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What is "drawing context" exactly? What is the role of getcontext() method?

What is getContext() method and what is drawing context exactly? why we always pass the string 2d to the getContext() method?

Solution

  • Context is a way to choose what you are going to do with your canvas.

    For moment you can use getContext for 2d (2dcanvas) or for 3d (WebGL).

    HTML5 Specification say's about getContext : "Returns an object that exposes an API for drawing on the canvas. The first argument specifies the desired API. Subsequent arguments are handled by that API."

    You can find specifications for each API there : https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/canvas.html#dom-canvas-getcontext

    It is also good to know that "webgl" is the correct name for API but for moment, as it is experimental you should use "experimental-webgl" to start creating WebGL content