October 2021 Summaries

We're hosting another Meetup at our Austin Office. If you're interested in attending or speaking, please let us know.` `September 24th, 2024 - September 24th, 2024` `Austin, TX`. JetBrains has released several tools to enable remote development with their suite of IDEs, offering benefits such as improved speed, security, and consistency. One tool is JetBrains Gateway, which allows connecting to a remote server or Coder workspace over SSH. Another option is JetBrains Projector, which can be installed on a remote server and accessed via the web browser. JetBrains Projector supports various IDEs, including IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and PhpStorm, and can be installed using pip. The guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing Projector on a remote server, while also mentioning Coder, a remote developer workspace platform that integrates with Projector.

The text discusses a Meetup at the Austin Office, highlighting topics such as software supply chain attacks, container security, observability tools for cloud native applications, modern development tools, and open source projects. It mentions the sigstore project to ensure provenance and integrity of third-party dependencies, leading firms in observability tools, innovative build tools, and virtual cluster projects like Loft's. The text also talks about Coder's new version with added features such as hosting images using AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR), viewing changelog for up to 3 releases prior within the dashboard, and customizable service banner colors.

GitHub Codespaces and Coder are cloud-based developer environments that offer reproducible, powerful workspaces. Both have their unique approaches and benefits. GitHub Codespaces is tightly integrated with the GitHub interface, making it simple to use but limiting its options. It's best for teams using VS Code and GitHub exclusively. On the other hand, Coder takes an agnostic approach to tools and platforms, offering greater control over data and source code. It's suitable for organizations requiring a multi-cloud strategy or an air-gapped development platform. Pricing differs between the two; GitHub Codespaces is billed hourly with additional storage fees, while Coder is billed per user/year.

In Coder v1.23, users can now configure workspace applications, allowing them to add any IDE or desktop application to their remote workspaces through a config file. This feature opens up possibilities for using remote desktops (VNC), launching full-screen desktop applications, and incorporating web-based tools and internal tooling into the Coder dashboard. To configure workspace applications in Coder, users can create an application specs file (config.yaml) containing details such as name, scheme, port, working directory, icon path, command, arguments, and health check information. This new functionality enables developers to customize their remote workspaces according to their specific needs and preferences.

The iPad has become a viable option for writing code, thanks to advancements in cloud-based IDEs and developer-friendly keyboards. While native iOS apps are available, they may not offer the full experience of working on a laptop or desktop machine. Cloud-based IDEs like code-server, Gateway, Codespaces, and Coder provide a more similar experience to working locally, with access to powerful development environments and compute resources. These options cater to both individual developers and teams, offering flexibility and scalability. With the right tools and setup, writing code on an iPad can be a productive and convenient experience.

The meeting is scheduled for September 24th, 2024, at the Austin office. Cloud-based development environments require keyboard shortcuts to be transferred to ensure continuity. To do this in Coder, a script can be used to copy the `keybindings.json` file from the local workspace to the cloud environment. This process assumes that the user has a file called `keybindings.json` at the root of their workspace or dotfiles repository. The script also needs to be executable and modified to use the new keyboard shortcuts. After making the necessary changes, users can test their updated keyboard shortcuts in their workspace.