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Vscode.dev

code.visualstudio.com

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Re: Vscode.dev

#81

Post by redleggedfrog »

coldtea wrote: post #25
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 It's like how nerdy types could easily slap together their own Dropbox, with rsync and duct tape (as per the famous comment), but most didn't - plus the world is not just full of types who'd do it. And then MS can start adding all kinds of collaboration tools built in,…

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

That sounds horrible.

Re: Vscode.dev

#82

Post by mynameismon »

TremendousJudge wrote: post #50
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…

As a CS student we used Cloud9 IDE for developing and code sharing in assignments -- we didn't know what Git was and using it didn't become a requirement until later semesters. "Don't touch anything, let me compile first" was a common utterance. Haven't looked into it for a while, apparently it was bought by Amazon and you need an AWS account? Back then it was just open the site and you're coding

If you really want to use something like that, Harvard's CS50 has made it available freely (under their own wrapper of tools): https://ide.cs50.io

Re: Vscode.dev

#83

Post by WorldMaker »

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've used the github.dev "." shortcut (on any repo in Github press dot to jump to github.dev) a few times to browse the code "more comfortably" with many of my VS Code extensions (via Settings Sync) without needing the time to clone locally. (There is a way to get one of the Github extensions locally to give you a Remote Repository experience in a local VS Code window, but that dot shortcut is much more convenient.) I've even forked and made small (mostly Markdown) PRs that way now.

I'm excited that VSCode.dev now supports the same thing with my company's current Azure Repos. Maybe they can give us a dot shortcut there now too. (If anyone is still active enough work on it to make such a change.)

Though I think the big new use case (that a lot of people are overlooking) is the new Theme Preview Playground use case in the article towards the bottom is a pretty great one. For instance, here's the VSCode theme I currently use because it shiny and rad and totally tubular:

https://vscode.dev/theme/jaredkent.laserwave

You don't have to download the theme to try it. It opens a fake workspace with several examples of code highlighting to get a feel for the theme. If you've got Settings Sync turned on you'll see how it interacts with your other settings (like which side you keep the "explorer bar" on) and if you decide to Keep the theme by clicking the button in the notification it pops up, your other devices will install the extension automatically and start to use it as soon as they next sync.

It's pretty neat and the article implies it's the first "playground" of this sort and probably not the last as they get other ideas of extension types people might prefer to test before they download.

Re: Vscode.dev

#84

Post by BiteCode_dev »

It's not only an awesome technical achievement, but it has also so much potential to be useful.

And yet, something at the back on my head is screaming:

WARNING!

I have the intuition that, on the long run, using more and more tools that are not on your own machine will create a dependency on systems big companies control. And something tells me we are going to pay for it in the end.

So I'll stay away.

Maybe I'm getting paranoid, but I don't regret not having ever created a Facebook account, or not getting on the 2010 hype train of magical SAAS services like Firebase that lock you in eventually.

We'll see in 10 years I guess.

Re: Vscode.dev

#85

Post by qbasic_forever »

mohanmcgeek wrote: post #76
qbasic_forever wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No theia has a nodejs server backing its web experience. This vscode.dev is an entirely client side JS application that runs in your browser--there's no backend server beyond something to serve a pile of static JS and html.

Is this true about vscode.dev? This was the first question I had while reading the blogpost: Do all my local files stay on my machine or do they get uploaded to a remote server?

The blog post says it's using a brand new local file access API only in cutting edge browsers (edge and chrome) so you can access the files on your machine directly from the browser. There is no server upload of anything.

Re: Vscode.dev

#87

Post by oriki »

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!

You've never wanted to edit text/code on a computer that isn't yours before? There are a lot of cases where I can see this coming in handy for making quick edits as an IT professional, especially in cases where I need to mess with a slightly complex file on an end user's machine but don't have the time or desire to copy it back to my own.

It's a tool, you don't have to use it.

Re: Vscode.dev

#88

Post by genericacct »

TremendousJudge wrote: post #50
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…

As a CS student we used Cloud9 IDE for developing and code sharing in assignments -- we didn't know what Git was and using it didn't become a requirement until later semesters. "Don't touch anything, let me compile first" was a common utterance. Haven't looked into it for a while, apparently it was bought by Amazon and you need an AWS account? Back then it was just open the site and you're coding

The open source version is still available as c9sdk on GH, some docker images are available on dockerhub

Re: Vscode.dev

#89

Post by WorldMaker »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #79
LuciusVerus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This "decent developer" thing sounds a bit gatekeepy - this solution isn't here to replace a fancy IDE on a MacBook Pro, it's here to help make coding easier to beginners or on shitty machines. I'd have loved to use this in high school/college instead of relying on the IDEs already installed in the lab.

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 out directly at 4:59pm every day. (In some of those cases there is maybe hope for them that getting a personal internet access firewall exception for vscode.dev might only be one form and a 30 minute review versus that 6 month+ process to get VS Code installed properly. I appreciate that it may be a nice new option for them by existing.)

It's not a lifestyle that I want for myself, but that doesn't mean I don't respect those folks as "decent developers". It takes a lot of fortitude to build software in those sorts of constraints.

Re: Vscode.dev

#90

Post by lostintangent »

mynameismon wrote: post #82
TremendousJudge wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a CS student we used Cloud9 IDE for developing and code sharing in assignments -- we didn't know what Git was and using it didn't become a requirement until later semesters. "Don't touch anything, let me compile first" was a common utterance. Haven't looked into it for a while, apparently it was bought by Amazon and you need an AWS account? Back then it was just open the site and you're coding

If you really want to use something like that, Harvard's CS50 has made it available freely (under their own wrapper of tools): https://ide.cs50.io

Speaking of education/CS50: we (the Codespaces/Live Share team) have actually been very excited/privileged to collaborate with the amazing CS50 team, as they've built their student experience on top of VS Code/Codespaces (http://code.cs50.io). Lowering the barrier of entry for learners, and supporting student success, is a huge goal of ours, and so I'm looking forward to getting our tools in the hands of more developers, and iterating based on feedback.
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