I've been collecting a ton of books, academic articles, and essays over the years, and now some friends want access to them too. I want to make a simple application that allows them to easily navigate through these files without needing to read lengthy instructions or sift through folders. Ideally, it would work like a basic terminal where they can type the name of a folder to see its contents. They should be able to dig deeper into subfolders and eventually see a list of files, which they can open with whatever default application they have on their computer. I have experience with HTML, but I want this app to be standalone and work offline, preferably on Windows. I'm not super experienced with coding, so I'd love to know what language I should focus on and where to start. Is this even feasible?
2 Answers
It sounds like you want a basic file navigator that's user-friendly. A shell script might be too complicated for your friends, so I wouldn't go that route. Have you considered using a framework like Tauri? It allows you to create desktop applications using web technologies, which would let you build a nice interface without relying on a browser for file types.
If you're already comfortable with HTML, you can use it to create a file listing page. For your need to avoid browsers, I suggest looking into Python. You can create a simple GUI application with libraries like Tkinter, which would allow your friends to navigate files without much hassle. Plus, Python is beginner-friendly, so it might be a good fit for you.
Python with Tkinter sounds like a good path! Is there a lot of support for learning how to use those libraries?
Tauri sounds interesting! Could you elaborate on how it handles file types without needing a browser?