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from the have-they-applied-for-a-patent-yet? dept.
Submitted via IRC for chromas
Microsoft wants developers to start coding in the cloud
As software developers, we tend to get pretty attached to the IDE we use. And it's not hard to see why -- it's the tool we rely on the most, which enables us to create fantastic products and be productive while doing so.
And this can create a problem when we're faced with a change in our flow. We do not like change. Don't get me wrong. Change is great -- as long as it's not happening on our machines. Microsoft, however, doesn't mind a challenge, as it just unveiled Visual Studio Online. Like its name suggests, it's an IDE in the browser. Unlike its name suggests, that's only a small part of it.
Visual Studio Online is basically a service for software developers, which enables users to spin up dedicated environments "for long-term projects, to quickly prototype a new feature, or for short-term tasks like reviewing pull requests."
I am sure that at some point later down the road Microsoft will find a better name for it. Probably one that includes Azure in it -- because that's where those environments live in. But, for now, as it's in the public preview phase, it'll have to do.
[...] One thing to note here is that there will also be a browser-based version of Visual Studio for this -- the Visual Studio part of Visual Studio Online I mentioned in the beginning. It's not ready for prime time yet, but it should come in handy when you're just looking to do some quick work -- at least at first I don't expect it to work as a replacement for its on-premises brothers.
All this makes me wonder if we are not looking at a shift in how we develop software. After all, if the software we create can live in the cloud, why can't the programs we write be designed there as well?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Common Joe on Thursday November 07 2019, @07:59PM (2 children)
In my limited dealings with businesses, they seem to be quite happy paying for the cloud service. They swear it's cheaper in the long run.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday November 07 2019, @08:39PM (1 child)
They also tend to discount unexpected events that only happen occasionally. They're wrong.
Focus on the "next quarter" is short-sighted, and will cause you injury...whether the you is a company or an individual. But people don't assess risks properly, or gambling wouldn't be so popular.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Friday November 08 2019, @03:29AM
You know, I've never directly equated putting everything in the cloud with gambling, but that's actually a very accurate description and one many people in business should understand. Unfortunately, I think the proper comparison will be lost on the majority of people.
I'm forever reading / being told that everything is a risk. "This business investment is a risk." "We know Investing in Microsoft technology is a risk, but we think it's the right thing to do." "It's cheaper to move to the cloud. The risk of our servers going down is less." And yet I look at my managers and silently think "You don't really understand the risks, do you? Does anyone? Can anyone?"
I get that life itself is a gamble. I could go to take a leak and at that moment, an asteroid smashes through the roof and kills me. It's highly unlikely, so I don't worry about it. Where I think the problem comes in is the low-risk, high-impact gambles that everyone is making. And there are a lot of them in IT. We know a giant asteroid is on its way to Earth right now and it will kill most life on Earth. It's not a question of it. It's a question of when. It's the same thing in technology. Use strong passwords; don't put banking information on an insecure device like cell phones; don't save passwords in clear text; fully encrypt hard drives; etc, etc etc.
There are so many large asteroids in IT that we know how to deflect, but I think it's really hard for managers to fully understand the costs and risks. Hell, I don't think any single person on Soylent News can deflect every big asteroid. It's especially tough when advertising is geared in such a way as to influence its target audience to invest in an asteroid. They make it sound like a good thing. "Invest in this asteroid so you can dodge three others." o_O That isn't logic. That's lunacy.
And it's why we have the currently political climate we do. "Vote For for Asteroid Idiot because Asteroid Imbecile will devastate Earth!" Again... o_O
Ok. I'll get off my soap box and go stare through my telescope. If I'm going to watch an asteroid impact us, I at least want popcorn and a way to view the whole disaster.