I recently received a tip to check out a new Beta release of “Bespin” at Mozilla Labs, and decided to test the demo for review. First, what is Bespin and why would anyone be interested in it? Essentially it is a HTML or code editor that works in the browser, or in this instance a browser that supports the HTML 5 <canvas> protocol (which apparently FF3 does currently but IE/Microsoft has no plans to implement). The developers have used <canvas> and JavaScript to build a cloud application that works something like a Google Docs for coders.
All of the html, css, php, javascript, or other files for a site would be listed in browser in a file management hierarchy familiar to anyone who has used a FTP program or CPanel. Clicking on the file would load it directly into the browser where it could be edited and then saved back to the disk, or in this instance the remote server. The “cloud” aspect is related to using the browser for this work, rather than a typical desktop application. As someone coding html files for over 13 years, this routine of working through multiple programs during the web publishing process could be transformed.
Bespin also enables collaborative authoring, editing, and file management for web development through a shared browser interface. The simplicity of the program leads to its expansion – if it can replace the desktop editor on your computer, then why not have everyone on the team use it and manage the publication of core site code files in the same manner… through Bespin? According to the developers, they are looking to improve upon Vi, Emacs, Textmate and IntelliJ IDEA.
“Accessible from anywhere – any device, any location
Simple to use like Textmate, an editor not an IDE
Wicked Fast – performance, performance, performance
Rock-solid real-time collaboration, like SubEthaEdit – it just works
Integrated command-line, like vi, fun like Quicksilver, social like Ubiquity
Self-hosted environment, like Emacs, for extreme extensibility, but with JavaScript”
The page referenced above, from Ajaxian, the development group behind Bespin, includes some great resources on the project and video of how to put it into use. I used a desktop FTP program for many years before switching to FireFTP, and have never been happier with a FTP program, so I can see how integrating browser based document editing for html, php, javascript, and css files could be excellent, especially if they can be drawn directly from the remote server into the browser, edited, and saved again without the need of FTP. This is the advantage of Bespin’s open source code – you can install and host it on your own servers, and modify it to meet your development needs.
It is in the latter, the open architecture leading to extensibility and new features from third party developers, where Bespin shows the most promise – this is the initial release of the program. For example, Bespin in it’s current form does not include WYSIWYG authoring of html documents like Dreamweaver or similar products, nor does it allow for in-browser preview of the page design. It is a code editor and file manager fusion that also includes a command line interface. From a developer’s perspective, if you add it to something like Basecamp’s features for communication and project management, Bespin could be a really powerful tool in a mash-up. If it becomes a modular platform that people actively develop for, and acquires “extensibility,” Bespin could be one of the first cloud apps to really change things.
Anyone who has been doing web design and web development professionally has probably become more or less ingrained in the way they do code editing, and the programs themselves become the basic canvas for daily work, like Photoshop & Illustrator for graphic design. I made the change from a desktop based FTP program to one running in FireFox as a plug-in based on reliability and functionality – FireFTP is rock solid. Would I likewise switch over from the combination of 4 different programs I use now for editing web files to using Bespin, another browser based application?
To be honest, a few of the content management systems I have used have an option to bring the CMS files themselves (css, php, index, etc) directly into the browser for editing, and this is handy. Bespin seems to be an extension of that trend, but I am probably too engrained with the patterns of my current work process and lacking the free time to put into installing and testing the application as my daily code editor for project work. If it easily installed, eliminated FTP layer, and had WYSIWYG html editing functions along with the ability to edit the code of web files directly from the server in the browser, with one click publishing of revisions, I would seriously consider using Bespin.
To find out more about the Bespin project at Mozilla Labs, visit:
https://bespin.mozilla.com/index.html
More on HTML 5 & Canvas:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Canvas_tutorial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_tag
This is a post from Web Dev News, a site brought to you by Xavisys Web Development.
Mozilla Labs Releases Bespin Beta: In-Browser Collaborative Code Editing