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I don't totally understand why this exists to be honest. React Native for desktop is... React Native. It isn't mobile-specific in any way. In fact, it is alread

I don't totally understand why this exists to be honest. React Native for desktop is... React Native. It isn't mobile-specific in any way. In fact, it is already possible to make Windows (UWP) and macOS apps with it. If this project was about formalising proper stable support for Windows and macOS within React Native, that would totally make sense. But it seems more like it's trying to be an alternative, under a different name, different branding, etc. Surely it's better to remain as one widely compatible project?

jscholes 8y ago
> React Native for desktop is... React Native. It isn't mobile-specific in any way. In fact, it is already possible to make Windows (UWP) and macOS apps with it. And what if you want to make a non-UWP app for accessibility or other reasons? Just your standard, straight forward Win32 GUI. Bringing the power of React to that space will still appeal to many.
- BillinghamJ 8y ago
  If your use-case is specialist enough that you can't use UWP or WPF, I feel like maybe it's specialist enough that it might be best for you to just use the standard native tools rather than React Native?
- com2kid 8y ago
  React-Native for WPF already exists. Same repro as React Native for UWP.
  - jscholes 8y ago
    > React-Native for WPF already exists. WPF and Win32 are not the same thing.
    - com2kid 8y ago
      Your original comment indicated non-UWP or Win32.
zengid 8y ago
Can you please link to the React Native desktop projects that you're referring to?
zengid 8y ago
React Native seems to be geared for mobile. Proton Native uses bindings with NodeJS (via libui-node, which uses libui), which seems to be (IMO) a much better run-time for the JS part than JavaScriptCore because Node already can handle a huge amount of the OS interop. Also, JIT isn't restricted on desktop the way it is on iOS, so JSCore doesn't have a good reason to be used.
- BillinghamJ 8y ago
  JSC is very fast, and the RN runtime is intended to be a fairly limited API, so I wouldn't necessarily say the access to the Node core packages is hugely beneficial. But it's a fair point. I'm not sure why JIT is relevant. Neither JSC nor Node do any JITting.
  - zengid 8y ago
    Node uses V8. V8 has JIT. http://thibaultlaurens.github.io/javascript/2013/04/29/how-the-v8-engine-works/ http://thibaultlaurens.github.io/javascript/2013/04/29/how-t...
    - BillinghamJ 8y ago
      In that sense, so does JSC - even on iOS. It just does so in a controlled fashion.

jscholes 8y ago

> React Native for desktop is... React Native. It isn't mobile-specific in any way. In fact, it is already possible to make Windows (UWP) and macOS apps with it. And what if you want to make a non-UWP app for accessibility or other reasons? Just your standard, straight forward Win32 GUI. Bringing the power of React to that space will still appeal to many.

BillinghamJ 8y ago
If your use-case is specialist enough that you can't use UWP or WPF, I feel like maybe it's specialist enough that it might be best for you to just use the standard native tools rather than React Native?
com2kid 8y ago
React-Native for WPF already exists. Same repro as React Native for UWP.
- jscholes 8y ago
  > React-Native for WPF already exists. WPF and Win32 are not the same thing.
  - com2kid 8y ago
    Your original comment indicated non-UWP or Win32.

zengid 8y ago

Can you please link to the React Native desktop projects that you're referring to?

zengid 8y ago

React Native seems to be geared for mobile. Proton Native uses bindings with NodeJS (via libui-node, which uses libui), which seems to be (IMO) a much better run-time for the JS part than JavaScriptCore because Node already can handle a huge amount of the OS interop. Also, JIT isn't restricted on desktop the way it is on iOS, so JSCore doesn't have a good reason to be used.

BillinghamJ 8y ago
JSC is very fast, and the RN runtime is intended to be a fairly limited API, so I wouldn't necessarily say the access to the Node core packages is hugely beneficial. But it's a fair point. I'm not sure why JIT is relevant. Neither JSC nor Node do any JITting.
- zengid 8y ago
  Node uses V8. V8 has JIT. http://thibaultlaurens.github.io/javascript/2013/04/29/how-the-v8-engine-works/ http://thibaultlaurens.github.io/javascript/2013/04/29/how-t...
  - BillinghamJ 8y ago
    In that sense, so does JSC - even on iOS. It just does so in a controlled fashion.