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Add to SafariWhen comparing Free Pascal vs Javascript / GitHub Electron, the Slant community recommends Free Pascal for most people. In the question“What are the best languages to write a desktop Linux application in?” Free Pascal is ranked 8th while Javascript / GitHub Electron is ranked 17th.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to learn
Pro Fast compiler
Very fast, even big programs compile very quickly.
Pro Cross platform
Many target platforms and architectures.
Pro Powerful
Close to metal while being high level, performance to match C/C++
Pro Works on Linux, Windows, Mac
Being powered by Javascript, apps build with Electron can be packed to run on all 3 platforms.
Pro Wide spread support
Javascript is a very easy language to learn, and is handy for all manner of other things. There's a good chance you already know it, or that you will need to know it in the future.
Pro WebApps without additional work
If you don't require native features and could write a web app (i.e. a website with dynamic elements), then you could just extend it and turn it into a native app. This means that people just need to type your URL to use you app and may get more by downloading and installing it.
Cons
Con Low performance
Electron applications use significantly more CPU, RAM, and disk space than applications written in almost any other framework. This results in poor battery life as well as an unpleasant user experience.
Con Backwards incompatibility between versions
Electron is growing and constantly changing, but there is no care whatsoever whether the changes in a new version will break your application or not. Even if you write and maintain one app, changes to how Electron handles JS files and functions will make maintenance of a single app your full time job. Even the development process, programming mindset and tooling changes between versions, so there is no guarantee that your app will even have a proper architecture a year from when you've built it.
