3 ms·

My counterpoint to the frequent "electron is worse than Hitler and aids combined": what's the alternative? Especially when it comes to commercial software whe

My counterpoint to the frequent "electron is worse than Hitler and aids combined": what's the alternative? Especially when it comes to commercial software where certain open source licenses are a non-starter and there just aren't a lot of resources for writing desktop apps.

scarface74 8y ago
The alternative is to build a native app using a native tool chain like developers have been doing for years....
seandougall 8y ago
> there just aren't a lot of resources for writing desktop apps. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? I develop primarily for macOS, and I’ve very rarely been unable to find resources for what I need. As far as alternatives for cross-platform, one possibility in many scenarios is to write your core functionality in a language that can target multiple platforms (e.g. C, C++, Rust, Swift) and then write platform-specific wrappers around it. (I don’t personally think Electron is the end of humanity, but it does irk me when people call it “native”.)
- paulddraper 8y ago
  > Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? I'm 100% certain the OP meant "resources for writing cross-platform desktop apps". > write your core functionality in a language that can target multiple platforms...write platform-specific wrappers around it This is nearly always suggested by someone who has never attempted this. There is a reason there are mountains of Windows-only or Mac-only software out there.
  - seandougall 8y ago
    > This is nearly always suggested by someone who has never attempted this. Oh, I've done it, and seen it done many times—it all depends on what the application is attempting to do. If the goal is something platform-specific enough that this approach doesn't work well, then something like Electron generally doesn't seem to either.
krapp 8y ago
What's wrong with Visual Studio, or Visual Studio Code, or Code::Blocks, or Eclipse, or... Sublime Text?
dman 8y ago
Qt?

scarface74 8y ago

The alternative is to build a native app using a native tool chain like developers have been doing for years....

seandougall 8y ago

> there just aren't a lot of resources for writing desktop apps. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? I develop primarily for macOS, and I’ve very rarely been unable to find resources for what I need. As far as alternatives for cross-platform, one possibility in many scenarios is to write your core functionality in a language that can target multiple platforms (e.g. C, C++, Rust, Swift) and then write platform-specific wrappers around it. (I don’t personally think Electron is the end of humanity, but it does irk me when people call it “native”.)

paulddraper 8y ago
> Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? I'm 100% certain the OP meant "resources for writing cross-platform desktop apps". > write your core functionality in a language that can target multiple platforms...write platform-specific wrappers around it This is nearly always suggested by someone who has never attempted this. There is a reason there are mountains of Windows-only or Mac-only software out there.
- seandougall 8y ago
  > This is nearly always suggested by someone who has never attempted this. Oh, I've done it, and seen it done many times—it all depends on what the application is attempting to do. If the goal is something platform-specific enough that this approach doesn't work well, then something like Electron generally doesn't seem to either.

krapp 8y ago

What's wrong with Visual Studio, or Visual Studio Code, or Code::Blocks, or Eclipse, or... Sublime Text?

dman 8y ago

Qt?