Remote Development

We’re excited to announce the first entry of the WIP Initiative: Remote Development Intro. Before we dive in, let’s cover the basics of what remote development is and why it’s worth learning.

What is Remote Development?

Remote development is the practice of writing and running code on a separate machine rather than your local computer. Not to be confused with “Remote Work”, which refers to working outside of a traditional office. Most software companies use remote development, even if the actual position is not remote.

This can be done via a cloud server, a virtual machine, or a remote desktop. Developers often use tools like SSH, VS Code Remote, and GitHub Codespaces to connect and work seamlessly as if they were coding locally.

Note: “Remote Development” is not an authoritative term. You may see other sources refer to this as “Remote Development Environment”, or “Cloud Development”, etc.

Why Remote Development?

Remote development has become an essential workflow for many developers. Some of the pros:

• Performance: Offloading work to a cloud server lets you run resource-intensive applications without slowing down your personal computer.
• Collaboration: Teams can share development environments, ensuring consistency and eliminating the “it works on my machine” problem.
• Flexibility: You can access your development environment from anywhere, whether switching devices or traveling.

There are real drawbacks of remote development, such as dependence on internet connection, latency, environment constraints. However, these cons apply for corporations, not for students looking for education and practice.

Remote Development for First Time Coders?

One of the biggest frustrations I had as a Computer Science student was dealing with environment setup. Getting code to run properly on your device can be surprisingly tricky. Now, I believe struggling through some of these setup issues is an important learning experience.

However, getting stuck on configuration problems before even writing your first meaningful program can kill momentum. That’s where remote development shines. It eliminates setup headaches and lets you focus on coding. In recent years, technologies like GitHub Codespaces have made remote development more accessible than ever, making it an excellent option for coding education.

Next Monday, I’ll walk through setting up a remote development environment from scratch. Stay tuned!

Questions?

Reach out at hello@aspirecodingacademy.com. We’re happy to discuss all things software.