GitHub’s Electron reaches 1.0 release with new features for Web apps turned desktop

Electron, GitHub’s tool for creating cross-platform desktop applications, has reached its 1.0 release which the company says is “a major milestone in API stability and maturity.”

Formerly known as Atom Shell, Electron 1.0 has API demos with code snippets so you can get up and running faster. It also provides guidance for using Electron’s APIs.

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Once you’ve implemented those APIs, Spectron lets you write tests to verify app behavior.

Chrome developers will be able to access Devtron, an extension that’s meant for inspecting and debugging Electron apps. It’s made up of four main components:

• Require graph: lets you visualize internal and external library dependencies in the main and renderer processes.
• IPC monitor: tracks and displays messages sent and received between the processes in your app.
• Event inspector: shows the events and listeners that are registered in your app on the core Electron APIs.
• App Linter: checks apps for common mistakes and missing functionality.

Electron is available today, and is probably the simplest way for Web developers to turn the HTML, CSS and JavaScript they’re familiar with into standalone desktop experiences.