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In most cases it's either an Electron app or no desktop app at all. It's simply not feasible to write native apps.

krzyk 9y ago
Then don't, it's really wasteful to have webdevs write desktop apps using Electron. I don't see a gain over using a webpage. I use slack this way and I don't see any problems.
- jgforbes 9y ago
  You might not necessarily want something like code-editors rely on external servers, while still taking advantage of the UX of web-development. VSCode gets around this by running an npm node locally.
- lazarus101 9y ago
  No one would bother writing Electron app if there was no demand. Most users, (even tech savvy users) prefer using Electron Slack instead of keeping the webapp open in a browser.
alkonaut 9y ago
Why not? People do native mobile apps despite those platforms being more or less at parity, while desktops are overwhelmingly just one platform. The tools to write cross platform mobile apps that aren't just a browser with lipstick (like xamarin) exist for both desktop and desktop.
cgh 9y ago
Qt exists and is really nice to work with. It has multiple language bindings. How is it unfeasible?
- lazarus101 9y ago
  Development time needed to create desktop apps (for Windows, Mac and Linux) given that there's already an existing webapp: - using Electron: 1 month - using QT: 2 years
  - mijoharas 9y ago
    Chrome apps would have solved one of the main problems if they were still a thing (does anyone know why chrome deprecated them?). (by reusing the chrome context, your memory usage wouldn't grow unnecessarily for each new slack/spotify/whatever you open).
    - jhasse 9y ago
      > does anyone know why chrome deprecated them? To push Chrome OS (where they will still be available) and to vendor lock-in people with Android apps.
      - lima 9y ago
        Quite the opposite, they wanted to prevent vendor lock-in, so they pushed for standards like service workers and NaCL that eliminate the need for Chrome Apps.
        jhasse 9y ago
        But aren't those two only for getting better performance for web apps? Chrome Apps actually help getting a web app integrated into the OS, I don't see where (P)NaCl helps me with that.
        lima 9y ago
        Progressive web apps can be launched in a window just like a Chrome app.
        mijoharas 9y ago
        I was just trying to look into this, I can't see a way for this to happen on a desktop, is my google-fu broken or is coming later. I was also looking for a desktop icon (or file or whatever).
    - buremba 9y ago
- jhasse 9y ago
  > It has multiple language bindings. Not many of them are good though, as it's hard to bind C++. If you want to work with Qt, C++ is really the best option. And not many people know that language well enough. They know JavaScript though ;)
  - bnastic 9y ago
    Software/web devs are such hypocrites, optimising software for production and not for the platform or the user.
    - Asooka 9y ago
      That's the entire rationale behind e.g. using python or php on the backend. Oh, the requests are IO-bound, we don't need to use a cumbersome language like C++ or Java to develop our backend, we'll just throw more cores at it if it gets too slow. Developer time will always be the first thing to be optimised, not least because the first to ship win and the first to ship is the one with the fastest development stack.

Then don't, it's really wasteful to have webdevs write desktop apps using Electron. I don't see a gain over using a webpage. I use slack this way and I don't see any problems.

jgforbes 9y ago
You might not necessarily want something like code-editors rely on external servers, while still taking advantage of the UX of web-development. VSCode gets around this by running an npm node locally.
lazarus101 9y ago
No one would bother writing Electron app if there was no demand. Most users, (even tech savvy users) prefer using Electron Slack instead of keeping the webapp open in a browser.

alkonaut 9y ago

Why not? People do native mobile apps despite those platforms being more or less at parity, while desktops are overwhelmingly just one platform. The tools to write cross platform mobile apps that aren't just a browser with lipstick (like xamarin) exist for both desktop and desktop.

cgh 9y ago

Qt exists and is really nice to work with. It has multiple language bindings. How is it unfeasible?

lazarus101 9y ago
Development time needed to create desktop apps (for Windows, Mac and Linux) given that there's already an existing webapp: - using Electron: 1 month - using QT: 2 years
- mijoharas 9y ago
  Chrome apps would have solved one of the main problems if they were still a thing (does anyone know why chrome deprecated them?). (by reusing the chrome context, your memory usage wouldn't grow unnecessarily for each new slack/spotify/whatever you open).
  - jhasse 9y ago
    > does anyone know why chrome deprecated them? To push Chrome OS (where they will still be available) and to vendor lock-in people with Android apps.
    - lima 9y ago
      Quite the opposite, they wanted to prevent vendor lock-in, so they pushed for standards like service workers and NaCL that eliminate the need for Chrome Apps.
      - jhasse 9y ago
        But aren't those two only for getting better performance for web apps? Chrome Apps actually help getting a web app integrated into the OS, I don't see where (P)NaCl helps me with that.
        lima 9y ago
        Progressive web apps can be launched in a window just like a Chrome app.
        mijoharas 9y ago
        I was just trying to look into this, I can't see a way for this to happen on a desktop, is my google-fu broken or is coming later. I was also looking for a desktop icon (or file or whatever).
  - buremba 9y ago
jhasse 9y ago
> It has multiple language bindings. Not many of them are good though, as it's hard to bind C++. If you want to work with Qt, C++ is really the best option. And not many people know that language well enough. They know JavaScript though ;)
- bnastic 9y ago
  Software/web devs are such hypocrites, optimising software for production and not for the platform or the user.
  - Asooka 9y ago
    That's the entire rationale behind e.g. using python or php on the backend. Oh, the requests are IO-bound, we don't need to use a cumbersome language like C++ or Java to develop our backend, we'll just throw more cores at it if it gets too slow. Developer time will always be the first thing to be optimised, not least because the first to ship win and the first to ship is the one with the fastest development stack.