Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Underscore.js VS Konva

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

Underscore.js logo Underscore.js

Underscore is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional...

Konva logo Konva

Konva is 2d Canvas JavaScript framework for drawings shapes, animations, node nesting, layering, filtering, event handling, drag and drop and much more.
  • Underscore.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-17
  • Konva Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-23

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  • Outdated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.

Konva features and specs

  • Easy to Use
    Konva provides an intuitive API for creating 2D canvas applications, making it accessible for developers who may not be familiar with complex graphic programming.
  • High Performance
    It leverages HTML5's Canvas element for rendering, which allows for efficient drawing operations, making it suitable for developing rich, interactive applications.
  • Rich Manipulation Tools
    Konva offers built-in capabilities to easily manipulate and transform shapes, images, and other elements on the canvas, which simplifies the development process.
  • Layer and Node System
    The use of layers and nodes helps in organizing complex scenes efficiently and allows for more advanced features, like hit detection and selective rendering, enhancing performance.
  • Cross-Platform
    Since Konva is HTML5-based, it works on most modern browsers and can run on both desktop and mobile platforms without compatibility issues.

Possible disadvantages of Konva

  • Limited 3D support
    Konva is primarily designed for 2D graphics, and thus lacks built-in support for 3D rendering, which might be a limitation for developers needing 3D capabilities.
  • Performance on Older Devices
    While Konva is quite performant, running complex scenes or high volumes of objects may lead to performance bottlenecks, especially on older hardware.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Even though it's easy to start with, leveraging Konva's full potential requires understanding its more advanced features and concepts, which may take time for new users.
  • Dependency on Third-party Libraries
    Advanced functionality may require additional integration with other JavaScript libraries which can increase project complexity and dependency management.
  • Limited Built-in UI Components
    Unlike some UI frameworks, Konva does not offer a wide array of pre-built UI components, which could require additional implementation effort for standard elements.

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.

Underscore.js videos

Introduction to Underscore.JS

Konva videos

Drawing With Konva

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Underscore.js and Konva)
Javascript UI Libraries
79 79%
21% 21
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Development
0 0%
100% 100
Libraries And Widgets
100 100%
0% 0

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Reviews

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

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Konva Reviews

8 Best Free and Open-Source Drawing Libraries in JavaScript
The Fabric.js library is built upon the same philosophy as Konva and has a lot of the same features. In fact, Fabric.js actually seems to be more popular and active than Konva.

Social recommendations and mentions

Underscore.js might be a bit more popular than Konva. We know about 24 links to it since March 2021 and only 17 links to Konva. 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.

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
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Konva mentions (17)

  • A little tool for watching algorithms run
    For the developers here: it's built with Vue 3, with the visualizations drawn on canvas using Konva. Each algorithm produces a list of steps up front, and the player just renders whichever step you're on โ€” which is what makes stepping back and scrubbing work. The pages are statically prerendered so they load quickly and are reasonably friendly to search engines. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • From SVG to PNG: Copy & Download with Konva.js
    Enter Konva.js โ€” a 2D canvas framework that makes rendering, transforming, and exporting graphics simple. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • I'm trying to make a Nextjs canva clone for my company
    I have been assigned a task to create a sort of a canva clone which will have almost same features as canva with authentication, access control and rating system(not in this phase). I need help in finding libraries similar to https://konvajs.org/ which has updated docs and great support for Nextjs. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Any Ideas How to Create a Graph Builder UI in React?
    Used goJS in one project and konva in another. Source: over 3 years ago
  • How to make something like this in react? (video in description)
    All the UI part would make sense to do in React. The actual drawing board you likely would need to implement in canvas or SVG. It still could be a React component, but for actual drawing, you'd probably use something like Konva (https://konvajs.org/). Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

GoJS - GoJS is a JavaScript library for building interactive diagrams on HTML web pages. Build apps with flowcharts, org charts, BPMN, UML, modeling, and other visual graph types.

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

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