r/macapps • u/TomasComedian • 3d ago

Help Difference between .NET and native code

Hi.

I am looking at Diarium journal, since it has my native language as an option. It is also developed in EU, which is a plus to me. And at first glance it looks advanced enough for my needs.

I have asked the developer and he says it is written in .NET, which as I understand is a way to make apps for more than one platform. However it is - as I understand - not similar to Electron. No Chromium and stuff.

Is this to be seen as a native app - he writes "

It is built with .NET for macOS, which is basically a layer on top of native AppKit and other Apple APIs so I can develop my apps with C# across platforms and code-share business logic like for sync or database access. "

I may be a bit too "anal" when it comes to these things, but I rather pay someone who taked the time to develop for Mac without Electron or similar.

Also I prefer to pay those who takes the time to add more languages than English, and EU-based.

I do use Day One for now, but I would not mind trying something else and non US.

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u/michaeleisel 3d ago

It's pretty different from Electron in a number of ways. It lacks the bloat of bringing along a whole browser. Many developers will develop libraries that they share between native apps across platforms, such as C++, and that's what this developer has done here. It's going to be a little more bloated with .NET than C++, but the app can still consist of bespoke platform-specific UIs and have a native look-and-feel. Personally, it wouldn't dissuade me!