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Electron (software framework)
Open-source software framework by GitHub

Electron (formerly known as Atom Shell) is a free and open-source software framework developed and maintained by OpenJS Foundation. The framework is designed to create desktop applications using web technologies (mainly HTML, CSS and JavaScript, although other technologies such as front-end frameworks and WebAssembly are possible) that are rendered using a version of the Chromium browser engine and a back end using the Node.js runtime environment. It also uses various APIs to enable functionality such as native integration with Node.js services and an inter-process communication module.

Electron was originally built for Atom and is the main GUI framework behind several other open-source projects including GitHub Desktop, Light Table, Visual Studio Code, WordPress Desktop, and Eclipse Theia.

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Architecture

Electron applications include a "main" process and several "renderer" processes. The main process runs the logic for the application (e.g., menus, shell commands, lifecycle events), and can then launch multiple renderer processes by instantiating an instance of the BrowserWindow class, which loads a window that appears on the screen by rendering HTML and CSS.

Both the main and renderer processes can run with Node.js integration if the nodeIntegration field in the main process is set to true.

Most of Electron's APIs are written in C++ or Objective-C and are exposed directly to the application code through JavaScript bindings.8

History

In September 2021, Electron moved to an eight-week release cycle between major versions to match the release cycle of Chromium Extended Stable and to comply with a new requirement from the Microsoft Store that requires browser-based apps to be within two major versions of the latest release of the browser engine.9

Electron frequently releases new major versions along every other Chromium release. The latest three stable versions are supported by the Electron team.10

Version history
ReleaseStatusRelease dateEnd of life dateChromium versionNode.js versionModule versionN-API versionICU version
Old version, not maintained: v1.8.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life12 December 201720 December 2018598.257??
Old version, not maintained: v2.0.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life1 May 201824 April 2019618.957??
Old version, not maintained: v3.1.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life18 September 201829 July 20196610.2643?
Old version, not maintained: v4.2.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life20 December 201822 October 20196910.1169362.2
Old version, not maintained: v5.1.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life24 April 20194 February 20207312.070463.1
Old version, not maintained: v6.1.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life29 July 201918 May 20207612.473464.2
Old version, not maintained: v7.3.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life22 October 201925 August 20207812.875464.2
Old version, not maintained: v8.3.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life4 February 202016 November 20208012.1376565.1
Old version, not maintained: v9.4.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life18 May 20202 March 20218312.1480565.1
Old version, not maintained: v10.4.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life25 August 202025 May 20218512.1682565.1
Old version, not maintained: v11.4.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life16 November 202030 August 20218712.1885565.1
Old version, not maintained: v12.0.xOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life2 March 202115 November 2021118914.1687768.1
Old version, not maintained: v13.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life25 May 202131 January 2022129114.1689768.1
Old version, not maintained: v14.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life30 August 202129 March 2022139214.1789869.1
Old version, not maintained: v15.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life21 September 202124 May 2022149416.598??
Old version, not maintained: v16.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life15 November 20211524 May 2022169616.999??
Old version, not maintained: v17.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life1 February 2022172 August 20229816.13101??
Old version, not maintained: v18.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life29 March 20221826 September 20221910016.13103??
Old version, not maintained: v19.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life24 May 20222029 November 20222110216.14106??
Old version, not maintained: v20.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life2 August 2022227 February 202310416.15???
Old version, not maintained: v21.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life26 September 2022234 April 202310616.16???
Old version, not maintained: v22.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life30 November 20222410 October 202310816.17???
Old version, not maintained: v23.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life30 November 20222515 August 202311018.12???
Old version, not maintained: v24.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life4 April 20232610 October 202311218.14???
Old version, not maintained: v25.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life30 May 2023275 December 202311418.15???
Old version, not maintained: v26.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life15 August 20232820 February 202411618.16???
Old version, not maintained: v27.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life10 October 20232916 April 202411818.17???
Old version, not maintained: v28.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life5 December 20233011 June 202412018.18???
Old version, not maintained: v29.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life20 February 202420 August 202412220.9???
Old version, not maintained: v30.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life16 April 202415 October 202412420.11???
Old version, not maintained: v31.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life11 June 20247 January 202512620.14???
Old version, not maintained: v32.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life20 August 20244 March 202512820.16???
Old version, not maintained: v33.x.yOld version, not maintained: End-of-Life15 October 20243129 April 202513020.18???
Old version, still maintained: v34.x.yOld version, still maintained: Active14 January 20253224 June 202513220.18???
Old version, still maintained: v35.x.yOld version, still maintained: Active4 March 2025332 September 202513422.14???
Latest version: v36.x.yLatest version: Current29 April 20253428 October 202513622.14???
Latest preview version: v37.x.yLatest preview version: Prerelease24 June 2025 (Scheduled)3513 January 2026138TBD???
Future version: v38.x.yFuture version: NightlyTBD36TBDTBDTBD???

Usage

Main article: List of software using Electron

Desktop applications built with Electron include Atom,37 balenaEtcher,38 Eclipse Theia,39 Microsoft Teams before 2.0,4041 Slack,42 and Visual Studio Code.4344 The Brave browser was based on Electron before it was rewritten to use Chromium directly.45

Reception

The most common criticism of Electron is that it necessitates software bloat when used for simple programs.46 As a result, Michael Larabel has referred to the framework as "notorious among most Linux desktop users for being resource heavy, not integrating well with most desktops, and generally being despised."47 Researchers have shown that Electron's large feature set can be hijacked by bad actors with write access to the source JavaScript files. This requires root access on *nix systems and is not considered to be a vulnerability by the Electron developers.48 Those who are concerned that Electron is not always based on the newest version of Chromium have recommended progressive web applications as an alternative.49

See also

  • Free and open-source software portal

References

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  2. "Build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS | Electron". Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023. https://www.electronjs.org/ ↩

  3. "Electron Internals: Using Node as a Library". electronjs.org. 8 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2020. https://electronjs.org/blog/electron-internals-using-node-as-a-library ↩

  4. Sawicki, Kevin (23 April 2015). "Atom Shell is now Electron". Electron. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022. https://www.electronjs.org/blog/electron ↩

  5. Horner, Gabriel (10 December 2015). "Light Table 0.8.0". lighttable.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2020. http://lighttable.com/2015/12/10/light-table-0-8-0/ ↩

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  15. "Release electron v16.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v16.0.0 ↩

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  18. "Release electron v18.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v18.0.0 ↩

  19. "Release electron v21.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v21.0.0 ↩

  20. "Release electron v19.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v19.0.0 ↩

  21. "Release electron v22.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v22.0.0 ↩

  22. "Release electron v20.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v20.0.0 ↩

  23. "Release electron v21.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v21.0.0 ↩

  24. "Release electron v22.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v22.0.0 ↩

  25. "Release electron v23.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v23.0.0 ↩

  26. "Release electron v24.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v24.0.0 ↩

  27. "Release electron v25.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v25.0.0 ↩

  28. "Release electron v26.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v26.0.0 ↩

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  31. "Release electron v33.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v33.0.0 ↩

  32. "Release electron v34.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v34.0.0 ↩

  33. "Release electron v35.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v35.0.0 ↩

  34. "Release electron v36.0.0 · electron/electron". GitHub. 28 April 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2025. https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v36.0.0 ↩

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