8 ms·

Repl from Repo

259 points by archmaster 7y ago

archmaster 7y ago
Repl.it is an amazing cloud-based IDE, and I'm super excited that they just launched a Git GUI and GitHub integration! Now it's possible to import almost any repository from GitHub in the click of a button and get it running with a very minimal amount of configuration. There are still a few kinks to work out, but I can see this being very useful.
- dang 7y ago
  It's great to post something you find exciting, but "Show HN" is explicitly for sharing your own work. So please don't use that in titles unless it's something you made. https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
skiboyec 7y ago
I look forward to using this
zubairq 7y ago
Can I run nodejs projects on this? I wanted to see if I could run yazz Pilot on this
- archmaster 7y ago
  You can! In fact, I've found that it actually works the best with Node.js
  - zubairq 7y ago
    Super, I’ll give it a go soon then :)
  - faitswulff 7y ago
    Does run on repl.it work with all of the languages that normal repl.it supports?
    - archmaster 7y ago
      It does!
      - zubairq 7y ago
        I just tried to run zubairq/pilot from the github importer on repl.it, and after I ran: npm install node src/electron.js ... * Loading driver: * : demo_timer * Loading driver: * : quicksort * Loading driver: * : bubblesort * Loading driver: * : new * Loading driver: * : new_microservice add_rest_api called Loaded all apps (may use already loaded drivers) Yazz Pilot started on: http://172.18.0.154:3000 http://172.18.0.154:3000 It starts up alot slower than running on a desktop machine, but when I go to http://172.18.0.154:3000 http://172.18.0.154:3000 it never seems to connect from a browser. What am I doing wrong here?
        amasad 7y ago
        Try listening on 0.0.0.0 which will listen on all IPs on the machine and is required for running on remote environments like repl.it. When you do that we automatically detect the port open and show you a web view.
        zubairq 7y ago
        Ok, thanks, that worked. And I learnt something new, about 0.0.0.0 even existing! :)Now I have the problem the Repl.it VM running Yazz/pilot keeps crashing after a few minutes started
- sansnomme 7y ago
  Try glitch too, it is pretty good for demos.
  - zubairq 7y ago
    Can you import nodejs git repos into glitch?
    - lucasverra 7y ago
      Yes you can
msoad 7y ago
repl.it is a god sent for low income students I teach CS to. They only have Chromebooks but can run Python, C++ and more. My feedback to the team is that please try using it on those slow and small Chromebooks. You'll see how the navbar is eating 20% of vertical space in a 11 inch Chromebook. Make the UI dense. Those kids have sharp eyes!
- amasad 7y ago
  Chromebooks are one of the primary devices we test on (https://m.imgur.com/a/3eCnqUE https://m.imgur.com/a/3eCnqUE)! That's a good point tho, will discuss with the team.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    I have that exact Chromebook! It runs Linux pretty well, but I can see schools not being all to pleased with going in that direction…
- atiffany 7y ago
  It's amazing for anyone learning to code. I run my coding school's classes off of Replit Classroom.
- TrackerFF 7y ago
  Might wanna check out Google colab, if you haven't. I switch between repl.it and colab, depending on what I'm working on.
mattigames 7y ago
The big thing missing on repl.it is to use visual studio code instead of their own editor (think like Stackblitz), that would really be a game changer to be able to use one custom key-shortcuts, to use vscode plugins and so on.
- enigmadev 7y ago
  Suggest it at https://repl.it/feedback/ https://repl.it/feedback/ :D In fact,y es this would be really cool!
- amasad 7y ago
  We decided against using vscode verbatim for a few reasons, chief among them is keeping repl.it simple for people starting to code. And as much as I like vscode and the team behind it, it doesn't seem smart to tie your core tech to a project under the control of MSFT. With regards to extensions you can easily imagine a vscode-replit bridge. Finally, we came up with a novel approach to IDE/window management that we think people will be excited to write extensions for when we open it up: https://repl.it/blog/ide https://repl.it/blog/ide
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - mattigames 7y ago
    I disagree, vscode UI is pretty simple and even if not you can always creat a basic theme and use it as the initial default (after all it's just css/html) to make it simpler for novice users, the code is not really under the control of Microsoft in the sense the is open source and in the worse case scenario you create a fork from the latest build, which is already pretty stable. Microsoft itself realized the reality of this rationale and that's why their latest web browser is Chromium-based despite Chromium being under the "control" of Google.
    - amasad 7y ago
      For engineers it may look simple but for someone new to programming -- and we've done the research -- the more elements in the app the more easy it is to get overwhelmed (cognitive load). Repl.it, with all the features we added, still loads with an editor and a console and a huge green run button. Most users, even those very new to programming, intuitively get it. >the code is not really under the control of Microsoft in the sense the is open source and in the worse case scenario you create a fork from the latest build, which is already pretty stable. I'd like to see a 10 person startup maintain a monster codebase fork like that. I agree it's a nice insurance policy, but it just not realistic. Anyways, your original feedback is well taken and we'll make sure to create some compat layer :-)
ZainRiz 7y ago
Fyi, there's another similar project called gitpod.io Take any github repo, prepend the url with "https://gitpod.io/#" https://gitpod.io/#", and hit Enter (so https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus would become https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus) That'll open up an instance of VSCode in a web browser and you can start coding
- amasad 7y ago
