Add extension based runner / debugger profiles with configuration and proper buttons

[SturdyFool10]

Overview

Before we begin, note that a rudimentary debugger already exists (see PR #13433). This proposal builds upon that foundation.

Context

Many popular IDEs — including IntelliJ Suite, VS Code, and Visual Studio — provide dedicated Run and Debug buttons. Advanced IDEs even allow you to independently switch between target and run profiles while supporting various build systems and languages. Additionally, plugins and extensions can enhance these features by adding more run/debug configurations.

Proposal: Introducing Runners in Zed

I propose that we add similar functionality to Zed by implementing runners. These runners would enable:

• Custom Build Configurations:
  Use arbitrary build settings to compile or build code before execution.

• Pre-build Command Script:

  • Execute a custom script prior to the actual build.
  • The script should support an OUTPUT_DIR variable to facilitate tasks such as:
    • Compiling Shaders: Use tools like glslc to compile shader files then to copy the output to the output directory.

• User Interface Enhancements:
  Draw inspiration from CLion's UI for a more intuitive experience when managing runners and debugger profiles.
  

Interchangeable Runner/Debugger Profiles

Consider the flexibility of IntelliJ's system, where:

• You can switch between different targets and operations (e.g., run, debug, test, benchmark) seamlessly.
• This avoids the need for separate profiles for every combination, streamlining the development process.

Extensibility via Plugins

It would be beneficial if extensions beyond the core language provider could add their own runner and debugger types. For example:

• Current Limitation:
  • CLion supports only CMake.
• Future Possibility:
  • Language plugins could supply default profiles tailored for their specific languages.
  • Other plugins might offer support for additional build systems (like Premake), enabling the creation of new runner/debugger templates.

This modularity would empower Zed users to integrate their preferred build systems, greatly enhancing the platform's versatility.

UI

Add UI for selecting target, operation and for running and debugging the project, these would use the language provider and / or plugin to determine behavior of these operations, this allows Zed to integrate itself tightly with build systems, while remaining flexible and open to adding more integrations

[SturdyFool10]

notably, I think we are missing the extensibility, and the flexibility features discussed above

[Testare]

I think that if we add these elements, they should be configurable/hideable, since one of the best parts of ZED imho is that the UI doesn't get in the way with a bunch of features I don't use. For myself, even in those IDE's with the run buttons, I usually prefer to just run things using the terminal.

[blackbird314]

Other plugins might offer support for additional build systems (like Premake), enabling the creation of new runner/debugger templates.

Yeah, plugins for build system are useful. For some example, you can check xmake-vscode which XMake is equivalent to "cargo of C/C++" and xmake-vscode is an extension for it.

[insane-dreamer]

Pycharm has this and I use it extensively. Being able to configure the python environment to use for a given run configuration (with support for uv and conda at the least), is also critical, because one often needs to test the same codebase with different environments.