Differences between different creative coding libraries

Question

I've worked with Cinder previously under Windows, but have recently switched to Ubuntu. Since Cinder doesn't work on Linux (::sadface::) I've began looking for alternatives. With that in mind, could you please tell me what the differences between Processing, openFrameworks and Polycode are, and compare them to Cinder?

Specifically, I would like to know

If there are differences in the functionality of the packages compared to Cinder (ie. one does something that Cinder doesn't and vice versa).
I would also like to know how different the syntax of the package is from Cinder's.

I have already seen the following articles: here and here and have also visited the corresponding website for each of the libraries but could not find a clear and concise answer to my question.

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 09 '13 at 07:39

The things that come to mind are that

Processing is the only one which is not C++ (but Java) in that bunch
I think openFrameworks is the one with the broadest platform support right now (Win, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, with raspberryPi incoming currently)
Polycode is the youngest (with no judgement if that's good or bad)

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 09 '13 at 14:43

4

It’s good to stick with the platforms with a big community and active development. For me, this currently is Processing and openFrameworks. I use Processing because of it’s simplicity and openFrameworks for applications with high demands on performance.

answered Jul 09 '13 at 14:43

Pwdr

141
3

Here is a discussion on Processing vs. openFrameworks – Jul 09 '13 at 20:58
…and here is an overview about different frameworks on Creative Applications – Jul 09 '13 at 21:07
Thank you, but I've already seen both of these. What I'm looking for is a concentrated comparison of all three, and how they compare to Cinder. – lazyCrab Jul 10 '13 at 08:54

Differences between different creative coding libraries

2 Answers2