One of the most powerful aspects of Electron is its ability to leverage your existing web development skills. This means you don't need to learn a completely new set of tools and paradigms to build desktop applications. Frontend frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, which are staples in modern web development, can be seamlessly integrated into your Electron projects.
This section will explore how you can utilize these popular frameworks to build the user interfaces of your Electron applications. We'll touch upon the advantages and common approaches for each.
React's component-based architecture and virtual DOM make it an excellent choice for building dynamic and responsive user interfaces in Electron. Many Electron applications are built using React, often with the help of tools like Create React App (CRA) or Vite.
When using CRA, you can typically create a new Electron project by first creating a standard React app and then integrating Electron. Alternatively, there are community-driven templates and starter kits specifically designed for React + Electron development.
npx create-react-app my-electron-app --template typescript
cd my-electron-app
npm install --save-dev electron electron-builderVue.js, with its progressive nature and excellent documentation, is another popular choice for Electron development. Its ease of integration and clear syntax make it approachable for developers new to desktop app building. Vue CLI provides excellent support for building Vue applications, and integrating Electron is a straightforward process.
Similar to React, you can start with a standard Vue project and then add Electron, or use community templates tailored for Electron development.
npm init vue@latest
cd my-vue-electron-app
npm install
npm install --save-dev electron electron-builderAngular, a comprehensive framework, can also be used to build sophisticated Electron applications. While it has a steeper learning curve than React or Vue for some, its opinionated structure and powerful features can lead to well-organized and maintainable codebases, especially for larger projects.
The Angular CLI can be used to scaffold your Angular project, and then you can integrate Electron into it. There are also community solutions and build tools that streamline the Angular + Electron workflow.
ng new my-angular-electron-app --standalone
cd my-angular-electron-app
npm install
npm install --save-dev electron electron-builderRegardless of the framework you choose, the core concept remains the same: your framework will manage the rendering and logic of your application's user interface within an Electron window. You'll be writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (or TypeScript) as you normally would for web development, but these will be compiled and bundled to run as a native desktop application.
When setting up your project, you'll often encounter build tools like Webpack or Vite. These tools are crucial for bundling your framework's code, its dependencies, and your application's assets into a format that Electron can understand and execute.
graph TD
A[Frontend Framework (React/Vue/Angular)] --> B{Build Tool (Webpack/Vite)};
B --> C[Bundled Assets];
C --> D[Electron Main Process];
D --> E[Electron Renderer Process (BrowserWindow)];
E --> F[UI Rendering];
The diagram above illustrates the general flow. Your framework code is processed by a build tool, which produces bundled assets. These assets are then loaded by Electron's renderer process, which creates a BrowserWindow to display your application's UI.
By leveraging your existing knowledge of these popular frontend frameworks, you can significantly accelerate your Electron development process and build rich, interactive desktop applications with familiar tools.