Exploring NodeGUI and React NodeGUI: Electron alternatives

NodeGUI is an open-source framework for building cross-platform native desktop applications using JavaScript and CSS-like styling, similar to Electron but powered by Qt5 for enhanced performance and memory efficiency. Unlike Electron, NodeGUI requires using its components instead of HTML. The article explores NodeGUI with a focus on the React NodeGUI module, which allows developers to create efficient native desktop applications with React and CSS-like styling. The example project is a system utility monitor application compatible with Linux, Mac, and Windows, developed using the react-node-gui-starter project. The application displays dynamic data about an operating system's CPU, memory, and disk space. It uses the node-os-utils library in conjunction with React Hooks to manage and display system data, emphasizing the integration of React's functional components and NodeGUI's predefined components like View and Text for building the application interface. Styling challenges are addressed through NodeGUI's CSS support, which aligns with the Yoga Framework for Flexbox properties, and Qt CSS for other styles. The article concludes by highlighting NodeGUI's potential as a viable alternative to Electron for developing native desktop applications.