Web Animations API vs CSS: Which is Best?

Unlock the Power of Web Animations

Web animations have become an essential part of modern web design, and JavaScript animation libraries like Framer Motion and GreenSock have gained popularity. However, many developers still prefer to create web animations from scratch using CSS transitions, CSS animations, or the JavaScript Web Animations API (WAAPI). In this tutorial, we’ll delve into these three methods, exploring their benefits and limitations.

CSS Transitions: Smooth Property Changes

CSS transitions allow us to seamlessly change a CSS property from one state to another. We can control various aspects of the process, such as when the change starts, which properties to animate, and how long the animation runs. To create a CSS transition, we need to define four essential properties:

• transition-property: the CSS property to apply the transition on
• transition-duration: the length of time the transition should run
• transition-delay: how long to wait before the animation begins
• transition-timing-function: the speed of the transition

Multiple Animations with CSS Transitions

We can apply CSS transitions to multiple CSS properties by separating the values with commas. This allows us to create complex animations with ease.

CSS Animations: Taking Animations to the Next Level

CSS animations offer more flexibility and control than CSS transitions. We need to define a @keyframes CSS at-rule, which specifies the CSS rules at the start, end, and during the animation cycle. We can also define properties like animation-name, animation-play-state, and animation-iteration-count to customize our animation.

The Web Animations API: Unleashing the Power of JavaScript

The Web Animations API offers more control and nuance over CSS animations. We can disassociate animations from an element’s styling, making it easier to write and more straightforward than CSS alternatives. To animate a DOM element with the Web Animations API, we call the animate() method on the element, passing in keyframes and options.

Keyframes and Options

Keyframes can be an array of keyframe objects or an object with an array of values as a property. We can specify a timing function for each keyframe and for the entire animation. The options object can include properties like duration, delay, and easing to customize our animation.

Multiple Animations with the Web Animations API

We can create multiple animations by including multiple properties in one keyframes object or by creating multiple keyframes and options objects and using the animate() method multiple times on an element.

Advantages of the Web Animations API

The Web Animations API offers several advantages over CSS animations, including:

• Specifying easing properties for different keyframes and the entire animation
• Adding multiple animations to an element using the currentTime and startTime properties
• Indicating how successive animations should run on an element using the composite property

Conclusion

The Web Animations API provides a powerful way to customize animations on the web. While CSS transitions and animations are suitable for simple animations, the Web Animations API offers more control and flexibility for complex animations. By mastering these three methods, you’ll be able to create stunning web animations that engage and delight your users.