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Vscode.dev

code.visualstudio.com

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Re: Vscode.dev

#151

Post by outside1234 »

n8cpdx wrote: post #5

Very cool stuff. I remember being at Build 2018 and asking the PM on the Live Share team if they had any plans to bring VS Code to the browser. Maybe do managed environments for labs and companies (what GitHub code spaces now is), would be great for education. Lots of students (especially non-CS nerds, like the physics kids with a CS requirement) find environment setup to be one of the hardest parts. He seemed to thi…

And always assume when a customer tells you something like that that YOU are the one that doesn't get it.

Otherwise, you might be the one that gets fired, probably like this guy.

Re: Vscode.dev

#152

Post by rattlesnakedave »

ARandumGuy wrote: post #4

This seems really cool, and seems like it took a lot of man hours to put together. However, I'm not sure who this is for. Downloading and installing an application is not a particularly big ask for the type of people who use VSCode. The browser version will always be a compromised experience, given the inherent limitations of browser applications. Even if it works 99% of the time, that 1% would add enough friction to…

>However, I'm not sure who this is for. Downloading and installing an application is not a particularly big ask for the type of people who use VSCode.

True, but IMO doing anything we possibly can to get from individuals who want to code -> actually coding faster and easier with minimal setup is a huge win. I remember starting out using codeblocks for C++. My biggest hurdle was figuring out how to get a compiler integrated with the IDE. https://repl.it is doing first class work in this space. I highly recommend you check them out as well.

Re: Vscode.dev

#153

Post by outside1234 »

ARandumGuy wrote: post #4

This seems really cool, and seems like it took a lot of man hours to put together. However, I'm not sure who this is for. Downloading and installing an application is not a particularly big ask for the type of people who use VSCode. The browser version will always be a compromised experience, given the inherent limitations of browser applications. Even if it works 99% of the time, that 1% would add enough friction to…

The use case is Codespaces.

Codespaces is magic because it allows you to go from zero to fully configured dev environment, even for the most complicated environments, in five minutes via a preconfigured dev container

VSCode in the browser allows you to do this, but is only part of the story, and without the dev container, you miss the really valuable part of that story.

Re: Vscode.dev

#154

Post by IggleSniggle »

peakaboo wrote: post #62
tppiotrowski wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Downloading and installing is a big ask if you don’t have the required system permissions (computer labs, work issued laptops, Chromebooks). Another data point: I used to compile VSCode for ARM to run it on a RaspberryPi and had to do it anytime there was an update.

So you as a developer are not allowed to install a code editor... To edit code... Which is... Your profession... So you need to use a Web browser as a code editor because... Installing a binary to the disk is not allowed? It's crazy!

I think the craziness of it is highly context dependent. If you're expected to be running everything in "the cloud" anyway, then as long as you have execute permissions on the cloud computer you are authorized to...ok no now wait a minute, you're right. This is crazy no matter how you slice it.

M: "Ok, here's your company issued computer. You're not allowed to do anything with it, because security and IP."

D: "Ok, but I need a computer to compile unique code, and I need to be able to execute that code..."

M: "Good news! We bought lots of cloud compute, so you can do whatever you need or want with your compute!"

D: "...how is this different."

M: "Well you see, we didn't issue those computers. So if something bad happens, it isn't because of us. It's because of the cloud."

D: "...but if something 'bad' only happens because of the code that I wrote, isn't it still bad whether its running here or there?"

M: "Fine! If something bad happens, it's your fault, not the cloud, because we didn't do it, and of course the cloud is infallible."

D: "I'm not working here."

M: "..."

D: "..."

Re: Vscode.dev

#155

Post by paxys »

up6w6 wrote: post #3

Not open-source yet, the best alternatives for self-hosting right now are: https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server https://github.com/cdr/code-server Update: also check the discussion about their differences https://github.com/cdr/code-server/discussions/4267 (IMO both are much slower and worse than vscode.dev)

There is no direct comparison, so unfair to call them slower or worse. Both these services are for running your own private server and for browser IDEs to be thin clients. You can configure the server with your language tooling, build scripts and whatever else. You can also pause and resume your session from a different device (since a majority of business logic is handled by the server).

vscode.dev runs fully in your web browser, and files are read from local disk. There is nothing in the cloud. So yes it is faster, but serves a different use case.

Re: Vscode.dev

#156

Post by pfisherman »

ARandumGuy wrote: post #4

This seems really cool, and seems like it took a lot of man hours to put together. However, I'm not sure who this is for. Downloading and installing an application is not a particularly big ask for the type of people who use VSCode. The browser version will always be a compromised experience, given the inherent limitations of browser applications. Even if it works 99% of the time, that 1% would add enough friction to…

I dunno. It would be pretty sweet to not have to bring a laptop with me when I travel / go places. Just whip out the iPad, open a browser, connect to remote host, and get to work.

The caveat of course is that this supports connecting to a remote host.

Re: Vscode.dev

#157

Post by WorldMaker »

WorldMaker wrote: post #89
mynameisvlad wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely gatekeepy. We should be doing everything we can to encourage development where people are at, not trying to say that unless you do it a certain way (which costs a lot of money for a student, or someone in a developing country) you're not a "decent developer".

Plus there are more than enough "dark matter" developers making an otherwise good living at Fortune Xty companies that are afraid of technology and love micro-management and require all software to install to go through 6 month+ review processes. I've known some fantastic developers that will put up with that (and more), code in Notepad and Perforce if they have to, so long as they make a living wage and can clock ou…

It may be late in October, but I guess some people don't appreciate horror stories of actual development jobs that exist. If I could find a way to package that and sell it as Developer Haunted House experiences, I imagine I could make a quick buck.

Re: Vscode.dev

#158

Post by SCUSKU »

Androider wrote: post #13
ARandumGuy wrote: post #4

This seems really cool, and seems like it took a lot of man hours to put together. However, I'm not sure who this is for. Downloading and installing an application is not a particularly big ask for the type of people who use VSCode. The browser version will always be a compromised experience, given the inherent limitations of browser applications. Even if it works 99% of the time, that 1% would add enough friction to…

Surely shoving VSCode into a tab is just step 1. Think about what this could do, that your local app couldn't. Off the top of my head: Complete remote state. Open vscode.dev on your desktop, work for a while. Then open vscode.dev on your Macbook Air later, and be in _exactly_ the same state. I don't mean, the same project, I mean the text cursor is at the same position in the same file with the same set of tabs open.…

I have been a very happy user of VSCode Remote - SSH. I have a VM in AWS with a GPU that I SSH into using VSCode, and I can use VSCode as if I were running it locally, with all of the computer power of a big server. Would highly recommend!

Re: Vscode.dev

#159

Post by colordrops »

up6w6 wrote: post #3

Not open-source yet, the best alternatives for self-hosting right now are: https://github.com/gitpod-io/openvscode-server https://github.com/cdr/code-server Update: also check the discussion about their differences https://github.com/cdr/code-server/discussions/4267 (IMO both are much slower and worse than vscode.dev)

> Not open-source yet

Will it eventually be open sourced?

Re: Vscode.dev

#160

Post by noizejoy »

pjmlp wrote: post #109
redleggedfrog wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I can imagine an enterprise giving devs just this + something like local/Cloud VPS/CI/CD environment to work in." That sounds horrible.

That is how many of us used to work on UNIX and similar timesharing OSes. The cloud + browser is back to the future.

Brings back sweet memories of Multics[0], which predated Unix by quite a bit:

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics

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