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How can I develop an installable desktop application on top of the Mozilla Engine or the Webkit engine.

We want to have best of both worlds, ease of development with DOM+Javascript+RenderingEngine+ContinuedImprovements in a Browser and user's control as in a desktop app

I looked at using C++ XPCOM for Mozilla but it seems to be quite complicated, Is there any other way to code like a WebApp using Javascript but burn it into the browser and dress it to give a feel of a desktop app. Also I require that javascript is compiled into native so that one cannot sneak into the source code Are there any examples of desktop applications done this way ?

Web apps are fine but there are concerns of piracy, privacy, security and version control. The moot point is that in a web app the control lies with the software vendor, moreover the data is also with the vendor. Not only these, any changes to the application may also necessitate another around of training. What we want is that once the customer buys a version he is sure of what he owns and that he is in total control of it and we as software developer do not exposed our source code.

The issue is we have expertise in Web App development and we want to utilize that to develop a Desktop App

Raks
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2 Answers2

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Your last point is that :

The issue is we have expertise in Web App development and we want to utilize that to develop a Desktop App

Well then BowLine can be an option though it requires Ruby, so you need to consider that. You can also take a look at WebKitDotNet if you are with .net Background.

Shekhar_Pro
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Use XUL for the user interface and code your functions using JavaScript. You problably only need C++ to expose native functionality not yet available in Gecko. Examples of software that works this way: Komodo IDE, Songbird, Firefox and Thunderbird.

mwk
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  • XUL would help me with the UI skin, but for the core app functionality how can I write it in Javascript and compile it into the Mozilla engine. – Raks Jan 04 '12 at 14:50
  • Take a look at [getting started with XULRunner](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Getting_started_with_XULRunner). These may also help: [creating XULRunner apps](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Creating_XULRunner_Apps_with_the_Mozilla_Build_System) and [the joy of XUL](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/The_Joy_of_XUL). – mwk Jan 04 '12 at 15:00