Lesson 1 of 28 · javascript
What is Electron?
Duration: 8 mins
What is Electron?
Electron combines Chromium (the browser engine) and Node.js (the JavaScript runtime) into a single binary, letting you write desktop apps with web technologies.
- Main process – runs Node, controls windows, menus, file‑system, etc.
- Renderer process – a Chromium tab that displays your UI (HTML/CSS/JS).
- Communication between them happens via IPC.
Quick hello‑world diagram
┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐
│ Main (Node) │─────►│ Renderer (HTML) │
│ BrowserWindow│◄─────│ Chromium Engine │
└───────────────┘ └───────────────────┘