Desktop apps with Electron

Learn how to build, publish, and distribute desktop applications as a web developer by using HTML, JavaScript and CSS.

Building a desktop application from scratch can be frustrating!

• What programming languages do you begin with?
• Which operating system do you focus on?
• Can you maintain multiple code bases at once?

Build desktop apps with web technologies

This course teaches you how to use your existing knowledge of tools like VueJS, React, TailwindCSS and NodeJS to build cross-platform desktop applications.

Even if you are a complete beginner, this course guides you through the process of creating a desktop application from scratch.

Chances are pretty high that you've already used Electron applications before: We built Tinkerwell and HELO with Electron, and also well-known applications like VSCode or Slack make use of Electron and benefit from the Electron ecosystem with the power of Javascript.

What we'll build

In this video course, we are going to build a desktop application from scratch using nothing but HTML, VueJS and TailwindCSS.

The app is called RegExpress – a regular expression app that helps you test, debug, and even visualize your regular expressions.

We are going to use native system features, such as storing and opening files, storing images to disk, and makes use of the menu bar.

What you'll learn:

How to create a native desktop application

Communication between multiple windows

Creating menu bar applications

Expand your existing skills beyond the browser

Integrating TailwindCSS into your Electron app

Licensing and selling your desktop app

Using native operation system features

Understand the Electron API in detail

Keeping your apps automatically updated

Writing tests for your Electron app

Bundling your apps on Mac, Windows and Linux

Kickstart your next app idea

Using local databases in your Javascript apps

Code signing your apps on MacOS

Automatically distribute your app from GitHub

Using GitHub actions

Keeping track of your application errors

Debugging your Electron app