Can Angular be used for Desktop Applications?
Yes, Angular can be used to make desktop applications using frameworks like Electron or Tauri.
You can use Angular to make the client side of desktop applications. The backend can be written with any server-side language or framework of your choice.
You can use Angular in Electron JS to make Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop applications.
ANGULAR DESKTOP APP WITH ELECTRON
By combining Angular with Electron, you can take advantage of Angular’s robustness and developer-friendly features to build cross-platform desktop applications that have a similar look and feel to web applications.
Developing desktop apps with Angular and Electron is quick and inexpensive than using native platforms like Swift in Xcode or C#, and C++ in Visual Studio.
Electron provides a bridge between the web-based front-end and the desktop operating system, allowing you to package your Angular application as a standalone desktop application for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
This approach has been used successfully by popular applications like Visual Studio Code, Slack, WhatsApp, Twitch, Discord, and many others.
Since its Announcement in 2014, Angular has grown in popularity and usage to become one of the most popular Javascript frontend frameworks.
According to a Stack Overflow Survey of 2022, Angular is the third most popular frontend framework behind React and JQuery.
Angular is good for rapid development, it is a very good choice for the frontend of desktop applications. You will be able to build beautiful interfaces quickly and with less code.
To make a full-stack Desktop application, you can use the MEAN Stack. That is Angular (with Electron JS) for the front end, Node.js, Express for the backend, and MongoDB for the Database.
This makes your development process quick, inexpensive, and easy because you will be using one language (Javascript) for both the front end and the back end.
CAN ANGULAR BE USED FOR NATIVE DESKTOP APPS?
No, Angular cannot be used to make native desktop applications for Windows, macOS, or Linux. Angular can only be used to build cross-platform hybrid desk applications using Electron.js or Tauri.
Some apps made with Angular using a platform like Tauri can have great performance like that of Native desktop apps but they are not truly native in the sense of the term.
Native desktop apps can only be made using native platforms that are designed and engineered for specific device platforms to the last detail.
If you desire to make native desktop applications, you need to use Swift and Xcode for macOS apps and C# with Visual Studio for Windows apps.
ANGULAR DESKTOP APP WITHOUT ELECTRON
Can you make a desktop app with Angular without using Electron? Yes, You can make a desktop app with Angular without using Electron.
Although Electron.js is the most popular cross-platform framework for making desktop apps with web technologies, it is not the only platform available.
You can also use Tauri to make a desktop app with Angular. Tauri is compatible with nearly any frontend framework.
Actually, Tauri is generally known to have better performance than Electron.js. You can also integrate your existing Angular projects in Tauri very easily.
WHAT ARE ALTERNATIVES TO ANGULAR FOR DESKTOP APPS?
There are many alternatives to Angular for developing User Interfaces (UIs) for desktop applications.
You can either use native platforms or other frontend frameworks. Here are some of the popular ones.
REACT
React is the most popular Javascript library for building UIs for applications. React can also be used with platforms such as Electron.js, and Tauri.
You can also use React Native for Windows to develop Windows applications using Visual Studio. So, if you do not want to use Angular for your desktop apps, you can use React.
SVELTE
Svelte is another popular alternative to Angular for building UIs. You can also use Svelte with platforms like Electron.js and Tauri.
According to Stack Overflow, Svelte is the most loved front-end framework of 2022. It is loved by 75.28% of developers versus 24.72% of developers who dreaded it.
Building desktop apps with Svelte is much easier and quicker than using Angular.
VUE
Vue is another great option for building User Interfaces quickly. Vue is easy and straightforward to work with. You can use Vue with Electron.js and Tauri.
Vue is loved and respected by a lot of developers for its simplicity. According to Stack Overflow, Vue is one of the most loved front-end frameworks.
It is loved by 63.16% of developers versus 36.84% of developers who dreaded it. Building cross-platform desktop apps with Vue is much easier and quicker than using Angular.
CONCLUSION
It can be seen that Angular can be used to develop User Interfaces (UIs) for cross-platform desktop applications using platforms like Electron.js and Tauri.
You can develop desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux from one codebase. Angular makes it easy, quick, and inexpensive to build amazing desktop applications.
You can use Angular with any backend technology of your choice. A common approach is to use the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, Node.js).