Eclipse Che

Eclipse Che is an open-source, self-hosted platform that provides Kubernetes-native cloud development environments. It packages dependencies, runtimes, and project code into portable containerized workspaces that run within Kubernetes pods. This architecture allows development environments to be distributed and collaborative across different infrastructure providers, ensuring that every team member works in an identical environment.

Users access the software as a web application, which includes an embedded web IDE for writing and managing code. The system is deployed on a Kubernetes cluster, where it manages the full lifecycle of developer workspaces. It is designed for enterprise teams that require standardized development environments that are consistent across different machines and locations, removing the need for manual local setup of complex toolchains.

Key features

• Kubernetes-native deployment and orchestration
• Containerized workspaces for dependencies and runtimes
• Integrated web-based IDE
• Portable environment configurations
• Support for distributed and collaborative development
• Configuration via CheCluster Kubernetes Custom Resource
• Support for embedded containerized runtimes
• Management of project code within Kube pods

The platform is built to run anywhere Kubernetes is available, ensuring that the development environment remains identical regardless of the underlying hardware or operating system. By utilizing Kubernetes Custom Resources for configuration, administrators can manage the Che cluster and its associated resources through standard orchestration tools. This approach allows for the scaling of development environments based on the needs of the organization. The architecture focuses on isolating the development environment from the host machine, which prevents configuration drift and simplifies the onboarding process for new developers who can start coding immediately upon launching a workspace.

Eclipse Che serves as a centralized infrastructure for managing cloud-based IDEs and development toolchains for professional software engineering teams operating in containerized environments.