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Master Electron: Desktop Apps with HTML, JavaScript & CSS (Udemy.com)

The Complete Electron course for learning to build Cross Platform Desktop Apps using HTML, JavaScript & CSS

Created by: Ray Viljoen

Last updated June 2021

Our take

Based on the ratings of 4,330 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in June 2021. No course pays to be reviewed.

Ray Viljoen's course is an API tour of Electron, module by module, for web developers who already know JavaScript and want to ship a desktop app. The syllabus shows 61 lectures over about 8 hours: the main process, the renderer, IPC, an 8-step project, then packaging, MacOS notarization and even the Touch Bar. About 28,000 students have enrolled and 4,330 have left reviews, averaging 4.5 stars. Reviewers treat it as reference material more than a build-along, and that is the honest framing.

Reviewers call the lessons clear and well explained. The instructor types every line on camera, ships the files for each lesson, and covers corners like notarization, distribution and the Touch Bar, which one reviewer singled out for praise. The problem is age. The last update was June 2021, for Electron 9 and 10, and reviewers on Electron 18 and 22 say some lessons cannot be followed as recorded: window controls, nodeIntegration and the older IPC pattern have all changed, and the safer preload approach only lives on a separate git branch. Several also say the instructor no longer answers the Q&A, which stings when the project breaks.

So the value depends on what you want. As a clear map of the whole Electron API it still earns its 4.5 stars, and a 2026 review says it helped even on electron-vite. As a paste-and-run tutorial it does not. Pair it with the current docs, budget time to work around breaking changes, and note that a couple of reviewers found the pace fast and the project hard to debug alone.

Best forWeb developers who know JavaScript and want a concise reference to the whole Electron API, not a framework build.
Skip it ifYou want a follow-along project on current Electron; the code is from version 9 and several lessons break on newer releases.

Pros

  • Covers nearly the whole Electron API one module at a time, with the code files for every lesson
  • Distribution, MacOS notarization and Touch Bar sections; one reviewer praised the Touch Bar coverage in particular
  • Lessons are short and to the point; one reviewer keeps it as something to re-reference after finishing
  • 8 quizzes and an 8-step project take the API from demos to a shippable app

Cons

  • Last updated June 2021 for Electron 9 and 10; IPC, nodeIntegration and preload lessons no longer match current versions
  • Reviewers report unanswered Q&A questions and a project that is hard to debug when it breaks
  • Leans toward Mac; a Linux reviewer wanted more coverage, and the pace is fast for some
One of the best Electron courses I have found and used. Very well explained, described and taught. I have now been able to build my own electron projects with ease. Would be good if this course was kept up to date, though.
Ali Bandali, a student

Listed as all levels, but it assumes solid JavaScript, HTML, CSS, basic Node and command line; not for coding beginners.

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What you will learn

  • Build native desktop applications using existing knowledge of HTML, CSS & JavaSript
  • Create applications for both Mac, Windows & Linux
  • Understand the near-entire Electron API in detail.
  • Package Electron applications for distribution.
  • Expand your existing skills beyond the browser & add an invaluable new skill to your resume.
  • Verifiable certificate of completion.

Course content

12 sections · 61 lectures · 8 hours of video 8 quizzes

  1. 1Overview 1 free preview2 lectures · 4 min
  2. 2Developing with Electron5 lectures · 1 quiz · 24 min
  3. 3Main Process API 2 free previews17 lectures · 3 quizzes · 2.2 hours
  4. 4Renderer Process API4 lectures · 1 quiz · 23 min
  5. 5IPC Communication3 lectures · 1 quiz · 31 min
  6. 6Shared API 1 free preview4 lectures · 1 quiz · 28 min
  7. 7Features & Techniques5 lectures · 1 quiz · 25 min
  8. 8Project8 lectures · 1.8 hours
  9. 9Application Distribution7 lectures · 1.1 hours
  10. 10MacOS Notarization2 lectures · 16 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • This course is designed for developers with a good understanding of web technologies such as HTML, CSS & JS, looking to start building native Desktop applications using their existing knowledge.
  • The course covers almost every aspect of Electron and is very comprehensive.
  • No prior experience with Electron is required.

What you need before you start

  • A good understanding of JavaScript. Basic understanding of ES6 would be beneficial.
  • Working knowledge of HTML & CSS.
  • Be comfortable with very basic usage of the command line (CLI)
  • Understand JavaScript in the Browser. e.g. Knowing what the global 'window' variable is etc.
  • Basic understanding of Node.js
  • Basic knowledge of Git (Recommended, but not required)

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Course Description

** Now includes MacOS Notarization **
** UPDATED for Electron version 9 & 10 **

Go from Web Developer to Desktop Applications Developer by learning
to use the entire Electron API from scratch.

This course is suitable for BOTH complete Electron beginners and existing Electron developers looking to advance to the next level.

  • Learn to develop with Electron using the best tools

  • Understand the different parts of Electron and how they work together

  • Cover the near-entire Electron API, learning one module at a time

  • Learn Electron features & techniques for using API modules together

  • Put your new knowledge to practical use by building a detailed 8-step Electron project from scratch.

An invaluable skill for any Web Developer to expand their career opportunities.

Electron is by far the most popular and fastest growing library for building cross-platform desktop applications using HTML, JavaScript & CSS.

This course will provide a very practical and concise approach to learning Electron from scratch.
You will be able to start building real-world desktop applications immediately.

Content and Overview

With 45 concise and practical lectures, this course will provide a COMPLETE understanding of Electron and it's full API.

  • It is suitable for anyone with a a good understanding of HTML, CSS & JavaScript.

  • Basic command line usage and an understanding of ES2015 (ES6) will be beneficial.

The course starts by setting up the Electron development environment and covers some useful tools to aid in the development process.

The main body of the course then covers the 3 individual sections of the Electron API in great detail, with very practical individual lessons on each API module.

Once the API is covered, the course looks at some useful features and techniques, also demonstrating how Electron integrates with Native HTML5 APIs.

Finally you'll build a real-world application which covers a large chunk of the Electron API in real-world scenarios. The project lessons is divided into 8 individual videos and will take you step-by-step to a complete, distribution-ready desktop application.

Upon completion of this course you will have the practical skills to immediately start building high quality desktop applications for Mac, Windows & Linux.

This course is to the point and everything is demonstrated in the most simple, yet practical ways, to help you become an advanced Electron Developer.

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Instructor Details

Ray Viljoen

Stackacademy provides high-quality Courses for Developers, with learning-efficiency as the number one priority.

My name is Ray Viljoen,
I have over 10 years experience as a Full Stack Developer and have real world experience building, maintaining & optimising a wide range of applications.

My courses are concise, teaches practical skills and is designed to also serve as usable future reference material.


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Reviews

4.5

4,330 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By JOSEPH SAVARD on 7/25/2022

This course was once a 5 star. It has suffered from age and now leaves you with issues using things that are no longer relevant and the projects cannot be implemented without deep digging. Which deep digging is good, but no in concept delivery. Ray is a fantastic teacher, but like all things, when something gets older and not maintained it dies a hard death. There is no open communications that are relevant the instructor does not monitor the channel. It needs to be updated if it is not I would suggest a newer course. I would like my money back. Can't complete the course.

By Philip Spelman on 12/4/2020

This is a massive framework and I thought the instructor did a really nice job introducing us to many aspects, as well as providing links to the documentation where we can dive deeper into more advanced uses of specific components. I also appreciated his knowledge of the evolution of electron, pointing out where things used to be done a different way, etc. Overall this was a really great crash course covering a lot of material.

