Mozilla Bespin – Code Cloud Computing

Mozilla has launched the prototype of a new web developer framework, which collaborates the speed and ease of a desktop based development. Mozilla Bespin will be a open source code editing framework which promotes web standards and aims to increase developer productivity and bring out appealing user experiences. Catching up with the trend, the Bespin project also hopes to serve as the editor for cloud computing.

Mozilla Bespin

Mozilla is counting high on the developers themselves to build the editor to match their needs and still make the editor as powerful as possible. In the new releases, mozilla was found to talk of taking bespin to the levels of vi and emacs in terms of power. It goes without saying that accessbility from any platform or device will be a requirement for this tool.

Bespin is in very early prototype and is currently at 0.1, but is attracting a lot of crowd, primarily developers. The demo features a basic editor, with all mandatory features including syntax highlighting. Its been just a week since the project was unveiled and already 50 bugs have been reported by developers around the globe. In a more optimistic view, several of these bugs were accompanied with patches and is taken the hopes of mozilla to the next level. There are also talks of integration with Eclipse, the most relied platform of developers. 

Bespin relies on HTML 5 technology, which means that it will work only on the latest browsers, safari 4 and Mozilla 3 (It was surprising to see safari 3 being left out. Internet explorer users may expect Bespin to work after release of IE14 ).

Mozilla Bespin Cloud Computing

Still in traces of its prototype (you can try bespin demo here), Bespin already has features of cloud computing, which will allow you to share the file you are editing with other users on the internet. Mozilla has also integrated the ubiquity styled command line features into the web editor, which deserves loads of appreciation.

While a tool for cloud computing looks a good idea today, a web editor might be lack a lot in responsiveness, interactions with operating system and other applications, and also might not be able to take advantage of keyboard shortcuts to the fullest extent. Mozilla sure must have plans for settling it out. I wish mozilla brought out a desktop editor, instead of this web editor. I am sure, it would be more powerful and accepted by a wider audience. Is a web editor as powerful as a desktop editor?