The modern web is filled with amazing, eyeball-capturing elements. In simple terms, the more time a user spends on a website, the more is the net worth of the application.
Web developers use a wide array of techniques to engage, entertain and inform their visitors and animation helps us in achieving that goal. In the past developers typically employed Adobe Flash to add interactivity to their sites, but with the rapid development of HTML5, CSS3 and myriad javascript libraries, Flash has taken a back seat.
Apart from making your website more engaging, you would want to use an animation library for your next application because it helps to present the content of your website in a professional way. There are a huge number of animation libraries available out there which are free to use. I would be reviewing nine such libraries that I have selected on the basis of their ease of use, features and popularity.
Animate.css
Animate.css is one of the sleekest and most easy-to-use CSS animation libraries out there. Applying the animate library to your project is as simple as adding the required CSS classes to your HTML elements. You can also use jQuery to call the animations on a particular event.
- Creators: Daniel Eden
- Released: 2013
- Current Version: 3.4.0
- Popularity: 25,000+ stars on GitHub
- Description: "A cross-browser library of CSS animations. As easy to use as an easy thing."
- Library Size: 55.2 kB
- GitHub: http://ift.tt/og2jQ2
- License: MIT
Animate.css is one of the most popular and widely used CSS animation library and its minified file is small enough for inclusion in mobile websites as well. Personally, I feel that this is one of the best animation libraries that I have come across and I would definitely recommend you to use this in your next project.
Bounce.js
Bounce.js is a tool and javascript library that focusses on providing a selection of unique bouncy CSS animations to your website.
This project is open-source with it's code on GitHub.
- Creators: Tictail
- Released: 2014
- Current Version: 0.8.2
- Popularity: 3,500+ stars on GitHub
- Description: "Create beautiful CSS3 powered animations in no time."
- Library Size: 16 kB
- GitHub: http://ift.tt/1pW3lP9
- License: MIT
Bounce.js is a neat animation library shipped with about ten animation 'pre-sets', hence the small size of the library. Like animate.css, the animations are smooth and flawless. You might want to consider using this library if you don't need a comprehensive list of animation types and could benefit from a lower file-size overhead.
Magic Animations
Magic Animations is one of the most impressive animation libraries available. It has many different animations, many of which are quite unique to this library. As with Animate.css, you can implement Magic by simply importing the CSS file. You can also make use of the animations from jQuery. This project offers a particularly cool demo application.
- Creators: Christian
- Released: 2014
- Current Version: 1.1.0
- Popularity: 3,400+ stars on GitHub
- Description: "CSS3 Animations with special effects"
- Library Size: 36.5 kB
- GitHub: http://ift.tt/1a7UPmN
Magic animations size is moderate as compared to animate.css and it's become quite famous for its signature animations, such as the magic effects, foolish effects and bomb effects.
If you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary, I would definitely recommend you to give this animation library a shot in your next project. You won't be disappointed.
DynCSS
DynCSS is the sort of animation library that you might like to use in your website along with parallax effect. To get a clearer idea of what you can do with this library, take a look at this demo.
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- Creators: Vittorio Zaccaria
- Released: 2014
- Current Version: 0.8.1
- Popularity: 190+ stars on GitHub
- Description: "Make your site come to life with Dynamic CSS."
- GitHub: http://ift.tt/QjJCJG
DynCSS is a simple library that might grow in popularity in the near future, but it is currently a fairly new project, as demonstrated by its number of stars on GitHub. One of the cool features that this library offers is the rotation of elements with respect to scrolling, which Vittorio demonstrates beautifully on the DynCSS home page (which makes a perfect use case for parallax related pages).
CSShake
CSShake does exactly what it says on the box - a CSS library for shaking the elements of your webpage. There are a number of variations available for shaking your web components. The library is interesting, however, its real-world use cases are arguably more limited than other libraries.
- Creators: Lionel
- Released: 2014
- Popularity: 2,000+ stars on GitHub
- Description: "CSS classes to move your DOM!"
- Library Size: 78.8 kB
- GitHub: http://ift.tt/1knZTHq
- License: MIT
Apple has popularized the UI trope of shaking a UI element (dialog, modal or textbox) when a user enters an incorrect response - like a person communicating 'no'. CSShake provides a range of interesting "shake" animations and there is no lack of variation in this library.
Though currently the library is more popular than DynCSS, I feel the file-size of the library isn't quite justified by the functionality it offers. While the animations are good, I can't think of many use cases where you wouldn't need to include a second animation library for non-shaking effects.
But perhaps I'm simply lacking imagination?
Continue reading %Top 9 Animation Libraries to Use in 2016%
by Tanay Pant via SitePoint
