What is the current state of the art in HTML canvas JavaScript libraries and frameworks?
I am currently investigating options for working with the canvas in a new HTML 5 application, and was wondering what is the current state of the art in HTML canvas JavaScript libraries and frameworks?
In particular, are there frameworks that support the kind of things needed for game development - complex animation, managing scene graphs, handling events and user interactions?
Also willing to consider both commercial and open source products.
Answer
I've been working on fabric.js — a canvas library to help with exactly that — manipulating objects on canvas, by handling events and user interactions. It's not released yet, but take a look at a simple preview demo.
You can also see it in action in this design editor, which it was originally created for.
Edit: The project is now available on github (open-sourced under MIT License)
To get started, check out:
- Demos (simple & complex, with code to show how they're done)
- Fabric.js presentation at FalsyValues (and another one at BK.js)
- Wiki on github (including FAQ)
- Documentation
- Google Group (ask any question there)
- Fabric.js on twitter (or short questions via twitter)
- Introduction to Fabric.js: Part 1 (article on ScriptJunkie)
- Introduction to Fabric.js: Part 2 (article on ScriptJunkie)
How does Fabric compare to other Javascript canvas libraries? Here's a comparison table.