Three Things to Know About the All-New Integrated Development Environment (IDE) In the Leap Quantum Cloud Service
Get ready to ramp: rapid quantum hybrid application development, from anywhere
We are excited to announce that today we’ve rolled out an all-new integrated development environment within Leap™, our quantum cloud service. Users will get an even more seamless experience for more productivity, an upgraded infrastructure for enhanced performance, and an all-new editor for lightning-fast coding and more customization. This release marks another milestone in our relentless delivery of innovative quantum products to the market. Because every decision we make is hyper-focused on our customers and market demands, we thought we’d share our thought process and the broader context of why we’re so excited about the new IDE.
1. You Want It All (And That Makes Us Happy): supporting the entire quantum journey with a full-stack platform and native cloud service
As the Practical Quantum Computing Company, our mission is to unlock the power of quantum computing today to benefit business and society. To do this, we must be relentless about removing barriers to quantum computing access and reducing the learning curve, which in turn accelerates the quantum journey for both developers and businesses. One of the fundamental ways we achieve this is by being a full-stack quantum provider that supports the entire quantum journey: from the first time you log into Leap™ to developing with Python-based tools, and from running in-production hybrid quantum applications in the cloud to expanding into new use cases, our entire technology stack works together. Piecemeal technologies, on the other hand, require evaluation, additional learning, testing and application of quantum skills across multiple technologies.
But all this is not enough — you want even more. In addition to our comprehensive quantum cloud service, we are the only quantum computing company building annealing and gate-based quantum computers with a full-stack, cross-platform vision for the future. It just keeps getting better.
The backbone of our approach is Leap™, our real-time quantum cloud service. Leap delivers everything developers need to get started building and deploying in-production quantum applications. This includes everything from the quantum processing unit (QPU) and quantum hybrid solvers to code samples, real-world examples, demos, the IDE and more. This is where today’s announcement of a brand-new, full-featured, cloud-based IDE comes in. The new Leap IDE is, like its predecessor, a cloud-based integrated development environment delivered right within the Leap platform. But we’ve made it even better, extending this familiar on-ramp for developers to make it even easier to get started coding quantum applications in the cloud. This type of integrated engineering reflects our best practice of providing customers with a seamless experience between and within all parts of our stack.
See how it all fits together? We’re glad you’re so demanding.
“The Leap IDE makes quantum app development friction-free for me. I don’t have to install anything locally or do any additional setup, and I don’t have to think about learning anything new — it’s the same environment as a desktop, but in the cloud.” — Ed Crandell, Software Architect, Spring Arbor University, and a D-Wave Developer Champion
2. Yep, It’s Even Better. And It’s Here Now: the updated IDE in Leap delivers even more productivity, modernization, and customization
The first-generation D-Wave IDE was released in February 2020 and accelerated the development of hybrid quantum applications. The new IDE delivers an even more seamless and integrated experience, an upgraded infrastructure, and a re-imagined platform to reduce time to application with an enhanced coding environment and more customization.
The new cloud developer environment includes these key updates, out-of-the-box:
Even more seamless and integrated IDE experience for more productivity and efficiency. Key UI/UX improvements increase ease of use and, in turn, accelerate developer productivity and time-to-value. For example, now users can run and customize Jupyter notebooks faster, which are ready-to-go right from within the IDE. In addition, users can find and open code repos inside the IDE; access full, unified documentation and user guides right from the editor; and run Docker from within their workspace.
Upgraded to the latest and greatest, modern infrastructure. Upgraded to the latest Kubernetes infrastructure, developers now get enhanced performance and faster access to any new features and fixes.
Lightning-fast coding and customization with an all-new editor. Developers now get access to the full power of the leading, modern, Visual Studio Code (VS Code). Third-party extension support offers a whole new level of customization. With easy access to this entire ecosystem of extensions right from the browser, developers can create the experience they want.
“With modern developer tools like the Leap IDE, D-Wave is providing an experience for developers in a way that is natural in their everyday work. The integration with cloud, Jupyter Notebooks, Docker, etc, enables developers to realize value through quick agile iterations. Now, developers at any level — from enterprises to startups — have the ability to leverage quantum as another tool in the next generation of technology. This is a critical step in the market for driving the adoption of quantum as a real implementation for the total solution that can deliver business value today.” — Kerri Patterson, Chief Strategy Officer at Carrera Group, former Director of IT at Optum, and a D-Wave Developer Champion
3. It’s Good (Business) To Be Ahead: staying at the forefront of cloud innovation to win your hearts and minds
Back in 2018 we removed barriers to access by launching Leap™, which was the first real-time, publicly accessible quantum cloud service that allowed developers to access live quantum processors and create applications with Python-based coding. This launch accelerated use of quantum computers and hybrid solvers by enabling businesses, developers, and researchers to directly access our quantum systems and quantum hybrid solvers and start seeing value.
Since then, we have continued our pace of product delivery and innovation, which is why today we see real-world, in-production, commercial quantum applications beginning to be deployed and generating real value for businesses using D-Wave technologies. Much of this growth is fueled by the tens of thousands of developers active in Leap today, which is why we remain laser-focused on growing this ecosystem and paving the way for increasingly diverse quantum computing applications that deliver business value. At the end of the day, your success is our business.
Developers are the lifeblood of quantum adoption and commercialization in the enterprise. To create the necessary groundswell of quantum adoption, we will continue to meet developers where they are, and equip them with the latest and greatest technology, tools and resources to reduce friction and accelerate the quantum journey. Today marks another feature innovation where we aim to do just that. The all-new IDE further enhances our Leap quantum cloud service and gives developers everything they need for cloud-based, remote development that reduces time to production of quantum and quantum hybrid applications.
Check out the new IDE experience here, or sign up for Leap for free if you don’t have an account.
Keep us honest: join the Leap quantum community and share your feature requests, thoughts, applications, innovations and maybe even get a T-Shirt…
