Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Electron VS jQuery Mobile

Compare Electron VS jQuery Mobile and see what are their differences

Electron logo Electron

Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

jQuery Mobile logo jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile
  • Electron Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-01
  • jQuery Mobile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

Electron features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Electron allows developers to create applications that run on Windows, macOS, and Linux using a single codebase, making it easier to reach a broader audience.
  • Web Technologies
    Developers can utilize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue) to build Electron apps, enabling a more accessible development process for web developers.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Electron benefits from the vast ecosystem of Node.js, granting access to a multitude of packages and modules, and simplifying the inclusion of various functionalities in applications.
  • Auto-Update Mechanism
    Electron has built-in support for auto-updating applications, which saves developers time and effort in managing updates and improves the user experience by keeping the application up-to-date seamlessly.
  • Active Community
    An active community and extensive documentation provide a wealth of resources for developers, from tutorials to plugins, making it easier to find support and improve productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Electron

  • Large File Size
    Because Electron packages both the application code and a version of Chromium, applications tend to be significantly larger in file size compared to native counterparts.
  • High Memory Consumption
    Electron apps can consume more memory because each window runs its instance of Chromium, which can lead to inefficient resource usage, especially on systems with limited memory.
  • Performance
    Due to its reliance on web technologies and Chromium, Electron applications may not perform as well as optimally coded native apps, particularly in resource-intensive scenarios.
  • Security Concerns
    Electron's use of web technologies and features like Node.js integration increases the attack surface, requiring careful handling of security practices to prevent vulnerabilities such as injection attacks.
  • Complexity in Debugging
    Debugging Electron applications can be more complex due to the blend of backend (Node.js) and frontend (browser-like) code, requiring developers to be proficient in multiple debugging tools and techniques.

jQuery Mobile features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    jQuery Mobile provides a unified user interface across multiple devices and platforms, making it easier to create applications that work seamlessly on both iOS and Android.
  • Ease of Use
    With a familiar syntax for those who have used jQuery, jQuery Mobile makes it easy to get started with mobile web development. Its straightforward API and comprehensive documentation further aid in rapid development.
  • Theme Customization
    The jQuery Mobile ThemeRoller allows developers to customize the look and feel of their mobile websites easily. Multiple built-in themes are available, and they can be modified or new themes can be created.
  • Extensive UI Components
    jQuery Mobile comes with a wide range of UI components such as buttons, dialogs, sliders, and more. These components are touch-optimized and ready to use, allowing for quicker development.
  • Accessibility
    The framework is designed with accessibility in mind, providing support for ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) guidelines and ensuring that applications are usable by people with disabilities.

Possible disadvantages of jQuery Mobile

  • Performance Issues
    jQuery Mobile can sometimes be slower than native mobile applications or other frameworks, especially on older devices. This is due to its heavy reliance on JavaScript and extensive DOM manipulations.
  • Limited Customizability
    While ThemeRoller offers considerable customization options, deep customizations can be challenging. This can make it difficult to achieve a unique look and feel without extensive CSS overrides.
  • Dependency on jQuery
    Since jQuery Mobile is built on top of jQuery, any limitations or issues in jQuery affect jQuery Mobile as well. Additionally, including the full jQuery library increases the overall load size, impacting performance.
  • Outdated Technology
    As web technologies have advanced, some developers consider jQuery Mobile to be outdated compared to newer frameworks like React Native or Flutter, which offer more robust and scalable options for mobile development.
  • Smaller Community
    The community around jQuery Mobile is smaller compared to other popular mobile development frameworks. This can lead to less frequent updates, fewer third-party plugins, and limited support.

Analysis of Electron

Overall verdict

  • Electron is generally considered a good choice for creating cross-platform desktop applications, especially when rapid development and leveraging web technologies are priorities. However, it may not be suitable for applications where performance and resource efficiency are critical, as Electron apps tend to be resource-heavy compared to native applications.

Why this product is good

  • Electron is a popular framework that allows developers to build cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. One of its main advantages is that it enables the use of existing web development skills to create apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Electron also benefits from a large community and a rich ecosystem of tools and libraries, making development quicker and more flexible.

Recommended for

    Electron is recommended for developers or teams that already have experience with web technologies and need to create desktop applications quickly across multiple platforms. It's especially useful for applications that require a high degree of flexibility and customization in the UI, or for products that benefit from sharing a codebase with a web application. Startups and small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize development speed and cost efficiency may find Electron particularly attractive.

