Template to create a Windows/Linux/Mac desktop app with a server-side UI and HTML frontend within minutes. Keep in mind that this project is still in beta.
To get started clone this repo and run the start task in your IDE:
It creates a shaded jar and runs it (you can also double click it).
TODO for stable release:
- Executables for Windows/Linux/Mac via JavaPackager. Currently, only a shaded .jar gets generated that can be double-clicked to open the window (first time takes a bit since jcef gets downloaded).
- Bundle jcef with installer to avoid waiting at first launch.
- Minimize shaded jar to save disk space.
- Install jcef globally to save disk space.
- Fix few seconds of blank screen on first page load.
- Fix high memory usage.
How?
It uses JCEF (Java Chromium Embedded Framework) to render HTML/CSS and run JavaScript on the client-side. On the "server-side" (which is also on the client since this is a regular desktop app) Java/Vaadin is used.
For details about prerequisites, deploying to production, project structure, etc. head over to either https://github.com/vaadin/base-starter-spring-gradle if you chose Gradle, or https://github.com/vaadin/flow-quickstart-tutorial for Maven.
Features
- Cross-platform by downloading platform dependent dependencies at first run (JCEF).
- Various utility methods and classes to make layout creation and window management easier.
- Support for Gradle and Maven build tools.
- GitHub actions/workflows for testing and deployment.