Pocket Server

Web development can be quite challenging even without considering aspects such as user interface, user experience, scalability, performance, general knowledge of platforms and frameworks, and security, especially for a beginner.

It's often said that the first step is always the hardest, and web development is definitely not an exception. Thankfully, there are various solutions for simplifying the said process.

One such solution is Pocket Server, a collection of open-source software, libraries, and frameworks wrapped around a very functional GUI. In short, Pocket Server is part web server, part web app builder.

The whole package is built using Electron and Electron React Boilerplate and its purpose is to provide you with pretty much everything you need to fire up your first web apps and have them ready for development.

This begs the question, what can Pocket Server actually do for you? Well, if used right, it can help you boost your workflow by allowing you to create apps, develop them, test, fine-tune, and deploy them right on your local machine.

Besides the nice and modern GUI, Pocket Server bundles a series of time-tested open-source software which most web developers are familiar with such as WordPress, MySQL, PHP, MariaDB, and NGINX. In short, the perfect solution if you don't have a virtualization solution (Docker, for example).

After you download the archive and run the app for the first time (running the app with administrator rights is recommended), you'll first need to install all the required modules, services, and dependencies (including the web server and database).

Don't worry about all the facts, since all of the above can be installed with a simple mouse click. Once the modules are installed, you can proceed to fire up your first app. You will be automatically redirected to the dashboard, click on the "Build Application" button, and select the app or boilerplate you want to create in the Builder section of the app.

You will be prompted by a modal window that contains a short description of the app and a list of dependencies. If you are happy with all of them, click the "Build Application" button once more.

Since WordPress CMS is the only module of this type supported (for now at least), input the preferred name, pick a database, a web server, and a PHP version. Click "Continue," and select the WordPress version, input the username, password, and email, then click the "Boil Application" button. That's pretty much the gist of it.

It might seem a bit non-interactive or rigid at first, but Pocket Server is without a doubt a very interesting web development tool. It makes the whole process of building, running, developing, testing, and deploying a web app for the first time a lot more accessible and non-intimidating for beginners.

Put that alongside the fact that the app has a very novice-accessible and modern-looking GUI (Dark mode included), and you got yourself a very optimal solution that can help you get started with all the "shenanigans" of basic web development.

The only drawback is the limited number of CMSs, but considering the fact that this is a very new product (still in Beta), we expect it to get even better with time.