for its simplicity and comprehensive utility set.

Why this product is good

  • Underscore.js is a popular JavaScript library that provides a comprehensive set of utility functions for common programming tasks. It is valued for its simplicity and ease of integration, especially in projects that require functional programming patterns but do not need the full capabilities of larger libraries like Lodash. Underscore.js is lightweight and can significantly enhance productivity by offering functions for tasks such as object manipulation, array operations, and function binding, making code more readable and maintainable.

Recommended for

    Developers working on smaller projects or legacy codebases that require a reliable utility library with functional programming techniques. Itโ€™s also suitable for those who prefer a minimalistic approach and donโ€™t require the extensive features of heavier alternatives.

Three.js videos

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos:

  • Review - Ricardo Cabello (Mr doob) - 5 years of three.js

Underscore.js videos

Introduction to Underscore.JS

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Three.js and Underscore.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
59 59%
41% 41
Flowcharts
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Charting Libraries
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

Three.js Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser-plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex 3D animations on their website without much effort. Three.js include many features like geometry, lights, materials, shaders, effects, scenes, data loaders,...
Source: hackr.io

Underscore.js Reviews

We have no reviews of Underscore.js yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Three.js seems to be a lot more popular than Underscore.js. While we know about 256 links to Three.js, we've tracked only 24 mentions of Underscore.js. 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.

Three.js mentions (256)

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Underscore.js mentions (24)

  • JavaScript Awesome Package
    Underscore - JavaScript library that provides a whole mess of useful functional programming. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • JavaScript evolution: From Lodash and Underscore to vanilla
    Underscore was created by Jeremy Ashkenas (the creator of Backbone.js) in 2009 to provide a set of utility functions that JavaScript lacked at the time. It was also created to work with Backbone.js, but it slowly became a favorite among developers who needed utility functions that they could just call and get stuff done with without having to worry about the inner implementations and browser compatibility. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • KlongPy: High-Performance Array Programming in Python
    There was a step-change improvement for me when I tried expressing some JS patterns via `underscore.js` instead of procedurally: eg: http://underscorejs.org/#each Thinking of something as `each | map | filter | sum` is waaay less buggy than writing bespoke procedural code to do the same thing. No doubt there is a "cost" to it as well, but the _abstraction_ is valuable. Now, if there were a "compiler" which could... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Underscore.js: A utility library that offers a full set of functional programming helpers without extending any built-in JavaScript objects. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Mastering Node.js
    Underscore contains just about every core utility method you want. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Three.js and Underscore.js, you can also consider the following products

p5.js - JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

PixiJS - Fast and flexible WebGL-based HTML5 game and app development library.

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Paper.js - Open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas.

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.