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>Sure, it eats RAM. It turns out that I care about that so much less than I thought I would. It sure is nice having a powerful developer machine with 16 or 32

by swebs 7y ago

>Sure, it eats RAM. It turns out that I care about that so much less than I thought I would. It sure is nice having a powerful developer machine with 16 or 32 gb of RAM. Just remember there are a lot of people out there running on 4gb laptops or even less. These days, the OS, web browser, and Slack alone are already enough to max it out and start swapping.

mumblemumble 7y ago
If you want to keep your RAM usage light, go ahead and use vim. Other people choosing to use different apps is consuming their computer's memory, not yours. I'm also not sure you can just assume that an Electron app will be a giant memory hog compared to the alternatives. I just decided to go and give it a quick look-see. Right now I've got both vscode and IntelliJ IDEA open at the same time. (For my purposes, they're at feature parity, except that I don't like vscode's Java plugin). IntelliJ, a non-Electron cross-platform app, is consuming 3 GB of RAM. vscode, an Electron app, is using 50MB. That's 1/60 as much. Meld, a GTK+ app that doesn't do nearly as much, consumes 100MB just sitting idle, which is twice as much as the Electron app does. I'll come out and say it: I suspect that, deep down, this argument is not really about memory or anything like that. It's really a proxy war about JavaScript. Which, I get it, I hate JavaScript too. I resolutely avoid working on things with UIs at work, probably to the detriment of my career, just to avoid programming in JavaScript. But I've also got to concede that Electron has accomplished something that everyone else has consistently failed at: Delivering decent cross-platform GUI applications. And it's pointless to complain about people using X technology when it has no truly viable alternatives.
- deleted 7y ago
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- zozbot234 7y ago
  > Delivering decent cross-platform GUI applications. Qt, Gtk+, WxWidgets... There are lots of ways to skin this cat.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
jonfw 7y ago
An 8 gig stick of ram costs about thirty dollars. It doesn't make sense to run 4 these days.
- jlokier 7y ago
  I haven't seen anyone use a desktop for development in years... The Windows tablet/notebook (hybrid) being sold as their latest product by a company I'm doing business with at the moment has 4GB. It's a shame, because Electron would totally fit what their business runs on those tablets, which is a Javascript-based graphical environment...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- saagarjha 7y ago
  Not everyone can or will upgrade their computer’s RAM.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- codedokode 7y ago
  Older Intel chipsets don't support more than 4 Gb. New chipsets and motherboards also have a limitation, typically about 16 or 32 Gb. Doesn't it look artificial? What is the reason for it? Of course, to make sure that the consumer won't be able to use them for too long without paying for a new one.
  - ac29 7y ago
    Most current entry level AMD and Intel motherboards support 32 or 64 GB RAM (in fact, I couldn't find one that supported less). These are rarely over $100. Boards supporting 128GB of RAM start around $120-150. Seems reasonable for 2019.
    - voltagex_ 7y ago
      What about the people using prebuilt machines, or ones with 4GB of soldered-in RAM?
crispinb 7y ago
Then write an alternative using different technologies. Those writing electron apps now are not obliged to do this for you.

by swebs 7y ago

mumblemumble 7y ago

If you want to keep your RAM usage light, go ahead and use vim. Other people choosing to use different apps is consuming their computer's memory, not yours. I'm also not sure you can just assume that an Electron app will be a giant memory hog compared to the alternatives. I just decided to go and give it a quick look-see. Right now I've got both vscode and IntelliJ IDEA open at the same time. (For my purposes, they're at feature parity, except that I don't like vscode's Java plugin). IntelliJ, a non-Electron cross-platform app, is consuming 3 GB of RAM. vscode, an Electron app, is using 50MB. That's 1/60 as much. Meld, a GTK+ app that doesn't do nearly as much, consumes 100MB just sitting idle, which is twice as much as the Electron app does. I'll come out and say it: I suspect that, deep down, this argument is not really about memory or anything like that. It's really a proxy war about JavaScript. Which, I get it, I hate JavaScript too. I resolutely avoid working on things with UIs at work, probably to the detriment of my career, just to avoid programming in JavaScript. But I've also got to concede that Electron has accomplished something that everyone else has consistently failed at: Delivering decent cross-platform GUI applications. And it's pointless to complain about people using X technology when it has no truly viable alternatives.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
zozbot234 7y ago
> Delivering decent cross-platform GUI applications. Qt, Gtk+, WxWidgets... There are lots of ways to skin this cat.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

jonfw 7y ago

An 8 gig stick of ram costs about thirty dollars. It doesn't make sense to run 4 these days.

jlokier 7y ago
I haven't seen anyone use a desktop for development in years... The Windows tablet/notebook (hybrid) being sold as their latest product by a company I'm doing business with at the moment has 4GB. It's a shame, because Electron would totally fit what their business runs on those tablets, which is a Javascript-based graphical environment...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
saagarjha 7y ago
Not everyone can or will upgrade their computer’s RAM.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
codedokode 7y ago
Older Intel chipsets don't support more than 4 Gb. New chipsets and motherboards also have a limitation, typically about 16 or 32 Gb. Doesn't it look artificial? What is the reason for it? Of course, to make sure that the consumer won't be able to use them for too long without paying for a new one.
- ac29 7y ago
  Most current entry level AMD and Intel motherboards support 32 or 64 GB RAM (in fact, I couldn't find one that supported less). These are rarely over $100. Boards supporting 128GB of RAM start around $120-150. Seems reasonable for 2019.
  - voltagex_ 7y ago
    What about the people using prebuilt machines, or ones with 4GB of soldered-in RAM?

crispinb 7y ago

Then write an alternative using different technologies. Those writing electron apps now are not obliged to do this for you.