Why can't I write code inside my browser?

You can, press F12.

> Here’s my pitch: build a browser that comes pre-installed with node.js, an IDE and a simple runtime environment.

Why? If you’re new to coding then you don’t need an IDE: it adds complexity. You just need a “Run” button like in Excel (right?).

Additionally, you probably don’t need Node.js because it is just adding some API to interact with the operating system.

If you use said APIs then you need to learn a couple of things about the O.S. - nothing major - like what is a shell, or what mkdir and PATH stands for.

But, hey, we’re talking about non-coders here right? They don’t need these APIs, they are just getting started. So why should they need Node.js?

> People hate command lines - not only do they LOOK scary, they give weird unhelpful error messages and… you have to type everything. Ugh. This is why people would rather code inside a spreadsheet application - because it’s an application.

I’m all in for the no-code movement, although I’m not the target audience. I agree that you don’t need to know how to code to setup a simple website. You can just use Webflow.

I think this article doesn’t make much sense. Every paragraph of the article (especially the outro) suggests that Node.js is not an example, it’s the target of the article. The fact that the OP is proposing to run Node.js on the browser suggests that they doesn’t know what Node is, and why you should use it.

Your code will run fine on the browser and on Node as long as you don’t use Node APIs.

Once you use such APIs, you’re agreeing to the fact that you know what you’re a doing - you agreed to use Node’s API; if you didn’t want to deal with the OS directly, then should have opted for something like Visual Basic. And if you agree to use such APIs then you know that Node exists so that you can forget about the browser.

Cloud9 exists and although it was acquired by AWS you can still use it.

https://aws.amazon.com/cloud9/

The real solution to this problem is more awareness and good entry level resources that you can point indecisive people toward. None of his points are actually going to improve the situation even a tiny bit, mostly because they already exist and some of them completely failed while the others are there if you just look for them.

If not, where do you draw the line? Should you write your own business logic? Should you write your own logic to allow implementing that business logic (e.g. request parsing, validators, data transformations and processing etc.)? Or maybe you should write your own web framework that routes and handles HTTP(S) requests? Or maybe the entire ORM (if you're using one in the first place) as well? But that ORM probably uses JDBC/ODBC or some other driver as well, and the HTTP(S) requests also can be processed because of some additional code and libraries. Should you write those as well? What about the operating system itself, and the code that allows it to interface with the hardware? What about the kernel?

I don't necessarily agree with the OP's point about making a browser that has Node.js packaged (though it's a novel idea), but i definitely agree that defaults and tools matter. Tools like XAMPP ( https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html ) or the CLIs for automatically generating projects and helping automate everything from creating project files, like in Ruby on Rails Generators ( https://guides.rubyonrails.org/generators.html ) or entire apps, like with JHipster ( https://www.jhipster.tech/ ) or create-react-app ( https://reactjs.org/docs/create-a-new-react-app.html ) all seem to decrease the chance of human error and make development safer, more consistent and easier. Even IDEs that are aware of the specifics of the frameworks you're using can be very useful!

In addition, they can improve the developer experience (DX) a whole bunch, since in larger projects time can be invested to address common problems. For example, see Dylan Beattie's conference talk on the topic: https://youtu.be/lFRKrHE8oPo?t=431

I've seen people trying to write their own web frameworks and most of the time the results have been poor, both in understanding the system and maintaining it in the long term, in addition to which you can't hire people that are familiar with "Random Company's Web Framework". Unoriginality is good for being to maintain the project, as far as i'm concerned.

Here's another conference talk, by Venkat Subramaniam about deciding between using existing code or writing your own: https://youtu.be/OheeK7Ux2-8?t=727