Developing Windows apps with JavaScript

Question

I'm currently in the need of developing a Windows application. I want to keep things simple (in the spirit of uTorrent) and I would like the result program to be a single .exe file containing all that it needs.

The program is simple. It just needs some UI. It needs to run for a long period of time (lay there as a tray icon). It needs to do some routine tasks like simple I/O. It also needs to access the internet, specifically some web server.

Apart from these small requirements I would like to write all of it in JavaScript, as I feel more comfortable with it than any other language.

I know there's things like Windows Script Host that let you run JavaScript programs and interact with some Win32 API, but will I be able to do everything I need with Windows Script Host? Can I pack all of the Windows Script Host in a single .exe?

If not, what alternatives do I have for JavaScript?

Answer 1

Internet Explorer introduced the concept of Hypertext Applications in IE 5. It never made a big breakthrough, so resources and documentation are scarce.

Mozilla-backed competitor Prism seems to be alive and well, though, and is definitely worth a look.

Prism is an application that lets users split web applications out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop