GraphicsJS vs ZIM
When comparing GraphicsJS vs ZIM, the Slant community recommends GraphicsJS for most people. In the question“What are the best JavaScript drawing libraries?” GraphicsJS is ranked 10th while ZIM is ranked 29th. The most important reason people chose GraphicsJS is:
Not only Bezier curves but also any lines, shapes, arcs, etc. out-of-the-box.
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Pros
Pro Powerful line drawing
Not only Bezier curves but also any lines, shapes, arcs, etc. out-of-the-box.
Pro Convenient API
Clear and concise API with chaining support.
Pro Virtual DOM
Rapid drawing. Only what is necessary is drawn.
Pro Has its own transformation engine
No need to use embarrassing in-browser transformations.
Pro Legacy browser support
IE6+.
Pro Smart layering system
With z-index.
Pro Rich text features
Multiline text support, text measurement, wrap, indent, spacing, align, etc.
Pro Full accessibility (Section 508)
Pro Events support
All browser events are dispatched in the same way in virtual DOM structure also.
Pro ZIM lets you write less code
Here is a chart of examples showing ZIM at 37% less code the developer writes when compared to other frameworks such as PixiJS, Flutter, CreateJS, PaperJS, P5js, Phaser and the DOM.
Pro ZIM supports chaining
It is quite common in ZIM to not even store an object in a variable as chaining is available for almost all methods and there are short chainable methods for most properties.
new Circle().center().drag();
new Rectangle()
.loc(100,100)
.alp(0) // alpha
.animate({x:200, alpha:1}, .5);
Pro ZIM has dynamic parameters
new Tile(new Circle(20, series(red, blue, green), 10, 10).center();
// tiles 10x10 circles with colors is series of red, blue or green
new Emitter([new Circle(), new Rectangle()]).center();
// emits random circles and rectangles
interval({min:1, max:3}, ()=>{});
// each interval is between 1 and 3 seconds
So passing in a series lets you pick in order, passing in an array lets you pick randomly, passing in a min/max range picks from the range, passing in a function picks the result of the function. These can be applied to all styles too.
Pro ZIM has Style on the Canvas
Style = {
color:red,
Button:{
color:blue;
}
}
new Circle().center(); // red
new Button().center(); // blue
Pro The ZIM DUO technique of providing regular parameters or a configuration object literal is very handy.
For instance:
new Rectangle(100,100,undefined,undefined,undefined,20).center();
or
new Rectangle({width:100, height:100, corner:20}).center();