Google announced the chromebook yesterday (11 May 2011). While this is surely a nice thing, I have no clue whether it was interesting to buy one for a (non-javascript)-programmer.
What do you think? Will there be, for instance, a Java IDE in the cloud? A command line, even?
There's already a web-based terminal emulator that offers a remote command-line: http://servermonitoringhq.com/blog/the_ultimate_web_based_ide
There are also two different VNC implementations in JavaScript, in case you need to access a graphical desktop remotely:
I expect remote desktop software makers to start targeting the browser. It makes business sense to have a plugin-free citrix client for example.
It doesn't have to be the whole desktop though, as there are experiments to run Gnome applications with their output rendered to a browser: http://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2011/03/15/gtk-html-backend-update/
And finally there are a few web-based IDE projects out there:
So, in summary, you already have choices today, and more are coming.
I expect that the advantages in having a web-based IDE (universal access, ease of deployment, ease of integration with build and test infrastructure) will pull some non-web app developers onto web-based IDE's.
Not until you can have a full development environment available online, including access to a test platform.
That means it depends on the kind of software you want. System programming will be hard to provide online while web development might be easier.
So in all cases, I think just getting "real" computers will be cheaper (in infrastructure setup) than having to put everything online.
I guess developers need high-end computers anyway to make all their tools work together smoothly.
If you look at the hardware, it's got specs of typical netbook:
- Intel® ATOM Processor N570
- 2GB Standard System Memory
- 16GB SSD (mSATA)
Even if you'd "jailbreak" it somehow, low specs would prevent you from running any kind of developing environment on the netbook itself.
That leaves you it the option of development "in the clouds", which isn't just there yet. For example if you look at developer tools Google currently provides, it's mostly based on Eclipse (GAE, GWT, Android and even part of Chrome SDK toolkit). There is no way in world, that you'll be able to run these on Chromebook.
I think Chromebooks should be considered to be more like communication devices, than general purpose computers.
I think we are at the start of a market shift towards this sort of programming (i.e. everything is web-based).
Web programmers (as in, those who build websites :)) will be the first to benefit. There are already tools like Kodingen which are surprisingly good for prototyping and working on PHP/Python/Ruby. Once these sorts of sites can adequately work with services like Github/Bitbucket and cloud hosting like Heroku then pretty much all of my work could be web-based.
For me that is a big improvement because it allows you to be a little more mobile (i.e. working from home etc.)
For other types of development; I guess eventually we might see adequate tools on the cloud. But as it stands the tools for doing so are largely undeveloped. The major problem is, if you are developing desktop software you really need to build and test it on a desktop. Maybe in a few years the way people compute will be to rent computers in the cloud - and just attach themselves to what they need using a netbook-like head. Who knows :)
I found this while googling "java chrome OS":
Getting to a command prompt If you're a Linux hacker, you probably know that Google Chrome OS is built on top of Linux and you're wondering how you can jailbreak your device so you can get to a command prompt. It turns out: there's no need. The command prompt is built in to your device!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Before following these instructions, remember to put your device into Developer Mode (see above).
So what would keep one from installing, say, Eclipse and use the Chromebook even in the traditional way.
ChromeBook + Remote Desktop/VNC + Large EC2 Instance** = Very cheap, very powerful development machine.
** Just remember to shut down your VM when you're not using it.
What if I want to develop a transcoding utility. To transcode video files (say like FFmpeg). I could not do that on ChromeBook itself. Because it has no IDE for C++? And if I have a 4GB file on my USB stick ready to be transcoded, and the transcoder itself is on a server. Then I would first have to sit and wait for the transfer of the 4GB video file to the server is completed. Before I could start testing my transcode utility.
And then again, a different file, a new test for transcoding. The idea is good, but I do not think for high-end users/programmers. Will you be able to run something like Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro?
Premiere Pro and Avid need good video cards in order to work. No way one would be able to shuttle a 220 mbps movieclip over any vnc/remote desktop client smoothly.
Just some of my concerns.
In much larger terms, a company or university can provide more powerful development systems (more CPUs/GPUs/RAID arrays, etc.) at a lower cost (both capital and energy and laptop/IP theft risk) per programmer in a server room, or in the cloud, than providing hardware capable of such to each developer.
Then either a web interface, or a streamed remote desktop, can be sent to each developer's less expensive iPads and Chromebooks, etc.
Except, of course, for specialized development needs (testing low-latency "twitch" games, real-time music, hardware interfacing, etc.)
For an individual coder, they might very likely prefer their own MacBook (Pro|Air), et.al., or something else driving a very large pair of monitors.
