GitHub code spaces
Oct 5, 2024
Today I found myself away from my computer, but I needed to update something on my site. I had my iPad, so I decided to give code spaces a try. Considering I’m using a tablet without a keyboard, or a mouse, the experience was generally pleasant.
It’s not something that I’d do every day, and for complex code it would have been painful, at least without the keyboard, but the fact I could make code changes, review the diffs, create a branch, install dependencies, lint the code and commit was a massive plus.
Once I’d created the PR and pushed, Vercel just built as normal… then it was just a case of merging and deploying the develop and prod branches 👌
Where to start
It’s Pretty simple to get started. Open up your repo in github. Under the code button/dropdown select code spaces. GitHub will create a new space where you can then install dependencies and browse your code as you would on VSCode on your local machine. It’s that simple.
Future development
Next up, I’ll be installing Vercel CLI and importing the end vars I need for the app to run my app… after that setting up auto linting etc.
Pros and cons
So far the list is pretty short
Pros
- Once setup, can be used from any logged in device
- Code on (almost) any device
Cons
- You need an internet connection to work
- Not as quick as a local repository
- More fiddly using the iPad keyboard