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Electron vs React Native Desktop: What are the differences?
Introduction
Markdown code is a formatting language that converts plain text files into HTML, making it suitable for use on websites. In this task, we will format the provided information about the key differences between Electron and React Native Desktop as Markdown code to be used on a website.
Key Differences between Electron and React Native Desktop
Language and Framework: Electron is built using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and uses Chromium to render web applications as desktop applications. React Native Desktop, on the other hand, is an extension of React Native that allows developers to build desktop applications using React components.
Platform Compatibility: Electron is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. It provides a consistent development experience across different platforms. In contrast, React Native Desktop focuses primarily on macOS and Windows and may require additional setup to work on other platforms.
User Interface: Electron allows developers to build desktop applications with a customizable user interface using web technologies. It provides a full-fledged desktop-like experience with access to system-level APIs. React Native Desktop leverages React Native's components and UI elements, providing a consistent experience across different platforms but with a more mobile-centric design.
Performance: Electron applications can be resource-intensive due to the overhead of running a Chromium browser instance for each application. React Native Desktop, by utilizing native components and UI elements, can provide better performance compared to Electron, especially for computationally intensive tasks.
Development Workflow: Electron applications are typically developed using web development tools and libraries, allowing developers to leverage existing web development knowledge. React Native Desktop, being an extension of React Native, allows developers to share code and components between mobile and desktop applications, streamlining the development workflow.
Community and Ecosystem: Electron has a larger community and a well-established ecosystem of plugins, libraries, and tools. It benefits from being widely used for building cross-platform desktop applications. React Native Desktop, being a newer extension, has a smaller community and a more limited ecosystem. However, it can tap into the existing React Native ecosystem, which is already popular in mobile app development.
In summary, Electron and React Native Desktop differ in terms of the language and framework used, platform compatibility, user interface design, performance, development workflow, and community/ecosystem support.
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 React Native Desktop
- Pretty awesome3
- Is native app2
- Does not include any browser2
- Memory usage reduced2
- Quickly convert react.js web app to desktop app1
- Open source1
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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 React Native Desktop
- Memory usage reduced0
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What is Electron?
What is React Native Desktop?
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What companies use Electron?
What companies use React Native Desktop?
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What tools integrate with React Native Desktop?
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