GoCalc - Electrical Load Calculator and Material Cost Estimator

About

Why JavaScript and Svelte?

JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages for creating interactive web interfaces. Svelte is a modern, reactive JavaScript framework that compiles your code into highly efficient, minimal runtime JavaScript. It allows you to build powerful and fast web applications with less overhead compared to other frameworks.

Why Go?

Go (Golang) is a performant, statically typed language designed for simplicity and efficiency, ideal for backend development. It was created by Google in 2006 with modern computing in mind, including multicore processors, cloud-based infrastructure, and networked systems. Go’s concurrency model (goroutines and channels) and its straightforward syntax make it an excellent choice for building scalable, high-performance software.

Why Wails?

Wails allows you to build desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux using Go for the backend logic and modern web technologies (like Svelte, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript/HTML/CSS) for the frontend. It essentially bridges Go to the frontend, so your Go code can directly interact with your web UI. This makes Wails ideal for developers who prefer Go for server-side or business logic, but want the convenience and flexibility of a JavaScript-based frontend.

---

Installation Instructions

Below are instructions for installing from scratch on Windows and macOS, ensuring you have all prerequisites to work with Wails 2.10.

Prerequisites

You will need the following:

1. Git

   • Windows: Download Git for Windows and run the installer.
   • macOS: Git is typically installed by default on macOS. If not, install Xcode Command Line Tools or use Homebrew (brew install git).

2. Go (1.18 or newer recommended)

   • Windows: Download Go for Windows and run the installer. Follow the prompts.
   • macOS: Download Go for macOS and run the installer, or use Homebrew (brew install go).

3. Node.js (LTS version recommended) & npm

   • Windows: Download Node.js for Windows and run the installer.
   • macOS: Download Node.js for macOS and run the installer, or use Homebrew (brew install node).

4. Wails CLI (2.10 or newer)
   You can install Wails via:

   go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest

   Make sure your GOPATH/bin (or the equivalent Go bin directory) is in your PATH.

Verifying your installations

• Git: git --version
• Go: go version
• Node: node -v
• npm: npm -v
• Wails: wails version

---

Step-by-Step Installation

1. Clone the Project

   git clone https://github.com/jorgec/GoCalc

   Then navigate into the project directory:

   cd GoCalc

2. Install Go Dependencies

   In the GoCalc folder (the root of the project), run:

   go mod tidy

3. Install Wails CLI

   Ensure you have Wails (2.10 or newer) installed:

   go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest

4. Install Frontend Dependencies

   Navigate to the frontend folder:

   cd frontend
   npm install

5. (Optional) Return to Project Root

   cd ..

Notes for Windows Users

• Make sure the folder where Go installs executables (usually %USERPROFILE%\go\bin) is in your PATH.
• If wails is not recognized as a command, open a new terminal or command prompt after adjusting your system PATH.

Notes for macOS Users

• Ensure you have a recent Go version installed (1.18 or above).
• If wails is not recognized, ensure $(go env GOPATH)/bin is in your PATH.
• You can manage installations easily using Homebrew.

Notes for Linux Users

• I'm assuming that if you're on Linux, it would be pretty condescending for me to give you any instructions :)

---

Live Development

From the project root directory (where your main.go and go.mod reside), run:

wails dev

This does two things:

1. Spins up a Vite development server that automatically hot-reloads frontend changes.
2. Provides a dev server on http://localhost:34115, where you can open your browser and access Go methods from devtools if desired.

---

Password

You can generate a password file using the bundled bash script:

 ./passgen.sh 'password'

Note that the password parameter should be enclosed by single quotes.

For Windows, you can use the PowerShell script passgen.ps1 or the batch file passgen.bat

Building for Production

To build a redistributable, production-mode package, run:

wails build

After the build completes, you will have a cross-platform desktop application in the build/bin folder (depending on your configuration and OS). Distribute it to users just like any other native application.

For MacOS, copy the generated password file to the App package, for example:

cp password "build/bin/GoCalc.app/Contents/MacOS/"

For Windows, just make sure the password file is in the same location as the executable

---