The Eclipse Cloud Developer Tools contributor award for June goes to Red Hat for initially contributing the VS Code Extension API to Theia. This allows regular VS Code extensions to run directly in Theia and any Theia-based product.
As you might know, you can use VS Code extensions in Eclipse Theia applications. This enables you to enhance your Theia-based application with a rich palette of features from a large, robust ecosystem of extensions available for VS Code, e.g. via the Open VSX Registry. Running a VS Code extension in Theia is possible because Theia provides the VS Code extension API. This API was initially contributed by Red Hat.
It is worth noting that the VS Code extension API has of course been extended a lot since then, with the original work evolving over the years. The recent Theia release 1.38 raises the compatibility level to VS Code 1.77, which is just one month behind VS Code and allows the vast majority of extensions to be installed in their latest versions.
Over the years, in addition to Red Hat, many others have contributed to this work including STMicroelectronics, Ericsson, TypeFox, Arm, EclipseSource, and Gitpod. The VS Code Extension API is a great example of how open source collaboration works well; one stakeholder kicks off an effort and others join the initiative over time.
Congratulations and well done Read Hat!
The Cloud DevTools Working Group provides a vendor-neutral ecosystem of open-source projects focused on defining, implementing and promoting best-in-class web and cloud-based development tools. It is hosted at the Eclipse Foundation, current members of the group include AMD, Arm, EclipseSource, Ericsson, Obeo, RedHat, Renesas, STMicroelectronics and TypeFox.
This Eclipse Cloud DevTools contributor award is sponsored by EclipseSource, providing consulting and implementation services for web-based tools, Eclipse GLSP, Eclipse Theia, and VS Code.
