Ask HN: Pros and Cons of Developing a Desktop vs. a Web App? - raizinho
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alexis2b
Desktop: pros -> more productive, simpler, stabler APIs and frameworks, easier
for « backend devs », more information density, better screen management
(multi windows), more access to native devices and features, ... cons ->
deployment / upgrade workflows, dependant on client configuration, usually
less portable, easy to leak domain logic in frontend, harder to scale, ...

Web: pros -> portable, “lightweight” client dependencies (browser), mobile /
tablets, good separation of backend and front-end logic, ... cons -> less
productive (generally), require more infrastructure and Ops, harder to fit
LOB-apps workflows and information density requirements, many choices to
choose from, fast changing, ...

But this is becoming a relatively false dichotomie with web-based desktop apps
(electron based or specialized like OpenFin in the banking world).

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raizinho
Would you recommend just building web-based desktop apps?

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pragmaticlurker
Check here why [https://blog.sentry.io/2019/06/13/building-a-sentry-
symbolic...](https://blog.sentry.io/2019/06/13/building-a-sentry-symbolicator)

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tomglynch
Depends entirely on the usecase. I'll say one thing though, users are much
more likely to visit a website than download and install a desktop
application.

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jetti
"I'll say one thing though, users are much more likely to visit a website than
download and install a desktop application."

Again, that depends on the use case. I am in health care and because of HIPAA
regulations I would be much more inclined to download a desktop application
than a web application.

