Cross Platform Desktop Application - Windows+Mac+Linux [closed]

Question

I'm building an application for multiple desktop platforms: Windows, Mac, and maybe later for Linux.

I was wondering which programming language and IDE combination would be the best for me:

1. Programming language need to be whether C# (preferred) or Java.
2. Core libraries must be shared between all platforms, means all platforms must link to a single core library (by library I mean a list of classes and functions).
3. Windows and Mac are in priority, Linux app is for future plannings.
4. Design of the app is completely custom, it doesn't follow any guidelines of each platforms.

I'm stuck between these three solutions:

1. Use Xamarin.Mac + Visual Studio for Windows and link the core classes between them.
2. Use GTK# for the whole project and compile multiple builds for each platforms.
3. Use Java for the whole project and compile multiple builds for each platforms.

For #2 and #3, I need an advice that which language is more suitable for me, considering the design of my application. I mean, which one has a better GUI building ability for my goal?

BTW GTK# uses different libraries for each platforms, so that should be an clutter for my core architecture, or not?!

Answer 1

Three years later and Javascript is now also a strong contender in this debate.

There are multiple options within the space.

• https://electron.atom.io/
• https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/

And others

Even Microsoft has shipped Visual Studio Code, the cross platform version of their development environment, which is written in Javascript.

What is the Visual Studio Code editor built on

The benefits include utilizing the many available web libraries, and building/using your web development skills.