How close to batteries-included (GUI for Julia)?

ScottRobertson
Thu, 06 May 2021 04:49:26 +0000
New to Julia

I have a little Javascript/HTML/CSS background and three years of loving Python/Tkinter/SQLite because it makes me a productive hobbyist. That’s the extent of my programming background. I’ve spent hours looking through the options for GUI and/or webapp development in Julia. To keep me spoiled I hope to find (or wait for) an approach similar to the wonder of Python/Tkinter/SQLite i.e. no dependencies. It sounded like Julia was just the thing till I started looking for a GUI toolkit.

Two possibilities have gotten me interested so far. Electron.jl and Dash. And I hope to keep using SQLite.

Electron.jl by @davidanthoff seems to be saying on the Github ReadMe that no server is used. Kinda like SQLite, no connecting to localhost. Is that correct? As I have no plan to do anything that a standalone app wouldn’t do, even if my app runs in a browser, the serverless feature would be ideal if I’m reading it right.

Dash looks most promising because there is documentation, example code, and a gallery of apps made with it which is inspiring. The code looks easy to write. Julia code. I’d like to not write Javascript, that’s why I come to Julia. But will write Javascript if I have to. With Electron.jl I would have to, but not sure why or how much. I’d like to know what would be the advantage of using Electron.jl vs. just learning plain Electron and writing Javascript.

Given my hobbyist-level skills, is one of these programs going to be productive for me, some other GUI toolkit, or should I stick with Python for a few more years and check back later? Any advice is appreciated. I may be more or less unskilled as a programmer but that doesn’t keep me from trying, more than full time, it’s how I intend to spend my dodderage.

5 posts - 4 participants