JavaScript Animation Libraries vs Web Animations API

Developers should use JavaScript animation libraries when building modern web interfaces that require smooth, engaging animations for user interactions, transitions, or visual effects meets developers should learn the web animations api when building modern web applications that require complex, interactive animations beyond what css alone can offer, such as games, data visualizations, or rich ui components. Here's our take.

JavaScript Animation Libraries

Nice Pick

Developers should use JavaScript animation libraries when building modern web interfaces that require smooth, engaging animations for user interactions, transitions, or visual effects

Pros

• They are essential for creating responsive UIs in single-page applications, games, data visualizations, and interactive storytelling, as they handle cross-browser compatibility and performance issues like requestAnimationFrame
• Related to: javascript, css-animations

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Web Animations API

Developers should learn the Web Animations API when building modern web applications that require complex, interactive animations beyond what CSS alone can offer, such as games, data visualizations, or rich UI components

Pros

• It is particularly useful for scenarios needing programmatic control over animations, like synchronizing multiple animations, responding to user input, or integrating with JavaScript frameworks, as it provides better performance and flexibility compared to traditional CSS or jQuery animations
• Related to: css-animations, javascript

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. JavaScript Animation Libraries is a library while Web Animations API is a api. We picked JavaScript Animation Libraries based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

JavaScript Animation Libraries wins

Based on overall popularity. JavaScript Animation Libraries is more widely used, but Web Animations API excels in its own space.