Electron vs MacGap

Overview

MacGap

Stacks7

Followers44

Votes3

GitHub Stars3.5K

Forks208

Electron

Stacks11.6K

Followers10.0K

Votes148

Electron vs MacGap: What are the differences?

Build Environment: Electron allows developers to build cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It provides a Node.js runtime environment along with the Chromium web browser, enabling developers to create applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. On the other hand, MacGap is specifically designed for building macOS applications by wrapping a web view in a native macOS shell. MacGap applications are limited to the macOS platform only.
Native Capabilities: Electron provides access to various native capabilities of the underlying operating system through its APIs. Developers can leverage these APIs to interact with system functionalities like the file system, network, notifications, and more. In contrast, MacGap offers a limited set of native macOS capabilities, allowing developers to utilize features like native bindings, menus, and preferences specific to the macOS platform.
Application Size: Electron applications usually have larger file sizes compared to MacGap applications. This is because Electron includes a full Chromium browser along with its own runtime, resulting in a larger package size. On the other hand, MacGap applications are generally smaller in size as they rely on the built-in Safari web view component of macOS.
Distribution and Installation: Electron applications can be distributed and installed on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, through various channels like app stores, package managers, or direct downloads. MacGap applications, being targeted specifically for macOS, can be distributed through the Mac App Store, third-party app stores, or manual distribution methods like direct downloads.
Development Support: Electron has a larger and active community of developers, with extensive documentation, tutorials, and resources available online. It also benefits from the vast ecosystem of web development tools and frameworks. MacGap, being a more specialized framework, has a relatively smaller community and fewer available resources compared to Electron.
Platform Compatibility: Electron provides robust support for building cross-platform applications, allowing developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple operating systems. MacGap, on the other hand, is focused solely on macOS and may require additional effort for porting applications to other platforms.

In Summary, Electron is a versatile framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies, while MacGap is specifically designed for creating macOS applications with limited native capabilities. Electron has a larger community, wider platform compatibility, and higher application size, whereas MacGap offers a smaller footprint, specific macOS features, and limited platform compatibility.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on MacGap, Electron

Matt

Mar 13, 2022

Needs adviceon

Streamlit

macOS

Windows

We have a python app currently built with Streamlit.

In order to deliver this to customers, we need to shield the codebase and make it executable (for both macOS and Windows users).

Does anyone have any advice on bundling a Python app into an executable?

All we're hoping to do is package the Streamlit app into .exe or something similar.

29.5k views29.5k

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

57.9k views57.9k

Comments

Farrukh

Configuration Management Engineer

Jan 4, 2022

Needs adviceon

Swingvy

JavaFX

Hi experts, I need to write a GUI app that would configure a .json file. I am considering it to be cross-platform with as much as less dependency as possible i.e. once build/compiled, it should be running on the maximum number of OS platforms without re-building or re-compiling. So up till now, I've shortlisted 3 selected frameworks. The @{Swingvy}|tool:6893| was to be Java Swing but was not in the list. And after reading some stuff, I think that Java Swing or @{JavaFX}|tool:5278| should do the job. But I need suggestions/opinions from you experts, which would be a great help in order to achieve a precise decision. Any help/suggestion would be really appreciated. Thanks a bunch

15.8k views15.8k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

MacGap	Electron
MacGap provides HTML/JS/CSS developers an Xcode project for developing native OS X App. These Apps run in OS X's WebView and take advantage of WebKit technologies. MacGap exposes a JavaScript API for OS X integration, such as displaying native notifications or writing data to a file. MacGap is extremely lightweight and nimble; a blank application weighs less than 1MB.	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.
open-source;tiny compiled app sizes;Mac App Store compatible;access to many Mac OS X-specific features	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 3.5K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 208	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 7	Stacks 11.6K
Followers 44	Followers 10.0K
Votes 3	Votes 148
Pros & Cons
Pros 3 Remember that Mac app you always wanted to create... ? Cons 2 Only for Mac	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

What are some alternatives to MacGap, Electron?

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 MacGap: What are the differences?

Build Environment: Electron allows developers to build cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It provides a Node.js runtime environment along with the Chromium web browser, enabling developers to create applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. On the other hand, MacGap is specifically designed for building macOS applications by wrapping a web view in a native macOS shell. MacGap applications are limited to the macOS platform only.
Native Capabilities: Electron provides access to various native capabilities of the underlying operating system through its APIs. Developers can leverage these APIs to interact with system functionalities like the file system, network, notifications, and more. In contrast, MacGap offers a limited set of native macOS capabilities, allowing developers to utilize features like native bindings, menus, and preferences specific to the macOS platform.
Application Size: Electron applications usually have larger file sizes compared to MacGap applications. This is because Electron includes a full Chromium browser along with its own runtime, resulting in a larger package size. On the other hand, MacGap applications are generally smaller in size as they rely on the built-in Safari web view component of macOS.
Distribution and Installation: Electron applications can be distributed and installed on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, through various channels like app stores, package managers, or direct downloads. MacGap applications, being targeted specifically for macOS, can be distributed through the Mac App Store, third-party app stores, or manual distribution methods like direct downloads.
Development Support: Electron has a larger and active community of developers, with extensive documentation, tutorials, and resources available online. It also benefits from the vast ecosystem of web development tools and frameworks. MacGap, being a more specialized framework, has a relatively smaller community and fewer available resources compared to Electron.
Platform Compatibility: Electron provides robust support for building cross-platform applications, allowing developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple operating systems. MacGap, on the other hand, is focused solely on macOS and may require additional effort for porting applications to other platforms.

Electron vs MacGap

Overview