eventemitter3 vs mitt vs pubsub-js
Event Management Libraries Comparison
1 Year
eventemitter3mittpubsub-jsSimilar Packages:
What's Event Management Libraries?

Event management libraries provide a way to handle events in JavaScript applications. They allow developers to create, listen to, and manage events in a decoupled manner, facilitating better organization of code and separation of concerns. These libraries are particularly useful in scenarios where multiple components need to communicate with each other without being tightly coupled, enhancing modularity and maintainability of the codebase. Each library comes with its own set of features and design philosophies, catering to different use cases and preferences in event handling.

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eventemitter342,007,9133,38073.4 kB172 years agoMIT
mitt9,048,01011,09326.4 kB202 years agoMIT
pubsub-js181,8414,807113 kB294 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: eventemitter3 vs mitt vs pubsub-js

Performance

  • eventemitter3:

    EventEmitter3 is optimized for performance, making it one of the fastest event emitters available. It minimizes overhead by using a simple internal structure that allows for quick event dispatching and listener management, making it suitable for high-frequency event scenarios.

  • mitt:

    Mitt is designed to be lightweight and fast, with minimal overhead. Its simplicity ensures that it performs well in most use cases, making it a great choice for smaller applications or when performance is a priority without the need for complex features.

  • pubsub-js:

    PubSub-js offers reasonable performance, but it may not be as fast as EventEmitter3 or Mitt due to its additional features like namespaces. However, it still performs well for typical use cases involving event publishing and subscribing.

API Complexity

  • eventemitter3:

    EventEmitter3 provides a straightforward API that is easy to understand and use. It supports methods like 'on', 'off', and 'emit', making it simple to manage event listeners and emit events without unnecessary complexity.

  • mitt:

    Mitt has an extremely minimal API, consisting of just three methods: 'on', 'off', and 'emit'. This simplicity makes it very easy to learn and integrate into projects, especially for developers who prefer a no-frills approach to event handling.

  • pubsub-js:

    PubSub-js has a more complex API compared to Mitt and EventEmitter3, as it supports namespaces and wildcard subscriptions. This added complexity can be beneficial for advanced use cases but may require a steeper learning curve for new users.

Use Cases

  • eventemitter3:

    EventEmitter3 is well-suited for applications that require high-performance event handling, such as game development or real-time applications where events are emitted frequently and need to be processed quickly.

  • mitt:

    Mitt is ideal for small to medium-sized applications where a simple event handling mechanism is needed. It works well for component communication in frameworks like React or Vue, where simplicity and ease of use are paramount.

  • pubsub-js:

    PubSub-js is best for applications that need a robust publish-subscribe mechanism, especially when dealing with complex event flows or when events need to be categorized using namespaces.

Extensibility

  • eventemitter3:

    EventEmitter3 is not inherently extensible, but its performance and simplicity allow developers to build additional features on top of it if needed, making it flexible for various use cases.

  • mitt:

    Mitt is designed to be minimal and does not offer built-in extensibility features. However, its simplicity allows developers to easily extend its functionality if required, without the overhead of a complex system.

  • pubsub-js:

    PubSub-js offers some extensibility through its namespace feature, allowing developers to create more organized event systems. This makes it easier to manage and scale event handling as applications grow.

Community and Support

  • eventemitter3:

    EventEmitter3 has a strong community and is widely used in various projects, ensuring good support and resources available for developers. Its performance and reliability have made it a popular choice in the JavaScript ecosystem.

  • mitt:

    Mitt, being a minimalistic library, has a smaller community compared to EventEmitter3, but it is still well-regarded for its simplicity and ease of use. Documentation is straightforward, making it easy to get started.

  • pubsub-js:

    PubSub-js has a decent community and support, with sufficient documentation and examples available. Its more complex features may require additional resources for understanding, but it is still a reliable choice for event handling.

How to Choose: eventemitter3 vs mitt vs pubsub-js
  • eventemitter3:

    Choose EventEmitter3 if you need a high-performance event emitter with a simple API and support for multiple listeners per event. It is particularly useful in scenarios where performance is critical, such as in large applications or real-time systems.

  • mitt:

    Choose Mitt for its minimalistic design and lightweight footprint. It is ideal for projects where you want a straightforward event emitter without additional features or complexity, making it easy to integrate into any project.

  • pubsub-js:

    Choose PubSub-js if you require a more flexible publish-subscribe pattern with support for namespaces and wildcard subscriptions. It is suitable for applications that need a more advanced event handling mechanism, allowing for greater control over event propagation.

README for eventemitter3

EventEmitter3

Version npmCICoverage Status

Sauce Test Status

EventEmitter3 is a high performance EventEmitter. It has been micro-optimized for various of code paths making this, one of, if not the fastest EventEmitter available for Node.js and browsers. The module is API compatible with the EventEmitter that ships by default with Node.js but there are some slight differences:

  • Domain support has been removed.
  • We do not throw an error when you emit an error event and nobody is listening.
  • The newListener and removeListener events have been removed as they are useful only in some uncommon use-cases.
  • The setMaxListeners, getMaxListeners, prependListener and prependOnceListener methods are not available.
  • Support for custom context for events so there is no need to use fn.bind.
  • The removeListener method removes all matching listeners, not only the first.

It's a drop in replacement for existing EventEmitters, but just faster. Free performance, who wouldn't want that? The EventEmitter is written in EcmaScript 3 so it will work in the oldest browsers and node versions that you need to support.

Installation

$ npm install --save eventemitter3

CDN

Recommended CDN:

https://unpkg.com/eventemitter3@latest/dist/eventemitter3.umd.min.js

Usage

After installation the only thing you need to do is require the module:

var EventEmitter = require('eventemitter3');

And you're ready to create your own EventEmitter instances. For the API documentation, please follow the official Node.js documentation:

http://nodejs.org/api/events.html

Contextual emits

We've upgraded the API of the EventEmitter.on, EventEmitter.once and EventEmitter.removeListener to accept an extra argument which is the context or this value that should be set for the emitted events. This means you no longer have the overhead of an event that required fn.bind in order to get a custom this value.

var EE = new EventEmitter()
  , context = { foo: 'bar' };

function emitted() {
  console.log(this === context); // true
}

EE.once('event-name', emitted, context);
EE.on('another-event', emitted, context);
EE.removeListener('another-event', emitted, context);

Tests and benchmarks

This module is well tested. You can run:

  • npm test to run the tests under Node.js.
  • npm run test-browser to run the tests in real browsers via Sauce Labs.

We also have a set of benchmarks to compare EventEmitter3 with some available alternatives. To run the benchmarks run npm run benchmark.

Tests and benchmarks are not included in the npm package. If you want to play with them you have to clone the GitHub repository. Note that you will have to run an additional npm i in the benchmarks folder before npm run benchmark.

License

MIT