Exploring the ServiceNow IDE
Summarize
Summary of Exploring the ServiceNow IDE
The ServiceNow IDE is a web-based implementation of Visual Studio Code designed specifically for developing scoped applications on the ServiceNow AI Platform. It allows developers to leverage familiar tools and best practices, enabling quick application development with features such as type safety, IntelliSense, and source control integration.
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Key Features
- Scoped Application Development: Create and manage scoped applications using ServiceNow Fluent to define application metadata.
- Real-Time Change Visualization: View side-by-side representations of application changes in other embedded ServiceNow interfaces.
- JavaScript Modules: Organize and reuse code through custom JavaScript modules and third-party libraries.
- Source Control Integration: Connect with Git providers using OAuth 2.0 or basic authentication to manage application code.
- Collaborative Development: Enable multiple developers to work on the same application concurrently, allowing for simultaneous edits to application metadata and source code.
Key Outcomes
By utilizing the ServiceNow IDE, developers can efficiently create, manage, and collaborate on scoped applications. The integration with source control facilitates streamlined version management, while the ability to define application metadata in code enhances organization and code reuse. Ultimately, this leads to faster development cycles and improved productivity for ServiceNow customers.
Learn about developing scoped applications in source code in the ServiceNow IDE.
ServiceNow IDE overview
The ServiceNow IDE is an implementation of Visual Studio Code for the Web on the ServiceNow AI Platform. With the ServiceNow IDE, you can get started building scoped applications quickly using familiar tools and industry-standard development practices. The ServiceNow IDE has many of the same features as Visual Studio Code, including type safety, IntelliSense, dependency enforcement, code search, and source control integration.
In the ServiceNow IDE, you can create scoped applications in source code using ServiceNow Fluent to define application metadata [sys_metadata]. To see a side-by-side visual representation of your changes in real time, you can open the application metadata in other ServiceNow AI Platform user interfaces embedded within the ServiceNow IDE.
Optionally, you can create JavaScript modules and use third-party libraries to organize and reuse code within scoped applications.
In the background, this functionality is enabled by the ServiceNow SDK application packaging service, which builds applications in the ServiceNow IDE.
ServiceNow IDE workflow
The following infographic shows the workflow for developers to get started developing applications with the ServiceNow IDE.
- From the ServiceNow Store, an administrator installs the ServiceNow IDE application on a non-production instance.
- Depending on the authentication method, an administrator or developer configures the credentials needed to connect to their Git provider.
- To use OAuth 2.0 authentication, an administrator configures an OAuth 2.0 application registry in their Git provider and on the instance.
- To use basic authentication, a developer generates a personal access token from their Git provider.
- From their Git provider, a developer creates a dedicated Git repository for an application.
- From the ServiceNow IDE, the developer configures their Git credentials.
- The developer creates a ServiceNow IDE workspace to organize applications.
- The developer creates a scoped application or converts an existing scoped application from the ServiceNow IDE.
- The developer initializes a local Git repository for the application and pushes it to the remote repository they created to manage the application in source control.
- The developer can define application metadata in source code using ServiceNow Fluent, create custom JavaScript modules, or use third-party libraries.
- When metadata changes are detected, the developer synchronizes the application to download and transform changes to metadata from other interfaces into source code.
- After saving their changes, they build the application, which compiles the source code and transforms it into application metadata.
- When the build is complete, the developer can view their changes reflected in other embedded ServiceNow AI Platform user interfaces without leaving the ServiceNow IDE.
- The developer stages, commits, and pushes their changes to the Git repository.
- From the ServiceNow IDE, other developers can clone the repository, create branches, and begin collaborating on the application.
Other users can modify the application metadata at the same time as developers modify the source code. Developers can reuse module code in other modules or scripts within the application.
ServiceNow IDE benefits
| Benefit | Feature | Users |
|---|---|---|
| Develop applications in an IDE based on Visual Studio Code on the ServiceNow AI Platform | ServiceNow IDE user interface | Developers |
| Write source code to define the metadata that makes up ServiceNow applications | ServiceNow Fluent Define application metadata in code with ServiceNow Fluent in the ServiceNow IDE |
Developers |
| Organize and reuse code within scoped applications with custom JavaScript modules and third-party JavaScript utilities | JavaScript modules and third-party libraries Create and use JavaScript modules in applications in the ServiceNow IDE Use third-party libraries in applications in the ServiceNow IDE |
Developers |
| Collaborate on applications with users of different skill sets | Build and install an application in the ServiceNow IDE | Developers |
| Integrate source control with your Git provider of choice | Integrating source control with the ServiceNow IDE | Developers, Administrators |