from Hacker News

Why is it taking so long for cloud dev environments to catch on?

by zachlloyd on 9/21/22, 3:27 PM with 8 comments

• by yaohui-wyh on 9/25/22, 2:51 PM

  Great article. The comparison between online doc and remote development is very inspiring. And another point I wish to add, IMHO, for GDocs and GSheets, most of the user interactions happen within the document editor. With remote development, users switch focuses between code editor / terminal / debugger / build tools, etc., and each toolchain provides rich customizations. The Integrated Developer Environment is an `MxNxL` combination, one single killer feature (like “avoiding version skew” for online doc) would hardly be enough.

  And a top-down company mandate could be the stronger pull since the individual preferences of the `MxNxL` devtools would be irrelevant compared with some more significant concerns like Dev-Security / Immutable & Standardized dev envs.

• by byoung2 on 9/21/22, 4:47 PM

  I could imagine the switch being very difficult at an existing company, but if a startup implemented cloud dev environments from day one, it would be baked into their DNA. When I worked as a contractor, the biggest when starting a new client was getting the dev environment set up. Cloning the repo, installing packages, pulling docker images, modifying host files, etc. If all that already existed in the cloud and I just needed credentials to log in and I could start contributing in minutes instead of hours or days (even weeks if you have to ship a laptop), that would open up possibilities for bringing on devs for shorter engagements. You could have a dev spin up a cloud environment for a single ticket, giving them access to a single feature branch or even a single file or module...write the code and tests without having to invest time in environment setup

• by pid-1 on 9/21/22, 3:44 PM

  Great read.

  Anedotally I've tried Gitpod, Cloud9 and Codespaces. Latency issues were the major thing that turned me off from every platform.

  Also from a business pov, I've found most thin clients relatively expensive. so in the end of the day you don't save much on the endpoint side, but pay extra on cloud environments. That point is local market dependent though.

  Finally, VS Code dev containers greatly improved our onboarding experience already, making cloud dev ends less appetizing.

• by joethompson14 on 9/23/22, 12:39 PM

  Biggest (and somewhat hidden) win of cloud dev:

  """ Cloud hosting makes it necessary to have a (mostly) hermetic dev environment, which is a good thing """

• by QuinnyPig on 9/21/22, 6:18 PM

  I started writing a response, but it turned into an entire blog post. Going to edit it and publish it in a few weeks; it'll cite this (very good) article.