Can javascript write desktop programs?

Javascript can write desktop programs. In JavaScript, you can use the Electron software framework to develop desktop programs; Electron is an open source library for building cross-platform desktop applications. It provides a rich local API that enables developers to create desktop applications using pure JS.

The operating environment of this tutorial: windows7 system, javascript version 1.8.5, Dell G3 computer.

What is a desktop application

##Desktop application, also known as GUI program (Graphical User Interface), but there are some differences from GUI programs. Desktop applications transform GUI programs from GUI to "desktop", making the cold concept of a computer like a piece of wood more humane, more vivid and dynamic.

So can javascript write desktop programs?

javascript can write desktop programs. The world of JavaScript is getting more and more powerful, and you can use frameworks like Eletron to easily develop desktop applications.

Electron is a cross-platform javascript desktop development library.

Electron is an open source library developed by Github that uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build cross-platform desktop applications. Electron does this by merging Chromium and Node.js into the same runtime environment and packaging them as apps for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems.

Electron provides a rich native (operating system) API that enables you to create desktop applications using pure JavaScript. Unlike various other Node.js runtimes, Electron focuses on desktop applications rather than web servers.

Electron allows you to use pure JavaScript to call rich native APIs to create desktop applications. You can think of it as a variant of io.js focused on desktop applications rather than web servers.

Reason for using Electron for development:

• Using Web technology with a strong ecology for development, the development cost is low, Strong scalability, cooler UI

• Cross-platform, one set of code can be packaged into three sets of software for Windows, Linux, and Mac, and the compilation is fast

• Can be directly extended on existing web applications to provide capabilities that browsers do not have

• You are a front-end

Of course, we must also recognize its shortcomings: performance is lower than native desktop applications, and the final packaged application is much larger than native applications.

Development experience

Compatibility

Although you are still developing using WEB technology, But you no longer need to consider compatibility issues. You only need to care about the version of Chrome you are currently using. Generally speaking, it is new enough to allow you to use the latest API and syntax. You can also manually upgrade the Chrome version. . Likewise, you don’t have to worry about style and code compatibility issues with different browsers.

Node environment

This may be a feature that many front-end developers have dreamed of. Using the powerful API provided by Node.js in the WEB interface means that you You can directly operate files, call system APIs, and even operate databases on the WEB page. Of course, in addition to the full Node API, you can also use hundreds of thousands of additional npm modules.

Cross-domain

You can directly use the request module provided by Node to make network requests, which means you no longer need to be troubled by cross-domain.

Powerful scalability

Use node-ffi to provide powerful scalability for applications (will be introduced in detail in later chapters).

Who is using Electron

There are already many applications on the market using it

Electron has been developed, including the familiar VS Code client, GitHub client, Atom client, etc. I was very impressed by Xunlei’s copywriting when it released Xunlei X10.1 last year:

Starting from Xunlei Thunder X using the new framework can perfectly support high-definition displays such as 2K and 4K, and the text rendering in the interface is also clearer and sharper. From a technical perspective, the new framework is more flexible and efficient than the old framework in terms of interface drawing and event processing, so the smoothness of the interface is also significantly better than that of the old framework Thunder. As for the specific improvement? You'll know once you try it.

You can open

VS Code and click [Help] [Switch Developer Tools] to debug the VS Code client interface.

Electron operating principle

Electron combines Chromium, Node.js and API that calls the operating system's native functions.

1. Chromium

Chromium is an open source project launched by Google to develop the Chrome browser, Chromium is equivalent to the engineering version or experimental version of Chrome. New features will be implemented first on Chromium and will be applied to Chrome after verification. Therefore, the functions of Chrome will be relatively backward but more stable.

Chromium provides Electron with powerful UI capabilities, allowing you to develop interfaces without considering compatibility.

2. Node.js

Node.js is a development platform that allows JavaScript to run on the server side, Node It uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model to be lightweight and efficient.

Chromium

alone cannot have the ability to directly operate the native GUI, Electron integrates Nodejs, this It allows it to develop the interface while also having the ability to have the underlying API of the operating system. The Path, fs, Crypto and other modules commonly used in Nodejs are in Electron can be used directly. 3. System API

In order to provide

GUI

support for the native system, Electron has a built-in native application program interface for calling some system functions. Provide support for calling system notifications and opening system folders. In development mode,

Electron

is developed separately from the calling system API and the drawing interface. Let’s take a look at Electron About How processes are divided. 4. Main process

Electron

distinguishes two processes: the main process and the rendering process, each of which is responsible for its own functions.

Electron

The process that runs the main script of package.json is called the main process. An Electron application always has one and only one main process.

Responsibility:

Create rendering process (can be multiple)

• Control the application life cycle (start, exit
APP
• And do some event monitoring for APP)Call the underlying functions of the system and call native resources

Callable API:

Node.js API
The main process
• API provided by Electron (including some system functions and ElectronAdditional functions)
5. Rendering process

Because

Electron

uses Chromium to displayweb page, so the multi-process architecture of Chromium is also used. Each web page in Electron runs in its own rendering process.

The main process uses a BrowserWindow instance to create the page. Each BrowserWindow instance runs the page in its own rendering process. When a BrowserWindow instance is destroyed, the corresponding rendering process will also be terminated.

You can think of the rendering process as a browser window. It can exist multiple and independent of each other, but unlike a browser, it can call

Node API

.

Responsibility:

Render the interface using

HTML
• and CSSUse
JavaScript
• Do some interface interaction

Callable API:

DOM API
Node.js API
Electron
• Rendering process providedAPI
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