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Show HN: Quark-IDE and a JavaScript runtime to build cross-platform desktop apps

didgeoridoo 7y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20485978 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20485978
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
murukesh_s 7y ago
Nicely done those who complained about dependency on the quark 'runtime' should note that it would be easy for the author to provide a 'release' button to create a dependency-free Electron bundled version that can be distributed to all.
sl1ck731 7y ago
I don't know if its just me, but the site runs extremely slow on a pretty well-specced desktop PC. I think there might be too much going on. I gave up trying to scroll through. This is on Chrome 72.
- mixedCase 7y ago
  That's a fairly old version of Chrome, try updating. It's working well here on Brave (based on Chromium 76) but this is on a high end computer.
  - ComputerGuru 7y ago
    A release from May 29, 2019 is considered “fairly old?” If we were talking protection against the latest vulnerabilities, fine. But for tech compatibility? I think we just found the “hell no to backwards compatibility” web developer in the crowd.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  It's pretty bad in Safari as well :(
- savolai 7y ago
  Seems fine on my iphone 6s.
- quantummkv 7y ago
  It's the same story here on Firefox with Webrender (which even manages to tame the horribly unoptimized youtube). I am sure there is some irony on some level and dimension when the first piece of text on this abomination of a site is "Lightning Fast"
- winrid 7y ago
  Seems fine on my older Xperia Compact.
- galfarragem 7y ago
  Weird, it's quite fast on an ipad mini 1.
- jcelerier 7y ago
  I'd like to have videos of the screens of people saying it's fine because here's how it looks on a computer able to run witcher 3 in 4k at 60fps : https://streamable.com/6wnj0 https://streamable.com/6wnj0
pjmlp 7y ago
My desktop has plenty of features that aren't exposed to the Web, so no, it isn't desktop like.
- 19ylram49 7y ago
  That’s not how it works. There’s a native bridge that enables you to access and use virtually any native APIs that you’d like to via JavaScript et al. If the native API that you need access to isn’t already exposed by the Electron framework, you can write the bridge code yourself
  - pjmlp 7y ago
    Ah it depends on Electron,....
    - penagwin 7y ago
      It's a shared electron context, it addresses one of the many critiques of electron (that each electron app is an entirely separate instance of Chrome), so each "sketch" while having the capabilities of electron only have the performance impact of a browser tab. This is especially useful for "utility applications".
      - pjmlp 7y ago
        Ah utilities of 100MB size then.
        nishkalkashyap 7y ago
        ~100Kb* Only as much as is the actual application logic and bundled dependencies. Which for most cases is usually a few kilobytes or a megabyte. You can checkout the Quark appstore (https://dash.quarkjs.io/ https://dash.quarkjs.io/). None of the apps is above 2MB.
        pjmlp 7y ago
dead_mall 7y ago
I mean, there's already Visual Code, an Electron IDE pretty much.
- nishkalkashyap 7y ago
  It's not an electron IDE like VSCOde or Atom. But an IDE and a JavaScript runtime that helps you build and run electron applications.

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20485978 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20485978

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Nicely done those who complained about dependency on the quark 'runtime' should note that it would be easy for the author to provide a 'release' button to create a dependency-free Electron bundled version that can be distributed to all.

sl1ck731 7y ago

I don't know if its just me, but the site runs extremely slow on a pretty well-specced desktop PC. I think there might be too much going on. I gave up trying to scroll through. This is on Chrome 72.

mixedCase 7y ago
That's a fairly old version of Chrome, try updating. It's working well here on Brave (based on Chromium 76) but this is on a high end computer.
- ComputerGuru 7y ago
  A release from May 29, 2019 is considered “fairly old?” If we were talking protection against the latest vulnerabilities, fine. But for tech compatibility? I think we just found the “hell no to backwards compatibility” web developer in the crowd.
saagarjha 7y ago
It's pretty bad in Safari as well :(
savolai 7y ago
Seems fine on my iphone 6s.
quantummkv 7y ago
It's the same story here on Firefox with Webrender (which even manages to tame the horribly unoptimized youtube). I am sure there is some irony on some level and dimension when the first piece of text on this abomination of a site is "Lightning Fast"
winrid 7y ago
Seems fine on my older Xperia Compact.
galfarragem 7y ago
Weird, it's quite fast on an ipad mini 1.
jcelerier 7y ago
I'd like to have videos of the screens of people saying it's fine because here's how it looks on a computer able to run witcher 3 in 4k at 60fps : https://streamable.com/6wnj0 https://streamable.com/6wnj0

pjmlp 7y ago

My desktop has plenty of features that aren't exposed to the Web, so no, it isn't desktop like.

19ylram49 7y ago
That’s not how it works. There’s a native bridge that enables you to access and use virtually any native APIs that you’d like to via JavaScript et al. If the native API that you need access to isn’t already exposed by the Electron framework, you can write the bridge code yourself
- pjmlp 7y ago
  Ah it depends on Electron,....
  - penagwin 7y ago
    It's a shared electron context, it addresses one of the many critiques of electron (that each electron app is an entirely separate instance of Chrome), so each "sketch" while having the capabilities of electron only have the performance impact of a browser tab. This is especially useful for "utility applications".
    - pjmlp 7y ago
      Ah utilities of 100MB size then.
      - nishkalkashyap 7y ago
        ~100Kb* Only as much as is the actual application logic and bundled dependencies. Which for most cases is usually a few kilobytes or a megabyte. You can checkout the Quark appstore (https://dash.quarkjs.io/ https://dash.quarkjs.io/). None of the apps is above 2MB.
        pjmlp 7y ago

dead_mall 7y ago

I mean, there's already Visual Code, an Electron IDE pretty much.

nishkalkashyap 7y ago
It's not an electron IDE like VSCOde or Atom. But an IDE and a JavaScript runtime that helps you build and run electron applications.