p5.js 2.0 Update: Beta, Timeline, and Compatibility Addons

[ksen0]

Hi!

I’m Kit, and I’ve joined the Processing Foundation recently as project lead for p5.js! I am so excited to be part of this amazing community, and to start helping bring the vision of p5.js 2.0 to completion.

In this update, I want to share our current thoughts about compatibility. (Even as p5.js 2.0 becomes more stable, p5.js 1.x will continue to be supported!)

Last year, we initiated the p5.js 2.0 RFC (Request for Comment) process to collectively re-envision the next major release of p5.js. Since then, many contributors have been working to make p5.js 2.0 happen.

• You can read more about the Governance Model and Decision-Making Process in the previous update: p5.js 2.0 Updates #7261
• You can find the beta release of 2.0 here: https://github.com/processing/p5.js/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta.1

Now that the beta release is available, you can try testing out the beta! Please report any bugs you encounter to help improve p5.js 2.0. To try out the beta release:

• You can duplicate this web editor project: https://editor.p5js.org/davepagurek/sketches/wiOiYAp6P
• You can also add a script tag to this build that @davepagurek is hosting: <script src="https://davepagurek.com/stuff/p5/p5-2.0-b1.min.js"></script>

Even as p5.js 2.0 becomes more stable, p5.js 1.x will continue to be supported for at least a year. Here’s the timeline so far:

• We plan to have p5.js 2.0 finished by the end of March 2025.
• Up through the end of March 2026 (next year!), the p5.js Editor will still default to p5 1.x, with an option to switch to 2.0 when it is finished.

Between 1.x and 2.0, there are many additions, and some breaking changes. In addition to making p5.js 2.0 available as a library, we are working on preparing several compatibility addons that would make it possible to keep using 1.x features that are no longer part of 2.0.

• You can review the 2.0 changes in the release notes
• We’ve prepared this check-in survey about the breaking changes. This is because many users of p5.js are not active on GitHub. Please feel free to engage in the discussion here on any topic in the survey or regarding the changes - and to share the survey with p5.js users you know who might be!
• Do you have a library that depends on p5.js and you’d like to update it for compatibility with 2.0? If your library is in the directory then we are already planning to check whether the change from 1.0 to 2.0 breaks examples given by that library. Feel free to test your library out with the new release, or reach out / comment here!

What do we mean by “Compatibility addon?” If you want to use something like preload() which has been removed in 2.0, you would have to use a <script> tag to import both p5.js 2.0 and the compatibility addon for that feature. If you do that, any use of preload() just like in 1.x will continue to work. We are preparing addons for other changes, such as shape/vertex, listed here.

Thank you!