user: How to create a new Electron application?

assistant: Electron (formerly known as Atom Shell) is a free and open-source software framework developed and maintained by OpenJS Foundation. The framework is designed to create desktop applications using web technologies that are rendered using a version of the Chromium browser engine and a back end using the Node.js runtime environment.

To create an Electron application, you would first begin by determining what type of Electron application you want to create. Once you determine what you want to create, you should review the Electron Quick Start Guide at https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/quick-start for detailed step-by-step instructions.

user: I don't want to read the tutorial, that's why I'm asking you instead.

assistant: To create a new Electron application, you can follow these general steps:

1. Install Node.js: Before you start, make sure you have Node.js installed on your computer. You can download and install Node.js from the official Node.js website. Please install Node.js using pre-built installers for your platform. You may encounter incompatibility issues with different development tools otherwise. To check that Node.js was installed correctly, type the following commands in your terminal client:
```shell
node -v
npm -v
```

2. Create a new project directory: Create a new directory for your Electron application. Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to the directory.

3. Initialize npm: In the terminal or command prompt, run the command `npm init` to initialize the project and create a `package.json` file.

4. Install Electron: Run the command `npm install electron --save-dev` to install the Electron framework in your project. This will install Electron as a development dependency and add it to your `package.json` file.

5. Create a `main` file: Create a new JavaScript file in your project directory that will serve as the entry point for your Electron application. You can name it `main.js` or any other name you prefer.

6. Write code in main file: In the `main.js` file, you can write the code to create a new Electron window and handle various events. You can use the Electron API to interact with the operating system, create menus and dialogs, and more. This is a example for your `main.js` file.
```javascript
const { app, BrowserWindow } = require('electron')

const createWindow = () => {
  const win = new BrowserWindow({
    width: 800,
    height: 600
  })

  win.loadFile('index.html')
}

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  createWindow()
})
```

7. Add a script in `package.json`: In your package.json file, add a script to start the Electron application. The script should run the electron command and specify the path to your `main.js` file. Your `package.json` should look like this.
```json
{
  "name": "my-electron-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Hello World!",
  "main": "main.js",
  "author": "Jane Doe",
  "license": "MIT"
}
```

8. Create a `index.html` for your project, this will be the content presented in your Electron window. This is a possible version of your `index.html`
```html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <!-- https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP -->
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'">
    <title>Hello World!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
    We are using Node.js <span id="node-version"></span>,
    Chromium <span id="chrome-version"></span>,
    and Electron <span id="electron-version"></span>.
  </body>
</html>
```

9. Now you can start your Electron application, use `npx electron .` or `electron .` to start your app. At this point your Electron application should successfully open a window that displays your web page!

I hope this works! Let me know if you need further help!