Electron (software framework)

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Electron (formerly known as Atom Shell) is an open-source framework created by Cheng Zhao, and now developed by GitHub. It allows for the development of desktop GUI applications using front and back end components originally developed for web applications: Node.js runtime for the backend and Chromium for the frontend. Electron is the main GUI framework behind several notable open-source projects including GitHub's Atom and Microsoft's Visual Studio Code source code editors, the Tidal music streaming service desktop application and the Light Table IDE, in addition to the freeware desktop client for the Discord chat service.

Video Electron (software framework)

History

• On 11 April in 2013, Electron was started as Atom Shell.
• On 6 May 2014, Atom and Atom Shell became open-source with MIT license.
• On 17 April 2015, Atom Shell was renamed to Electron.
• On 11 May 2016, Electron reached version 1.0.
• On 20 May 2016, Electron allowed submitting packaged apps to the Mac App Store.
• On 2 August 2016, Windows Store support for Electron apps was added.

Maps Electron (software framework)

Structure of an Electron application

A basic Electron app consists of three files: package.json (metadata), main.js (code) and index.html (graphical user interface). The framework is provided by the Electron executable file (electron.exe on Windows, electron.app on macOS, and electron on Linux). Developers wishing to add branding and custom icons can rename and/or edit the Electron executable file.

The most important file in the Electron file is package.json. It keeps information about the package. The most common information in package.json is:

• "name", the application name
• "version", the application version string
• "main", the name of the main script file of the application

package.json is an npm file.

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Applications using Electron

A significant number of desktop applications are built with Electron including:

• Atom
• Discord
• Etcher
• GitHub Desktop
• GitKraken
• Journey Desktop
• Keybase
• Light Table
• Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Visual Studio Code
• Slack
• Skype
• Signal
• Twitch.tv
• WhatsApp
• Wire
• Yammer
• Markdownify
• primitive.nextgen

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See also

• Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF)
• Qt WebEngine
• XULRunner
• Apache Cordova

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References

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External links

• Official website

Source of the article : Wikipedia