Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Underscore.js VS ReactiveX

Compare Underscore.js VS ReactiveX 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...

ReactiveX logo ReactiveX

ReactiveX is a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs by using observable sequences.
  • Underscore.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-17
  • ReactiveX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-05

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  • Outdated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.

ReactiveX features and specs

  • Asynchronous Programming
    ReactiveX simplifies asynchronous programming by providing a consistent API for handling sequences of events or data streams. This can lead to cleaner and more maintainable code.
  • Composability
    With ReactiveX, you can easily compose multiple operations on streams using operators, leading to expressive and declarative code. This helps in building complex data pipelines with ease.
  • Error Handling
    ReactiveX provides robust mechanisms for error handling in asynchronous flows, making it easier to build resilient applications that can gracefully handle failures.
  • Backpressure Handling
    ReactiveX offers built-in support for backpressure, enabling systems to handle varying rates of data production and consumption efficiently.
  • Language Support
    ReactiveX is available across multiple programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, Python, Swift, and more, making it a versatile choice for developers working in different ecosystems.
  • Community and Documentation
    ReactiveX has a strong community and extensive documentation, providing ample resources for learning and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of ReactiveX

  • Learning Curve
    ReactiveX introduces a new paradigm for those unfamiliar with reactive programming, and the extensive set of operators can be overwhelming for beginners.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction provided by ReactiveX can introduce performance overhead compared to lower-level approaches, which may be a concern for performance-critical applications.
  • Complexity in Debugging
    Debugging reactive streams can be challenging because of the asynchronous and declarative nature of the code, making it harder to trace issues.
  • Overuse
    There is a risk of overusing ReactiveX for scenarios where it might not be the best fit, leading to unnecessary complexity in simpler contexts.
  • Integration with Legacy Code
    Integrating ReactiveX with legacy codebases that are not designed around reactive principles can be cumbersome and may require significant refactoring.

Underscore.js videos

Introduction to Underscore.JS

ReactiveX videos

No ReactiveX videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Underscore.js and ReactiveX)
Javascript UI Libraries
58 58%
42% 42
Development Tools
58 58%
42% 42
Libraries And Widgets
58 58%
42% 42
JavaScript Framework
68 68%
32% 32

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ReactiveX should be more popular than Underscore.js. It has been mentiond 41 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.

Underscore.js mentions (23)

  • 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 / 5 months 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 / 5 months 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 / 7 months ago
  • Mastering Node.js
    Underscore contains just about every core utility method you want. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • 8 NPM Packages for JavaScript Beginners [2024][+tutorials]
    Not too far behind is Underscore.js, another utility library that's all about enhancing your JavaScript mojo. Whether you're dealing with arrays, objects, or strings, Underscore has got something for you. It's like Lodash's sibling, offering similar functionalities but with its own flair. The choice between them is like picking between chocolate and vanilla - it really comes down to personal taste. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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ReactiveX mentions (41)

  • Kapper 1.3 supports flows - more Kotlin goodness
    Flows are a Kotlin API for asynchronous streams of data. They are similar to Rx Observables, but are simpler and more idiomatic to Kotlin. They are a great fit for asynchronous data processing, particularly for database operations where results may be large or processing needs to happen incrementally. This makes them a perfect addition to Kapper's existing coroutine support. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Hydro: Distributed Programming Framework for Rust
    It looks like a mixture between Akka (https://getakka.net/ less enterprisy than the Java version), which is based on the actor model and has a focus on distributed systems, and reactive libraries like rx (https://reactivex.io/). So maybe https://doc.akka.io/libraries/akka-core/current/stream/index.html is the best fit. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Haskell: A Great Procedural Language
    > Is there any parallel there Of course. Promise is a monad, .then is more or less equivalent to the >>= operator and await makes it look more imperative-ish just like <- in Haskell. Note that in JS you'll need to be inside an async function to use await, just like in Haskell you'll need to be inside the do notation to use <-. Otherwise, you'll need to play with .then just like you would need to play with >>= in... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Understanding DynamicData in .NET: Reactive Data Management Made Easy
    DynamicData is a .NET library that brings the power of reactive programming to collections. It is built upon the principles of Reactive Extensions (Rx), extending these concepts to handle collections like lists and observables more efficiently and flexibly. DynamicData provides a set of tools and extensions that enable developers to manage collections reactively, meaning any changes in the data are automatically... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • What is your preferred asynchronous programming library?
    Another option is to use the RxJava library in Java. This library uses reactive programming principles to make it easy to write asynchronous and event-driven code. It's particularly well-suited for handling streams of data and allows you to write code that is both efficient and easy to read. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

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

Composer - Composer is a tool for dependency management in PHP.

OpenSSL - OpenSSL is a free and open source software cryptography library that implements both the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, which are primarily used to provide secure communications between web browsers and …

Raven.js - Raven.js is a standalone JavaScript client for Sentry.