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  1. Stackups
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  4. Cross Platform Mobile Development
  5. Electron vs Framework7

Electron vs Framework7

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Framework7
Framework7
Stacks141
Followers331
Votes171
Electron
Electron
Stacks11.6K
Followers10.0K
Votes148

Electron vs Framework7: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this Markdown code document, I will provide the key differences between Electron and Framework7, highlighting specific details.

  1. Purpose and Focus: Electron is a framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It aims to provide a native-like experience by embedding a web browser window within the application. On the other hand, Framework7 is a full-featured mobile app development framework built on top of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It focuses specifically on developing mobile applications with a native look and feel.

  2. Platform Support: Electron is designed to create desktop applications and supports all major operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. Framework7, however, is primarily aimed at mobile app development and supports platforms like iOS and Android.

  3. User Interface Components: Electron provides a basic set of desktop UI components like windows, menus, dialog boxes, etc., but these components don't have a native look and feel unless explicitly customized. Framework7, on the other hand, offers a wide range of pre-designed and customizable mobile UI components. These components are specifically designed to mimic the look and feel of native mobile apps on iOS and Android.

  4. Integration with Native Features: Electron allows easy integration with native features of the operating system, enabling applications to access system-level functionalities such as file handling, notifications, system tray, etc. Framework7, while supporting some native features through plugins, primarily focuses on providing cross-platform UI components and relies on Cordova/PhoneGap plugins for accessing native device functionalities.

  5. Development Workflow: Electron provides a powerful and flexible development workflow for building desktop applications using popular web development tools like Electron Forge and Electron Builder. Framework7, on the other hand, offers features like live-reloading during development, built-in build tools, and easy project setup using tools like Framework7-CLI.

  6. Deployment and Distribution: Electron provides various packaging and distribution options to deliver desktop applications as installable packages or executable files for different operating systems. Framework7, as a mobile app development framework, allows developers to package and publish apps using the respective app stores for iOS and Android.

In summary, Electron is primarily focused on building cross-platform desktop applications, providing access to system-level features, while Framework7 is a mobile app development framework that offers a native-like UI and focuses on creating mobile applications for iOS and Android.

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Advice on Framework7, Electron

Semih
Semih

Software Engineering Manager

Oct 1, 2020

Needs adviceonJavaScriptJavaScriptHTML5HTML5.NET.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

Framework7
Framework7
Electron
Electron

It is a free and open source mobile HTML framework to develop hybrid mobile apps or web apps with iOS native look and feel. All you need to make it work is a simple HTML layout and attached framework's CSS and JS files.

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.

iOS Specific;UI Components;Swipe Actions;Easy To Customize;Native Scrolling;Multiple Views
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
Stacks
141
Stacks
11.6K
Followers
331
Followers
10.0K
Votes
171
Votes
148
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 21
    Free and open source
  • 20
    Well designed
  • 17
    Material design
  • 15
    Lots of ready-to-use ui elements, easy to customize
  • 12
    Best performance
Cons
  • 1
    Not suitable for high performance in PWA. desktop apps
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
    Each app needs to install a new chromium + nodejs
Integrations
React
React
Vue.js
Vue.js
Svelte
Svelte
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Framework7, Electron?

Ionic

Ionic

Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.

Flutter

Flutter

Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.

React Native

React Native

React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

Xamarin

Xamarin

Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

NativeScript

NativeScript

NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.

Apache Cordova

Apache Cordova

Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Qt

Qt

Qt, a leading cross-platform application and UI framework. With Qt, you can develop applications once and deploy to leading desktop, embedded & mobile targets.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a web platform that exposes native mobile device apis and data to JavaScript. PhoneGap is a distribution of Apache Cordova. PhoneGap allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.

Expo

Expo

It is a framework and a platform for universal React applications. It is a set of tools and services built around React Native and native platforms that help you develop, build, deploy, and quickly iterate on iOS, Android, and web apps.

Vue Native

Vue Native

Vue Native is a mobile framework to build truly native mobile app using Vue.js. Its is designed to connect React Native and Vue.js. Vue Native is a wrapper around React Native APIs, which allows you to use Vue.js and compose rich mobile User Interface.

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