I'm looking to kickstart a project that I eventually want to sell, but first, I want to learn some things by building a smaller notes app similar to Obsidian. I plan on using React Native for the frontend and C# for the backend, and I want it to support plugins. I'm familiar with PostgreSQL and have some SQL experience, but I'm not sure how to get going with the plugin architecture. Any advice on building a framework that allows for plugins and where I can learn more about this would be really helpful!
4 Answers
You know, if you really want in-depth training, you could always enlist in a college program where experienced folks would teach you these things over a few years. But it does take a commitment!
Just keeping it real!
You might want to check out how other open-source projects manage their plugin systems. Using hooks is a popular method for implementing plugins. It gives you a lot of flexibility!
Do you have any specific projects in mind? I'm not too familiar with open-source stuff, but I’d love to check out examples!
Firefox is a great example of an open-source project that supports plugins. Take a look at their code to understand how they handle it; it could really inspire you!
Thank you for the suggestion!
Definitely start with the documentation of the systems you want to use. When it comes to plugins, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. You might consider using a mix of a plugin architecture, an embedded language like Lua, or even creating your own API that allows other code to interact with your app. For a practical example, check out the [Obsidian API here](https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api/blob/master/obsidian.d.ts) for some ideas. Look at what works well for other systems and adapt it to suit your needs!
Wow, I didn’t think about checking out the Obsidian API—thanks for pointing that out!
I’m actually in college for computer science, but not all colleges delve as deep into practical applications as one would hope.