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I’m in the same boat but, tbf, as a developer, what are the alternatives ? Multiplatform GUI toolkits are abandoned or still heavily tied to C++ or Java

by pjerem 5y ago

tylerscott 5y ago
It is still very new but Flutter desktop support looks promising. I've been toying with it in my free time and it is very easy to get up and running.
bachmeier 5y ago
Is there something wrong with running a local web server and opening the app in a browser tab? Not my area of expertise, so maybe it would have its own set of issues.
- dspillett 5y ago
  The issue for Electron is making sure the right version of Node and Chromium are available which is why each app is so big: each apps includes the version of both that they were last dev&tested against. That is why running several eats a fair amount of RAM - they have full Chromiums running, not sharing anything between them even if they are the exact version. > Is there something wrong with running a local web server and opening the app in a browser tab? For the average user, probably. Though for a developer targetted app probably not IMO. For a dev, running a new enough version of Node (but, for not well maintained apps, perhaps having one that is not _too_ new around) and making sure you have a recent enough browser, is not an issue, but for beginners or completely non-technical users that is a barrier to using the app. As access to local resources from within the browser is getting practical, I think the best common ground will have to be two versions from (mostly) the same source: a pure JS version that someone who can follow the instructions can run using already installed node and the same browser instance they use for everything else, and a memory hungry Electron version for others to install just by downloading the huge installer. And of that first version can be run as a service, or perhaps there would be a third version with extra parts not needed for either local version for that, for those who don't want to install at all. Maybe at some point OSes/distributions/appstores will go with “we have this LTS version of Node and this LTS version of Chromium, otherwise provide your own”. That way devs could release a full cross-platform version of their app (Electron with all the baggage), and streamlined versions (no Node, no Chromium, just the app and any extra supporting libs) for Win10, Win11, Debian11, Ubuntu20.04, ..., that have been tested against the versions included with those OS options. Appstores would always get the streamlined versions because they can make sure the right version goes to each OS version they service. Perhaps there would be a combined installer: still huge as it contains everything, but it only installs and runs the app+libs if the target's standard backend & browser are found to be compatible.
  - bachmeier 5y ago
    You wouldn't need to use Node if you're running it locally. It could be in any language, and in my experience, Node is in the tail for being bad about requiring specific versions. If you write it in Go, for instance, you don't have those problems.
tagrun 5y ago
Gtk isn't tied to C++ or Java in any way. While Qt and wxWidgets are written in C++, they aren't heavily tied to C++ either. For all these toolkits, bindings for many languages exist.
- pjerem 5y ago
  I love Gtk and Qt but they are a pain to watch on Windows and OSX (although Qt is manageable under Windows)

I’m in the same boat but, tbf, as a developer, what are the alternatives ? Multiplatform GUI toolkits are abandoned or still heavily tied to C++ or Java

by pjerem 5y ago

I’m in the same boat but, tbf, as a developer, what are the alternatives ? Multiplatform GUI toolkits are abandoned or still heavily tied to C++ or Java

tylerscott 5y ago

It is still very new but Flutter desktop support looks promising. I've been toying with it in my free time and it is very easy to get up and running.

bachmeier 5y ago

Is there something wrong with running a local web server and opening the app in a browser tab? Not my area of expertise, so maybe it would have its own set of issues.

dspillett 5y ago
The issue for Electron is making sure the right version of Node and Chromium are available which is why each app is so big: each apps includes the version of both that they were last dev&tested against. That is why running several eats a fair amount of RAM - they have full Chromiums running, not sharing anything between them even if they are the exact version. > Is there something wrong with running a local web server and opening the app in a browser tab? For the average user, probably. Though for a developer targetted app probably not IMO. For a dev, running a new enough version of Node (but, for not well maintained apps, perhaps having one that is not _too_ new around) and making sure you have a recent enough browser, is not an issue, but for beginners or completely non-technical users that is a barrier to using the app. As access to local resources from within the browser is getting practical, I think the best common ground will have to be two versions from (mostly) the same source: a pure JS version that someone who can follow the instructions can run using already installed node and the same browser instance they use for everything else, and a memory hungry Electron version for others to install just by downloading the huge installer. And of that first version can be run as a service, or perhaps there would be a third version with extra parts not needed for either local version for that, for those who don't want to install at all. Maybe at some point OSes/distributions/appstores will go with “we have this LTS version of Node and this LTS version of Chromium, otherwise provide your own”. That way devs could release a full cross-platform version of their app (Electron with all the baggage), and streamlined versions (no Node, no Chromium, just the app and any extra supporting libs) for Win10, Win11, Debian11, Ubuntu20.04, ..., that have been tested against the versions included with those OS options. Appstores would always get the streamlined versions because they can make sure the right version goes to each OS version they service. Perhaps there would be a combined installer: still huge as it contains everything, but it only installs and runs the app+libs if the target's standard backend & browser are found to be compatible.
- bachmeier 5y ago
  You wouldn't need to use Node if you're running it locally. It could be in any language, and in my experience, Node is in the tail for being bad about requiring specific versions. If you write it in Go, for instance, you don't have those problems.

tagrun 5y ago

Gtk isn't tied to C++ or Java in any way. While Qt and wxWidgets are written in C++, they aren't heavily tied to C++ either. For all these toolkits, bindings for many languages exist.

pjerem 5y ago
I love Gtk and Qt but they are a pain to watch on Windows and OSX (although Qt is manageable under Windows)