Why Google's IDX Is Not a VS Code Killer

In this video, we dive into #Google's new development environment, #ProjectIDX, which is now in public beta. We'll explore its most important features, like workspaces running on Linux VMs, AI-supported programming with #Gemini and mobile previews for #Flutter projects.
🍿 Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:29 What is Project IDX?
01:39 Workspaces
03:49 Previews
04:37 Flutter Development
05:47 Gemini
06:27 Hosting
07:07 My Conclusion
🔗 Links:
Project IDX: idx.google.com
🧑‍💻 Further information:
Project IDX Blog: idx.dev/blog
Project IDX Official Documentation: developers.google.com/idx/guides

[@kamertonaudiophileplayer847]

I never heard about IDX before your video. It seems Google has to thank you.

[@codeswot]

😂😂😂 I guess you must have been living off the grid

[@AnimefreakHQ]

@@codeswot Is that a flex?

[@Nonyonah143]

I’ve been using it cos my laptop sucks and I see this being a great alternative for people that have bad PCs or chrome os users.

[@camelCaseDev]

Yes, I agree!

[@naveenbisht5543]

I hope it has a free tier for individuals too

[@princearya4208]

yess

[@batalioaneromane]

IDX it's a great IDEa for people who need to do this on a tablet

[@camelCaseDev]

That‘s a great idea!

[@rafaelrojas9028]

When developing mobile cross platform with flutter and having web based iOS, android and web simulators is a VSCode killer 100% on that field.

[@negativerfan]

Good video! Thank you for the insights!

[@camelCaseDev]

Thanks for the feedback! :)

[@emmanuelgenga7421]

I've used it for the past month or so and honestly it's less config to start but its no different from vscode or fleet by jetbrains, especially now that fleet has become much faster and easier to use

[@proflead]

Thanks for sharing! :)

[@edhahaz]

They shipped it so they can kill it.

[@camelCaseDev]

Possible! Let’s see ;)

[@negativerfan]

Most sane google move.

[@mfathinhalim]

i think idx basicly vscode but optimized for browser
well the target is for people that have bad devices or only using phone/tablet for coding (or you has important work without your code device, you can do that in other device)

[@samiahmedansari]

I don't know if this feature exists right now, if you could make the preview window full screen and detach it that would be cool, like for example if i am using two screens ide in one and preview window opened in 2nd monitor.

[@camelCaseDev]

This is possible!

[@academicresearch2280]

I don't think they will charge for it, they simply can't. Thanks for the great video.

[@deepanjannag]

My thought exactly. At least, there will be a version free for users who have minimal hardware needs.

[@ThaGuus]

How could it be a vscode killer if it's just a vscode in the cloud with some extensions and pre-setup templates?

[@camelCaseDev]

That’s what I’m saying! It’s more about developing locally vs. in the cloud.

[@camelCaseDev]

That’s what I’m saying! It’s more about developing locally vs. in the cloud.

[@yoooyoyooo]

This project is an alternative to codespacea, gitpod and other remote dev. environments. That's how the video should start it would be much clearer to everyone.

[@viniciusmorgado9722]

No, is a entire development environment on cloud with support for nix package manager, docker and so on, I can run 1K microservices on the IDX without install anything on my machine, is way superior than alternatives like the vscode online, the vscode-oss is the editor of choice for IDX probably because of the familiarity for most developers. If I just need a browser way I should install anything on my computer?

[@simonedwards7101]

If you're developing on Windows and using React-Native with Expo you DON'T need a mac.

[@camelCaseDev]

That's very interesting, I did not knew that. So that works with a dedicated Expo app for iPhones, if I understand this correctly, right?

[@simonedwards7101]

@camelCaseDev Basically, you need an apple developer account and to use Expo EAS Build.
It spits out something you can run directly on an iPhone.
You can even use it to push directly to the app stores with some configuration.
All this from Windows.

[@camelCaseDev]

@@simonedwards7101 Cool, thanks for sharing!

[@andrewng9950]

@@simonedwards7101 I did not know this as well, thank you!

[@flowerboy.t]

Will the emulator run on web..my pc is not so good so I used my mobile since the emulator slows it down

[@hasipTimurtas]

Came here to watch the benefits of IDX

[@adebola_duf]

Been using it for a while before it was released to the public.
And sometimes it sucks. Like my workspace stops working properly - i cant push to github, build fails until hours later.
But I still use it cos my laptop sucks 😂

[@zehph]

My guess is they are releasing this beta test to refine this tool intended for internal use, probably going to be discontinued without becoming a paid product or a year after release like Stadia. The niche is narrow and the tech still is too expensive so even inside the niche there wouldn’t be that many capable/willing to pay for it (because it will be expensive)

[@camelCaseDev]

Very interesting assumption! Thank you for your valuable feedback!

[@mryan744]

I kind of don’t understand what is the difference if there is any between Gitpod and Google IDX

[@ajasja]

How is idx different from github workspaces?

[@hra4242]

Ist the same....

[@bashacoder]

What is the difference between IDX and GitPod.

[@leosempire442]

same, but gitpod is far better.

[@areifzyp]

Been using it on an iPad pro and found out it’s very useful 😂

[@camelCaseDev]

Yes, good idea!

[@tithos]

I like it so far

[@camelCaseDev]

Me too. And I'm very excited to see how it will evolve.

[@authordakid]

The pricing will be important because AWS Cloud9 ide is $2

[@negativerfan]

Supporting IOS simulators would be crazy cool. Xcode sucks so much. The Flutter setup is cool too, but I do not work on multiplatform mobile apps.

[@camelCaseDev]

Yes, I also love programming natively. But I also really like Flutter. I can really recommend it.

[@VitaliyNET]

Lost one hour to configure google idx… always message - allow cookies

[@otakulihao4507]

The power of IDX is Nix

[@RenoFizaldy]

Seems like google will monetize it soon after the beta version, i think idx is rival of codespaces and cloud9

[@zikkrype]

How vscode can be vscode killer?

[@dany.8503]

I think of it as a replit killer than vs code

[@LegendaryLLama-hz8db]

lol I actually dont like idx. The few minutes it takes to spin up is nothing. I just wrote the last project using it it was okay. The only thing that I did not like, was the nix package being wrong and it caused and error in the workspace the next time I came back. Other than that, it is the only browser based ide environement that allows me to compile with no issues

[@camelCaseDev]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@MichaelBohemian]

It’s a web app so it’s not gonna function like a native app. But people will rethink it when Windows does the same thing.

[@terrabys]

IDX is VS Code in the cloud...

[@akhil_sarikonda]

Unless you have a poorly performing machine, I don't see any reasons to use it.

[@RealBrokoli]

Coding on your tablet, chromeos

[@Suit9uy]

Neovim is

[@ifstatementifstatement2704]

Nothing google does is a killer of anything 😂

[@Usman._]

Trash. It will be gone. What if you don’t have an internet connection? Developing on a train or while commuting ? Hmm

[@paulob.1247]

Couldn't build your environment. Thanks google...