👀 Extension Architecture / API about codeedit HOT 7 OPEN

If extensions have a JS API, it would be great if they can be standard ESM instead of CJS like Nova requires for its extensions:

https://docs.nova.app/extensions/#javascript-modules

CJS makes it tricky (but not impossible) to author extensions using Deno or other standards-aligned tooling without introducing a build step.

from codeedit.

Hi @jaydenseric.

Thanks for joining the discussion. @austincondiff and I talked about this and it has been brought up in our Discord too.

Since it is early in the development, no decisions have been made in relation to the extension architecture. JavaScript Core (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/javascriptcore) has been mentioned as a possible option for implementing extensions. Unfortunately, as far as I am aware, it does not support ESM.

Having developed some extensions for Nova, I know this has been a frustration shared by other devs too. And, hopefully we can find a final solution that supports ESM. We also have an extensions channel in our Discord if you would like to get involved in the conversation.

from codeedit.

Related: https://github.com/CodeEditApp/CodeEditTextView/issues/40 .

from codeedit.

Whether or not the host environment supports ESM, it should be straightforward to provide a standard bit of boilerplate to make bundling it into a version which handles module scopes etc. easy for end user developers. (I'm happy to provide some input that way if/as you get there; just ping me about it!) Related: please do what Nova has not yet done and build your JS API in TypeScript and shipping types natively. (I'm also happy to advise on that!)

from codeedit.

@chriskrycho That would definitely be ideal for a JS/TS API. We'd love to hear what you had in mind!

from codeedit.

What about an extension system via WebAssembly? You could use WasmKit.

from codeedit.

If extensions have a JS API, it would be great if they can be standard ESM instead of CJS like Nova requires for its extensions:

https://docs.nova.app/extensions/#javascript-modules

CJS makes it tricky (but not impossible) to author extensions using Deno or other standards-aligned tooling without introducing a build step.

How do you plan to run the JS? Cuz if you were using Bun, the whole CJS/ESM thing wouldn’t be such a problem, since Bun supports both, even in the same file.

from codeedit.