In the beginning of January, Mozilla Labs, the developers behind the beloved web browser FireFox, have announced the release of Bespin, its first initiative for open web development.
Bespin is an open, extensible web-based framework for code-editing with the aim to increase productivity, promote open web standards and egage users and developers on a high level of user experience.
Replacing HTML authoring software – features of Bespin
Mozilla Labs has come up with a set of features, based on community feedback for its existing products and its own goals for open web development. In brief:
- Ease of use – Bespin is set up to let users get access straight to the code from within the dashboard without having to load any additional software
- Collaboration in real time – Bespin enables users to share work with colleagues via live coding sessions
- Extensible and self-hosted – The interface and capabilities of the web application will be highly extensible and easily accessible to users
- Integrated command line
- Accessible from anywhere – No matter where you are or what device you are on, the code editor should work, from any device, using any modern standards-compliant browser
- Wicked Fast — The editor will be smooth and responsive, regardless of file size
Currently in beta (release 0.1.6 “Nutritious Nimbus”), the editor is very easy to look at and use, allowing users to edit a number of different filetypes and previewing the outcome in a browser as well as exporting and importing projects. Below are two screenshots of Bespin’s Dashboard and open sessions as well as Javascript editing facility
Try it for yourself
If you would like to try Bespin for yourself, why not visit:
- Bespin.Mozilla.com (free registration)
- Mozilla’s Bespin Wiki for tips and tricks
