react-draggable vs react-dnd vs react-zoom-pan-pinch
React Drag and Zoom Libraries Comparison
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react-draggablereact-dndreact-zoom-pan-pinchSimilar Packages:
What's React Drag and Zoom Libraries?

These libraries provide functionalities for drag-and-drop interactions, draggable components, and zooming/panning capabilities in React applications. They enhance user experience by allowing intuitive manipulation of UI elements, making it easier to create interactive and dynamic interfaces. Each library serves a specific purpose, catering to different use cases in web development, from simple dragging to complex zoom and pan interactions.

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react-draggable2,493,0259,144244 kB2452 years agoMIT
react-dnd2,342,91621,359231 kB463-MIT
react-zoom-pan-pinch478,6011,653441 kB1413 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: react-draggable vs react-dnd vs react-zoom-pan-pinch

Drag-and-Drop Functionality

  • react-draggable:

    react-draggable offers a simple and lightweight solution for making elements draggable. It provides basic dragging capabilities with minimal setup, allowing developers to easily implement draggable components without the complexity of a full drag-and-drop framework. This library is ideal for straightforward use cases where only basic dragging is required.

  • react-dnd:

    react-dnd provides a powerful and customizable drag-and-drop API that allows for complex interactions. It supports multiple drag sources and drop targets, enabling developers to create intricate drag-and-drop interfaces, such as sortable lists, grids, and even nested components. It also offers support for touch devices, making it versatile for various platforms.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    react-zoom-pan-pinch specializes in providing zoom and pan features for React applications. It allows users to zoom in and out and pan across content, making it suitable for applications that require detailed exploration of images, maps, or large datasets. The library supports pinch gestures on touch devices, enhancing usability.

Ease of Use

  • react-draggable:

    react-draggable is very easy to use, with a straightforward API that allows developers to quickly implement draggable components. It requires minimal configuration, making it accessible for beginners and suitable for quick prototyping.

  • react-dnd:

    react-dnd has a steeper learning curve due to its flexibility and advanced features. Developers may need to invest time in understanding its concepts, such as drag sources, drop targets, and the context API. However, once mastered, it offers powerful capabilities for creating complex drag-and-drop interfaces.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    react-zoom-pan-pinch is also user-friendly, providing a simple API that allows developers to implement zoom and pan functionalities with ease. It requires minimal setup and is designed to integrate smoothly into existing React applications.

Customization

  • react-draggable:

    react-draggable supports basic customization through props, enabling developers to adjust the draggable behavior, such as axis constraints and bounds. However, it may not provide the same level of customization as react-dnd for more complex interactions.

  • react-dnd:

    react-dnd offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to define their own drag-and-drop behavior, styles, and interactions. This flexibility makes it suitable for applications with unique requirements or complex UI designs.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    react-zoom-pan-pinch allows for customization of zoom levels, panning behavior, and event handling. Developers can tailor the zoom and pan experience to fit their application's needs, making it adaptable for various use cases.

Performance

  • react-draggable:

    react-draggable is lightweight and performs well in most scenarios. Its simplicity ensures that it does not introduce significant overhead, making it suitable for applications where performance is a priority.

  • react-dnd:

    react-dnd is optimized for performance, but its complexity can lead to performance issues if not implemented correctly. Developers need to manage state updates and re-renders carefully to maintain smooth drag-and-drop interactions, especially in large applications.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    react-zoom-pan-pinch is designed to handle zoom and pan interactions efficiently. It minimizes re-renders and optimizes performance for smooth user experiences, even with large content.

Use Cases

  • react-draggable:

    react-draggable is best suited for simple applications where you need to enable dragging for individual elements, such as draggable cards, sliders, or simple UI components. It's perfect for scenarios where advanced drag-and-drop features are not necessary.

  • react-dnd:

    react-dnd is ideal for applications requiring complex drag-and-drop interactions, such as project management tools, Kanban boards, and interactive dashboards. Its flexibility allows for a wide range of use cases where drag-and-drop is a core feature.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    react-zoom-pan-pinch is perfect for applications that require detailed exploration of content, such as image galleries, maps, and data visualization tools. It enhances user interaction by allowing users to zoom in on specific areas and pan around the content.

How to Choose: react-draggable vs react-dnd vs react-zoom-pan-pinch
  • react-draggable:

    Select react-draggable for straightforward draggable components where you need basic dragging functionality without the overhead of complex interactions. It's perfect for simple use cases like moving elements around the screen or creating draggable UI components.

  • react-dnd:

    Choose react-dnd if you need a robust and flexible drag-and-drop solution that supports complex interactions, such as nested drag sources and drop targets. It's ideal for applications requiring advanced drag-and-drop features, like sortable lists or complex layouts.

  • react-zoom-pan-pinch:

    Opt for react-zoom-pan-pinch if your application requires zooming and panning capabilities, particularly for images or maps. This library is tailored for scenarios where users need to explore content by zooming in and out or moving around a larger canvas.

