In an ecosystem undergoing constant flux, what does it mean for an API to be modern? In this talk, I'll discuss the work that's taken place over the last year to deliver modern JavaScript APIs to developers in the Electron project, and the obstacles we encountered along the way.

We'll discuss updates ranging from asynchronous JS to idiomatic getters and setters, as well as allowing developers to access new platform-dependent functionalities. Our APIs can and often are implemented across two or more languages on their way to the end user, and so we'll walk through some examples of how to effectively gather context and write reusable code to make updating simpler.

You'll come away with a deeper understanding of how open source projects can more effectively balance innovation with maintenance, as well as perspectives on how to appropriately consider end-users and their needs when modernization affects the code they use.

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Shelley is a software engineer on the Electron team at GitHub who loves figuring out how to make things work. She's passionate about clean code & diving deep into tricky problems. She's also a runner, explorer, and crossword puzzle fan powered by more coffee than a human should probably drink.