  Gitpod is awesome and a really bright team behind it. However, Repl.it is different in that we're focused on speed and minimal configuration. You don't even need to login to clone a repo and start it. The URL structure is repl.it/github/<GitHub path> Try this 2048 implementation in C: https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c (You can even run it on your phone!)
  - whycombagator 7y ago
    > Try this 2048 implementation in C: https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c I did and got: "Failed to connect, retrying"
    - amasad 7y ago
      Are you behind a firewall? Some block websockets. It also could be an aggressive adblocker.
      - TumorousJoker 7y ago
        Yup, I can confirm it doesn't play nice with Ad blockers for some reason because it worked on chrome and Firefox on my android phone, but did not work with Firefox focus
        amasad 7y ago
snek 7y ago
so it tries to automatically submit prs to repos using the users? sounds like why typescript has the @types org. I'd be annoyed receiving prs of weird metadata from people using some random site or tool.
- enigmadev 7y ago
  No not automatically! It obviously suggest implementing it and it shows you what you have to do and prepares a pr.
wishinghand 7y ago
Will this change the pricing model at all? Or add a new tier? NBD if it does, just wondering if a lot of people start using this if Repl.it can keep the lights on.
- amasad 7y ago
  No, not at all. Our infra costs are a lot less than most people expect.
  - JoshTriplett 7y ago
    Can you talk a little bit about your infrastructure and how you manage that? I'm also very interested in the distributed filesystem you mentioned as item 5 in the post.
itin 7y ago
I've been a fan of repl.it from the start, though I failed to see the utility that a senior dev/someone with compute resources would derive from it. With this new feature, however, I think repl.it will save developers a lot of time. Kudos!
- amasad 7y ago
  Thank you! ^^ According to "disruption" theory we're on our way :P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma
chrisaycock 7y ago
I can get the repo cloned, but nothing builds automatically. Specifically, when I click the "run on repl.it" badge, a repl.it command line appears with the cloned repo, but the run command from the .replit file is not invoked. I can type the command manually and then everything works. I tried the first three examples (ascii_racer, minesweeper, ddgr) on both Safari (with ad blocker) and Chrome (no ad blocker). I do not have a repl.it account, so I am not logged into anything. Overall this feature looks very impressive.
- sweetjerry 7y ago
  hi, repl.it engineer here. Are you hitting the run button in the header? We now put you in a blank repl, and will upgrade you to the right language once we read the .replit file. After we do that reload, hitting the run button should work!
  - chrisaycock 7y ago
    Oh! My bad. The "Run" button is featured in the video.
AcerbicZero 7y ago
I really like Repl.it as a learning tool, and I used it a bunch while transitioning from ruby to python, although its also given me a few bad habits, and I've never been able to find much use for it while working on "real" projects. Still, I pull it up from time to time, just to confirm some bit of code I'm working on. it's still the best multi-language Powershell ISE-ish repl I've ever used though :)
- amasad 7y ago
  Give it a try for a "real" project and see how you feel about it. We've improved a lot recently. I'd love to hear your feedback when you try it out: amjad@repl.it
westoncb 7y ago
Somebody submitted a PR to a JavaScript/glsl game of mine last night (https://github.com/westoncb/under-game https://github.com/westoncb/under-game), adding a badge/link that would open the repo on repl.it. I looked around at the user's activity a bit and they had sent essentially the same PR to at least one other repo recently, and appeared to be affiliated with repl.it. I went ahead and merged the PR since it does just seem like a small net positive addition. I still wonder though: what downside to this might I be missing?
- davesque 7y ago
  Yep, I got the same thing. Haven't merged it and probably won't. Since it appeared to be a bot that created the PR, it seemed like a rather underhanded, spammy way of promoting the repl.it project. It kinda reminds me of the whole tip4commit debacle with the flask project: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8542969 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8542969
  - amasad 7y ago
    We're certainly not operating any bots if that's what you're implying.
    - davesque 7y ago
      The PR's commit message said that the commit was "automatically generated on repl.it". I guess I don't know how to interpret that. Maybe I'm mistaken and someone did manually created the PR with a bad commit message: https://github.com/davesque/go.py/pull/2 https://github.com/davesque/go.py/pull/2
      - davesque 7y ago
        And I did eventually confirm that the commit was, in fact, created manually by an actual person and not a bot.
- amasad 7y ago
  I looked up the PR author and it's a repl.it user and community moderator (https://repl.it/@eankeen https://repl.it/@eankeen). Anyways, I hope the PRs are not annoying -- it certainly cool to be able to run under game quickly (I scored 97 https://imgur.com/a/HHMMXAY https://imgur.com/a/HHMMXAY)
zapita 7y ago
I would be surprised if repl.it didn't get acquired by Github before the end of 2020.
- PRTIFFANY 7y ago
  my thoughts exactly
ebbflowgo 7y ago
This is awesome guys! One conversion suggestion, in your "Try it out" section, add the repl.it link beside the project. I went into ascii_racer and didn't find the repl.it button so I bounced. From repo to running repl is a dream.
anaphor 7y ago
What's the recommended way to deal with projects that have system level dependencies? (E.g. in C). I have build scripts but no way to install anything. Do I have to use docker or some other container technology? Edit: sounds like they plan on allowing docker containers which would be really nice. Great job on the MVP.
gnumoksha 7y ago
There is a well established FOSS IDE that does the job: http://eclipse.org/che http://eclipse.org/che (SaaS http://codenvy.com http://codenvy.com)

