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It seems feasible to fork VS Code for a Bible translation app

2023-09-20 · 3 min read

#ai #translation

Building an AI-native translation app

We’re exploring the idea of using AI agents, via simple user interfaces, as a way to orchestrate Bible translation tasks both within an app and by leveraging outside tools and APIs.

While we’re still in the early stages of this exploration, we’ve already found that it’s possible to build a Bible translation app using VS Code as a base.

Our proof-of-concept plugin has one simple task: when the user says “the right way to say X is Y”, the plugin will discern the user intent and update the lexicon.txt file (the project’s dictionary).

What we want to do next is to use the AI agent to orchestrate the translation process, to take the next step of suggesting updates on any verses that are implicated in the lexicon change.

This is where VS Code comes in.

We realized we can use VS Code as a base for a Bible translation app. It’s open source and has a lot of features that you would need for a Bible translation app. It’s also very extensible, and operates at the highest echelons of enterprise software, and can be localized into many languages of wider communication (e.g., the Chinese localization has over 24 million downloads!).

How feasible is it to fork VS Code?

Providentially, we have an example of someone forking VS Code and building a fully functional AI-native app. A huge congratulations to the folks at Anysphere/Cursor. This app is awesome.

The craziest thing about this is that they did it in a matter of months, with a small team of developers (I think it was 2-3 or so people). They forked it in March 2023, and I tried the app in July, and it rocked.

I think there are some learnings to gather here for the Bible translation world: VS Code provides a great base for building an AI-native app, and it seems feasible to fork it and build something that is useful for translators by leveraging the fact that VS code has done all of the hard stuff already (like mature source control, tested localization, an impressively stable architecture with over 51K published plugins, live sharing for instant remote collaboration, and more).

Adding translation functionality suddenly seems like a small task in comparison.

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VS Code as Translator's Copilot Ecosystem

No date · 4 min read

A thought experiment. (credit to Ben Scholtens for asking the obvious question: Why not fork VS Code ourselves?)

2023-09-19 #ai #translation

Your Translation Project is a lot like a Software Project. Why not use a World-Class Text Editor?

🔍 The Insight: Bible translation, at its core, is a text-editing endeavor, akin in many ways to software development. It’s about collaborating, maintaining versions, and ensuring quality – just like developing a codebase.

❓ The Question: Why start from scratch when there’s a mature, battle-tested platform that offers vast capabilities tailored to these tasks?

VS Code: The Unsung Hero for Bible Translation

📖 No Loss in Functionality: At first glance, Paratext appears irreplaceable. But dive deeper, and you’ll find that the VS Code ecosystem can replicate its core functions, and it’s highly stable, scalable, and useable. From textual analysis, collaboration, to project management, there’s an extension for that. Oh, and it comes with rock solid AI integration.

🛠 Superior Toolset:

  • Stability & Text Editing: VS Code’s origin is text editing. Its advanced features ensure seamless, bug-free experiences.
  • Plug-ins: With tens of thousands of extensions, there’s a plugin for almost every need, and creating new ones is straightforward, whether you’re a software firm or an SIL programmer.
  • Git Integration: Mature version control is baked in, making collaboration and version tracking effortless.
  • File Management: Navigate complex projects with ease, and leverage the advanced file system capabilities.
  • LiveShare: Work on the same file across devices. Real-time collaboration made simple.
  • Customization: Connect to linting systems, render previews, automate tasks, and more.
  • Localization: Tailor the interface to your linguistic needs. It’s globally friendly.
  • Extensibility: VS Code’s architecture is primed for expansion, ensuring it’ll grow with your needs.
  • AI Integration: Benefit from native AI tools for smarter, quicker leveraging of all of your project resources and work to date.
  • Support & Documentation: A vast community, extensive documentation, forums, videos, and guides stand ready to assist.

The Implication:

While Bible translation has unique domain requirements, it shouldn’t reinvent the wheel for tasks common to many projects. By leveraging VS Code, we tap into a decade of optimization, a vast ecosystem, and avoid the pitfalls of building from the ground up. Imagine cutting down development time by 10 or 20 years (how long would it take a team to accomplish 115K commits, on thousands of branches, with as good a result as VS Code?), ensuring greater stability, and having a world-class UI — all while keeping focus on the unique needs of translation.

Some of the most advanced and complex features that translators or consultants could only dream of (like having complete project version control on an enterprise level with automated actions and quality check processes, or enabling 4 people in four geographic locations to collaborate on the exact same file in real time) are already built, tested, stable, and being used by hundreds of thousands of VS Code users.

Why would we put our time and effort into recreating all of this, when its already free and completely open source (MIT license)? In conclusion, the complexities of tool development are vast, but they’ve been met and tamed by VS Code. Rather than venturing into the wilderness to forge a new path, let’s stand on the shoulders of giants, repurpose what’s proven, and channel our energies solely into the specialized challenges of Bible translation.

🚀 The Call to Action: Before investing further in new tools, let’s explore the vast potential of VS Code. It promises a foundation that’s both solid and flexible, ensuring our Bible translation endeavors are as efficient, effective, and impactful as possible.

Minor update: VS Code fork seems feasible

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