electro-next

desktop app exploration :: electron + next.js + now

intent

The primary goal for zanuka-desktop is to explore the Electron + Next.js stack combo.

todo

• bring this idea back into 2024 context

role of Next.js

• build out the renderer for the Electron app
• routing and prefetching of pre-defined pages
• live-reloading all BrowserWindow instances > pointing to Next.js pages
• styling components and pages using styled-jsx
• transpiling, bundling and minifying
• code splitting

dependencies:

• next
• react
• react-dom
• electron
  • installs prebuilt Electron binaries (dev)
• electron-next:
  • handle the flow required for building the renderer code
  • file:// protocol will work with Next.js bundle (generated by next export)
  • static assets will be loaded in the renderer process
• electron-builder
  • package and build app for distribution
  • build version management
• electron-is-dev:
  • essential for debugging during development
  • checks to see if Electron is running in dev mode

deployment

I'll be using Now Desktop and the Now CLI to deploy.