Electron vs Photon

Overview

Electron

Stacks11.6K

Followers10.0K

Votes148

Photon

Stacks32

Followers89

Votes0

GitHub Stars10.1K

Forks573

Electron vs Photon: What are the differences?

Introduction:

1. Architecture: Electron uses a combination of Node.js runtime and Chromium to run web pages as desktop applications, while Photon is a high-performance web renderer designed specifically for PhotonKit-based interfaces with a leaner architecture.

2. Technology Stack: Electron enables developers to use a single codebase to create applications for multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, while Photon is more focused on creating cross-platform user interfaces using web technologies and native components.

3. Extensibility: Electron provides a rich set of APIs and tools for building feature-rich desktop applications with great flexibility and customization options, whereas Photon is more limited in its extensibility, primarily focusing on UI components and styling.

4. Learning Curve: Electron has a steeper learning curve due to its complex architecture and the need to understand both Node.js and Chromium, while Photon is more straightforward and easier to grasp, especially for developers familiar with web technologies.

5. Performance: Electron applications tend to be bulkier and consume more system resources due to the inclusion of the Node.js runtime and Chromium, resulting in potentially slower performance compared to Photon applications optimized for quick rendering and responsiveness.

6. Community and Support: Electron has a larger and more active community of developers, extensive documentation, and a wider range of third-party libraries and tools available, offering better support for troubleshooting and development compared to the lesser-known and less-supported Photon framework.

In Summary, Electron offers a feature-rich and extensible platform for building cross-platform desktop applications with a wider community and resource support, while Photon focuses on lightweight, high-performance UI rendering primarily for PhotonKit-based interfaces.

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Advice on Electron, Photon

Semih

Software Engineering Manager

Oct 1, 2020

Needs adviceon

JavaScript

HTML5

.NET

Hi,

We are planning to develop a brand new UX for an already existing desktop software. The previous version is developed on C#.NET with Winforms & WPF. Our plan is to use JavaScript/HTML5 based frontend technologies for the new software. For some components, we are highly dependent on .NET/ .NET Core because the JS-based versions are not mature enough.

What would you choose for a desktop-based Engineering Software that supports multi-OS and has rich UI capabilities considering the .NET dependencies?

Thanks in advance,

Semih

57.9k views57.9k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Electron	Photon
With Electron, creating a desktop application for your company or idea is easy. Initially developed for GitHub's Atom editor, Electron has since been used to create applications by companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Slack, and Docker. The Electron framework lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. It is based on io.js and Chromium and is used in the Atom editor.	The fastest way to build beautiful Electron apps using simple HTML and CSS. Underneath it all is Electron. Originally built for GitHub's Atom text editor, Electron is the easiest way to build cross-platform desktop applications.
Use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Chromium and Node.js to build your app.;Electron is open source; maintained by GitHub and an active community.;Electron apps build and run on Mac, Windows, and Linux.;Automatic updates;Crash reporting;Windows installers;Debugging & profiling;Native menus & notifications	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 10.1K
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 573
Stacks 11.6K	Stacks 32
Followers 10.0K	Followers 89
Votes 148	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 69 Easy to make rich cross platform desktop applications 53 Open source 14 Great looking apps such as Slack and Visual Studio Code 8 Because it's cross platform 4 Use Node.js in the Main Process Cons 19 Uses a lot of memory 8 User experience never as good as a native app 4 No proper documentation 4 Does not native 1 Wrong reference for dom inspection	No community feedback yet

What are some alternatives to Electron, Photon?

Sciter

It brings a stack of web technologies to desktop UI development. Web designers, and developers, can reuse their experience and expertise in creating modern looking desktop applications.

wxWidgets

It is a C++ library that lets developers create applications for Windows, macOS, Linux and other platforms with a single code base. It has popular language bindings for Python, Perl, Ruby and many other languages, and unlike other cross-platform toolkits, it gives applications a truly native look and feel because it uses the platform's native API rather than emulating the GUI. It's also extensive, free, open-source and mature.

Qt5

It is a full development framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications and user interfaces for desktop, embedded, and mobile platforms.

JavaFX

It is a set of graphics and media packages that enables developers to design, create, test, debug, and deploy rich client applications that operate consistently across diverse platforms.

React Native Desktop

Build OS X desktop apps using React Native.

JUCE

It is a C++ framework for low-latency applications, with cross-platform GUI libraries to get your apps running on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

Proton Native

Create native desktop applications through a React syntax, on all platforms.

NodeGUI

It is an open source library for building cross-platform native desktop applications with JavaScript and CSS like styling. It is based on Qt5 and NOT chromium, hence it is memory and cpu efficient.

pygame

It is a cross-platform set of Python modules designed for writing video games. It includes computer graphics and sound libraries designed to be used with the Python programming language.

SDL

It is a cross-platform development library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware via OpenGL and Direct3D.

Related Comparisons

Electron vs Photon: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Electron vs Photon

Overview