README for react-draggable

React-Draggable

TravisCI Build Status Appveyor Build Status npm downloads gzip size version

A simple component for making elements draggable.

<Draggable>
  <div>I can now be moved around!</div>
</Draggable>

|Version | Compatibility| |------------|--------------| |4.x | React 16.3+ | |3.x | React 15-16 | |2.x | React 0.14 - 15 | |1.x | React 0.13 - 0.14 | |0.x | React 0.10 - 0.13 |


Technical Documentation

Installing

$ npm install react-draggable

If you aren't using browserify/webpack, a UMD version of react-draggable is available. It is updated per-release only. This bundle is also what is loaded when installing from npm. It expects external React and ReactDOM.

If you want a UMD version of the latest master revision, you can generate it yourself from master by cloning this repository and running $ make. This will create umd dist files in the dist/ folder.

Exports

The default export is <Draggable>. At the .DraggableCore property is <DraggableCore>. Here's how to use it:

// ES6
import Draggable from 'react-draggable'; // The default
import {DraggableCore} from 'react-draggable'; // <DraggableCore>
import Draggable, {DraggableCore} from 'react-draggable'; // Both at the same time

// CommonJS
let Draggable = require('react-draggable');
let DraggableCore = Draggable.DraggableCore;

<Draggable>

A <Draggable> element wraps an existing element and extends it with new event handlers and styles. It does not create a wrapper element in the DOM.

Draggable items are moved using CSS Transforms. This allows items to be dragged regardless of their current positioning (relative, absolute, or static). Elements can also be moved between drags without incident.

If the item you are dragging already has a CSS Transform applied, it will be overwritten by <Draggable>. Use an intermediate wrapper (<Draggable><span>...</span></Draggable>) in this case.

Draggable Usage

View the Demo and its source for more.

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import Draggable from 'react-draggable';

class App extends React.Component {

  eventLogger = (e: MouseEvent, data: Object) => {
    console.log('Event: ', e);
    console.log('Data: ', data);
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <Draggable
        axis="x"
        handle=".handle"
        defaultPosition={{x: 0, y: 0}}
        position={null}
        grid={[25, 25]}
        scale={1}
        onStart={this.handleStart}
        onDrag={this.handleDrag}
        onStop={this.handleStop}>
        <div>
          <div className="handle">Drag from here</div>
          <div>This readme is really dragging on...</div>
        </div>
      </Draggable>
    );
  }
}

ReactDOM.render(<App/>, document.body);

Draggable API

The <Draggable/> component transparently adds draggability to its children.

Note: Only a single child is allowed or an Error will be thrown.

For the <Draggable/> component to correctly attach itself to its child, the child element must provide support for the following props:

  • style is used to give the transform css to the child.
  • className is used to apply the proper classes to the object being dragged.
  • onMouseDown, onMouseUp, onTouchStart, and onTouchEnd are used to keep track of dragging state.

React.DOM elements support the above properties by default, so you may use those elements as children without any changes. If you wish to use a React component you created, you'll need to be sure to transfer prop.

<Draggable> Props:

//
// Types:
//
type DraggableEventHandler = (e: Event, data: DraggableData) => void | false;
type DraggableData = {
  node: HTMLElement,
  // lastX + deltaX === x
  x: number, y: number,
  deltaX: number, deltaY: number,
  lastX: number, lastY: number
};

//
// Props:
//
{
// If set to `true`, will allow dragging on non left-button clicks.
allowAnyClick: boolean,

// Determines which axis the draggable can move. This only affects
// flushing to the DOM. Callbacks will still include all values.
// Accepted values:
// - `both` allows movement horizontally and vertically (default).
// - `x` limits movement to horizontal axis.
// - `y` limits movement to vertical axis.
// - 'none' stops all movement.
axis: string,

// Specifies movement boundaries. Accepted values:
// - `parent` restricts movement within the node's offsetParent
//    (nearest node with position relative or absolute), or
// - a selector, restricts movement within the targeted node
// - An object with `left, top, right, and bottom` properties.
//   These indicate how far in each direction the draggable
//   can be moved.
bounds: {left?: number, top?: number, right?: number, bottom?: number} | string,

// Specifies a selector to be used to prevent drag initialization. The string is passed to
// Element.matches, so it's possible to use multiple selectors like `.first, .second`.
// Example: '.body'
cancel: string,

// Class names for draggable UI.
// Default to 'react-draggable', 'react-draggable-dragging', and 'react-draggable-dragged'
defaultClassName: string,
defaultClassNameDragging: string,
defaultClassNameDragged: string,

// Specifies the `x` and `y` that the dragged item should start at.
// This is generally not necessary to use (you can use absolute or relative
// positioning of the child directly), but can be helpful for uniformity in
// your callbacks and with css transforms.
defaultPosition: {x: number, y: number},

// If true, will not call any drag handlers.
disabled: boolean,

// Specifies the x and y that dragging should snap to.
grid: [number, number],

// Specifies a selector to be used as the handle that initiates drag.
// Example: '.handle'
handle: string,

