Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft JavaScript Apps

Re:Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft... by z3t4 on Saturday April 08, 2017 @01:39PM (#14068003)

What's the user benefit of a (JavaScript) "desktop" (Electron, nw.js) app vs the same app as a web (browser) app , given that the web app has all the features of the desktop app, when the app won't work without the server ? (if you can't run the server yourself)

Benefits for a web app (non-desktop):

  * User don't have to download the "browser" (Electron or nw.js)
  * The user don't need "install" permissions
  * The app can be accessed via an URL
  * The app runs in a VM (a browser) that don't give full (root) access like a Electron/nw.js app does.

btw, I did not know Spotify had a web app. There's only a tiny link to it at the bottom of the page, impossible to find unless you really look for it, witch is probably why no one is using it. P.S I'm now enjoying Spotify via the web app after not using it for years because I don't like "desktop" apps (for the reasons above)

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Re:Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft... by yoz-y on Saturday April 08, 2017 @06:53PM (#14069502)

Not à Spotify user but in general: - a native app can have global shortcuts (very important for a media player) - you don't accidentally refresh a native app - native apps don't get purged from memory at random - UI is generally better, keyboard shortcuts are more consistent

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Re:Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft... by seangrogg on Saturday April 08, 2017 @06:55PM (#14069517)

As a web developer that has never touched electron I would imagine the benefit is simple: * One API that "just works" * Guaranteed caching of necessary assets * Access to native features (such as simplified access to the file system)

I could totally see all of this on the browser. But then the file system needs to go to the cloud, we need to consider hipster browsers (like k-meleon and omniweb), and we have to deal with the browser determining how our assets are cached and evicted.

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Re:Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft... by obmelvin on Saturday April 08, 2017 @03:23PM (#14068530)

It is much easier to navigate to the desktop app than to hunt through browser tabs to change the song etc.

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Re:Visual Studio Code: Shipping One of the Largest Microsoft... by city41 on Saturday April 08, 2017 @07:17PM (#14069600)

A browser has very limited access to the file system. That's a death knell for a text editor.

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