Cloud IDEs For Web Developers – Best Of

With so many desktop-based productivity software moving to the Cloud, Cloud-based Integrated Development Environment (IDEs) are quickly gaining ground with web developers. Nowadays, the browser is essentially a thin client to access Cloud-based IDE for website and web application development.

Tools like Github and Pastebin helped to ease the transition to Cloud-based development. Hence, full-fledged Cloud IDEs are now commonly used by many web developers as they’re easier to work and collaborate on, especially with trending remote working.

So here are 10+ of the Cloud IDEs you can get your hands on and a quick summation of each.

1. Github Codespace

Github’s initiative to bring their most popular code editor, Visual Studio Code (VSCode), on the cloud. As such, Codespace brings full development experience from VSCode. For example, you can install various add-ons, change the theme, run a debugger, use the command pallets, and even spin-up the Terminal.

At the time of this writing, Github Codespace requires a special invitation. Once getting the invitation, you can initiate the Codespace workspace from each of your Github repositories and code right from the browser.

2. Glitch

A Cloud IDE with a focus on building static websites. Once you signup for an account, you can start creating a project and select the type of website to build. You can select React, Node.js, Eleventy or plain old HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, or pull source code from Github.

Glitch provides each project a temporary URL. It’s neat and quick to build a static website or a prototype and share it to clients or peers who would like to see the website.

3. CodeAnywhere

Codeanywhere, the friendly Cloud IDE for all seasons. It features code highlighting and support for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and more. With a slew of handy apps for iOS and Android, this tool enables anyone to code anywhere.

Additionally, it supports Dropbox, SFTP, and SSH, which allows coders to easily backup project files and share them with collaborators.

4. Cloud9

After a few minutes of using Cloud9, you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone to coder heaven. You can code, run, and debug right from the browser and collaborate with your developer team members easily.

You can share your development environment to start pair programming together in just a few clicks. Plus, you can chat with one another also from the IDE in real time. It also has a built-in terminal with VIM-mode that can be enabled in the editor which is a nice touch.

In terms of compatibility, AWS Cloud9 supports over 40 programming languages, including Node.js, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, and Go. It also supports popular revision control systems like Git, Mercurial, and SVN.

5. goormIDE

Goorm is a full-featured Cloud IDE designed for a team of developers. One of its strengths is the built-in collaborative feature where you do pair programming with your team members. This way you can work on the same source code, chat, and provide feedback in real-time.

It supports various programming languages and frameworks both for the backend and front-end. These include Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, Rails, React, and Vue to name a few.

So whether your team is developing a website, mobile or desktop application, IoT or AI, Groom has got you covered with all the tools you need in the browser.

6. Repl.it

Repl.it supports more than 50 programming languages. It provides an IDE with a quick setup to start working together in real-time with your team members. And a host; there’s no need to set up a complicated deployment stage. You can code and immediately see it live with a custom domain.

Replit is an all-in-one development tool where you can code, embed and share the code, and deploy it — right from the browser.

7. Gitpod

Gitpod makes it easy to set up a development environment for any Git repository. In a nutshell, you can click on a button and spin up and have IDE and the development environment ready in just seconds. It works for repositories hosted in Github, Gitlab, and Bitbucket.

If you’re already using VSCode, you will surely feel right at home when using the IDE. It provides identical UI and experience that works on any platform – Windows, macOS, Linux, a Chromebook, or an iPad.

8. CodeReady Workspace

An in-browser IDE from RedHat. It aims to provide team members of development with an enterprise-ready, consistent, secure, and zero-configuration development environment.

You and your team can focus on developing rather than wasting time on the IDE configuration. It also eliminates one of the notorious “it works on my machine” problem during development. It is provided as part of their OpenShift offering.

9. ICE Coder

An open-source project that allows you to code right in the browser whether you are online or offline. You can install the IDE on your server or locally in your computer with an application that could run PHP like XAMPP or MAMP.

It is shipped with built-in features that make it a powerful IDE and boost productivity, including multi-cursor supports, autocomplete, Emmet, code hints, integrated file-diff, and database management.

10. Orion

The famed Eclipse Java IDE has been a mainstay in the desktop development world for years, thanks to its comprehensive feature set and rugged reliability. Orion is the next logical step, bringing Eclipse’s considerable experience to the Cloud IDE field.

Installing Orion is as easy as installing an NPM package. You can run it on the browser or embed it into Electron to make it run as a cross-platform desktop application.

Conclusion

As remote-working is now becoming a norm in software development industries, we can see that many of the development environment is shifting towards the Cloud.

And through this list, we can see that the Cloud-based IDE can be so much more powerful than traditional desktop-based counter-part, especially in the remote and collaborative working scenario.

Cloud-based IDE provides a built-in feature for real-time pair programming with instant chat or feedback. Regardless, of the OS or device you’re using, whether it’s a Chromebook or an iPad, you typically just need a browser and an internet connection, and be all set.

So have you and your team adopted Cloud IDE?