Overview

Handlebars.js

Stacks7.9K

Followers3.2K

Votes308

Electron

Stacks11.5K

Followers10.0K

Votes148

Electron vs Handlebars.js: What are the differences?

Key difference 1: Platform
- Electron is a framework that allows developers to build desktop applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is specifically designed for creating cross-platform applications that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.
- Handlebars.js, on the other hand, is a templating engine that helps developers in generating dynamic HTML content. It is primarily used on the client-side and can be incorporated into web applications running in a browser.
Key difference 2: Purpose
- Electron is mainly aimed at enabling developers to build desktop applications with rich user interfaces and direct access to the native operating system features. It provides an extensive API that allows developers to create native-like experiences for the users.
- Handlebars.js, on the other hand, is focused on enhancing the client-side rendering of dynamic content within web applications. It provides a simple and intuitive way to insert data into HTML templates, making it easier to create dynamic and interactive web pages.
Key difference 3: Usage
- Electron is commonly used for building standalone desktop applications, including text editors, media players, code editors, and communication tools. It allows developers to package their web application code into executable files that can be installed and run directly on users' machines.
- Handlebars.js is typically utilized within web development projects to render dynamic content on the client-side. It complements other JavaScript frameworks and libraries to handle data binding and presentation logic.
Key difference 4: Dependencies
- Electron does not strictly rely on external libraries or frameworks. It provides its own set of APIs and features that enable developers to create desktop applications without additional dependencies.
- Handlebars.js, on the other hand, requires the presence of a JavaScript runtime environment, such as a web browser or a JavaScript engine like Node.js. It can be used in conjunction with other front-end libraries or frameworks to enhance the rendering of dynamic content.
Key difference 5: Templating
- Electron does not include a dedicated templating engine. It focuses more on providing a framework for creating native-like desktop applications using web technologies. Developers can choose to use any templating engine or approach they prefer within their Electron projects.
- Handlebars.js, as mentioned earlier, is a templating engine itself. It provides a simple syntax for embedding dynamic data into HTML templates. It supports conditionals, loops, partials, and custom helpers, making it easier to generate dynamic HTML content.
Key difference 6: Community and Adoption
- Electron has gained significant popularity and has a large and active developer community. It is widely used by organizations and individuals to create cross-platform desktop applications due to its extensive capabilities and mature ecosystem.
- Handlebars.js is also widely adopted in the web development community and has a considerable number of contributors. It is often used in conjunction with other frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js to handle the rendering of dynamic content.

In Summary, Electron is a framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies, while Handlebars.js is a templating engine primarily used for client-side dynamic content rendering within web applications.

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Advice on Handlebars.js, Electron

Asad

Software Engineer at Lisec Automation

Jun 15, 2020

Needs adviceon

.NET

Handlebars.js

@All: I am searching for the best template engine for .NET. I started looking into several template engines, including the Dotliquid, Handlebars.js, Scriban, and Razorlight. I found handlebar a bit difficult to use when using the loops and condition because you need to register for helper first. DotLiquid and Scriban were easy to use and in Razorlight I did not find the example for loops.

Can you please suggest which template engine is best suited for the use of conditional/list and looping and why? Or if anybody could provide me a resource or link where I can compare which is best?

Thanks In Advance

240k views240k

Comments

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

57.8k views57.8k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Handlebars.js	Electron
Handlebars.js is an extension to the Mustache templating language created by Chris Wanstrath. Handlebars.js and Mustache are both logicless templating languages that keep the view and the code separated like we all know they should be.	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.
-	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 7.9K	Stacks 11.5K
Followers 3.2K	Followers 10.0K
Votes 308	Votes 148
Pros & Cons
Pros 106 Simple 76 Great templating language 50 Open source 36 Logicless 20 Integrates well into any codebase	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
Integrations
Mustache	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Handlebars.js, Electron?

TypeScript

TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.

Pug

This project was formerly known as "Jade." Pug is a high performance template engine heavily influenced by Haml and implemented with JavaScript for Node.js and browsers.

Mustache

Mustache is a logic-less template syntax. It can be used for HTML, config files, source code - anything. It works by expanding tags in a template using values provided in a hash or object. We call it "logic-less" because there are no if statements, else clauses, or for loops. Instead there are only tags. Some tags are replaced with a value, some nothing, and others a series of values.

Slim Lang

Slim is a template language whose goal is to reduce the view syntax to the essential parts without becoming cryptic. It started as an exercise to see how much could be removed from a standard html template (<, >, closing tags, etc...). As more people took an interest in Slim, the functionality grew and so did the flexibility of the syntax.

RactiveJS

Ractive was originally created at theguardian.com to produce news applications. Ractive takes your Mustache templates and transforms them into a lightweight representation of the DOM – then when your data changes, it intelligently updates the real DOM.

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.

EJS

It is a simple templating language that lets you generate HTML markup with plain JavaScript. No religiousness about how to organize things. No reinvention of iteration and control-flow. It's just plain JavaScript.

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.