7 ms·

Build .NET Desktop Applications Using HTML, CSS and JavaScript

60 points by m_fayer 9y ago

andrew_ 9y ago
or just like, use Electron and cut out the dependency on .NET
- ssijak 9y ago
  Don't, please.
- romanovcode 9y ago
  Better yet, use .NET and cut out dependency on Electron.
  - andrew_ 9y ago
    if the whole point of the lib is to run html/js/css in a desktop-friendly app, you don't need .NET for any of it. yes, I've worked with both and worked with the browser interfaces for .net as far back as 1.0. It's simply not needed.
- 2017hack 9y ago
  => "or just like, make your application barely maintainable and increase RAM consumption ten/hundred times".
  - andrew_ 9y ago
    right. like using any browser engine bound to a .net instance doesn't do the same. I'd like my bike shed bright effing magenta, please.
nulagrithom 9y ago
Serious question as a .NET developer... Why? What's the advantage? My first thought would be to skip the .NET and just use JavaScript all the way down. Or skip JavaScript and just go .NET all the way down. Second thought would be to just go typical client-server, which is what I think I'm basically seeing here? The advantages aren't clear to me.
- yodon 9y ago
  Microsoft has so mismanaged WPF over the years that most developers want nothing to do with it. That means the dot net world lacks any sort of real UI building capability, forcing us int HTML/CSS/JS front ends (at least until Mono goes live with their WebAssembly port of dot net, at which point we can write our front ends in C# again, hopefully not far into 2018)
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    Not at all! I will gladly use Win Forms, WPF or UWP over anything resembling Electron.
    - megaman22 9y ago
      It's hard to beat WinForms for cranking out a quick and easy UI on Windows.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        Kind of. VCL is also quite good, in spite of how things went for Delphi and C++ Builder. Nothing prevents you to use WPF/UWP with visual designer and code-behind, just like Forms. Where WPF/UWL loose in simplicity is when you want to start customizing L&F or use the standard DataGrid.
        noir_lord 9y ago
        VCL was the best back in the days when I used Delphi 5/6, it's kinda sad if it's still true that VCL is still a front runner after a decade of near stagnation by whoever owned it at any given point. I'll admit though that the only IDE I've used that I like as much as Delphi 6 is Intellij.
        0xbear 9y ago
        WinForms is essentially “inspired” by VCL, through Anders Hejlsberg I guess. As are some parts of C#. WPF otoh is inspired by corporate brain damage.
yodon 9y ago
As an alternate approach for .NET desktop apps, Electron.NET[0] is a variant of Electron that adds a dotnet backend. Build your UI in the HTML/CSS/JS flavor of your choice and then implement the functionality backing that UI in C#. Electron.NET is relatively new and I just yesterday published what I think is the first boilerplate sample for it (using React/Typescript/MobX) [1] (note: my sample app currently looks terrible because there’s exactly zero CSS applied, I was hoping to get some of that added later this week having gotten the functional details working first. The demo in the Electron.NET repo replicates the stock Electron demo, if you’d like to start your explorations with pretty first). [0] https://github.com/ElectronNET/Electron.NET https://github.com/ElectronNET/Electron.NET [1] https://github.com/yoDon/Electron.NET-React-Typescript-MobX https://github.com/yoDon/Electron.NET-React-Typescript-MobX
- paxy 9y ago
  Both projects eventually use the Chromium renderer, just with .NET bindings, so all you're doing is introducing a whole new framework dependency in order to make development a bit easier. While I love the concept (and C#/.NET in general), this is yet another performance hit for end users.
  - yodon 9y ago
    You don’t have to use Electron if you don’t want to, and end users don’t have to use apps if they don’t like the performance characteristics of the apps. That said, there are a lot of very well liked apps being built very quickly on the the Electron framework, and those of us who like C# can do so even more happily using Electron.NET. So to tl;dr this answer to your comment, yes, it’s 100% about introducing the desired framework dependency to make development easier.
    - andrew_ 9y ago
      What I don't understand is: If Electron apps can be compiled to be cross-platform out of the box, why use an Electron binding for .NET that makes it inherently locked into Windows (without jumping through fancy hoops for other platforms)? I wrote a lot of Windows-only freeware on .NET over the years, and there's just no reason for it that I can see, if the core component of an app is cross-platform by default.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
megamindbrian2 9y ago
Isn't this what Electron is for? Why do this?
ComputerGuru 9y ago
Avalonia [0] is a cross-platform XAML-like UI library for .NET that supports Windows, Linux, and Mac via their native UI toolkits. 0: http://avaloniaui.net http://avaloniaui.net
nwah1 9y ago
DotVVM has Electron support. Have you looked at it?
iamcreasy 9y ago
Is there anything similar for Java and electron?

