Electron, Cordova, PWA – was, wann, wie und warum?

Write once, run anywhere – dieser alte Java-Traum ist dank Webtechnologien längst Realität geworden. Neuerdings haben Cross-Platform-Entwickler aber die Wahl zwischen altbewährten Ansätzen wie Apache Cordova und GitHub Electron, bei denen Web-Apps in native Container verpackt werden, und den neuen Progressive Web Apps (PWA), bei denen eine Webanwendung aus dem Browser heraus installiert wird. Optisch geben sich beide Methoden nicht viel, doch sie unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich der Verteilung und im Funktionsumfang. Electron-Experte Thorsten Hans und PWA-Professional Christian Liebel erklären Ihnen, für welche Anwendungsfälle sich PWAs eignen und wann Sie ergänzend oder alternativ zu Electron oder Cordova greifen sollten.

Transcript

1. Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   Christian Liebel
   @christianliebel
   Consultant
   

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2. Hello, it’s me.
   Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   Christian Liebel
   Twitter:
   @christianliebel
   Email:
   christian.liebel
   @thinktecture.com
   Angular & PWA
   Slides:
   thinktecture.com
   /christian-liebel
   

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3. Intro
   Progressive
   Web Apps
   Electron Cordova Summary
   Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   

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4. Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   BASTA! Spring 2013
   »Cross-platform and
   cross-device development
   will become the norm in
   the next few years.«
   Christian Weyer
   

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5. In 2020, the cross-platform story still works out
   – and it’s better than ever!
   Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   BASTA! Spring 2020
   One team One codebase Maximum reach
   

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6. Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   

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7. Intro
   Progressive
   Web Apps
   Electron Cordova Summary
   Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   

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8. Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   Responsive Linkable Discoverable Installable App-like
   Connectivity
   Independent
   Fresh Safe Re-engageable Progressive
   

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9. Electron, Cordova, PWA
   Was, wann, wie und warum
   Install Experience
   

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10. Cross-Vendor Initiative Led By…
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Project Fugu – A More Capable Web
    »Let’s bring the web
    back – API by API«
    Thomas Steiner, Google
    

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11. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Project Fugu
    Contacts
    Picker
    Wake Lock
    API
    Picture in
    picture
    Native File
    System API
    Capability missing?
    http://bit.ly/new-fugu-request
    

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12. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Project Fugu
    https://goo.gle/fugu-api-tracker
    

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13. Example: Native File System API
    if ('chooseFileSystemEntries' in window) {
    const handle = await window.chooseFileSystemEntries();
    const file = await handle.getFile();
    // do something with the file
    } else {
    // use fallback API or disable feature in app
    }
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Project Fugu
    Feature Detection
    Browser takes care of
    calling OS-level APIs
    

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14. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Project Fugu
    window.chooseFileSystemEntries();
    Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT IFileDialog
    …
    NSOpenPanel
    

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15. https://liebel.io/paint
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    LIVE DEMO
    

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16. - One single codebase, maximum reach
    - No app store, installation, third-party software, … required
    - Super easy deployment (FTP is enough, no app store reviews,
    redeployment via MSI, …)
    - App Store support for Microsoft Store & Google Play Store (TWA)
    - Fully backwards compatible
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Advantages
    

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17. - No Apple App Store support (uploading PWAs is discouraged)
    - Web App Gap
    - not all native APIs are available on the web platform
    - expected to get smaller thanks to Project Fugu
    - not all web APIs are available in every browser
    - No control over execution environment
    - Requires an up-to-date browser
    If that’s an issue, web apps are still an option!
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Disadvantages
    

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18. Intro
    Progressive
    Web Apps
    Electron Cordova Summary
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    

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19. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    

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20. - Many desktop target platforms
    - Windows 7+, macOS 10.10+, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora
    - macOS App Store, Microsoft Store, Snapcraft
    - Access to all native APIs
    - Well-defined runtime environment (Chromium and Node.js)
    - Integration scenarios with native applications
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Advantages
    

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21. - Wrapper is large in size (“hello world” starts with ~100 MB)
    - Outdated Node.js & Chromium versions may pose security risks to
    users – developers have to take care of regular updates of the
    wrapper
    - Each Electron instance leads to RAM overhead (e.g. Slack)
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Disadvantages
    

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22. Intro
    Progressive
    Web Apps
    Electron Cordova Summary
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    

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23. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    

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24. - Supports app development for iOS, Android, macOS, UWP
    - Access to all native APIs
    - Official store deployments
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Advantages
    

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25. - Plug-ins are often outdated
    - Cordova’s web and Electron platforms are inconvenient to use
    - Dependent on guidelines and goodwill of platform provider
    - App/update validation can take several hours or days
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Disadvantages
    

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26. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    https://medium.com/quark-works/why-our-app-got-removed-from-the-google-play-store-how-we-fixed-it-4c8d430eafa0
    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/09/technology/apple-app-store-competition.html
    https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/30/18203551/apple-facebook-blocked-internal-ios-apps
    

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27. Intro
    Progressive
    Web Apps
    Electron Cordova Summary
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    

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28. Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Target Platforms
    PROGRESSIVE WEB APPS
    CORDOVA
    ELECTRON
    + cars, smart fridges, …
    

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29. - Developers should aim for Progressive Web Apps
    - If required, web apps can be (additionally) wrapped in a Cordova or
    Electron container à your web app investment always pays off!
    - Consider Cordova and Electron as “uber-polyfills” that might become
    increasingly irrelevant in the future
    - Feature-detect modern web APIs and use them, fall back to
    Electron/Cordova APIs or alternatives if unavailable
    - Report your use cases and missing web capabilities to browser
    vendors
    Electron, Cordova, PWA
    Was, wann, wie und warum
    Recap
    

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30. Thank you
    for your kind attention!
    Christian Liebel
    @christianliebel
    christian.liebel@thinktecture.com
    

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