Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Electron (software framework)

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Developer(s)
  
GitHub

Written in
  
C++ and JavaScript

Electron (software framework)

Initial release
  
July 15, 2013; 3 years ago (2013-07-15)

Stable release
  
1.4.15 / January 19, 2017; 46 days ago (2017-01-19)

Repository
  
github.com/electron/electron

Operating system
  
Windows, Linux and macOS

Electron (formerly known as Atom Shell) is an open-source framework developed by GitHub. It allows for the development of desktop GUI applications using the Node.js runtime and the Chromium web browser, originally used for the development of backend web applications. Electron is the main framework behind two notable open-source source code editors: GitHub's Atom, and Microsoft's Visual Studio Code.

Contents

A basic Electron app consists of three files: package.json (metadata), main.js (code) and index.html (graphical user interface). The framework is provided by the Electron executable file (electron.exe in Windows, electron.app on macOS and electron on Linux). Developers wishing to add branding and custom icon can rename and/or edit the Electron executable file.

History

  • The 11th of April in 2013 Electron was started as Atom Shell.[1]
  • The 6th of May in 2014 Atom and Atom Shell became open source with MIT license.[2]
  • The 17th of April in 2015 Atom Shell was renamed to Electron.[3]
  • The 11th of 2016 It was first Electron release as itself.[4]
  • In May of 2016 Electron has allowed submitting packaged apps to the Mac App Store.[5]
  • In August of 2016 Window Store has supported for Electron Apps.[6]

    • Structure of an electron application

    The most important file in the electron program is package.json. It keeps information about package. The most common information in package.json are:

  • "name", that is application name
  • "version", that is application version
  • "main", that is the name of main script file of application

    • package.json is an npm file, information about it you can found in official documentation.[7]

    References

    Electron (software framework) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA