# Electron
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: human_only


## TL;DR

Electron (GitHub, 2013, formerly Atom Shell) is a framework for building desktop applications with web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) using Chromium and Node.js. Each app bundles both runtimes. Used by VS Code, Slack, Discord, Figma, Notion, 1Password.

## Core Explanation

Architecture: Main process (Node.js, system access) + Renderer processes (Chromium, UI). IPC (`ipcMain`/`ipcRenderer`) for inter-process communication. `electron-builder` packages for Windows (.exe), macOS (.dmg), Linux (.AppImage/.deb). Native modules via `native-ext`. Criticism: large bundle size (100+ MB), memory usage. Alternatives: Tauri (Rust backend, smaller, WebView instead of full Chromium).

## Further Reading

- [Electron Documentation](https://www.electronjs.org/docs/)