[Core]

I recently stumbled upon a set of interesting products, that caught my attention - online development environments. The surprising thing is that those allow the developer to compile pretty much the same code, as he would create on a local machine. Even more surprising for me was the fact, that there is already a product that allows you to create WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) applications online.

Just to let you know, this kind of applications heavily relies on cloud technology, running in the cloud and compiling the code in the cloud. The user only gets the output material locally.

So, the discussion is about these products. Do you use them? If so, what do you think about 'em? If no, what stops you from using an online IDE?

My personal opinion is that this kind of products will soon grow and will allow fully-functional development of full-size commercial solutions right from the browser. It is really neat to access your project from anywhere, and compile it anywahere, no matter what computer you use. The drawbacks I see at this point is speed (you can feel it when the project becomes larger than one solution) and possible code security problems (if you develop an application for a company, the actual IDE provider can copy the code on their servers and analyze it and therefore there is a chance of confidential code leaks).

What's your opinion?

[xclite]

I have never used them nor had a need to - although it would be nice to not have to reinstall Java and mess with path variables if I do a reinstall.

[macosxnerd101]

I definitely hope these tools are further developed. For the first couple of weeks in AP Computer Science, we've been writing Java programs without the use of a compiler and JVM to test our apps. Even though we've had our school-issued laptops for the past couple weeks, we only got Java Development tools on our computers today (we can't install software or legally access command prompt). This is something I've been googling for the past week, but with little success. Sure, there are a ton of compilers, but no good online runners.

[anirelles]

here there is an example of online IDE : http://labs.mozilla.com/bespin/

well, I'm not sure it will be a good thing for developers, your boss will be able to watch what you are doing at any time lol

This post has been edited by anirelles: 21 September 2009 - 03:49 PM

[Sethro117]

When I was in 10th grade, I think itd be like 2004-05? I thought about trying to undertake something like this. I never got around to it, but I think in the next few years these will really take off. Ive used CodeIDE and that was only a couple times.

[born2c0de]

At work, I don't have permissions to install anything on the computer.
In such situations where I need to use something else other than the company provided tools and IDE, online IDEs are pretty useful (as long as the website isn't blocked on the firewall )

[gabehabe]

I actually wanted to make one of these way before I even knew they existed.

I've never really seen a great one, but I'm not a huge fan of web apps anyway. I much prefer my software.

[Gorian]

I use CodeBlocks, as it is portable and I have it on my USB drive

[westforduk]

Not sure about online IDEs. In personal experience browsers tend to crash a lot more than desktop software and I would be worried about loosing code unless some backup mechanism was but in place. I personally use CodeBlocks or AptanaStudio on a USB drive.

[Nykc]

Code::Blocks FTW - although this is not a bad idea.

[Seanmcn]

anirelles, on 21 Sep, 2009 - 02:47 PM, said:

here there is an example of online IDE : http://labs.mozilla.com/bespin/

well, I'm not sure it will be a good thing for developers, your boss will be able to watch what you are doing at any time lol

I've actually been looking for an online IDE since starting college. Can't install anything on the machines up there. Tried http://phpanywhere.net/ worked a charm but was crashed two or three times..

Gorian, on 22 Sep, 2009 - 08:52 AM, said:

I use CodeBlocks, as it is portable and I have it on my USB drive

Then again, this could be the better idea!

[Locke]

I have determined that Code::Blocks sucks. It keeps my .cpp files somewhere that I can't find 'em, meaning I can't get to them from my Ubuntu partition to actually see if the crap I'm writing works.

If you're wondering why I don't write the code in Ubuntu, I do normally, but when I need internet access to view the assignment and Ubuntu can't connect for some reason, I have to go back to Vista and write my code there.

[KYA]

cool story bro.


But seriously, check your project folder.

[Gorian]

I am currently making a portable USB System, including CodeBlocks, similiar to U3, but cooler because it is more customizable....

a tip, for a usb drive, add the following to a AutoRun.inf:

;Shell Command to start Code:::Blocks
shell\Code\command=(CodeBlocks Relative URL) --profile=(profile)
shell\Code=&Code::Blocks

This post has been edited by Gorian: 22 September 2009 - 02:20 PM

[Seanmcn]

Gorian, on 22 Sep, 2009 - 01:18 PM, said:

I am currently making a portable USB System, including CodeBlocks, similiar to U3, but cooler because it is more customizable....

a tip, for a usb drive, add the following to a AutoRun.inf:

;Shell Command to start Code:::Blocks
shell\Code\command=(CodeBlocks Relative URL) --profile=(profile)
shell\Code=&Code::Blocks

Cheers I will be doing! And I personally would like to hear about how you get on making the portable USB System!