[gridlockd]

No framework can fully eliminate the underlying performance sinkhole that is the DOM. If you have to mutate, you will pay the price, period. The smartest framework can only help you eliminate redundant mutations.

[onion2k]

By the sounds of it the DOM itself shouldn't be changing though, just the text in text nodes and style attributes. It should be fast.

[mfatica]

text nodes and style attributes are part of "the DOM itself"

[hanniabu]

What are alternatives?

[gridlockd]

For dynamic content, the only alternative to DOM manipulation is rendering to a canvas element.

[hanniabu]

Can that still be interacted with? I wouldn't even know where to start to allow clicks and such.

[gridlockd]

A canvas element will get events like any other DOM node. From there on, it's up to you.

> I wouldn't even know where to start to allow clicks and such.

Figuring that out should be a good exercise, then. Otherwise, you might want to use some library building on top of canvas.