When they said native, they actually just meant local.

No, they didn't. Unless you can Explain how:

    ./Electron.app

Is any more local than:

    php ./MyApp.phar

Especially considering the former spins up an entire browser + PHP server instance, while the latter runs the code directly.

What is more "native" about the former?

Nothing. In fact, it's less native (by most definitions, given it's running in a sandboxed environment). That's the whole point of this thread.

What's more native? Running a Python app that uses PyQT, or running a single purpose web browser in a window that calls a sandboxed+bundled Python server and renders HTML widgets?

In addition, OP was talking about locality. In both of the aforementioned examples, they're equally localized (both executing on the machine they're loaded on).

I guess PHP is native in the same way JS/HTML is native?

* * *

PHP itself is more native than that in the sense that you can basically run PHP scripts on top of your OS, just like Python or Ruby

How is that not true for JS given node?

It's technically true, but JS/HTML is different from Node. JS/HTML is interfacing through the browser's DOM, while Node interfaces with the operating system itself.

But you specified JS/HTML, that's through the browser, and it doesn't have APIs for interacting with the OS as a normal language runtime does. JS on Node is about the same as PHP in this regard.

PHP is native in the same way Python, Red, Java, etc are native. They have a VM, but otherwise interface directly with the OS.

It is in no way similar to JS/HTML in a browser (or Electron).

Is Nodejs native?

JS executed in a browser is not. The constraints were pretty specific.

Yeah, when I saw the title I was hoping this was a revival or renewal of one of these projects.

"Contained PHP server that opens an electron window" is not exactly exciting or interesting.

Never let the truth get in the way of good marketing.

NativePHP comes from a well-known member of the Laravel community, and the Laravel approach to promotion makes the hype in the early days of Ruby on Rails look tame.

I mean, it's from the same well-known group in the Laravel community that builds and abandons packages pretty quickly. Based on that track record alone, this should be a hard pass.

As a Laravel dev, sadly I have to agree, the developers other packages (which are not paid) are abandoned quickly :(

I recognize Marcel's name, but not the other copyright holder. What else has this group built and a abandoned?

I have been out of the php game for a while, but I long for the Laravel ecosystem and community. I've yet to find things quite as cohesive and intuitive.

I guess you just can't forget your first love.

Wait, this PHP-GTK thing is abandonware! Last release in 2008, and only supports PHP 5.5.

Currently, and for most purposes (especially for new projects), PHP 7 is already being considered old... the amount of work that went into PHP 8 vs. PHP 5 is simply staggering.

PHP 5.5 is just too old to develop against!

The same applies to https://php-qt.org/ which "gives you" Qt 4 on PHP 5.1.

Fortunately enough, for those seeking a GUI toolkit for PHP, there's WxPHP which supports PHP 7 and 8:

https://github.com/wxphp/wxphp