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

3 points by ashleyreddy ↗ HN
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?

9 comments

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

timthorn
I do - for embedded electronics: mbed.org
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>; 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 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.

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