I'm a Windows developer and as such I'm biased, but I think Windows apps are dramatically easier to write than web apps. I still use WinForms professionally to this day. Productivity is absurdly high. The number of concerns to worry about is low. The framework has been stable for 20 years and I know all of its quirks, which never change. Fads are ignored. We can zip around with amazing speed.
On the other hand, our apps are:
- Ugly looking
- Dated looking (this is different than ugly, but our apps are both)
- Full of UI jank (too many WinForms controls take their sweet time painting on the UI thread)
- Non-server-based
- Non-cross-platform
- Non-sandboxed
- Installed from downloaded file that gives scary warnings in your browser when you try to open it
These downsides hint at some of the reasons why I think web-based development is necessarily more involved than for Windows apps.
On the other hand, our apps are:
- Ugly looking
- Dated looking (this is different than ugly, but our apps are both)
- Full of UI jank (too many WinForms controls take their sweet time painting on the UI thread)
- Non-server-based
- Non-cross-platform
- Non-sandboxed
- Installed from downloaded file that gives scary warnings in your browser when you try to open it
These downsides hint at some of the reasons why I think web-based development is necessarily more involved than for Windows apps.