60 points by m_fayer 9y ago

andrew_ 9y ago

or just like, use Electron and cut out the dependency on .NET

ssijak 9y ago
Don't, please.
romanovcode 9y ago
Better yet, use .NET and cut out dependency on Electron.
- andrew_ 9y ago
  if the whole point of the lib is to run html/js/css in a desktop-friendly app, you don't need .NET for any of it. yes, I've worked with both and worked with the browser interfaces for .net as far back as 1.0. It's simply not needed.
2017hack 9y ago
=> "or just like, make your application barely maintainable and increase RAM consumption ten/hundred times".
- andrew_ 9y ago
  right. like using any browser engine bound to a .net instance doesn't do the same. I'd like my bike shed bright effing magenta, please.

nulagrithom 9y ago

Serious question as a .NET developer... Why? What's the advantage? My first thought would be to skip the .NET and just use JavaScript all the way down. Or skip JavaScript and just go .NET all the way down. Second thought would be to just go typical client-server, which is what I think I'm basically seeing here? The advantages aren't clear to me.

yodon 9y ago
Microsoft has so mismanaged WPF over the years that most developers want nothing to do with it. That means the dot net world lacks any sort of real UI building capability, forcing us int HTML/CSS/JS front ends (at least until Mono goes live with their WebAssembly port of dot net, at which point we can write our front ends in C# again, hopefully not far into 2018)
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Not at all! I will gladly use Win Forms, WPF or UWP over anything resembling Electron.
  - megaman22 9y ago
    It's hard to beat WinForms for cranking out a quick and easy UI on Windows.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      Kind of. VCL is also quite good, in spite of how things went for Delphi and C++ Builder. Nothing prevents you to use WPF/UWP with visual designer and code-behind, just like Forms. Where WPF/UWL loose in simplicity is when you want to start customizing L&F or use the standard DataGrid.
      - noir_lord 9y ago
        VCL was the best back in the days when I used Delphi 5/6, it's kinda sad if it's still true that VCL is still a front runner after a decade of near stagnation by whoever owned it at any given point. I'll admit though that the only IDE I've used that I like as much as Delphi 6 is Intellij.
      - 0xbear 9y ago
        WinForms is essentially “inspired” by VCL, through Anders Hejlsberg I guess. As are some parts of C#. WPF otoh is inspired by corporate brain damage.

yodon 9y ago

As an alternate approach for .NET desktop apps, Electron.NET[0] is a variant of Electron that adds a dotnet backend. Build your UI in the HTML/CSS/JS flavor of your choice and then implement the functionality backing that UI in C#. Electron.NET is relatively new and I just yesterday published what I think is the first boilerplate sample for it (using React/Typescript/MobX) [1] (note: my sample app currently looks terrible because there’s exactly zero CSS applied, I was hoping to get some of that added later this week having gotten the functional details working first. The demo in the Electron.NET repo replicates the stock Electron demo, if you’d like to start your explorations with pretty first). [0] https://github.com/ElectronNET/Electron.NET https://github.com/ElectronNET/Electron.NET [1] https://github.com/yoDon/Electron.NET-React-Typescript-MobX https://github.com/yoDon/Electron.NET-React-Typescript-MobX

paxy 9y ago
Both projects eventually use the Chromium renderer, just with .NET bindings, so all you're doing is introducing a whole new framework dependency in order to make development a bit easier. While I love the concept (and C#/.NET in general), this is yet another performance hit for end users.
- yodon 9y ago
  You don’t have to use Electron if you don’t want to, and end users don’t have to use apps if they don’t like the performance characteristics of the apps. That said, there are a lot of very well liked apps being built very quickly on the the Electron framework, and those of us who like C# can do so even more happily using Electron.NET. So to tl;dr this answer to your comment, yes, it’s 100% about introducing the desired framework dependency to make development easier.
  - andrew_ 9y ago
    What I don't understand is: If Electron apps can be compiled to be cross-platform out of the box, why use an Electron binding for .NET that makes it inherently locked into Windows (without jumping through fancy hoops for other platforms)? I wrote a lot of Windows-only freeware on .NET over the years, and there's just no reason for it that I can see, if the core component of an app is cross-platform by default.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

megamindbrian2 9y ago

Isn't this what Electron is for? Why do this?

ComputerGuru 9y ago

Avalonia [0] is a cross-platform XAML-like UI library for .NET that supports Windows, Linux, and Mac via their native UI toolkits. 0: http://avaloniaui.net http://avaloniaui.net

nwah1 9y ago

DotVVM has Electron support. Have you looked at it?

iamcreasy 9y ago

Is there anything similar for Java and electron?