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

[Dave Neary <dneary@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Brad,

After clarifying this somewhat, here's what I have been able to gather:

* There is essentially no distinction between "Theia APIs" and "VS Code
APIs" - when we have been implementing APIs for Theia, we have used the
VS Code APIs. Therefore, you can't really go wrong if you are targeting
the APIs linked to from this page:
https://www.theia-ide.org/doc/authoring_plugins

* As Brad said, we do have some additional APIs that have been
implemented for the version of Theia we ship with Che, which enable
interaction with the workspace server (for configuration, workspaces,
factories, and tasks). Stevan has been working on a description of these
API extensions, and we should have a doc available very soon that
describes them.

The current Che API extensions are in this file:
https://github.com/eclipse/che-theia/blob/master/extensions/eclipse-che-theia-plugin/src/che-proposed.d.ts

And the header reads "This is the place for API experiments and
proposals. These API are NOT stable and subject to change. Use it on own
risk."

I hope this clears things up definitively.

Thanks, Dave.


On 05/04/2019 09:38, Brad Micklea wrote:
> I thought there were subtle differences though between Theia and
> Che-Theia that could affect plugins. @Stevan LeMeur
> <mailto:slemeur@xxxxxxxxxx> can you clarify?
> 
> On Fri, Apr 5, 2019 at 9:21 AM Dave Neary <dneary@xxxxxxxxxx
> <mailto:dneary@xxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
> 
>     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 <mailto:dneary@xxxxxxxxxx> / T: @nearyd / Ph:
>     +1-978-799-3338
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> 
> -- 
> Brad Micklea // Group Lead, Developer Tools & Program //416.707.0792 
> 
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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