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Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

josephg.com

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Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#131

Post by johnonolan »

franciscop wrote: post #68

While I love Node.js and its environment, I totally agree with this post. I don't have the Slack client installed for this reason and only use Electron when I write code. React Native seems like a nice middle ground: Javascript, but compiled to native. PS, I notice that the author is using Ghost for the blog, so I am guessing the author is in the same line (like Node.js but not Electron).

Not sure what line that is but Ghost's desktop app is definitely Electron. For the record, it was also built handedly by one open source contributor (Felix Rieseberg) and absolutely would not exist if not for Electron.

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#132

Post by rndmize »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #97
anaisbetts wrote: post #74

Here's the thing. You know what the alternative to all of these Electron apps coming out is? If your answer is "A native Cocoa/WPF app", you are on another planet, the answer is, "It wouldn't exist at all". Nobody in the last 5-10 years cared about writing Desktop apps before Electron came along, there's basically zero money in it, and it's massively expensive, both in terms of actual dev time per feature (easily 10x…

That's nonsense . Desktop apps have been frequently released since forever. The underlying issue here is that Electron reduces the barrier to entry for cross-platform development . That is, it's cheaper to build a single cross-platform application in Electron than it is to build two or three native applications, and you can re-use your existing web experience. I can completely understand why companies might choose th…

> The underlying issue here is that Electron reduces the barrier to entry for cross-platform development.

Actually, the incentive is even stronger than this. The ability to visit a website and start using an identical version of the app immediately is just as important - I doubt that Slack and Discord would have had half the success they did if users had to download the application before using it, regardless of them being available on all platforms.

Discord has had the ability to give links to others to join a chat server since its inception, resulting in a two-step process to use it: click the link, type a name. This is miles less of a barrier to entry than: click link, download app, find downloads, install app, run app, create account, join server (rough process for most text/voice apps up to this point).

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#133

Post by pvg »

anaisbetts wrote: post #74

Here's the thing. You know what the alternative to all of these Electron apps coming out is? If your answer is "A native Cocoa/WPF app", you are on another planet, the answer is, "It wouldn't exist at all". Nobody in the last 5-10 years cared about writing Desktop apps before Electron came along, there's basically zero money in it, and it's massively expensive, both in terms of actual dev time per feature (easily 10x…

Nobody cared about writing Desktop apps before Electron came along, there's basically zero money in it

You could open the Mac App Store, pick the 'top grossing' category and count the number of Electron apps.

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#134

Post by lazyjones »

I fully agree with the author, only I'd call Electron the PHP for the desktop (it does help people get started quickly, at a cost).

There are working solutions for cross-platform native UI development and high-performance, slim code: http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Multiplatform_Programming...

The problem is: most people don't bother learning new languages unless it's very easy (well, Pascal is!). I hope Go will have a cross-platform UI soon.

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#135

Post by mi100hael »

irishcoffee wrote: post #100
api wrote: post #75

Electron is a sub-optimal solution to the fact that desktop development today is horrible . You either have to write your app twice (or three times if you want Linux) or use Qt, which limits you to either C++ or this weird langauge/ecosystem nobody knows called Qt Quick. Electron lets you write desktop apps that work decently well everywhere in a language you already know.

> use Qt, which limits you to either C++ or this weird langauge/ecosystem nobody knows called Qt Quick Hmm, PyQt would remove the need to use c++ if that is an issue.

Then you have to bundle and distribute Python, which is also a huge pain.

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#136

Post by jhasse »

irishcoffee wrote: post #100
api wrote: post #75

Electron is a sub-optimal solution to the fact that desktop development today is horrible . You either have to write your app twice (or three times if you want Linux) or use Qt, which limits you to either C++ or this weird langauge/ecosystem nobody knows called Qt Quick. Electron lets you write desktop apps that work decently well everywhere in a language you already know.

> use Qt, which limits you to either C++ or this weird langauge/ecosystem nobody knows called Qt Quick Hmm, PyQt would remove the need to use c++ if that is an issue.

Isn't PyQt GPL though?

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#138

Post by cdnsteve »

If I wanted to make a desktop App work on Windows and macOS today, without using Electron, what are my options to build something very quickly that also include the benefits of Electron: self updating, app crash reporting, windows installers, no licensing fees?

Re: Electron is flash for the desktop (2016)

#140

Post by matthewmacleod »

Touche wrote: post #113
matthewmacleod wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's nonsense . Desktop apps have been frequently released since forever. The underlying issue here is that Electron reduces the barrier to entry for cross-platform development . That is, it's cheaper to build a single cross-platform application in Electron than it is to build two or three native applications, and you can re-use your existing web experience. I can completely understand why companies might choose th…

> They fail to integrate with the host platform Just as a counter-point, because native app fans often make this point as though it is universally recognized to be a good thing. I don't want apps to integrate with the host platform. The host platform is not the thing I care about. I use several host platforms in different contexts (I have work and home computers and a smartphone, they all run different OSes) and I wo…

I accept that not everybody will feel the same way – I do care about my local platform. I want to hit 'space' when I have an item selected and see quick preview. I want my documents indexed in Spotlight, I want to drag-and-drop files between applications, and I want all the rest of the UI niceties I am used to.
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