Cross-platform Desktop Application Development

Build powerful cross-platform desktop applications with web technologies such as Node NW.JS Electron and React About This Book * Build different cross-platform HTML5 desktop applications right from planning designing and deployment to enhancement testing and delivery * Forget the pain of cross-platform compatibility and build efficient apps that can be easily deployed on different platforms. * Build simple to advanced HTML5 desktop apps by integrating them with other popular frameworks and libraries such as Electron Node.JS Nw.js React Redux and TypeScript Who This Book Is For This book has been written for developers interested in creating desktop applications with HTML5. The first part requires essential web-master skills (HTML CSS and JavaScript). The second demands minimal experience with React. And finally for the third it would be helpful to have a basic knowledge of React Redux and TypeScript. What You Will Learn * Plan design and develop different cross-platform desktop apps * Application architecture with React and local state * Application architecture with React and Redux store * Code design with TypeScript interfaces and specialized types * CSS and component libraries such as Photonkit Material UI and React MDL * HTML5 APIs such as desktop notifications WebSockets WebRTC and others * Desktop environment integration APIs of NW.js and Electron * Package and distribute for NW.JS and Electron In Detail Building and maintaining cross-platform desktop applications with native languages isn't a trivial task. Since it's hard to simulate on a foreign platform packaging and distribution can be quite platform-specific and testing cross-platform apps is pretty complicated.In such scenarios web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript can be your lifesaver. HTML5 desktop applications can be distributed across different platforms (Window MacOS and Linux) without any modifications to the code. The book starts with a walk-through on building a simple file explorer from scratch powered by NW.JS. So you will practice the most exciting features of bleeding edge CSS and JavaScript. In addition you will learn to use the desktop environment integration API source code protection packaging and auto-updating with NW.JS. As the second application you will build a chat-system example implemented with Electron and React. While developing the chat app you will get Photonkit. Next you will create a screen capturer with NW.JS React and Redux. Finally you will examine an RSS-reader built with TypeScript React Redux and Electron. Generic UI components will be reused from the React MDL library. By the end of the book you will have built four desktop apps. You will have covered everything from planning designing and development to the enhancement testing and delivery of these apps. Style and approach Filled with real world examples this book teaches you to build cross-platform desktop apps right from scratch using a step-by-step approach. About the Author Dmitry Sheiko is a web developer blogger and open source contributor living and working in the lovely city of Frankfurt am Main Germany. Dmitry got hooked on computer programming in late 80s. Since 1998 he has been in web-development. Over the last few years Dmitry has been creating desktop applications with NW.js/Electron. The very first solutions were made with JavaScript/Backbone but then he switched to TypeScript/React/Redux. Dmitry has authored dozens of projects at GitHub including: nw-autoupdater Pragmatic CSS and a CommonJS compiler.