// If desired, you can provide your own offsetParent for drag calculations.
// By default, we use the Draggable's offsetParent. This can be useful for elements
// with odd display types or floats.
offsetParent: HTMLElement,

// Called whenever the user mouses down. Called regardless of handle or
// disabled status.
onMouseDown: (e: MouseEvent) => void,

// Called when dragging starts. If `false` is returned any handler,
// the action will cancel.
onStart: DraggableEventHandler,

// Called while dragging.
onDrag: DraggableEventHandler,

// Called when dragging stops.
onStop: DraggableEventHandler,

// If running in React Strict mode, ReactDOM.findDOMNode() is deprecated.
// Unfortunately, in order for <Draggable> to work properly, we need raw access
// to the underlying DOM node. If you want to avoid the warning, pass a `nodeRef`
// as in this example:
//
// function MyComponent() {
//   const nodeRef = React.useRef(null);
//   return (
//     <Draggable nodeRef={nodeRef}>
//       <div ref={nodeRef}>Example Target</div>
//     </Draggable>
//   );
// }
//
// This can be used for arbitrarily nested components, so long as the ref ends up
// pointing to the actual child DOM node and not a custom component.
//
// For rich components, you need to both forward the ref *and props* to the underlying DOM
// element. Props must be forwarded so that DOM event handlers can be attached. 
// For example:
//
//   const Component1 = React.forwardRef(function (props, ref) {
//     return <div {...props} ref={ref}>Nested component</div>;
//   });
//
//   const nodeRef = React.useRef(null);
//   <DraggableCore onDrag={onDrag} nodeRef={nodeRef}>
//     <Component1 ref={nodeRef} />
//   </DraggableCore>
//
// Thanks to react-transition-group for the inspiration.
//
// `nodeRef` is also available on <DraggableCore>.
nodeRef: React.Ref<typeof React.Component>,

// Much like React form elements, if this property is present, the item
// becomes 'controlled' and is not responsive to user input. Use `position`
// if you need to have direct control of the element.
position: {x: number, y: number}

// A position offset to start with. Useful for giving an initial position
// to the element. Differs from `defaultPosition` in that it does not
// affect the position returned in draggable callbacks, and in that it
// accepts strings, like `{x: '10%', y: '10%'}`.
positionOffset: {x: number | string, y: number | string},

// Specifies the scale of the canvas your are dragging this element on. This allows
// you to, for example, get the correct drag deltas while you are zoomed in or out via
// a transform or matrix in the parent of this element.
scale: number
}

Note that sending className, style, or transform as properties will error - set them on the child element directly.

Controlled vs. Uncontrolled

<Draggable> is a 'batteries-included' component that manages its own state. If you want to completely control the lifecycle of the component, use <DraggableCore>.

For some users, they may want the nice state management that <Draggable> provides, but occasionally want to programmatically reposition their components. <Draggable> allows this customization via a system that is similar to how React handles form components.

If the prop position: {x: number, y: number} is defined, the <Draggable> will ignore its internal state and use the provided position instead. Alternatively, you can seed the position using defaultPosition. Technically, since <Draggable> works only on position deltas, you could also seed the initial position using CSS top/left.

We make one modification to the React philosophy here - we still allow dragging while a component is controlled. We then expect you to use at least an onDrag or onStop handler to synchronize state.

To disable dragging while controlled, send the prop disabled={true} - at this point the <Draggable> will operate like a completely static component.

<DraggableCore>

For users that require absolute control, a <DraggableCore> element is available. This is useful as an abstraction over touch and mouse events, but with full control. <DraggableCore> has no internal state.

See React-Resizable and React-Grid-Layout for some usage examples.

<DraggableCore> is a useful building block for other libraries that simply want to abstract browser-specific quirks and receive callbacks when a user attempts to move an element. It does not set styles or transforms on itself and thus must have callbacks attached to be useful.

DraggableCore API

<DraggableCore> takes a limited subset of options:

{
  allowAnyClick: boolean,
  cancel: string,
  disabled: boolean,
  enableUserSelectHack: boolean,
  offsetParent: HTMLElement,
  grid: [number, number],
  handle: string,
  onStart: DraggableEventHandler,
  onDrag: DraggableEventHandler,
  onStop: DraggableEventHandler,
  onMouseDown: (e: MouseEvent) => void,
  scale: number
}

Note that there is no start position. <DraggableCore> simply calls drag handlers with the below parameters, indicating its position (as inferred from the underlying MouseEvent) and deltas. It is up to the parent to set actual positions on <DraggableCore>.

Drag callbacks (onStart, onDrag, onStop) are called with the same arguments as <Draggable>.


Contributing

  • Fork the project
  • Run the project in development mode: $ npm run dev
  • Make changes.
  • Add appropriate tests
  • $ npm test
  • If tests don't pass, make them pass.
  • Update README with appropriate docs.
  • Commit and PR

Release checklist

  • Update CHANGELOG
  • make release-patch, make release-minor, or make-release-major
  • make publish

License

MIT