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Electron vs NodeGUI: What are the differences?
Electron and NodeGUI are two popular frameworks used for building desktop applications. Let's explore the key differences between them.
Architecture: Electron is based on Chromium and Node.js, while NodeGUI is based on Qt. This means that Electron uses web technologies for UI rendering, while NodeGUI uses native technologies.
Performance: Electron may have higher memory and CPU usage compared to NodeGUI due to its reliance on a full web browser environment. NodeGUI, being based on Qt, provides lower memory and CPU usage, resulting in improved application performance.
Native Functionality: Electron provides a wide range of native APIs for accessing system resources, such as file system and network. NodeGUI, on the other hand, provides direct access to Qt's extensive library of native widgets, making it easier to create applications with a native look and feel.
Development Experience: Electron is primarily targeted towards web developers who are already familiar with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. NodeGUI, being based on Qt, has a steeper learning curve as it requires knowledge of C++ and Qt-specific APIs. However, NodeGUI provides bindings for popular programming languages like JavaScript and Python, making it accessible to a wider range of developers.
Platform Support: Electron can build applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. NodeGUI, being based on Qt, also supports these platforms but additionally provides cross-compilation support, allowing developers to build applications for other platforms such as Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi.
Community Support: Electron has a large and active community with a vast number of resources, tutorials, and plugins available. NodeGUI, being relatively newer, has a smaller but growing community. However, NodeGUI benefits from its close connection to the Qt community, which provides extensive documentation and support.
In summary, Electron is based on Chromium and Node.js, uses web technologies for UI rendering, provides native APIs, and has a large community support. NodeGUI, on the other hand, is based on Qt, uses native technologies for UI rendering, provides direct access to Qt's native widgets, supports cross-platform development, and has a growing community.
Pros of Electron
- Easy to make rich cross platform desktop applications69
- Open source53
- Great looking apps such as Slack and Visual Studio Code14
- Because it's cross platform8
- Use Node.js in the Main Process4
Pros of NodeGUI
- Its not hybrid & fully native.1
- Easy to make cross platform & resource efficient apps1
- Has React & Vue support named (react|vue)-nodegui1
- It uses Qode which is a fork of Node to be used with QT1
- No webkit thus super resource efficient1
- Rich API which binds C++ QT1
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Cons of Electron
- Uses a lot of memory19
- User experience never as good as a native app8
- No proper documentation4
- Does not native4
- Each app needs to install a new chromium + nodejs1
- Wrong reference for dom inspection1
Cons of NodeGUI
- Doesn't have x86 support1
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What is Electron?
What is NodeGUI?
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