Electron videos

💻 Why You Should Build Desktop Software With Electron

More videos:

  • Review - What is Electron: The Hard Parts Made Easy
  • Review - Electron Matrix Review Video

jQuery Mobile videos

jQuery Mobile Review

More videos:

  • Review - jQuery Mobile Book Reviews jQuery Mobile - First Look and jQuery Mobile Up and Running

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Electron and jQuery Mobile)
Development Tools
58 58%
42% 42
Rapid Application Development
JavaScript Framework
0 0%
100% 100
Cross-Platform Development

User comments

Share your experience with using Electron and jQuery Mobile. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Electron and jQuery Mobile

Electron Reviews

Electron.js Alternatives For Cross-Platform Development
All of this changed when Electron.js came into the picture. The framework allowed developers to create a unique cross-platform desktop application without any hurdles. However, it uses up quite a bit of resource making it harder for developers to create lightweight applications. With this blog, we will look into suitable alternatives for Electron.js.
Source: www.atatus.com
12 Best Frameworks and Toolkits to Build Desktop Applications
If you are looking for an alternative to the Electronjs desktop application development framework, Neutralinojs is a viable option. A few applications may become bulky with Electron, but Neutralinojs can help avoid such problems.
Source: geekflare.com
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Electron.js is compatible with a variety of frameworks, libraries, access to hardware-level APIs and chromium engine, and Node.js support. Electron Fiddle feature is great for experimentation as it allows developers to play around with concepts and templates. Simplification is at the center of Electron because developers don’t have to spend unnecessary time on the packaging,...
Electron Alternatives﹣5 Best JavaScript Frameworks for Desktop Apps
If you’re a JavaScript developer, you’re going to need to learn a few relatively simple things on how Electron works and it’s API. You will most probably be able to set up your first Electron desktop application in just a few days.
Source: brainhub.eu
Frameworks & Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps – Best of
Enyo is an open-source JavaScript framework, like Electron, that allows developers to create native-quality apps for desktop, mobile, and TV. Enyo can run across all the relatively modern and standard web-based environments. It’s battle-tested and comes with a beautiful cross-platform UI toolkit for creating rich user interfaces.

jQuery Mobile Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks For Mobile App Development
jQuery Mobile is a leading user interface framework, created on jQuery core and based on JavaScript programming. It is lightweight in size, with a strong theming framework and simple API that facilitates the creation of highly responsive mobile applications and powerful websites. It designs single good quality websites and applications that can work seamlessly on devices and...
Source: medium.com
9 Top JavaScript Mobile Frameworks To Know In 2020
jQuery Mobile supports a number of user interfaces that are compatible with modern platforms such as Android, iOS and to the earliest of platforms such as Opera Mini and Nokia Symbian. With the help of PhoneGap, you can integrate your jQuery web app code to an interactive iOS or Android application.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Electron should be more popular than jQuery Mobile. It has been mentiond 14 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Electron mentions (14)

  • Design Systems with Web Components
    So we talked a lot about the Atomic Design Principle, but you could just use that in any system and start creating. You could have Angular components, React Components, and Vue Components. But if you notice these don't easily work Everwhere. So the solution is to use Web Components because the modern browser can already understand these, and any Front-End framework can then utilize these components. You can use... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Building Apps with Tauri and Elixir
    For the longest time, building desktop apps was a daunting task to web developers. That is, until technologies like Electron made creating these apps more approachable to a wider audience. Today, we’ve got a wide array of native applications built with solutions like Electron, Tauri, Capacitor, and many more. While these are great solutions, sometimes configuration can be tricky and the applications we create can... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • SvelteKit + Electron: Create your desktop web app
    I make a new Adapter for SvelteKit apps that prerenders your entire site as a collection of static files for use with Electron. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Electron: Build Desktop Applications Using Plain Javascript
    Electron is a cross-platform shell — a user interface for accessing operating system services both via command line (CLI) and graphical user interface (GUI). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Circuit To Turn On Desktop PC
    Electron (https://electronjs.org/) is a framework for developing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. This is the technology behind many popular apps like Slack, Discord and Visual Studio Code. Join for discussions around Electron! Source: over 2 years ago
View more

jQuery Mobile mentions (3)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Electron and jQuery Mobile, you can also consider the following products

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

Onsen UI - HTML5 Hybrid Mobile App UI Framework - work with Angular, React, Vue, Meteor & pure JavaScript. Material & Flat design.

Qt - Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Xamarin - Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#