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content/topics/ide/articles/_index.md

+---
+title: "Articles"
+---

content/topics/ide/articles/how-lonti-created-a-unified-ide-for-apis-automation-and-application-development-with-eclipse-theia/index.md

+---
+title: "How Lonti Created a Unified IDE for APIs, Automation, and Application Development with Eclipse Theia"
+keywords: []
+hide_sidebar: true
+---
+
+## Introduction
+
+**Lonti** is on a mission to empower professional developers with low-code
+tools designed specifically for building APIs, integrating systems, automating
+workflows, and developing custom applications. Their flagship product,
+**Martini Designer**, delivers a fully-featured, developer-centric IDE
+available both as a **desktop** application and an **online** platform.
+
+When the Lonti team set out to evolve Martini Designer, they were looking for a
+framework that could provide a modern, flexible foundation—one that could
+support both low-code and pro-code workflows without compromise. They chose
+**Eclipse Theia** to achieve this goal, enabling them to offer powerful visual
+design tools, seamless version control integration, and advanced debugging
+capabilities in a unified development environment.
+
+## From Eclipse IDE to Eclipse Theia
+
+The first version of Martini Designer was originally built on the **Eclipse IDE
+platform,** which provided a strong starting point for the platform’s
+development. As the product matured, Lonti began exploring ways to enhance user
+experience and broaden platform reach.
+
+* **Dynamic Interface Limitations:** The team wanted to introduce more
+  interactive, visual tools—such as a workflow designer—and required a more
+  flexible platform to deliver the rich, responsive UIs they envisioned.
+* **Desktop-Only Architecture:** Since Eclipse IDE is designed exclusively for
+  desktop environments, supporting both **desktop** and **online** versions
+  required maintaining **two separate codebases**. This led to increased
+  development overhead and complexity.
+
+To overcome these challenges, Lonti evaluated modern alternatives and found
+that [**Eclipse Theia**](https://theia-ide.org/) offered exactly what they
+needed:
+
+* It uses standard web browser technologies and is **framework-agnostic**,
+  enabling access to a wide range of modern UI libraries for building dynamic
+  and responsive interfaces.  
+* Its **modular architecture** provides a solid foundation for building rich,
+  complex applications that are fully extensible and easily customisable.  
+* Extensible via **VS Code Extensions**, to provide a customisable, extensible
+  foundation to blend low-code features with pro-code developer tooling.  
+* The ability to maintain a **single codebase** across both Desktop (Windows,
+  Mac, Linux) and Online environments.  
+* Finding Java developers with specialised experience in the Eclipse ecosystem
+  proved to be more challenging than finding frontend developers proficient in
+  web technologies. Theia’s use of modern web technologies meant it was far
+  easier to recruit developers with the necessary skills compared to those with
+  specialised knowledge in Eclipse IDE development.
+
+By transitioning to Theia, Lonti was able to simplify development, accelerate
+innovation, and deliver a seamless, modern IDE experience to their users.
+
+## Key Features Enabled by Theia
+
+### Workflow Designer
+
+One of the standout features introduced in Lonti’s Theia-based release is the
+**visual workflow designer**. This tool simplifies API orchestration and
+automation tasks by providing developers with an intuitive, visual interface.
+Developers can use the workflow designer to orchestrate data flows, automate
+business processes, integrate systems, or implement business logic for
+server-side applications. Leveraging modern web browser UI libraries and the
+flexibility of Theai’s UI framework made it possible for Lonti to build and
+integrate this tool seamlessly, giving developers control and flexibility in
+designing complex workflows.
+
+<!-- Insert Gif -->
+
+### Visual REST API Designer
+
+Martini Designer also includes a powerful **Visual REST API Designer**. Using a
+drag-and-drop interface, developers can design REST APIs visually while still
+retaining control over the underlying OpenAPI specifications. The API designer
+can automatically generate an OpenAPI schema, comprehensive API documentation,
+and a Postman collection, streamlining the process from design to testing.
+Theia’s powerful command and handler API, menu system, and UI widgets like
+trees and dialogs made it easy to develop and maintain these features.
+
+<!-- Insert Gif -->
+
+### Low Code Service Generation
+
+Martini Designer enables developers to generate low-code services either
+manually or automatically when consuming an API specification or from the HTTP
+client. Services can be used to implement the operation of an API or serve as a
+reusable process within a workflow. Like workflows, services can be invoked via
+multiple triggers including HTTP, FTP, email, a scheduler, and more. All of it
+can be configured by dozens of editors, views, menus, and toolbars, Theia’s
+solid frontend architecture helped keep features organised and maintainable.
+
+<!-- Insert Gif -->
+
+### Data Mapper
+
+The **Data Mapper** feature provides a visual, drag-and-drop interface for
+mapping fields between source and target data models. Reusing Theia’s built-in
+utilities and components allowed Lonti to integrate this tool into the IDE
+effortlessly.
+
+{{< figure class="margin-y-30" src="./images/data-mapper.gif" alt="" >}}
+
+### Code Completion & Editor Enhancements
+
+Whilst Martini Designer is a low-code platform, it is designed to allow
+developers to code if and when they need to, ensuring "low-code without
+limits." Martini supports multiple scripting and programming languages
+including Groovy, JavaScript, Kotlin, Python, and Bash. Lonti leveraged Theia’s
+support for the **Language Server Protocol (LSP) and VS Code extensions** to
+deliver features developers expect, including:
+
+* Context-aware code completion  
+* Syntax highlighting  
+* Real-time linting and error detection
+
+These capabilities help developers stay productive while writing configuration
+files, scripts, or API definitions.
+
+{{< figure class="margin-y-30" src="./images/code-completion.gif" alt="" >}}
+
+### Git Integration
+
+Version control is an essential part of any developer’s workflow. Using Theia’s
+built-in **Git extension**, Lonti integrated full Git support into Martini
+Designer. Developers can manage branches, commit changes, and push to remote
+repositories—all without leaving the IDE.
+
+### Debugger
+
+To streamline debugging, Martini Designer includes support for
+**step-debugging** of services and workflows. Theia’s debugging features, like
+the console view, provided the foundation for integrating this capability into
+the IDE, helping developers quickly identify and resolve issues.
+
+{{< figure class="margin-y-30" src="./images/debugger.gif" alt="" >}}
+
+### HTTP Client
+
+Testing APIs is a key part of API development. Martini Designer incorporates a
+built-in, Postman-style **HTTP Client**, made possible through Theia’s
+extensibility. Developers can send requests, inspect responses, and debug
+endpoints—all within the same environment. By building the HTTP Client directly
+into Martini Designer, Lonti increased developer productivity by allowing users
+to right-click API operations within the API Designer and invoke them instantly
+in the HTTP Client. Additionally, developers can consume a third-party API and
+export the request as either a reusable service or a workflow. Importing
+Postman collections is also supported, further streamlining the API development
+and testing process. Thanks to Theia’s architecture, which integrates both
+backend and frontend components, Lonti was able to deliver this feature in web
+browsers as well.