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# Glossary
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This page defines some terminology that is commonly used in Electron development.
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## ASAR
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ASAR stands for Atom Shell Archive Format. An [asar][asar] archive is a simple
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`tar`-like format that concatenates files into a single file. Electron can read
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arbitrary files from it without unpacking the whole file.
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The ASAR format was created primarily to improve performance on Windows... TODO
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## Brightray
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Brightray is a static library that makes [libchromiumcontent] easier to use in
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applications. It was created specifically for Electron, but can be used to
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enable Chromium's renderer in native apps that are not based on Electron.
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Brightray is a low-level dependency of Electron that does not concern the
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majority of Electron users.
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## IPC
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IPC stands for Inter-Process Communication. Electron uses IPC to send
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serialized JSON messages between the [main] and [renderer] processes.
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## libchromiumcontent
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A single, shared library that includes the Chromium Content module and all its
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dependencies (e.g., Blink, [V8], etc.).
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## Main Process
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The main process, commonly a file named `main.js`, is the entry point to every
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Electron app. It controls the life of the app, from open to close. It also
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manages native elements such as the Menu, Menu Bar, Dock, Tray, etc. The
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main process is responsible for creating each new renderer process in the app.
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The full Node API is built in.
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Every app's main process file is specified in the `main` property in
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`package.json`. This is how `electron .` knows what file to execute at startup.
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## MAS
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Acronym for Apple's Mac App Store. For details on submitting your app to the
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MAS, see the [Mac App Store Submission Guide].
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## Native Modules
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Native Modules (also called [addons] in
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Node.js) are modules written in C or C++ that can be loaded into Node.js or
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Electron using the require() function, and used just as if they were an
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ordinary Node.js module. They are used primarily to provide an interface
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between JavaScript running in Node.js and C/C++ libraries.
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Native Node modules are supported by Electron, but since Electron is very
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likely to use a different V8 version from the Node binary installed in your
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system, you have to manually specify the location of Electron’s headers when
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building native modules.
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See also [Using Native Node Modules]
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## Renderer Process
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The renderer process is a browser window in your app. Unlike the main process,
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there can be multiple of these and each is run in a separate process.
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They can also be hidden.
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In normal browsers, web pages usually run in a sandboxed environment and are not
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allowed access to native resources. Electron users, however, have the power to
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use Node.js APIs in web pages allowing lower level operating system
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interactions.
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## Squirrel
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Squirrel is an open-source framework that enables Electron apps to update
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automatically as new versions are released. See the [autoUpdater] API for
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info about getting started with Squirrel.
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## userland
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This term originated in the Unix community, where "userland" or "userspace"
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referred to programs that run outside of the operating system kernel. More
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recently, the term has been popularized in the Node and npm community to
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distinguish between the features available in "Node core" versus packages
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published to the npm registry by the much larger "user" community.
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Just like Node, Electron is focused on having a small set of APIs that provide
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all the necessary primitives for developing multi-platform Desktop applications.
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This design philosophy allows Electron to remain a flexible tool without being
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overly prescriptive about how it should be used. Userland enables users to
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create and share tools that provide additional functionality on top of what is
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available in "core".
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## V8
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V8 is Google's open source JavaScript engine. It is written in C++ and is
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used in Google Chrome, the open source browser from Google. V8 can run
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standalone, or can be embedded into any C++ application.
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[addons]: https://nodejs.org/api/addons.html
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[autoUpdater]: api/auto-updater.md
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[libchromiumcontent]: #libchromiumcontent
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[Mac App Store Submission Guide]: tutorials/mac-app-store-submission-guide.md
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[main]: #main-process
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[renderer]: #renderer-process
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[Using Native Node Modules]: tutorial/using-native-node-modules.md
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[userland]: #userland
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[V8]: #v8
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