Electron JS, Visual Studio Code, and SQL Operations Studio

Electron JS is a really cool framework that you can use to build cross platform desktop apps using only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript!!! Assuming you have the ability to build and test out the different platforms, it's very easy to deploy cross-platform.  Node.js is used for the backend runtime and the frontend is supported with Chromium.  This framework was created by, and is currently maintained by, GitHub.  There are a lot of well-known apps made from Electron, and you may be using them and not know it... keep reading to see..

There are some kickstarter guides to using it here:

1. https://github.com/electron/electron-api-demos/blob/master/docs.md
2. https://medium.freecodecamp.org/how-to-build-your-first-app-with-electron-41ebdb796930
3. https://www.tutorialspoint.com/electron/electron_quick_guide.htm

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio is generally liked and widely used with .NET developers, however there are a lot of complaints from both .NET and non .NET folk about it's bulkiness and performance.  Visual Studio Code, however, is pretty well universally liked.  This app doesn't "feel" like the traditional Visual Studio IDE, it is much simpler but.. knowing Visual Studio IDE won't help you know how to use this one.. you will still be tripping over the buttons for a few minutes.

This is a free desktop application that is mainly targeted at front end code and to compete with applications such as Webstorm and Sublime.  You can however use Visual Studio Code with C# backend code by adding the .NET Core SDK and C# extension, see full documentation here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tutorials/with-visual-studio-code

Note: there is some/limited support for .NET Framework, it seems Microsoft is targeting .NET Core more heavily for Visual Studio Code and in general moving forward for the latest and greatest stuff in tech.

SQL Operations Studio

SQL Operations Studio (as of today is in PREVIEW mode which = "you can use this now, but know we're working out the bugs/kinks/supported features and not guaranteeing anything yet").  I do like PREVIEW mode stuff as this is the time to give feedback to help mold applications with opinions and I get the chance to see what's to come soon.  This app is free, lightweight, cross-platform, and does all of the common SQL Server Management Studio tasks (ex. T-SQL stuff, stored procs, view tables, users, logins, roles...), without being overly complex.  There are also added functionalities to make dashboards with graphical analytics to find performance issues and an integrated terminal for command line tools as part of the UI.  It works with SQL Server on Windows/Linux/Docker, Azure SQL, and Azure SQL DataWarehouse.


As with any other technology, there are cons and times not to use it: https://hackernoon.com/electron-the-bad-parts-2b710c491547 Nothing is perfect! So read through that article and see if it's a good fit for your app after reading both the good and bad parts about it.

Other apps that are made from Electron JS include:

• Slack - for team chatter and discussion
• Microsoft Teams - same as above
• Discord - for online gaming communication (audio + message boards + private messages)
• GitKracken - Git GUI
• GitHub Desktop - Git GUI
• WhatsApp - mobile chat application
• Twitch.tv's Desktop app