Is it worth building desktop applications with all these web frameworks?

[Rolphy Reyes 0]

I'm thinking about starting a new project.

 

I've always liked developing desktop applications because I feel in control of the application and what it does.

 

At the company where I work, we use Intraweb. We've been developing with the tool for about 11 years, and even with all that time, I still don't like web or intraweb development per se. Perhaps it's because you need to use additional languages to be able to do practically the same things you do in a desktop application.

 

That said, the question is: Is it worth developing ERP-type desktop applications at this time? I know there are several web frameworks, such as Intraweb (I use it daily at work), TMS Web Core, and Unigui. If you use any of the frameworks mentioned above, please share your experiences with me.

 

Thank you for your time!

[Patrick PREMARTIN 114]

For me, the generic answer would be "no", but you have to look at the use, the need and adapt. A lot of software goes online for reasons of maintenance and “simplified” access everywhere. If your software needs to be used from smartphones and desktops, the simplest solution will always be the website (even if it's sometimes complicated to do, even with tools available for Delphi developers).

[Rollo62 563]

10 hours ago, Rolphy Reyes said:

... Is it worth developing ERP-type desktop applications at this time?

If you start by 0, I would also say no, this should not be underestimated,

 

If your question goes in the direction of an existing ERP bringing to web technology, I would say yes.
Otherwise C#, PHP/Laravel or even Python will close that gap nowadays.
Even large ERP systems were developed with web-technologies much faster and much more capable than desktop, before we even can start an *.EXE file

This is just my opinion, perhaps there were different opinions or experiences too.

 

[Darian Miller 381]

I believe many people prefer native desktop applications to the typical bloat of a web application.  There are some exceptions, and I am an older guy with heavy bias, but I would pay double for a native desktop application over a browser based application for just about anything.

If I wanted to use it on my phone, I'd take a scaled down version, targeted with features needed to be available on-the-go.

 

[Lars Fosdal 1835]

 

On 3/27/2025 at 1:08 AM, Rolphy Reyes said:

Is it worth developing ERP-type desktop applications at this time?

Considering every major ERP vendor is moving to cloud, I would say that the trend is "no". However, these are typically enterprise sized ERP systems.

There may be a niche for small shop owner ERPs - but there are already tons of these out there, and even some of those are cloud based.

As soon as you exceed a single user, you are in database territory, and when you talk mobile apps, you definitively are in web service country.

 

I would suggest that you really research your intended target audience to see if there is a gap where a desktop app could fill a need. 

I would also suggest that you narrow down and "modularize" your functionality, because the concepts of ERP systems and their near relatives are REALLY far reaching.

You may suddenly find yourself in Tax, CRM, HR & Salary, document management, EDI and WMS territory.

 

[Hans♫ 79]

It also depends on your need to access the hardware on the computer. If you need to access microphone, camera, harddrive, audio, USB devices, etc. you have much better control with an installed app. It is the case with both desktop and mobile devices. That's the reason we release our app on Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS.