Re: [che-dev] Theia vs. VS Code

[Dave Neary <dneary@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Barry,

If your goal is to ensure that your plug-ins are integrated into Che,
then I think it does not make a huge difference.

The VS Code API compatibility in Theia was intended to make it as easy
as possible for people to take existing VS Code plug-ins and get them
working as Che plug-ins with the Theia IDE. We do not have 100% API
coverage at this point.

If you are taking Che 6 plug-ins and targeting Che 7, there is
(unfortunately) no easy migration path or shim layer at this time.

Given all of this, here is generalized advice in the form of a decision
tree:

* If you have an existing VS Code plug-in:
  - Check whether we have complete coverage of the plug-in APIs and
commands you use: https://github.com/theia-ide/theia-vscodecov
  - "Port" your plug-in to Theia by either implementing the missing APIs
for Theia, or working around using those API calls in your plug-in

* If you plan to target VS Code and Che with your plug-in:
  - Check the overall API coverage for Theia here:
https://che-incubator.github.io/vscode-theia-comparator/status.html
  - Develop your plug-in using VS Code APIs, restricting usage to API
calls implemented both in Theia and in VS Code

* If your primary target platform is Eclipse Che:
  - I would target Theia APIs - they are documented, and work now:
https://www.theia-ide.org/doc/authoring_plugins


It's entirely possible that other people would disagree with me on this
last point.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,
Dave.

On 05/04/2019 08:58, Dresdner, Barry wrote:
>  
> 
> Hi,
> 
>  
> 
> A few weeks back, in a Che Dev meeting, it was mentioned that extensions
> should be written in VS Code rather than Theia.  We just want to make
> sure we understand this correctly.  Is this actually the case, or should
> we be writing our extensions in Theia?
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you,
> 
>  
> 
> Barry Dresdner
> 
> 
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-- 
Dave Neary - Eclipse Che Ecosystem & Community Manager
Open Source and Standards - Red Hat
E: dneary@xxxxxxxxxx / T: @nearyd / Ph: +1-978-799-3338