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Ask HN: Any way to write a simple desktop app anymore?

by KenPainter on 1/21/24, 3:56 PM with 17 comments

• by msmitha on 1/21/24, 4:11 PM

  The Lazarus product (Delphi-like) might work for you.

  Nothing runs like the fox!

• by colund on 1/22/24, 9:17 AM

  Consider WxWidgets (or wxPython). It's great for native cross platform development. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhQ7aeKjYG4 for a fun example.

• by neonsunset on 1/22/24, 10:44 PM

  Windows Forms is still alive and will never die, and very low overhead to start with, and works on new and shiny .NET 8.

  If Linux or macOS, you can use AvaloniaUI instead which is sufficiently advanced but assumes some prior knowledge.

  - https://github.com/dotnet/winforms/blob/main/docs/getting-st...

  - https://docs.avaloniaui.net/docs/get-started/

• by lee-rhapsody on 1/22/24, 9:37 PM

  +1 for Winforms unless you're on a *nix platform. Drag and drop, C# (or VB, if you prefer) is easy and flexible, and the app will work on basically any Windows device.

• by schemescape on 1/21/24, 4:41 PM

  Do you have any programming language or UI toolkit preference? That will likely scope your options.

  If it's just for you, you could use something simple like Tk (e.g. Python + Tkinter).

• by austin-cheney on 1/22/24, 12:29 PM

  A desktop app in Windows only requires an executable. Rust and Zig compile to executables.

  Lately I have made efforts to divorce a variety of games for Windows from Steam DRM. I am hosting these games on a Linux file server for ease of access anywhere in the house. I am also using WinLaunch as a front end to map to the game executables so that in one click I can be running a large Windows game from any of my Windows computers.

• by mikewarot on 1/23/24, 1:56 AM

  Lazarus is a cross platform Pascal GUI IDE that makes building Windows executables almost trivial. You can also target Linux, etc.

• by sloaken on 1/22/24, 3:19 PM

  I use C# with Visual Studio Community.

  Typically I use Windows Forms as it is easy and plenty of online help, as it has not changed much since they tried to get rid of it 20 years ago LOL. (specifically Windows Forms App NOT Windows Forms App (.NET Framework))

  Works well with SQLite if you need a DB.

  Sometimes I just do a console app if it fits the need.

• by carlosjobim on 1/22/24, 1:26 PM

  Yes! With Automator in MacOS you can make simple desktop apps, automatic terminal apps, services that you can invoke from other apps and more. It's great!

• by ravshan on 1/22/24, 6:06 AM

  If you want only windows, then Winforms is the easiest solution for you. You can drag and drop elements, it is simple and gets the job done.

• by kirkarg on 1/22/24, 2:28 AM

  I've been using vb.net for a while. I love how easy and fast is for small projects.

• by tomohawk on 1/21/24, 5:04 PM

  For terminal apps, go + bubbletea

• by KenPainter on 1/22/24, 4:14 PM

  Thanks everyone this gives me a lot to look at.

• by badpun on 1/22/24, 12:05 PM

  Java Swing still works.

• by cranberryturkey on 1/21/24, 4:06 PM

  tauri might be good.