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

[James Foster]

Hi Marten,

A new version of Jade is available with both 3.7.5 and 3.7.6 libraries. I’ve also updated the README.md with instructions for rebuilding Jade from Dolphin. I’ve tried it on a new Windows 11 machine; please let me know if you are able to build Jade now.

James

> On Sep 2, 2026, at 6:43 AM, James Foster via Glass <glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Marten,
> 
> I’m working on rebuilding Jade (adding later libraries, including 3.7.6) and will let you know when that is done and how it goes.
> 
> Jasper is a work-in-progress and we welcome feedback. I’ve sent an invite to you to join the Slack channel where we are discussing the development (and I’m happy to add others, just express interest!). Jasper should be able to connect to a database of a specific version and allow you to edit code. We are having an ongoing discussion about how to present the code browser. There is support for inspectors and debugging, but it would be helpful to have feedback from users like you.
> 
> James
> 
>> On Sep 1, 2026, at 11:32 PM, Marten Feldtmann <m at feldtmann.online> wrote:
>> 
>> 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> <mailto: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
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Glass mailing list
>>>> Glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com <mailto:Glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com>
>>>> https://lists.gemtalksystems.com/mailman/listinfo/glass
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Glass mailing list
>>> Glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com <mailto:Glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com>
>>> https://lists.gemtalksystems.com/mailman/listinfo/glass
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Glass mailing list
> Glass at lists.gemtalksystems.com
> https://lists.gemtalksystems.com/mailman/listinfo/glass

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.gemtalksystems.com/mailman/archives/glass/attachments/20260906/a811bc46/attachment.htm>