The release of the Electron 19.0.0 platform has been prepared, which provides a self-sufficient framework for developing multi-platform user applications based on Chromium, V8 and Node.js components. The significant version number change is due to updates to the Chromium 102 codebase, the Node.js 16.14.2 framework, and the V8 10.2 JavaScript engine.
Among the changes in the new release:
- The BrowserWindow method has been added, through which you can change the color of buttons, the color of symbols and the height of a window with WCO (Window Controls Overlay) enabled.
- Added the nativeTheme.inForcedColorsMode API to determine if a forced color mode is enabled.
- Added ses.setCodeCachePath() API to set directory for code caching.
- Provided the ability to close the window if the parent window is closed.
- Added support for additional color formats to setBackgroundColor.
- Added a warning about default isolation of preload scripts since the Electron 20 branch.
- The BrowserWindow constructor on the Linux platform has deprecated the skipTaskbar option, which caused Window.is_skip_taskbar to be unsafe when hiding from the taskbar was not supported in Wayland-based environments.
The Electron platform allows you to create any graphical applications using browser technologies, the logic of which is defined in JavaScript, HTML and CSS, and the functionality can be extended through a system of add-ons. Developers have access to Node.js modules, as well as an extended API for creating native dialogs, integrating applications, creating context menus, integrating with the notification display system, manipulating windows, and interacting with Chromium subsystems.
Unlike web applications, Electron-based programs are delivered as self-contained executables that are not tied to a browser. At the same time, the developer does not need to worry about porting the application for various platforms, Electron will provide the ability to build for all systems supported in Chromium. Electron also provides tools to organize automatic delivery and installation of updates (updates can be delivered either from a separate server or directly from GitHub).
Of the programs built on the basis of the Electron platform, one can note the Atom editor, the Mailspring email client, the GitKraken toolkit for working with Git, the WordPress Desktop blogging system, the WebTorrent Desktop BitTorrent client, as well as official clients for such services as Skype, Signal, Slack , Basecamp, Twitch, Ghost, Wire, Wrike, Visual Studio Code and Discord. In total, 775 applications are presented in the Electron software catalog. To simplify the development of new applications, a set of sample demo applications has been prepared, including code examples for solving various problems.
Source: opennet.ru