I decided to play around with node.js, specifically with node-webkit.

Node-webkit allows programmers to write desktop-apps with Javascript, and even package them for distribution, for example via the Mac App Store. (Check out this list of apps written with it.)

To play with it, I’ve decided to write a tiny thesaurus-app.

• It should lookup and display synonyms and related words using a (German) thesaurus via the JSON-API at openthesaurus.de.
• To be really useful, it should be possible to bring the app to the foreground using a keyboard shortcut. In my case it’s Shift+Alt+T.
• It should be possible to dismiss the app by tapping ESC

It worked quite nicely. The app doesn’t really feel like a web-app, even though it utilizes web-app technologies. And I could even create a binary for the App Store.

Here’s a short video of the app in action:

And here’s the source on Github.