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> I'm convinced that using an embedded browser engine to render app UI is the future. Sciter exists: https://sciter.com/ https://sciter.com/ And it indeed is

> I'm convinced that using an embedded browser engine to render app UI is the future. Sciter exists: https://sciter.com/ https://sciter.com/ And it indeed is great for UI.

FreezerburnV 2y ago
Has it ever been made easy to use on mobile? That’s the big thing that’s always given me pause on investing heavily in using it. Especially since it uses weird syntax in places and isn’t “just a browser”.
- cyberax 2y ago
  It works... But it doesn't have a lot of integration. It's OK for its main use, a UI framework for primarily C/C++ programs, rather than a pure JavaScript+HTML host. A company that I'm advising is using it for their industrial IoT control dashboards, and it's great for that purpose.
philsnow 2y ago
> In almost 10 years, Sciter UI engine has become the secret weapon of success oh neat, I like learning about “secret weapons” like lisp/erlang > for some of the most prominent antivirus products on the market: Norton Antivirus and Internet Security, Comodo Internet Security, ESET Antivirus, BitDefender Antivirus, and others. I saw that sentence ending differently in my head... It just doesn’t seem like a very strong claim, that all these products which don’t really hinge on having great (or even good) UIs consider Sciter to be their secret weapon.
- gessha 2y ago
  Seeing “War Thunder” on their jumbotron, maybe they have other things in mind with “secret weapons” rofl
- cyberax 2y ago
  Yeah. It's a one-man company that has great tech, but very little capacity to build an ecosystem around it. A comparable ecosystem is QML in QT, but Sciter is an order of magnitude leaner and faster.
  - rubymamis 2y ago
    How exactly QML is not lean and fast? I’ve built and app that is both in QML and Qt[1][2]. [1] https://www.get-notes.com/ https://www.get-notes.com/ [2] https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor
    - cyberax 2y ago
      The _entire_ Sciter SDK is 8Mb, and it can go even lower. This includes a scripting language and an HTML/CSS renderer. It starts in milliseconds and can work over a raw framebuffer. My friends are using it for an industrial controller that can boot in half a second after a power outage. I'm not saying that QML is bad, it just is much more massive.
      - rubymamis 2y ago
        A QML app can be compiled to C++ and reap the exact same benefits with the right configurations when compiling Qt from source.
mathverse 2y ago
Sciter is great but is also just a minefield of bugs and quirks. And its main developer Andrew is too stubborn to realize why it's not popular because he refuses to hire an evangelist that would take care of its missing ecosystem.

> I'm convinced that using an embedded browser engine to render app UI is the future. Sciter exists: https://sciter.com/ https://sciter.com/ And it indeed is great for UI.

FreezerburnV 2y ago

Has it ever been made easy to use on mobile? That’s the big thing that’s always given me pause on investing heavily in using it. Especially since it uses weird syntax in places and isn’t “just a browser”.

cyberax 2y ago
It works... But it doesn't have a lot of integration. It's OK for its main use, a UI framework for primarily C/C++ programs, rather than a pure JavaScript+HTML host. A company that I'm advising is using it for their industrial IoT control dashboards, and it's great for that purpose.

philsnow 2y ago

> In almost 10 years, Sciter UI engine has become the secret weapon of success oh neat, I like learning about “secret weapons” like lisp/erlang > for some of the most prominent antivirus products on the market: Norton Antivirus and Internet Security, Comodo Internet Security, ESET Antivirus, BitDefender Antivirus, and others. I saw that sentence ending differently in my head... It just doesn’t seem like a very strong claim, that all these products which don’t really hinge on having great (or even good) UIs consider Sciter to be their secret weapon.

gessha 2y ago
Seeing “War Thunder” on their jumbotron, maybe they have other things in mind with “secret weapons” rofl
cyberax 2y ago
Yeah. It's a one-man company that has great tech, but very little capacity to build an ecosystem around it. A comparable ecosystem is QML in QT, but Sciter is an order of magnitude leaner and faster.
- rubymamis 2y ago
  How exactly QML is not lean and fast? I’ve built and app that is both in QML and Qt[1][2]. [1] https://www.get-notes.com/ https://www.get-notes.com/ [2] https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor
  - cyberax 2y ago
    The _entire_ Sciter SDK is 8Mb, and it can go even lower. This includes a scripting language and an HTML/CSS renderer. It starts in milliseconds and can work over a raw framebuffer. My friends are using it for an industrial controller that can boot in half a second after a power outage. I'm not saying that QML is bad, it just is much more massive.
    - rubymamis 2y ago
      A QML app can be compiled to C++ and reap the exact same benefits with the right configurations when compiling Qt from source.

mathverse 2y ago

Sciter is great but is also just a minefield of bugs and quirks. And its main developer Andrew is too stubborn to realize why it's not popular because he refuses to hire an evangelist that would take care of its missing ecosystem.