d20ce404ef
nwjs now supports a js script as entrypoint. cf. http://docs.nwjs.io/en/latest/References/Manifest%20Format/#main
52 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
52 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
# Technical Differences Between Electron and NW.js (formerly node-webkit)
|
|
|
|
__Note: Electron was previously named Atom Shell.__
|
|
|
|
Like NW.js, Electron provides a platform to write desktop applications
|
|
with JavaScript and HTML and has Node integration to grant access to the low
|
|
level system from web pages.
|
|
|
|
But there are also fundamental differences between the two projects that make
|
|
Electron a completely separate product from NW.js:
|
|
|
|
__1. Entry of Application__
|
|
|
|
In NW.js the main entry point of an application is a web page or a JS script. You specify a
|
|
html or js file in the `package.json` and it is opened in a browser window as
|
|
the application's main window (in case of an html entrypoint) or the script is executed.
|
|
|
|
In Electron, the entry point is a JavaScript script. Instead of
|
|
providing a URL directly, you manually create a browser window and load
|
|
an HTML file using the API. You also need to listen to window events
|
|
to decide when to quit the application.
|
|
|
|
Electron works more like the Node.js runtime. Electron's APIs are lower level
|
|
so you can use it for browser testing in place of [PhantomJS](http://phantomjs.org/).
|
|
|
|
__2. Build System__
|
|
|
|
In order to avoid the complexity of building all of Chromium, Electron uses [`libchromiumcontent`](https://github.com/electron/libchromiumcontent) to access
|
|
Chromium's Content API. `libchromiumcontent` is a single shared library that
|
|
includes the Chromium Content module and all of its dependencies. Users don't
|
|
need a powerful machine to build Electron.
|
|
|
|
__3. Node Integration__
|
|
|
|
In NW.js, the Node integration in web pages requires patching Chromium to
|
|
work, while in Electron we chose a different way to integrate the libuv loop
|
|
with each platform's message loop to avoid hacking Chromium. See the
|
|
[`node_bindings`][node-bindings] code for how that was done.
|
|
|
|
__4. Multi-context__
|
|
|
|
If you are an experienced NW.js user, you should be familiar with the
|
|
concept of Node context and web context. These concepts were invented because
|
|
of how NW.js was implemented.
|
|
|
|
By using the [multi-context](https://github.com/nodejs/node-v0.x-archive/commit/756b622)
|
|
feature of Node, Electron doesn't introduce a new JavaScript context in web
|
|
pages.
|
|
|
|
Note: NW.js has optionally supported multi-context since 0.13.
|
|
|
|
[node-bindings]: https://github.com/electron/electron/tree/master/atom/common
|