HTML, JS, and CSS Desktop applications [closed]

Question

Recently I stumbled upon Adobe's 'Brackets' code editor, which is apparently built using the standard web languages. As a keen web developer, I have taken quite a bit of interest into how this has been done, and am wondering how on earth it can be done. Building applications for the web is great, but having the shell of a browser is something that I am looking to break away from.

How would you create a desktop application with the web languages? I have no idea about anything in this field, but have searched for solutions all over the web, but have had no luck.

Are there any methods of writing straight from a code editor, or even some software that you can use to compile the web languages into an executable program?

Answer 1

So, the main idea behind creating JS, HTML, CSS apps that feel native is to write some sort of desktop application with embedded browser control that runs your HTML and JS. Nowadays, there are a lot of different tools to do so and each of them offers unique capabilities.

• AppJS - a framework to build cross-platform desktop apps using JS, HTML, CSS. It uses Node.js as the backbone.
• Electron - much like AppJS but built on top of Chrome's V8.
• Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) - a simple framework for embedding Chromium-based browsers in other applications.
• NW.js - an app runtime based on Chromium and node.js. You can write native apps in HTML and JavaScript with NW.js. It also lets you call Node.js modules directly from the DOM and enables a new way of writing native applications with all Web technologies.

Of course, there are a lot of other great tools.

Answer 2

Atom is a text editor built by github team using web technologies same as brackets. Their documentation says they built Atom editor using a platform called Electron. Electron's github page says,

The Electron framework lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. It is based on Node.js and Chromium and is used in the Atom editor.

Go to its github page or official website for more details.

Hope that helps.