

Ask HN:Web based IDE, would you use one? - ashleyreddy

Assuming that the IDE were fast, with code, highlighting etc, would you use it?  I find that I cannot be productive sitting in front of my desktop all day and that I'm inspired when I'm walking around.  I think I would get some work done on an iPad based IDE.  Thoughts?
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marssaxman
I can imagine that might work for people who are specifically doing web
development, as long as the code itself did not live in some web service but
was part of an ordinary version-control repository.

Personally, it's difficult to imagine a web-based IDE having much use; how
would I compile or debug anything?

There's a microcontroller dev board called <a
href="[http://mbed.org/>mbed</a>](http://mbed.org/>mbed</a>); which would be a
really nice little Cortex-M3 board, but it is only programmable through their
weird <a href="[http://mbed.org/handbook/mbed-
Compiler>online](http://mbed.org/handbook/mbed-Compiler>online) web service
compiler thing</a>. I admire the mbed folks' creativity, but that takes vendor
lock-in to a new level, and it's an absolute deal-killer for me.

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kls
If it was backed by a good version control strategy where multipal developers
could work on the project and the version control seamlessly worked to easily
incorporate others changes. I think this would be the advantage of using a
centralized application logic, web based IDE over a distribution of desktops.

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mhd
I don't see a reason why there couldn't be a JavaScript-powered frontend to
Vim or Emacs, so sure, I could definitely see myself using one…

But, to get this right, you want to use one because a) you can't sit and
concentrate and b) your device of choice doesn't leave you no other (simple)
choice but using something web-based. Fixing one of those premises might be a
lot easier than creating a good browser-based IDE.

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JulianMorrison
If someone wrote a web IDE that integrated with github, I might give that a
serious look.

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SHOwnsYou
Am I the only one seeing a possible jv opportunity with Github or a Github
like service.

The key to having a good web based UI is the ability to debug, compile, test.
If you can set that up, you may be on to something.

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ecommando
Only if I could host it myself. I would never use an IDE hosted by a third
party as there would be no way to ensure the safety of my intellectual
property.

~~~
ashleyreddy
but people put things on Github and other online repositories all the time. Is
this still an issue?

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gexla
Fire up a remote VPS. Open Vim via a terminal on your local machine. Web based
IDE. ;)

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timthorn
I do - for embedded electronics: mbed.org

