Desktop Applications
A desktop application is a software program that can be run on a standalone computer to perform a specific task by an end-user.
Some desktop applications such as word editor, photo editing app and media player allow you to perform different tasks while other such as gaming apps are developed purely for entertainment. When you purchase a computer or a laptop, there is a set of apps that are already installed on your desktop. You can also download and install different desktop applications directly from the Internet or purchased from software vendors.
The examples of some of the popular desktop applications are, word processing applications such as Microsoft Word and WPS Office which are designed to edit the textual content, gaming applications such as Minesweeper and Solitaire which are used for entertainment, web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox which help you to connect to the Internet from your computer, media player applications such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and VLC media player which let you listen to music, watch videos and movies and create collections of media content.
Characteristics of Desktop Applications
- The desktop applications are developed to run on a specific operating system such as Windows, Mac or Linux.
- Updates to the desktop applications should be installed by the end-users. The updates may be published through the Internet but the installation is usually a manual process done by the end-user.
- The desktop applications are designed to run in an isolated environment hence they have fewer security issues.
- The ability to work without an Internet connection is another common characteristic of desktop applications.
Electron
Electron is a framework for building desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. By embedding Chromium and Node.js into its binary, Electron allows you to maintain one JavaScript codebase and create cross-platform apps that work on Windows, macOS, and Linux — no native development experience required. With this, building desktop applications is no longer an exclusive capability of developers who write C++, C#, or Java as web developers can now transfer their skills to rolling out industry-standard desktop software.
Prerequisites for Building an Electron.js Application
These docs operate under the assumption that the reader is familiar with both Node.js and general web development. Moreover, you'll have a better time understanding how Electron works if you get acquainted with Chromium's process model. You can get a brief overview of Chrome architecture with the Chrome comic, which was released alongside Chrome's launch back in 2008. Although it's been over a decade since then, the core principles introduced in the comic remain helpful to understand Electron.
Running examples with Electron Fiddle
Electron Fiddle is a sandbox app written with Electron and supported by Electron's maintainers. We highly recommend installing it as a learning tool to experiment with Electron's APIs or to prototype features during development. Fiddle also integrates nicely with our documentation. When browsing through examples in our tutorials, you'll frequently see an "Open in Electron Fiddle" button underneath a code block. If you have Fiddle installed, this button will open a fiddle.electronjs.org link that will automatically load the example into Fiddle, no copy-pasting required.