As I mentioned in my post last Wednesday, Sitepoint is one of my go-to resources on the web for information regarding things such as web design tips, HTML standards issues, discussions and things of that nature, and in general technology in as a whole.
Sitepoint was the place where I got the books to learn how to Make My Own Database-Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL. From there I went onto the PHP Anthology, and really started to get going.
Places like Sitepoint are a gold mine of information. Today I found a new nugget. This post was about a cool web-based IDE called “Bespin.” This is something that I am sure has been on the minds of many people, including me, as goals to accomplish.
I like being able to update my website from anywhere. This is why my website is database driven. I don’t make each ‘post’ a standard .html file and I certainly don’t re-skin my pages if I want to make a new theme.
Usually if I want to make changes to my website, they are usually small. Some times I might just have a little glitch that needs to be sorted out (although they usually appear in my “Admin” section, which hopefully no one has broken into yet!!), yet other times I simply want to add new features altogether.
No matter what my intentions though, I have to use a Desktop-based IDE in order to get it done. My personal choice is Dreamweaver, but only because it colors my code well, has a reference section (which I don’t use anymore), and most importantly, it automatically saves my files to the server via ftp whenever I press CTRL-S. This is such a small feature, but I love it. Sure solid understanding of HTML helps, and small quirks like automatic tag closing is nice, but ultimately I don’t require the heavy-duty functions of Dreamweaver most other people do.
I tried my hand at making a small php-editor using Flex in order to update my site, but ultimately, my lack of knowledge with Flex has been my undoing. Also, easily having the ability to just pop open Dreamweaver cut into my ambition to take on such a project.
This why I am amazed at what has appeared right in front of my eyes. This is something that can be truly powerful in the future. This “Bespin” is something that can truly help someone like me accomplish what I wanted.
For a quick rundown of what Bespin is, take a look at this video the guys at Mozilla Labs has produced:
Okay, back? Good.
Now granted, I do realize this is in “extreme alpha” status, but nonetheless this looks awesome!
I have not had the chance to use it yet, so I have zero first-hand experience with it, but this looks like the kind of thing that I have been waiting for. They mention that they are making Bespin very extension-friendly, which is a great thing. This is why Firefox is so immensely popular.
If they can manage to squeeze in a PHP extension, and shore up any holes in there, as well as the added component of extensions that I haven’t even thought of yet, this could be one little project that turns ‘big.’
Hopefully they can pull it off!
