HTML Canvas vs DOM Grid

Introduction

• Why this comparison matters
• Use cases for each approach
• Performance considerations upfront

Interactive Demo

Try it yourself! This demo compares the performance of rendering a grid using DOM elements vs HTML Canvas.

HTML Canvas Approach

Pros

• High performance for large datasets
• Full control over rendering
• Great for animations/games
• Single DOM element

Cons

• Not accessible by default
• Manual event handling
• No built-in browser features (text selection, etc.)
• Harder to style/maintain

DOM Grid Approach

Pros

• Built-in accessibility
• Native browser features work
• Easier to style with CSS
• Better for SEO
• Event handling built-in

Cons

• Performance degrades with many elements
• Limited fine-grained control
• More complex DOM tree
• Harder to do custom animations

Performance Benchmarks

• Small datasets (< 100 items)
• Medium datasets (100-1000 items)
• Large datasets (1000+ items)
• Memory usage comparison

When to Use What

• Canvas: data visualization, games, real-time updates
• DOM Grid: standard UI, forms, content-heavy pages
• Hybrid approaches

Code Examples

• Basic canvas grid implementation
• Basic DOM grid implementation
• Handling user interactions in both

Conclusion

• No one-size-fits-all solution
• Choose based on your specific needs
• Consider maintenance and team expertise