Scrawl-canvas VS p5.js

> working with glyphs and iterating them in reverse for RTL is brain-breaking. And line wrapping gets really complicated. It's also the most obscure because nobody has written down everything you need to know in one place

I can confirm this. I've been working on a (much simpler!) text layout engine for my canvas library over the past couple of months and the amount of complexity associated with just stamping some glyphs onto a canvas has left me screaming at my laptop on an almost daily basis. Getting a decent underline was a proud moment!

Question: did you ever find out what algorithm the various browsers are using to calculate how many words can fit on a given line? I'm almost there, except words will occasionally jump between lines when I scale the text. Really annoying!

The PR's still a work in progress, but I've got all the functionality I want in there (shaping lines to fit in non-rectangular containers, styling text, text along a non-straight line, dynamic updates, etc). Just need to test and document it all now ... https://github.com/KaliedaRik/Scrawl-canvas/pull/75

I've got myself organised and prepared a List Of Things To Do[1] to make my 2D Javascript library even better than it already is. Given that I've been working on the library for over 10 years now, and have never before set out such a list, I call this Progress!

[1] https://github.com/KaliedaRik/Scrawl-canvas/discussions/cate...

'Kay, I don't know if this anywhere close to what the OP wants, but this sort of live browser tab manipulation is possible to do using a mix of a a canvas element and the browser's Screen Capture API[1] (plus my JS canvas library, once I merge and publish the changes into its next release[2]).

This solution[3] shows the modified browser tab in a separate browser tab. I've got no idea whether it's possible to do the same sort of trick in the same tab (but probably not). I also have no idea how secure the Screen Capture API is - I'd get very nervous about doing this sort of thing when looking at my bank's online portal!

[1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Capt...

[2] https://github.com/KaliedaRik/Scrawl-canvas/pull/57

[3] Youtube video of the effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCi6LmKMAo0

My canvas library's README[1] has a video embedded in it. FWIW I'm not convinced it adds anything to the library's sales pitch.

[1] https://github.com/KaliedaRik/Scrawl-canvas

> And I’m just mentioning some of the unfixable problems with this approach

I agree that using a canvas instead of leveraging existing accessibility supplied by HTML/CSS/JS and the DOM is an accessibility nightmare.

However, I disagree that canvas accessibility issues are "unfixable". Difficult? Yes. But not unfixable. In my view, the element works best in partnership with its wider environment (HTML/CSS/JS and the DOM), not as a replacement for it. With that in mind, we can start to tackle the accessibility issues you raise - fonts, links, interactions, etc.[1][2]

I have an ambition to one day become intelligent enough to understand/code in Rust, and I'm really glad to see that people are thinking about accessibility as a fundamental part of UIs being developed in Rust.

[1] - Which is what my JS 2d canvas library tries to do: https://scrawl-v8.rikweb.org.uk/

[2] - My thoughts on accessibility, and how I try to fix them using my library: https://scrawl-v8.rikweb.org.uk/learn/eleventh-lesson/

If, however, your company is set on this course, I very strongly suggest you use a canvas library - if only for the MVP. Here's my canvas library (spam alert!) ... even if you don't use it in your product, the library might help give you some ideas on how to overcome some of the responsive, interactive and accessibility issues you'll be facing.

Scrawl-canvas - example and another example (links to code at bottom of each page)

My personal experience as a library developer, who has written my library in JS, not TS ...

TS is an excellent choice for a lib dev starting a new project today. I can see the advantages of using TS for the library code - in particular for a library that gets popular and welcomes contributions from other developers. However TS is a nightmare for someone like me who: 1. started writing the library 9 years ago; 2. has let the library get "quite" big; and 3. has only learned to use TS in the past year (for the day job) and is nowhere near to becoming a types expert.

I've had experience of people suggesting I rewrite the library in TS. Sometimes those suggestions have been quite 'evangelical' in their tone. As an (essentially) solo developer I just don't have the time, capacity or willingness to do that work - however much the end results might please others.

I also understand that having type definitions file for the library's interface is, nowadays, a critical factor if the lib dev wants others to use the library in their projects. But writing a .d.ts file for a large, mature repo to at least help those potential users can quickly turn into a World of Hurt. I know this because I've done that work[1] and I never want to do it again.

As much as I know that TS is a Force for Good in the JS coding world, there are days when I detest it!

[1] - link to the Scrawl-canvas .d.ts file on GitHub - https://github.com/KaliedaRik/Scrawl-canvas/blob/master/sour...

Processing (P5) had this: you can select any string of text in its IDE anl search for it in the docs, and if it's one of the built-in functions or constants it will open the associated static html page that came installed with the software, so no internet nor server required. And despite being offline you can still navigate the docs too. This feels a lost basic skill in static site generation these days.

It was the only creative coding framework that had complete, offline documentation like that at the time I might add. OpenFrameworks is still mostly autogenerated stubs for example.

IMO it was one of the things that gave Processing an edge in educational contexts over all alternatives. I was pretty sad to see p5.js not fully continue that tradition and require that you go online to read the docs, and that it's not a static website but that text is rendered with javascript when you open it (still complete and with examples though).

https://processing.org/

https://p5js.org/

I thought it could be funny to use the javascript version of it https://p5js.org/ in a web page and then wrap it in a Unity app, since Unity was and is the environment I use for making apps.

In this last section, I'll be creating some visual examples to show how helpful loops can be. I'll be using p5js, a JavaScript library with functionality for creative coding. That being said, I'll try to give a condensed version of the functions being utilized in the following examples.

I was curious too, took a little bit of digging :)

"the original domain of [P]rocessing was proce55ing.net, so people used to sometimes refer to processing as proce55ing or P5 or p5 for short. they still do sometimes. p5.js is a reference to that."

from https://github.com/processing/p5.js/issues/2443

Sketch.js - https://p5js.org/

> how do I get him learning programming in a fun way?

Processing / P5.js can be pretty fun to learn. You use a real programming language to create art and animations. With little code you can get a circle on the screen, then making it move, then following your mouse, then adding other shapes, then changing colour depending on some event… It’s conductive to experimentation and a way to gradually introduce concepts.

https://processing.org/

https://p5js.org/

https://thecodingtrain.com/

Then I used p5js to create the 'art' itself, really user friendly coding framework with lots of resources online! If you want to get into coding, that is a really great entry point with Daniel Schiffman's coding train videos on YT!

Posted an issue for it that u guys can check out here: https://github.com/processing/p5.js/issues/6166