What is the Inter-Process Communication Module in Electron?

In Electron, Inter-Process Communication (IPC) is primarily implemented by the ipcMain and ipcRenderer modules. They enable communication between the main process (which typically runs in the background and manages the application's lifecycle) and the renderer processes (each corresponding to an application window).

ipcMain

The ipcMain module is used to receive messages from the renderer processes in the main process. You can listen for specific events in the main process and respond to them. For example, if your application has a settings window where the user changes settings, the renderer process can send a message to the main process to notify it to save these settings.

Example Code:

javascript
const { ipcMain } = require('electron');

ipcMain.on('save-settings', (event, settings) => {
  console.log('Saving settings:', settings);
  // Add code here to handle the settings saving logic
});

ipcRenderer

The ipcRenderer module is used to send messages to the main process from the renderer process. In this way, the renderer process can request the main process to perform operations that cannot be directly executed in the renderer process, such as accessing the file system or manipulating windows.

Example Code:

javascript
const { ipcRenderer } = require('electron');

// Send settings from the renderer process to the main process for saving
ipcRenderer.send('save-settings', { theme: 'dark', notifications: true });

// Receive response from the main process
ipcRenderer.on('settings-saved', () => {
  console.log('Settings have been saved successfully!');
});

Through this modular approach, Electron establishes an effective communication mechanism between the main process and multiple renderer processes, ensuring both the functionality and security of the application.