Browser-Based IDEs (programming environments)

As I wrote about earlier, HTML5 (Javascript, Canvas, WebGL, etc.) is allowing people to create rich, interactive applications that run in your browser and don’t require flash or java. Cloud computing (such as Google App Engine and others) and AJAX are also allowing us to run things in our browser that before were typically run on the desktop because they require quickly saving and retrieving a bunch of info. Google docs, gmail, etc.

So it’s not so surprising that there are now even some programming environments starting to emerge that you can run and develop from inside your browser. These are websites where you can edit code, run your application, and sometimes even instantly share your application for others to try. This is much more convenient than the typical process of downloading and installing a huge IDE such as Eclipse or Netbeans, and then compiling and packaging and distributing/hosting an application on your own. Browser-based environments are also nice for students at schools, because they typically are not given permission to download and install software on their own, but can run these tools in the browser, as long as they aren’t blocked by IT. I imagine it won’t be too long before we start seeing kid-friendly browser-based IDEs start to appear.

TV is 75

One steamy day in the summer of 1921, Philo criss-crossed an open field atop a horse drawn plowing machine, thinking about television to relieve the boredom, when for a moment, he stopped to survey his day's work. Noticing the neatly cut parallel rows in the dirt before him, he was struck with a flash of inspiration: just as he plowed the field, back and forth in parallel rows, so could he scan an image, one line at a time, with a magnetically-deflected beam of electrons inside a cathode ray tube. At that moment, television as we know it - and all its extensions and futher manifestations (like this computer screen) arrived on earth in the mind of this 14-year-old farm boy.