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https://github.com/gnome/libpeas

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https://github.com/gnome/libpeas

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Read-only mirror of https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libpeas

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README 

        
# Introducing libpeas



libpeas is a gobject-based plugins engine, and is targetted at giving every

application the chance to assume its own extensibility. It is currently used by

several Gnome applications like gedit and Totem.



It takes its roots in the old gedit plugins engine, and provides an extensive set

of features mirroring the desiderata of most of the applications providing an

extension framework.



# Documentation



Documentation can be found at:



 * Peas-2: https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libpeas/libpeas-2/



See the [Migration Guide](https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libpeas/libpeas-2/migrating-1to2.html)

for help migrating from Peas-1.0 to Peas-2.



# Multiple extension points



One of the most frustrating limitations of the Gedit plugins engine was that it

only allows extending a single class, called GeditPlugin. With libpeas, this

limitation vanishes, and the application writer is now able to provide a set of

GInterfaces the plugin writer will be able to implement as his plugin requires.



# On-demand programming language support



libpeas comes with a set of supported languages (currently, C, Lua 5.1,

and Python 3). Those languages are supported through “loaders” which

are loaded on demand. What it means is that you only pay for what you use: if

you have no Python plugin, the Python interpreter won't be loaded in memory.

Of course, the same goes for the C loader.



# Damn simple to use (or at least we try hard)



Adding support for libpeas-enabled plugins in your own application is a matter

of minutes. You only have to create an instance of the plugins engine, and

call methods on the implementations of the various extension points. That's it,

no clock harmed.



# A shared library for everyone



As I noted earlier, the latest improvements of our beloved development platform

made it possible to create bindings for apps very quickly. And with the Gnome 3

announcement, this looked like the perfect timing to make the plugins engine

and its latest improvements available to everyone, with a library. Also,

hopefully it will reduce code duplication and allow bugs to be fixed at the

right place, once and for all, improving the quality of our applications.



As a member of the Gnome community and as an offspring of gedit, libpeas already

shares most of the Gnome infrastructure and philosophy:



    * You can download the first release tarball on the Gnome FTP server.

    * You can browse the source and contribute using our git repository.

    * You can come and discuss with me and others on #libpeas (GimpNet)

    * And you can report bug or propose new features through the good old Gnome

      Bugzilla, against the libpeas module.



# A few hints on using libpeas



As always for the new projects, it can take some time to grasp all the

subtleties at first.



## Plugins versus Extensions



Something that is going to puzzle most of the newcomers is the fact that the

libpeas API talks about both plugins and extensions, two terms that are usually

used interchangeably, but who have very different meanings in libpeas.



Let's try and give a definition of both of these words in this context:



 * Plugin: In the context of libpeas, a plugin is a logical package. It's what

   you will enable or disable from the UI, and at the end it is what the user

   will see. An example of plugin for gedit would be the file browser plugin.



 * Extension. An extension is an object which implements an interface

   associated to an extension point. There can be several extensions in a single

   plugin. Examples of extensions provided by the file browser plugin would be

   the configuration dialog, the left panel pane and a completion provider for

   file names.



Copied from http://log.istique.net/2010/announcing-libpeas