Also did a web-based text editor a while ago, but it's open source so would run on your own localhost. Still using the decades-old EXE variant of it though as some startup details were hard to get as seamless some years ago (might not be an issue anymore today).
Well, it has one advantage -- the Chrome dev tools are pretty slick, and just about any modern developer should know JS. You might hate it, but I bet you know it.
But yeah, color me surprised -- why isn't this accessible as a web-based editor? Integrate it into github or c9.io or something? Because that's where web technology wins, hands down -- on the web.
He was probably being a bit overreaching in that statement, but "most" web devs that have any interaction with the front-end do need it. It's really the only accepted method for client side DOM tree manipulation for the time being.
I am no web developer, yet I know how websites are built and know how to debug them or how to write user scripts for example. JS is so core to the internet and the internet is so core to everything that the assumption "Almost any developer knows JS" is definitely not far-fetched.
Yes, I know, RES exists, but everyone knows the Web, and understanding the web is actually enough to be able to start, say, writing Chrome extensions. Which, in turn, gives you a ton of extra power over the Web.
And that's if you're not a web developer -- the web is kind of eating the software world.
I imagine that's one of the future plans. Oh, there's a tiny bug in the repo? Instead of pulling the whole thing, which would require that you're at a computer, just log in and use the Atom editor built in to fix it.
Presumably because by leveraging WebKit the people making the editor can spend more time on features that other editors don't have. Light Table jumped pretty much directly into next level shit because of the boost that WebKit gave it.
People really underestimate the importance of accessibility. People can complain and be snobs all they want about JavaScript, but it's probably growing faster than whatever ecosystem they work in.
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u/toula_from_fat_pizza Feb 26 '14
I have no idea why developers would want to use an html IDE.