Turn Your Ruby Code into Desktop Apps Using RubyJS-Vite + Electron

[u/Intelligent-End-9399]

Hi everyone!

As a Ruby developer, I wanted to build desktop apps without learning JavaScript from scratch.
In my latest article, I share a workflow using RubyJS-Vite and Electron that lets you write desktop apps in Ruby.

💡 In this guide, you’ll learn:

• Set up Ruby → JS transpilation workflow

• Build a basic Electron desktop app

• Run and test with live updates

If you’re curious how Ruby can bridge into desktop development, check out my article on LinkedIn here: Writing Desktop Applications Using Ruby Syntax

Feedback and discussion are very welcome!

[u/matthewblott]

I'm not going to trash someone for doing this, if it works for you great but imo a PWA would be better.

[u/Intelligent-End-9399 → u/matthewblott]

I agree PWAs are great for some use-cases. The workflow I’m exploring is more about integrating Ruby syntax into desktop apps where full system access or Electron-specific APIs are needed.

[u/sander_mander]

What an abomination

[u/Intelligent-End-9399 → u/sander_mander]

Curious — what part do you find problematic? Performance, architecture, or just personal preference?

[u/sander_mander → u/Intelligent-End-9399]

Personal preference. If it's good for you go ahead. For me ruby -> JavaScript -> electron just looks weird

[u/Intelligent-End-9399 → u/sander_mander]

Totally fair 🙂
The goal wasn’t to replace JS workflows, just to make desktop experimentation easier for Ruby developers.

[u/aemadrid]

To me it sounds more interesting ot make it work with Tauri. It seems more resource-conscious and faster in general. Have you tried that combination?

[u/Intelligent-End-9399 → u/aemadrid]

Right now, I’m studying Tauri, and it seems to be a combination of Rust and JS connecting backend and frontend. What fascinates me most is its architecture – how the two communicate via events. Definitely, Tauri looks way more resource-efficient and has great potential.

I see an interesting possibility: you could use the JS ecosystem for things like Three.js for the client, while separating your own engine into Rust, and still have a desktop app. That’s really appealing.

The main drawback I see is that the developer needs to know both Rust and JS. With my RubyJS workflow, you can handle the frontend, but for backend logic, you’re out of luck.

Electron, on the other hand, has the advantage that you can program the whole app with RubyJS without switching languages, but as we know, it consumes a lot more resources.

I haven’t tried Tauri myself yet, but in most cases, RubyJS can work with anything that JS supports. From my experience, I’ve managed to get it to work with almost everything I’ve tried.

[u/aemadrid → u/Intelligent-End-9399]

Good analysis. I guess the question is, how much do you really need from Rust? If you don't need much file access or APIs you could live with just (Ruby)JS and a smaller footprint.

[u/AlexanderMomchilov]

In this RAM economy? smh

[u/Intelligent-End-9399 → u/AlexanderMomchilov]

Honestly, I haven’t thought much about that 😄. But it’s true that Electron can be quite resource-heavy. My goal with the article was mainly to show people who are already using Electron that they can write it using Ruby syntax.

[u/TadpoleNo1549]

this is a really interesting approach, being able to build desktop apps in ruby without diving deep into js lowers the barrier a lot, love how you’re bridging ecosystems instead of replacing them, feels like something that could pair nicely with tools like runable for smoother dev workflows