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C++

15.6K
8.8K
+ 1
831
Electron

10.7K
9.5K
+ 1
143
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C++ vs Electron: What are the differences?

C++: Has imperative, object-oriented and generic programming features, while also providing the facilities for low level memory manipulation. C++ compiles directly to a machine's native code, allowing it to be one of the fastest languages in the world, if optimized; Electron: Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies. Formerly known as Atom Shell, made by GitHub. 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.

C++ and Electron are primarily classified as "Languages" and "Cross-Platform Desktop Development" tools respectively.

"Performance" is the primary reason why developers consider C++ over the competitors, whereas "Easy to make rich cross platform desktop applications" was stated as the key factor in picking Electron.

Electron is an open source tool with 74.4K GitHub stars and 9.72K GitHub forks. Here's a link to Electron's open source repository on GitHub.

According to the StackShare community, Electron has a broader approval, being mentioned in 213 company stacks & 366 developers stacks; compared to C++, which is listed in 194 company stacks and 357 developer stacks.

Decisions about C++ and Electron
Russtopia Labs
Sr. Doodad Imagineer at Russtopia Labs · | 0 upvote · 180.1K views

As a personal research project I wanted to add post-quantum crypto KEM (key encapsulation) algorithms and new symmetric crypto session algorithms to openssh. I found the openssh code and its channel/context management extremely complex.

Concurrently, I was learning Go. It occurred to me that Go's excellent standard library, including crypto libraries, plus its much safer memory model and string/buffer handling would be better suited to a secure remote shell solution. So I started from scratch, writing a clean-room Go-based solution, without regard for ssh compatibility. Interactive and token-based login, secure copy and tunnels.

Of course, it needs a proper security audit for side channel attacks, protocol vulnerabilities and so on -- but I was impressed by how much simpler a client-server application with crypto and complex terminal handling was in Go.

$ sloc openssh-portable 
  Languages  Files    Code  Comment  Blank   Total  CodeLns
      Total    502  112982    14327  15705  143014   100.0%
          C    389  105938    13349  14416  133703    93.5%
      Shell     92    6118      937   1129    8184     5.7%
       Make     16     468       37    131     636     0.4%
        AWK      1     363        0      7     370     0.3%
        C++      3      79        4     18     101     0.1%
       Conf      1      16        0      4      20     0.0%
$ sloc xs
  Languages  Files  Code  Comment  Blank  Total  CodeLns
      Total     34  3658     1231    655   5544   100.0%
         Go     19  3230     1199    507   4936    89.0%
   Markdown      2   181        0     76    257     4.6%
       Make      7   148        4     50    202     3.6%
       YAML      1    39        0      5     44     0.8%
       Text      1    30        0      7     37     0.7%
     Modula      1    16        0      2     18     0.3%
      Shell      3    14       28      8     50     0.9%

https://gogs.blitter.com/RLabs/xs

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Pros of C++
Pros of Electron
  • 197
    Performance
  • 105
    Control over memory allocation
  • 95
    Cross-platform
  • 94
    Fast
  • 82
    Object oriented
  • 56
    Industry standard
  • 46
    Smart pointers
  • 37
    Templates
  • 16
    Raii
  • 16
    Gui toolkits
  • 13
    Flexibility
  • 13
    Control
  • 13
    Generic programming
  • 11
    Metaprogramming
  • 9
    Hardcore
  • 5
    Many large libraries
  • 5
    Full-fledged containers/collections API
  • 5
    Simple
  • 4
    Performant multi-paradigm language
  • 4
    Large number of Libraries
  • 3
    Way too complicated
  • 1
    Plenty of useful features
  • 1
    Close to Reality
  • 68
    Easy to make rich cross platform desktop applications
  • 52
    Open source
  • 13
    Great looking apps such as Slack and Visual Studio Code
  • 7
    Because it's cross platform
  • 3
    Use Node.js in the Main Process

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Cons of C++
Cons of Electron
  • 8
    Slow compilation
  • 8
    Unsafe
  • 6
    Over-complicated
  • 6
    Fragile ABI
  • 5
    No standard/mainstream dependency management
  • 4
    Templates mess with compilation units
  • 3
    Too low level for most tasks
  • 1
    Compile time features are a mess
  • 1
    Template metaprogramming is insane
  • 1
    Segfaults
  • 1
    Unreal engine
  • 18
    Uses a lot of memory
  • 8
    User experience never as good as a native app
  • 4
    No proper documentation
  • 4
    Does not native
  • 1
    Each app needs to install a new chromium + nodejs
  • 1
    Wrong reference for dom inspection

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What is C++?

C++ compiles directly to a machine's native code, allowing it to be one of the fastest languages in the world, if optimized.

What is Electron?

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.

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What companies use C++?
What companies use Electron?
See which teams inside your own company are using C++ or Electron.
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What tools integrate with C++?
What tools integrate with Electron?

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