What is Electron JavaScript
In this article, we will learn about what is electron javascript and why is it used for. Electon is an open-source framework that is used to build cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and javascript.
Why would you build desktop apps?
Even though a lot of web frameworks are out there and a lot of things can be achieved using them. There are certain drawbacks, for example:
- Writing conditional code because of browser differences is always a pain for any developer. A code might work on chrome and firefox but not internet explorer, so you have to add an extra bit of code every single time.
- Access to the file system is also limited when working with web technologies.
- We also run into the problem of slow network connectivity which has a negative impact on web technologies.
Let’s face it we have great desktop applications that we use on a daily basis. So, we understand desktop applications are necessary.
Why use web technologies to build a web app?
The web community is much bigger than the desktop community. So, for any support for your application, we can find them easily online.Anytime we build some applications we have to ensure that address different platforms like windows, Unix, macOS, etc to get the native feel of the app. Web tech on other hand is cross-platform. So, that is why an electron is created. We can use web technologies to build a desktop application.
How does an electron work?
It is the combination of two technologies chromium which is an open-source part of chrome and nodeJS with a v8 engine for the runtime environment. These two technologies are bundled together as nothing but electrons that can be used to create native desktop applications. An electron by targeting code only for this chromium browser ensures that there are not differences in the behavior of our code. The code runs the exact same way on all platforms. So, I hope you know what an electron is and why it is used.
