Would you like to leverage your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills to build cross-platform desktop applications? Electron is an open source application shell created by GitHub, designed to make building great desktop applications easy. You may have already experienced Electron using applications such as Atom, Slack, or Visual Studio Code. In this talk, you will learn its features, how to quickly get started, and tips from my experience building Electron applications.

1. Cross-Platform Desktop
Apps with Electron
David Neal | reverentgeek.com | @reverentgeek
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2. Up Ahead
• What is Electron?
• Why desktop?
• Crash course
• Tips

3. .NET + Mono + Xamarin
Pros:
• Shared .NET code base
Cons:
• Xamarin Mac !== Xamarin iOS/Android
• Native UI
• Deployment
• Licensing

5. Electron
Pros:
• HTML + CSS + JavaScript
• Node.js + Chrome
• No deployment dependencies

7. Electron
Cons:
• HTML + CSS + JavaScript
• Seriously, JavaScript
• Decisions, Decisions

8. Electron
• Created by GitHub for Atom
• Formerly Atom Shell
• Active since January 2013

9. Electron Features
• Rapid development
• Themes
• Shared code/UI
• Deployment + “silent” updates
• Native UX

10. Why Desktop Apps?
• Offline
• Printers, devices,
other local
hardware
• On-premises
• Internal, LOB
• Edit local files
• App Store
• Kiosk
• Desktop > Intranet
• Sometimes it “just
feels right”

11. Desktop App Ideas
• Disconnected data entry
• Editor
• Time management
• Media player
• Email client
• Messaging, collaboration
• Kiosk
• Mapping, route planner
• Social media client
• Calendar
• Bulk media editor
• File management, backup
• Document generation,
reading
• Audio/video conferencing
• Games

12. Atom

16. Nylas N1

20. > npm install electron-prebuilt
> touch main.js
> touch index.html

21. ( main.js )

22. ( main.js )

23. ( main.js )
( index.html )

24. ( main.js )
( home.html )
( editor.html )
( settings.html )

25. main.js

26. main.js

27. main.js

28. main.js

29. main.js

30. main.js

31. main.js

32. main.js

33. index.html

34. index.html
> electron main.js

35. index.html

36. index.html

37. index.html

38. index.html

40. main.js

41. main.js

49. Process modules
• app
• ipc
• dialog
• menu, menu-item
• power-monitor
• tray

50. Renderer modules
• ipc
• remote
• web-frame

51. Modules available to both
• clipboard
• crash-reporter
• native-image
• screen
• shell

52. Recommended Tools
• electron-debug
• electron-reload
• electron-packager
• electron-builder
• electron-updater
• electron-mocha

53. Boilerplate Projects
• electron-boilerplate
• electron-react-boilerplate

54. electron-prebuilt-compile
• ES6/ES7 (Babel), TypeScript,
CoffeeScript
• React.js
• LESS
• Jade
• CSON

55. photonkit.com

58. Tips
• Use CSS default cursor
• -webkit-user-drag:none
• -webkit-user-drag:text
• Keep windows open

59. Resources
https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome-electron
Pluralsight Course: Rob Conery’s “Electron Playbook”

61. Thank you!
David Neal
@ReverentGeek
david@reverentgeek.com
reverentgeek.com