Web · Ebook

Electron and Tauri: Building Desktop Apps with Web Technologies

by Shriira Press

A comprehensive, self-contained guide to building cross-platform desktop applications — apps that run on Windows, macOS, and Linux — using web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/TypeScript) for the user interface. It covers the two dominant frameworks for this approach, Electron (Chromium + Node.js) and Tauri (the operating system's own webview + a Rust core), side by side, so you learn the shared mental model once and the trade-offs that distinguish them throughout. It blends intuition (why each design exists), concepts (the precise architecture), and runnable code in both frameworks.

Contents

1. 1Preface
2. 2Chapter 1 — What Is Desktop Development with Web Technologies?
3. 3Chapter 2 — Architecture: How Electron and Tauri Work
4. 4Chapter 3 — Setup and Your First App
5. 5Chapter 4 — Processes, Windows, and the Backend
6. 6Chapter 5 — The Frontend: Web UI in a Desktop Shell
7. 7Chapter 6 — Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
8. 8Chapter 7 — Native OS Integration
9. 9Chapter 8 — Security
10. 10Chapter 9 — Data, Storage, and State
11. 11Chapter 10 — Performance, Bundle Size, and Resources
12. 12Chapter 11 — Building, Packaging, and Distribution
13. 13Chapter 12 — Auto-Updates and Release Management
14. 14Chapter 13 — Choosing Your Framework, and the Profession
15. 15Appendix A — Glossary
16. 16Appendix B — Further Reading and Resources