Release of Electron 9.0.0 applications based on the Chromium engine

Electron 9.0.0

Electron 9.0.0 platform has been released, which provides a self-sufficient framework for the development of multiplatform user applications using Chromium, V8 and Node.js. A significant change in version number is due to the upgrade to the Chromium 83 codebase, Node.js 12.14 platform and Javascript engine V8.3.

In Electron 9.0.0 new issue:

• Spell-check capabilities were expanded and an API was added to maintain the dictionary’s own list of words.
• The Linux platform has improved the efficiency of handling window events.
• PDF viewer enabled.
• The default app.allowRendererProcessReuse configuration is enabled, which does not allow booting into the process of rendering unsupported native modules.

The IPC uses a structured cloning algorithm (Structured Clone Algorithm) between the main process and the rendering process, which is used in the V8 engine to copy complex Javascript objects. Compared to the previously used data serialization mechanism, the new algorithm is more predictable, fast, and functional. When moving large buffers and complex objects, the new algorithm is about twice as fast, with little change in the delay of passing small messages.

Combines the Chromium rendering engine

To remind you that Electron allows you to create any graphical applications using browser technologies whose logic is defined by Javascript, HTML and CSS, and functionality can be extended by a system of add-ons. The developers are provided with Node.js modules, as well as an advanced API to create native dialogs, integrate applications, create context menus, integrate with the notification system, manipulate windows, and interact with Chromium subsystems.

Unlike web-based applications, Electron-based software comes in the form of self-sufficient executable files that are not tied to the browser. While the developer does not need to worry about porting the application for different platforms, Electron will provide the ability to build for all systems supported in Chromium. Electron also provides the means to organize automatic delivery and installation of updates (updates can be delivered from a separate server or directly from Github).



Programs based on the Electron platform include Atom editor, Nylas mail client, Git Gitkraken toolkit, Wagon SQL query analysis and visualization system, Wordpress Desktop blogging system, Bittorrent client Webtorrent Desktop, as well as official clients such as Skype, Signal, Slack, Basecamp, Twitch, Ghost, Wire, Wrike, Visual Studio Code and Discord. There are about 850 applications in the Electron catalogue. In order to facilitate the development of new applications, a set of model demonstration applications has been developed, including examples of code for different tasks.