date-fns vs moment vs luxon vs @angular/material-moment-adapter vs @angular/material-date-fns-adapter | Date Handling Libraries in Angular Comparison

Package	Downloads	Stars	Size	Issues	Publish	License

date-fns	27,831,562	35,729	22.6 MB	814	8 months ago	MIT
moment	21,164,292	48,080	4.35 MB	282	a year ago	MIT
luxon	12,037,767	15,872	4.51 MB	182	a month ago	MIT
@angular/material-moment-adapter	412,486	24,668	40.1 kB	2,069	7 days ago	MIT
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter	53,543	24,668	34.5 kB	2,069	7 days ago	MIT

Package

Downloads

Stars

Size

Issues

Publish

License

date-fns

27,831,562

35,729

22.6 MB

814

8 months ago

MIT

moment

21,164,292

48,080

4.35 MB

282

a year ago

MIT

luxon

12,037,767

15,872

4.51 MB

182

a month ago

MIT

@angular/material-moment-adapter

412,486

24,668

40.1 kB

2,069

7 days ago

MIT

@angular/material-date-fns-adapter

53,543

24,668

34.5 kB

2,069

7 days ago

MIT

Size and Performance

date-fns:
Date-fns is designed to be lightweight and modular, allowing developers to import only the functions they need, resulting in minimal impact on performance and bundle size.
moment:
Moment.js is relatively large compared to other libraries, which can lead to performance issues in applications where bundle size is a concern.
luxon:
Luxon is larger than date-fns but provides rich features for handling dates and times, including time zones. Its performance is generally good, but it may not be as lightweight as date-fns.
@angular/material-moment-adapter:
While this adapter is convenient, it brings in the full Moment.js library, which can increase bundle size and impact performance, especially in large applications.
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter:
This adapter is lightweight, leveraging the modular nature of date-fns, which allows for tree-shaking and results in smaller bundle sizes, enhancing performance.

Mutability

date-fns:
Date-fns emphasizes immutability, ensuring that functions return new date instances rather than modifying the original, making it safer to use in functional programming contexts.
moment:
Moment.js allows for mutable date objects, which can lead to complications in state management and debugging if not handled carefully.
luxon:
Luxon promotes immutability, providing a clean API that returns new instances for date manipulations, which helps avoid side effects and makes code easier to reason about.
@angular/material-moment-adapter:
Moment.js is mutable, which can lead to unexpected behavior if not managed properly, as modifying a date object affects all references to it.
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter:
This adapter uses date-fns, which promotes immutability, meaning that date objects are not modified directly but instead return new instances, reducing side effects.

Localization and Time Zones

date-fns:
Date-fns supports localization through its functions, allowing developers to format dates in various locales, but it does not have built-in time zone handling.
moment:
Moment.js offers robust localization and time zone handling, making it a solid choice for applications that need to manage dates across different regions.
luxon:
Luxon excels in localization and time zone support, providing a straightforward API for working with different time zones and formatting dates accordingly.
@angular/material-moment-adapter:
Moment.js has extensive localization support and can handle time zones effectively, making it suitable for applications that require internationalization.
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter:
This adapter inherits localization capabilities from date-fns, which supports multiple locales, but may require additional configuration for time zones.

API Design

date-fns:
Date-fns has a functional programming style API, which may require a learning curve for those used to object-oriented libraries, but offers great flexibility and composability.
moment:
Moment.js has a rich and comprehensive API that is easy to use for date manipulation, but it can feel cumbersome due to its mutable nature.
luxon:
Luxon features a modern and intuitive API that is easy to use, especially for developers familiar with ES6+ syntax, making date manipulation straightforward.
@angular/material-moment-adapter:
This adapter provides a familiar API for those already accustomed to Moment.js, making it easy to use within Angular Material components.
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter:
The API of this adapter is straightforward and aligns with Angular Material's design principles, making it easy to integrate into Angular applications.

Community and Support

date-fns:
Date-fns has a rapidly growing community and is well-documented, making it easy to find help and resources for implementation.
moment:
Moment.js has a vast community and extensive documentation, making it one of the most supported libraries for date manipulation, although it is in maintenance mode.
luxon:
Luxon has a smaller community compared to Moment.js but is well-documented and actively maintained, with a focus on modern JavaScript practices.
@angular/material-moment-adapter:
This adapter benefits from the large Moment.js community, providing ample resources, tutorials, and support for developers.
@angular/material-date-fns-adapter:
As a newer adapter, it has a growing community but may not have as extensive resources or support as more established libraries.

import { compareAsc, format } from "date-fns"; format(new Date(2014, 1, 11), "yyyy-MM-dd"); //=> '2014-02-11' const dates = [ new Date(1995, 6, 2), new Date(1987, 1, 11), new Date(1989, 6, 10), ]; dates.sort(compareAsc); //=> [ // Wed Feb 11 1987 00:00:00, // Mon Jul 10 1989 00:00:00, // Sun Jul 02 1995 00:00:00 // ]