eel - fish or serpent?

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In the vast realm of Python libraries, calling out developers with its simplistic charm. Its name is Eel. Like a chameleon, it adapts to its surroundings, blending seamlessly with the Python ecosystem. It is a bridge between Python and web technologies.

Alright that's enough of the dramatics. Let's get to the point. Eel is a little Python library for making simple Electron-like offline HTML/JS GUI apps, with full access to Python capabilities and libraries.

It hosts a local webserver, then lets you annotate functions in Python so that they can be called from JavaScript, and vice versa. Eel is designed to take the hassle out of writing short and simple GUI applications.

Before I show you how it works, don't forget it to pip install it first:

pip install eel

Once Eel is installed, you can create a new Python file and start annotating your functions:

import eel

@eel.expose
def hello_world():
  return "Hello, world!"

@eel.expose
def add_numbers(a, b):
  return a + b

@eel.expose
def get_file_contents(filename):
  with open(filename, "r") as f:
    return f.read()

eel.start("index.html", debug=True)

The @eel.expose decorator tells Eel that the function can be called from JavaScript. The index.html file is the main HTML file for your application. It will be served by the local webserver and can contain any HTML, JavaScript, or CSS code.

To run your application, simply run the following command from the directory where your Python file is located:

python -m eel index.html

Your application will be opened in a web browser. You can then interact with it using JavaScript.

Here are some of the pros and cons of Eel:

Pros:

Cons:

Overall, Eel is a good choice for creating simple, offline HTML/JS GUI applications in Python. It is easy to use and has full access to Python capabilities and libraries. However, it is not as feature-rich as other desktop GUI frameworks and can be slow for large applications.

In conclusion, Eel may not be the serpent you were looking for to fill up your 'full-stack portfolio project', but it is definitely a fish you should consider. As an Electron user once said, "There are more fish in the sea, and I need to dip my toes in the water (my laptop too, Electron set it on fire)."

Thank you for reading. Until next time!

qubist.

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