Mozilla Launches Bespin a Cloud-Based IDE
Everyday there is another announcement of software going to a SaaS model. Cloud computing is really the rage right now. That is good news for people like us who have a web background. It is not so good for traditional application programmers that have limited JavaScript experience. At any rate, Mozilla has released a cool new Cloud-Based IDE. I have been thinking for several months that it is only a matter of time before someone releases a nice cloud-based IDE. I have seen a couple previous efforts but nothing that quite matches Bespin.
Unfortunately, many of the features of Bespin are not yet enabled. Currently you can’t do a whole lot with it but I can see some serious potential. Their website suggests that you will be able to easily load popular open source code and the program has some collaboration functionality that looks like it has a lot of potential. I have read that Bespin intends to allow you to collaborate even going so far as to share your environment with other programmers.
While I am excited about the move to cloud computing and all of the new product offerings I am also a little nervous. Many of the cloud-based applications I have demoed are buggy and functionality is inconsistent. One I do use on a regular basis, or at least Deanna does, is Basecamp. It is less software like than many newer online applications but it seems to be very stable. The last thing I want is to edit an important web document in my online IDE and have some JavaScript error occur that causes my file to be saved blank.
I think for now I will continue to stick with my desktop applications for business use. As much as I love to be an early adopter I think I am going to let some other programmers work the bugs out of these online environments before I jump in.
Check it out: https://bespin.mozilla.com/
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I watched the video they posted yesterday about Bespin and It looks like it’s going to be a great little IDE in time to come. I will be awhile before it’s anywhere near main stream IDE’s but it will be fantastic for smaller projects right now.