/LearnGreenSock

Lab: Teach yourself a new language/library/framework

Primary LanguageJavaScript

Learn GreenSock

Why did you choose this topic?

I chose GreenSock because I’m interested in animation and being as creative as possible on a project and wanted to learn more about animation tools available in the realm of coding. A family member had told me about this platform a couple of months ago but I haven’t had the opportunity to explore until now.

Why would someone use this technology?

GreenSock is for developers who have a desire to work with technology that let’s them be as creative as they possibly can without limitations. The things you can create and do in GreenSock are similar to those you can do in CSS and jQuery however, it eliminates the frustrations that comes with using CSS and jQuery for animations.

What IS GreenSock?

GreenSock is a robust, fast, browser compatible, lightweight animation suite of tools for HTML5 and Javascript.

History

GreenSock was created by Jack Doyle who wanted to create an animation tool that eliminated the need to do separate animations for every browser and that have robust code that reliable that could be used across all projects.

What problems does it solve?

  • Performance: GreenSock is faster than jQuery and CSS animations
  • Don't have rebuild API: you can animate anything that javascript is involved in/can touch and it is not dependent on jQuery.
  • Easy workflow without limitations
  • Solve browser compatibility issues: no need to repeat animation sequences for every browser type/ makes code DRYer.
  • Animations look smoother
  • Fast load times: no dependencies, robust code, less code

Conceptual Hurdles

One thing I found frustrating about this program was that because it's not an open source program and some feature require an account, it was hard to get information in general on how to do certain things. It's not really a conceptual hurdle but it is a learning hurdle.

Opinion on GSAP

I think GreenSock is an amazing tool, I enjoyed playing around with the animation features and discovering how everything worked in the system. However, I dislike that information is not readily available to someone who doesn't want to get an account and that source information is limited.

Three interview questions

  • What is one way that GSAP improves animation features?
  • What is the best practice when it comes to synchronizing animations?
  • Name three useful methods that GSAP uses.

Resources

https://greensock.com/docs/#/HTML5/GSAP/
https://github.com/greensock/GreenSock-JS/
https://ihatetomatoes.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GreenSock-Cheatsheet-4.pdf