I would like to add to the other comments, in that I had no idea what polyvalent meant too.
I am going to make a wild guess in the dark here, and say that English isn't your first language (I sincerely apologize if I'm wrong). If this is true, did you try to translate a word from your native language into English, or are you a chemist ;)
I know exactly what you're trying to say with the term, but I think you could have much better uptake of your software if you found a word which conveys what you want to convey to a programmer audience.
After looking at the etymology of the word and your explanation of what it means, may I humbly put forward a couple of alternatives, and I am sure HN users could contribute more:
Anime.js is a multi-target yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a flexible yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a multi-framework yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a polygamous yet lightweight (and STD free!) Javascript animation library.
The last entry is a feeble attempt at humour.
P.S. Great job on the library, especially keeping it lightweight
As a Spaniard myself, I am baffled since it is a word kind of common in the sciences. I don't think it's a translator problem, it might be a false friend problem; in Spanish it's "polivalente" instead of "polyvalent"
I would say that, from knowing the Spanish meaning AND use, there is no "decent" translation since it can be precise or simple, but not both. But this is the one I like most even though it has slightly different meaning:
- Anime.js is a flexible yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
I'm pretty sure not many people will understand what the word means in this context, and I would strongly suggest removing it. "valency" has specific meanings in chemistry and grammar, and I think it's not well-known outside of those contexts, and I'm not certain it really means what you want it to mean here.
That aside, this looks seriously awesome - the animation along the SVG path is great! The API also looks very pleasant.
I'm not a chemist, and I immediately understood this to mean "readily interacts/combines with multiple things", though my understanding did come directly from my (limited, school-level) chemistry, so it's certainly domain-specific terminology that mightn't cross too well to web dev.
Also, perhaps more importantly, it wasn't clear what things (rendering tech) the valencies were with until your comment.
I had to look up the word, and the dictionary definition didn't suggest this meaning to me. The library is much more interesting when you realise what you're looking for this word to convey, though!
"Polyglot" might work better. I realize that these are not different languages that the library can use, but you could reasonably interpret it to mean that the library "speaks" SVG / Canvas / Javascript objects.
It's a tough one, because technically I think polyvalent may actually be the most correct word by definition (albeit from a different domain), but this thread would indicate that understandability and not technical correctness is more important.
Polyglot, as has been suggested elsewhere, probably fits best even if it's very slightly inaccurate (normally pertaining specifically to multi-language use)
It might be a language issue. In Portuguese "polivalente" is a very common word meaning something has many functions. Nobody thinks of chemistry upon hearing it.
I am going to make a wild guess in the dark here, and say that English isn't your first language (I sincerely apologize if I'm wrong). If this is true, did you try to translate a word from your native language into English, or are you a chemist ;)
I know exactly what you're trying to say with the term, but I think you could have much better uptake of your software if you found a word which conveys what you want to convey to a programmer audience.
After looking at the etymology of the word and your explanation of what it means, may I humbly put forward a couple of alternatives, and I am sure HN users could contribute more:
Anime.js is a multi-target yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a flexible yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a multi-framework yet lightweight Javascript animation library.
Anime.js is a polygamous yet lightweight (and STD free!) Javascript animation library.
The last entry is a feeble attempt at humour.
P.S. Great job on the library, especially keeping it lightweight