Gitpod vs local development

Why should you move your dev environment to the cloud? Here is the answer.

Developer experience

Developer productivity increases and results in greater team morale.

Remote work

Work from anywhere on any device. All you need is a browser.

Faster onboarding

Ready to code within seconds. No need to set up dev environments.

Open-source contributions

Increase in open-source contributions thanks to an easy onboarding.

Meet Bob and Alice

Let’s have a closer look on how desktop and cloud development differentiate.

Bob

works locally

Needs to manually configure each project. This includes:

installing development tools
cloning Git repos
installing dependencies
upgrade tools & dependencies
etc.

Alice

works in the cloud

Automates the configuration setup by using .

How does the setup affect their work?

Setup new Project
Develop a new feature
Switch context
Set up a new computer
Contribute to open-source projects

Bob

Setup new Project

clones the source code
ensures the correct runtime versions are installed (e.g. Java, Node, .NET)
makes sure the project supports his operating system
follows onboarding instructions, potentially spending up to a few days on this

Develop a new feature

pulls latest default branch
creates feature branch
ensures correct runtimes
ensures correct dependencies
starts database and dev servers

Switch context

git stash
git pull
changes branch
ensures correct runtimes
ensures correct dependencies
review code
changes back to previous branch
get stashed files
ensures correct runtimes
ensures correct dependencies

Set up a new computer

installs runtimes
installs editors
install editor extensions
configures git

Contribute to open-source projects

repeating all steps of SETUP NEW PROJECT 🥱

Alice

Setup new Project

creates a .gitpod.yml file at the root of her project
adds start task, e.g.
tasks:
- init: npm install
command: npm run dev
enables Prebuilds

Develop a new feature

opens new browser tab
prefixes the issue URL with gitpod.io/#⟨issue-url⟩ or uses the Gitpod browser extension

Switch context

opens new browser tab
prefixes the PR URL with gitpod.io/#⟨issue-url⟩ or uses the Gitpod browser extension
reviews code within Gitpod
closes browser tab

Set up a new computer

only needs is a browser

Contribute to open-source projects

launches workspace with a single click for all project with a gitpod.yml configured

Bob

Alice

Ready within seconds when working in the cloud

As Alice automates the configuration setup by using Gitpod she is ready to code within seconds, while it can take up to days for Bob.

Feel the difference

Spin up fresh, automated dev environments for each task, in the cloud, in seconds.

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Full blog post

Read the full blog post by Mike Nikles, our Senior Developer Success Engineer, sharing the story of moving to the cloud.

I said goodbye to local development and so can you

Stop maintaining your local developer environment. Instead, automate the setup once and use a new environment for each task you work on - available in seconds and always ready-to-code.

Jun 30, 2021

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Spin up fresh, automated dev environments for each task, in the cloud, in seconds.

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