Re: Official devcontainer config

On Fri, Aug 2, 2024 at 5:38 AM Andrew Dunstan <andrew(at)dunslane(dot)net> wrote:
>
>
> On 2024-08-01 Th 10:56 AM, Junwang Zhao wrote:
> > Stack Overflow 2024 developer survey[1] said VSCode
> > is the most used development environment.
> >
> > In a PostgreSQL Hacker Mentoring discussion, we talked
> > about how to use vscode to debug and running postgres,
> > Andrey(ccd) has tons of tips for new developers, and
> > I post my daily used devcontainer config[2] , Jelte(ccd)
> > suggested that it might be a good idea we integrate the
> > config into postgres repo so that the barrier to entry for
> > new developers will be much lower.
> >
> > **Note**
> >
> > This is not intended to change the workflow of experienced
> > hackers, it is just hoping to make the life easier for
> > beginner developers.
> >
> > **How to use**
> >
> > Open VSCode Command Palette(cmd/ctrl + shift + p),
> > search devcontainer, then choose something like
> > `Dev containers: Rebuild and Reopen in Container`, you are
> > good to go.
> >
> > **About the patch**
> >
> > devcontainer.json:
> >
> > The .devcontainer/devcontainer.json is the entry point for
> > VSCode to *open folder to develop in a container*, it will build
> > the docker image for the first time you open in container,
> > this will take some time.
> >
> > There are some parameters(runArgs) for running the container,
> > we need some settings and privileges to run perf or generate
> > core dumps.
> >
> > It has a mount point mapping the hosts $HOME/freedom
> > to container's /opt/freedom, I chose the name *freedom*
> > because the container is kind of a jail.
> >
> > It also installed some vscode extensions and did some
> > customizations.
> >
> > After diving into the container, the postCreateCommand.sh
> > will be automatically called, it will do some configurations
> > like git, perf, .vscode, core_pattern, etc. It also downloads
> > michaelpq's pg_plugins and FlameGraph.
> >
> > Dockerfile:
> >
> > It is based on debian bookworm, it installed dependencies
> > to build postgres, also IPC::Run to run TAP tests I guess.
> >
> > It also has a .gdbinit to break elog.c:errfinish for elevel 21,
> > this will make the debugging easier why error is logged.
> >
> > gdbpg.py is adapted from https://github.com/tvondra/gdbpg,
> > I think putting it here will make it evolve as time goes.
> >
> > tasks.json:
> >
> > This is kind of like a bookkeeping for developers, it has
> > the following commands:
> >
> > - meson debug setup
> > - meson release setup
> > - ninja build
> > - regression tests
> > - ninja install
> > - init cluster
> > - start cluster
> > - stop cluster
> > - install pg_bsd_indent
> > - pgindent
> > - apply patch
> > - generate flamegraph
> >
> > launch.json:
> >
> > It has one configuration that makes it possible to attach
> > to one process(e.g. postgres backend) and debug
> > with vscode.
> >
> > PFA and please give it a try if you are a VSCode user.
> >
> > [1]: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/technology#1-integrated-development-environment
> > [2]: https://github.com/atomicdb/devcontainer/tree/main/postgres
> >
>
> Not totally opposed, and I will probably give it a try very soon, but
> I'm wondering if this really needs to go in the core repo. We've
> generally shied away from doing much in the way of editor / devenv
> support, trying to be fairly agnostic. It's true we carry .dir-locals.el
> and .editorconfig, so that's not entirely true, but those are really
> just about supporting our indentation etc. standards.
>
> Also, might it not be better for this to be carried in a separate repo
> maintained by people using vscode? I don't know how may committers do.
> Maybe lots do, and I'm just a dinosaur. If vscode really needs
> .devcontainer to live in the code root, maybe it could be symlinked.
> Another reason not carry the code ourselves is that it will make it less
> convenient for people who want to customize it.

Agree, if finally we make this into a separate repo, that can also
benefit new developers.

>
> Without having tried it, looks like a nice effort though. Well done.
>
>
> cheers
>
>
> andrew
>
>
>
> --
> Andrew Dunstan
> EDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com
>

--
Regards
Junwang Zhao