By Adam Badaski on 9/4/2020

Best Electron course, so get ready to learn a lot about Electron in this course! Ray does a tremendously good job on explaining various concepts behind building an Electron app. After going through all the lessons, you'll have a chance to review them by working on a project. By the end of this course, you will have a great foundation on Electron framework. This course is regularly updated to work with the latest version of Electron, which is a huge plus, since other courses on this subject seem to either lack some major updates on security and cross-platform compatibility. Each lesson is demonstrated using Vanilla JS, so there is no need to be familiar with any modern front-end framework like Angular, React, or VueJS. If you are having trouble deciding which Electron course to take or you are completely new to Electron, take this course.

By Anonymized User on 5/9/2020

I really enjoyed this course. It is the most in-depth electron course I have seen. It was straight forward, well enunciated and understandable. I especially enjoyed the automatic updating and release manage section. It also was a great introduction to the MAC touchbar. All in all, I will be happy to take other course from him as the needs arise.

By Stefano Kocka on 2/19/2020

- Good coverage of the topic. - HQ material. - Amazing narration (very clear and understandable). - "Practical Courses Designed for Learning Efficiency." - I agree 100%! Overall, great content! PS: Would love to see future content like "Electron with Nightmare/Puppeteer integration" (For Testing and Background-Operations).

By Yuqing Cai on 11/14/2019

This course covers most of the common APIs after summarizing the basic structure of Electron Apps. However, this form is not systematic enough for Electron beginners. It's more of a dictionary or tool book of a foreign language, but you can't learn a new language by memorizing new words on a dictionary. Honestly speaking, I tried very hard to learn one section after another since "Main Process API". But I never made it even to "Shared API". I found it most helpful when I have come across problems in developing my own Electron App. Only then will I come back, look at the content of this course and click on the specific video I'm dying to know more...

By Erick Wallberg González on 10/28/2019

Hay varias cosas del curso que están orientadas al trabajo o uso solo en MacOS, trabajo en Linux y hay varias funcionalidades que según documentación simplemente no funcionan en Linux por lo que se me ha alargado el curso por buscar soluciones cuando los ejemplos no funcionan. Pero en general bien todo lo que enseña, solo tengo que adaptarme a mi necesidad de uso de Sistema Operativo. por lo demás una buena presentación y explicación del curso.

By Chauncey Kelly on 7/11/2019

This course is eaxctly what I was looking for as I have no experience with app development. Explanations are in plain English and as long as you have some experience with HTML and JavaScript you will not get lost. He is thorough in his explanations without making it too complicated. It does go through quite a bit of the Electron Documentation with you so you know how it applies to building a real project by providing simple examples across MANY of Electron's modules. As I did not previously have experience with node.js I feel this is a good start to understanding how front and back end architecture is created(at least for a beginner). Well worth the cost as it would have taken me much longer to understand how the extensive docs applied to building an app.

By Tom Gardos on 12/17/2018

I've just completed the course and I found it well worth my time. Ray, the instructor, covered many of the important Electron APIs as well as very helpful npm support modules, as well as the build and update flow which is very interesting and I would say a requirement for any modern application. I feel like I have a good basis now to start building my own app. I will point out that the assumption seems to be that the student is already knowledgeable in html/css/javascript development and has some experience with Node and npm. For someone coming from a C/C++ background and is new to building applications, like myself, I had to refresh my understanding of these other topics. It would be good if the course made clear what the presumed prerequisites were and even gave some pointers to good introductory material on those topics. Regardless, it was a very productive course. Before enrolling in this one, I looked around and didn't find any other Electron tutorials as comprehensive as this one.

By Priyank Bolia on 5/13/2018

Great course covers start to finish everything required to build and deploy your own cross platform web technologies based applications. Also the instructor had put great effort in video editing and making the contents easy to grasp, like highlighting the relevant code section during code walk through. The only thing I wanted to improve is, the concepts of remote and multi process architecture could be explained more in detailed. It could have been made more clear about why each renderer and main app require separate process and why remote and IPC are required to communicate within the same application. And how webview helps in isolating and protecting your application from external malicious contents.

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Overall Score : 90 / 100