[Glass] Recommended IDE / extent if I start a new project today

Tue Sep 1 23:32:32 PDT 2026

Hi,

regarding VS Code - I took a look at that tool and I am more than unsure 
about the way it goes. It should concentrate on the programming side - 
and not how to manage the Gemstone infrastructure.

I used GsDevkit_stones on my development system and on my deployment 
systems - and it manages the Gemstone infrastructure - different 
versions, different licenses, installation, backups, restore - all with 
relative simple shell scripts. So, we have a framework already managing 
the infrastructure. Now with VSCode we have an additional infrastructure 
management subsystem.

I would like to see VSCode Extension to connect to a database of a 
specific version, where a LDI port is listening - nothing more and then 
a Browser style UI should be opened - concentration on the programmers 
ui - allowing debugging.

Over the past we have seen so many projects from Gemstone in this area - 
and some of them wanted simply too much (e.g. GsDevkit_home) . Less is 
more (like GsDevkit_stones).

I face the same problem as Ralph mentioned below - but I decided to 
reduce the usage of external Pharo libraries as much as I can in new 
projects, putting more and more computing work in external applications. 
So, my new development images are just Seaside images (Monticello) 
delivered by GemtalkSystems and extended with PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ and 
HTTP-server stuff - bindings to external services are done mostly in 
C#/.NetCore apps, controlled by Gemstone/S and RabbitMQ.

@James: I would like to be able to rebuild Jade from Github, but 
building the Dolphin stuff seems not to work any more ...

Marten

Am 01.09.26 um 22:19 schrieb James Foster via Glass:
> Hi Ralph,
>
> You are right that the IDE story is a bit opaque. First, while Jade 
> doesn’t have libraries for 3.7.6 (the latest GemStone version), if you 
> select 3.7.4.3 from the drop-down list it should work with a 3.7.6 
> server (adding new libraries is on my to-do list). So you can continue 
> to use Jade right now.
>
> Going forward, GemTalk’s official IDE will be a VS Code extension (see 
> https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GemTalkSystems.gemstone-ide). 
> I’ve sent you an invitation to join our Slack channel devoted to 
> discussions about the tooling ecosystem. (Anyone else is welcome to be 
> part of this as well. Please send me your email and I will send you an 
> invite.) We expect to have documentation, tutorials, videos, etc., but 
> this all takes time and for now the best place to get help is in Slack.
>
> Steven Baker is spearheading the source code management work (Rowan, 
> etc.) and may be able to share some insights either in a reply here on 
> the GLASS mailing list or in Slack.
>
> James
>
>
>> On Sep 1, 2026, at 12:46 PM, Ralph Mauersberger via Glass 
>> <glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I have a question about the Community Edition and the recommended way 
>> to develop for it from today's perspective. I've lost track of which 
>> development environments are available and currently useful.
>>
>> Many years ago, I used the Pharo-based GemTools. These have long been 
>> deprecated. The Tode Project has also disappeared. For the past few 
>> years, I've been using Jade and have been happy with it. Based on the 
>> seaside-extent, I was able to develop my projects and use various 
>> repositories from the GsDevKit ecosystem, such as Zinc, and store my 
>> own source code in Filetree repositories.
>>
>> Jade no longer supports the latest product versions. Or is there an 
>> easy way for everyone to make Jade compatible with the latest versions?
>>
>> My question is: If I want to start a new Gemstone project today, what 
>> is the recommended approach? Is the Rowan-extent "ready for prime 
>> time"? Which UI should I use? Jadeite? Jadeite for Pharo? Jasper? Are 
>> these projects at a usable stage of maturity, or were there any dead 
>> ends or abandoned approaches? Anything else? How do I load existing 
>> Metacello/Monticello-based projects?
>>
>> I would appreciate it if you could provide the community with an 
>> updated recommendation and an outlook on the IDE-strategy. Perhaps a 
>> blog post, documentation, or a YouTube tutorial on "Getting started 
>> today" would also be great.
>>
>> If I were to start a new project today, I would use Jade, GemStone 
>> 3.7.4.3 (currently latest supported version), and the seaside-extent. 
>> But would that be sensible?
>>
>> By the way, I work on Windows and Linux/WSL and am a Gemstone-only 
>> smalltalker, so I don't follow the "develop in Pharo, deploy in 
>> Gemstone" approach.
>>
>> Thanks in advance and best regards,
>>
>> Ralph
>>
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>
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