Electron
Desktop FrameworkElectron is a framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. It works by combining Chromium (the open-source browser engine behind Chrome) with Node.js, giving developers full access to both web APIs and native system capabilities in a single runtime. Some of the most widely used desktop applications in the world are built with Electron, VS Code, Slack, Discord, Figma's desktop app, Notion, and Spotify's desktop client. For custom web application development, Electron is valuable when a client needs an installable desktop experience with features like offline access, file system integration, or system-level notifications. The development speed is exceptional because your existing web codebase can be reused almost entirely. The tradeoff is bundle size and memory usage, since each Electron app ships its own Chromium instance.
How It Changed Everything
Electron was created by Cheng Zhao at GitHub in 2013, originally named Atom Shell because it was built specifically to power GitHub's Atom text editor. Cheng Zhao was working at GitHub's office in San Francisco and needed a way to build Atom as a desktop application using web technologies. The project was open-sourced alongside Atom. In 2015, Atom Shell was renamed to Electron as it became clear the framework had value far beyond a single text editor. GitHub's adoption of Electron for Atom validated the approach, and when Microsoft built VS Code on Electron shortly after, the framework's dominance in desktop development was cemented.
One Thing Most People Miss
Before creating Electron, Cheng Zhao had contributed to node-webkit (now NW.js), which was an earlier attempt at combining Node.js with a browser engine for desktop apps. He started Electron partly because he disagreed with architectural decisions in node-webkit. One key difference was how Electron separates main and renderer processes, a design choice that proved more scalable. Ironically, while Atom (the app Electron was built for) was discontinued by GitHub in 2022, Electron itself thrived and now powers applications used by hundreds of millions of people.
Visit: electronjs.org