September 2021 Summaries

The latest version of Coder introduces an improved installation experience, a better developer experience with a dark theme, and integration with JetBrains Projector for remote development support. Additionally, Coder Doctor is now available as a command-line diagnostic tool for Kubernetes clusters. A Terraform module has been released to manage infrastructure needed for production installations of Coder on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), with more service providers planned in the future. Local preview allows users to try Coder installation on their local machine, and workspace applications now support custom images containing user-specific applications. The changelog is accessible via a button or by clicking "What's new" next to an avatar. Admins can use the Coder REST API to create workspaces for users.

VS Code offers multiple methods for connecting to remote development servers, including Remote SSH and code-server. Remote SSH allows developers to use VS Code on their desktop while developing on a remote machine, while code-server enables access via a web browser. Both tools have advantages and disadvantages depending on the project requirements. Installing code-server can be done using an install script or as a Docker container. To connect remotely, developers can use code-server --link for a public tunneled URL or self-host a tunnel with Inlets Pro. Additionally, VS Code Remote SSH requires an SSH server running on the machine being accessed. Developers can explore various options and improvements in enabling smooth workflows while reducing setup friction for remote development servers.

Kazoo, creators of an employee experience platform for human resources, has adopted a cloud-based development environment called Coder. The company's Director of Infrastructure, Joe Mainwaring, found that the previous onboarding process for new developers was time-consuming and inefficient. After discovering Coder, which allows developers to spin up their own workspaces within minutes, he decided to implement it across the organization. Lead Engineer Ryan Poe reported increased productivity due to the cloud-based solution's ability to handle resource-intensive tasks more efficiently than local development environments. Additionally, Coder has helped Kazoo transition away from a homebrew system for testing feature branches that was difficult to maintain after its creator left the company.