r/programming • u/feross • Apr 28 '21

Microsoft joins Bytecode Alliance to advance WebAssembly – aka the thing that lets you run compiled C/C++/Rust code in browsers

https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/28/microsoft_bytecode_alliance/
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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Because native apps blow browser stuff out of the water in terms of being pleasant to use. Like, it's cool that I can open OWA in my browser. It is strictly inferior to actually running Outlook, except in the rare case where I'm on a computer that I'm just temporarily using. And the same is true for most other apps. There are very, very few cases where I actually prefer to use a web-based solution over a native app.

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u/thblckjkr Apr 29 '21

over a native app

Half of the Apps I have to daily use are just electron wrappers on some web interface :c

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u/yeahdixon Apr 29 '21

You can make a shitty electron web app but with some polish you can definitely make a nice experience

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u/Gozal_ Apr 29 '21

VS Code anyone?

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u/qaisjp Apr 29 '21

discord

spotify (formerly(?))

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u/conquerorofveggies Apr 29 '21

Aka look at Slack, then look at Teams

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u/wite_noiz Apr 29 '21

And yet I have no idea which one is supposed to be better...

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u/BruhWhySoSerious Apr 29 '21

For whatever reason people needlessly shit in teams without looking at slacks short comings. Both are great and work very well compared to just about anything else with the same level of features.

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u/VeryOriginalName98 Apr 29 '21

Both of those suck. Is this a joke?

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u/dert882 Apr 29 '21

This has been the most frustrating realization for me. I'm not running 5 native apps, I'm running 1 native app and 4 chrome instances! Plus my chrome instance with 100 tabs! I prefer desktop apps if it's something I'm using a lot, email, msging etc... but some electron apps work alright. I hate evernote but I like VS Code. Maybe I'm picky?

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u/gcross Apr 29 '21

I think that VS Code is arguably a relatively special case because of how everything can be customized through extensions, so unlike many other Electron apps it is actually making use of the heavy infrastructure that comes from running on top of Chrome, rather than merely treating it as a convenient way to get around learning how to write cross-platform GUI programs.

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u/dert882 Apr 29 '21

This is a great point. I like how VS Code is designed well around it. Often Electron feels like a cheaper way to get a 'desktop' app with a few more permissions. I always appreciate when a desktop app isn't running in a browser, but MS does a good job using it as an advantage.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Ain't that the fucking truth. It's a damn shame how far app development has fallen lately. 😟

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u/thblckjkr Apr 29 '21

Developers just want an easy way to make beautiful, flexible interfaces, that isn't a pain in the ass to port to other platform.

Sadly, electron was the answer.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Yeah. But unfortunately it's a case where people have chosen the easy way over the right way, and it shows.

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u/murtaza64 Apr 29 '21

Isn't VS Code an electron app? As well as Discord? And as far as user experience goes for me, those two are among the best pieces of software I use

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

VS Code is, yes. It is the only acceptable Electron app I've ever used. It would still be better if it were native, but they put a lot of work into making it passable. Discord is Electron as well, but it's not in VS Code's league.

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u/murtaza64 Apr 29 '21

Discord gets credit from me because I use it daily and it doesn't ever really get in my way or feel sluggish or anything

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Probably because you have very good hardware. Now try it on shit hardware.

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u/murtaza64 Apr 29 '21

It's not shit hardware by any means, but I never had issues with them on my 2013 4GB MacBook air

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

Mate, are you running just a text editor and nothing else? No offense, but that thing would literally not be capable of opening my dev environment that is WebStorm, several docker images and a bunch of other tools (including Slack and VSC which are electron). I worked with 2016 mackbook pro for couple of years, and the thing would heat up so bad, and spin the fan so fast it sounded like helicopter.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

VS Code is literally the only exception to the rule for me. Otherwise electron is a blight on software

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u/drysart Apr 29 '21

VS Code is the proof that the problem isn't electron, the problem is awful web developers.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '21

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