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Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

zero-native.dev

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Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#51

Post by hypendev »

lifty wrote: post #38
hypendev wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually working on that - it's called Hypen - (hypen.space). You can build your core in Go or any other supported language, and write the UI in the Hypen DSL. While desktop is still in the works and should be out in the next week or two, currently the alpha supports Native iOS, Android, Web and Web Canvas, and just like mobile, the Desktop will be _real_ native.

Thanks, I will keep an eye on this as well. Wish you success!

Thank you so much! If you ever have any feedback or wishes for the Go side, feel free to reach out!

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#54

Post by mpalmer »

pmarreck wrote: post #14
AbuAssar wrote: post #2

> No borrow checker. No lifetimes. No fighting the compiler for 20 minutes over a string. I don’t like this attitude, both zig and rust have their strengths.

> "I don't like this attitude" Cool, let me know when you have a rational counterargument then, some of us have gotten fed up with Rust (especially at scale) and are very much enjoying Zig (which has no magic, which turns out to be a huge advantage at scale)

You should really make sure to take your own advice when you're being this discourteous.

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#56

Post by d12bb »

lifty wrote: post #43
d12bb wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only reasonable way is shared core with thin UI layer on top. For Rust there is Crux, don’t know for other languages. Everything else is just compromise, like all Flutter apps I know on iOS are just atrocious.

I like this approach, it's what I had in mind, but Crux doesn't seem to support desktop targets. I know on MacOS you can get nice looking apps with their native toolkit, on Linux you have GTK4 which can be decent looking, but not amazing, and on Windows, I truly don't know. Native apps on Windows look crap to me (without even mentioning the advanced fragmentation in UI toolkits in Windows). Maybe someone has some goo…

> Crux doesn't seem to support desktop targets

Only partially true: macOS is supported, and one can fall back to the web. But you're right in that native Windows and Linux are still missing.

> Linux

Problem with Linux of course is that it's almost as fragmented as Windows, with Qt and GTK being the main toolkits, but a dozen more if you ask the wrong people :D I personally don't like GTK, to me it (well, mainly Gnome) looks and feels like trying to copy macOS without understanding what makes it great, but Qt is a toolkit I can get behind…

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#57

Post by p5v »

This looks like Tauri.

I don’t know. I still prefer simply shipping Go binaries around that fire up a local web server and open the web page on start. I’m old enough to care about these fancy languages, frameworks, native APIs and such. A dumb language like Go, in combination with HTMX and some JavaScript/CSS is all I need.

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#58

Post by cyanydeez »

kroaton wrote: post #48
h4ch1 wrote: post #5

> Use the system WebView for lightweight apps, or bundle Chromium via CEF so basically a vibe coded Tauri in zig? I don't like calling webview dependent applications "native desktop apps". Native desktop apps means using the OS primitives and directives to draw the UI imo; WinForms, SwiftUI, and their ilk.

If Tauri ever gets proper webgpu support, that'll be the Electron killer.

nothings going to kill electron. The value of packaging the chrome browser is you don't need to suddenly track down 4+ different webview rendering bugs, capabilities, etc.

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#59

Post by raulgooo »

hypendev wrote: post #35
lifty wrote: post #28

Slightly off topic, but what is the best way to build a cross platform GUI app these days, but something with good graphics, typography, etc. I mean a beautiful app. I would prefer to have a shared core in Go, and then something around it to give me the GUI. I know on MacOS it is straightforward to build something beautifully looking with their native Swift toolkit, but not sure on Linux and Windows. Is it better to…

I'm actually working on that - it's called Hypen - (hypen.space). You can build your core in Go or any other supported language, and write the UI in the Hypen DSL. While desktop is still in the works and should be out in the next week or two, currently the alpha supports Native iOS, Android, Web and Web Canvas, and just like mobile, the Desktop will be _real_ native.

Hey this looks pretty good.

Re: Zero-native – Build native desktop apps with web UI

#60

Post by satvikpendem »

lifty wrote: post #28

Slightly off topic, but what is the best way to build a cross platform GUI app these days, but something with good graphics, typography, etc. I mean a beautiful app. I would prefer to have a shared core in Go, and then something around it to give me the GUI. I know on MacOS it is straightforward to build something beautifully looking with their native Swift toolkit, but not sure on Linux and Windows. Is it better to…

I like Flutter, it's actually not a webview unlike most other frameworks and likely the most mature out of them. I also am keeping an eye on Rust GUI frameworks, Dioxus Native in particular as they're making their own renderer.
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