Request to Support Dubbo RPC Compiler Plugin (dubbo-compiler)

[clayzx]

Dear Buf Team,

I would like to request support for the Dubbo RPC compiler plugin (dubbo-compiler) in the Buf ecosystem, ideally as a remote plugin. This would greatly benefit Java developers, particularly those working in the Spring/Spring Boot ecosystem.

Apache Dubbo is a widely adopted RPC framework in the Java microservices community. Compared to gRPC, Dubbo offers features and conventions that align more closely with typical Java development practices and the Spring ecosystem. However, the interfaces generated by the standard gRPC compiler are not compatible with Dubbo’s requirements.

To address this gap, the Apache Dubbo community provides dubbo-compiler, a protoc plugin that generates Java code tailored for use with Dubbo.
You can find the open-source implementation here:
🔗 https://github.com/apache/dubbo/tree/3.3/dubbo-plugin/dubbo-compiler

We would love to see Buf support this plugin as a remote plugin, allowing it to be used via .buf.gen.yaml configurations. This would enable seamless integration for teams using Buf to manage their .proto files while generating Dubbo-compatible code automatically.

Building and running the plugin is also straightforward:

Compile the source into a fat JAR

Run it inside a Docker container to expose as a remote plugin

Support for this plugin in Buf would bring significant value to the large number of Java teams using Dubbo, and would further strengthen Buf's presence and adoption in the Java ecosystem.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to improving the developer experience!