Exploring the Electron application framework
Universal Desktop
© Lead Image © pino, 123rf.com
GitHub's Electron project brings the benefits of web programming to the realm of desktop applications.
If the boss orders a cross-platform desktop app for internal use, stressed IT staff often lack the time to get familiar with C++/Qt, Java, or Python and the associated application packaging. The Electron project [1] solves this problem by making a desktop app more like a web app. Electron combines Chromium [2] and Node.js [3] into a single run time, thus allowing the developer to build the application using the standard tools of web development, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The cross-platform nature of web development makes it quite easy to adapt your application to run on Windows, Mac OS, or Linux, and Electron even comes with tools that will package the app for the target OS.
Electron applications even update themselves automatically. Updates are retrieved from known sources, such as a GitHub repository, via an update server.
Electron began in 2013 as the framework for building GitHub's Atom text editor. GitHub open sourced Atom and Electron in 2014. Electron has an MIT license. Version 1.0.0 was released in 2016, and as of this year, it is available in Windows and OS X app stores as well as Linux repositories.
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