259 points by archmaster 7y ago

Repl.it is an amazing cloud-based IDE, and I'm super excited that they just launched a Git GUI and GitHub integration! Now it's possible to import almost any repository from GitHub in the click of a button and get it running with a very minimal amount of configuration. There are still a few kinks to work out, but I can see this being very useful.

dang 7y ago
It's great to post something you find exciting, but "Show HN" is explicitly for sharing your own work. So please don't use that in titles unless it's something you made. https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

skiboyec 7y ago

I look forward to using this

zubairq 7y ago

Can I run nodejs projects on this? I wanted to see if I could run yazz Pilot on this

archmaster 7y ago
You can! In fact, I've found that it actually works the best with Node.js
- zubairq 7y ago
  Super, I’ll give it a go soon then :)
- faitswulff 7y ago
  Does run on repl.it work with all of the languages that normal repl.it supports?
  - archmaster 7y ago
    It does!
    - zubairq 7y ago
      I just tried to run zubairq/pilot from the github importer on repl.it, and after I ran: npm install node src/electron.js ... * Loading driver: * : demo_timer * Loading driver: * : quicksort * Loading driver: * : bubblesort * Loading driver: * : new * Loading driver: * : new_microservice add_rest_api called Loaded all apps (may use already loaded drivers) Yazz Pilot started on: http://172.18.0.154:3000 http://172.18.0.154:3000 It starts up alot slower than running on a desktop machine, but when I go to http://172.18.0.154:3000 http://172.18.0.154:3000 it never seems to connect from a browser. What am I doing wrong here?
      - amasad 7y ago
        Try listening on 0.0.0.0 which will listen on all IPs on the machine and is required for running on remote environments like repl.it. When you do that we automatically detect the port open and show you a web view.
        zubairq 7y ago
        Ok, thanks, that worked. And I learnt something new, about 0.0.0.0 even existing! :)Now I have the problem the Repl.it VM running Yazz/pilot keeps crashing after a few minutes started
sansnomme 7y ago
Try glitch too, it is pretty good for demos.
- zubairq 7y ago
  Can you import nodejs git repos into glitch?
  - lucasverra 7y ago
    Yes you can

msoad 7y ago

repl.it is a god sent for low income students I teach CS to. They only have Chromebooks but can run Python, C++ and more. My feedback to the team is that please try using it on those slow and small Chromebooks. You'll see how the navbar is eating 20% of vertical space in a 11 inch Chromebook. Make the UI dense. Those kids have sharp eyes!

amasad 7y ago
Chromebooks are one of the primary devices we test on (https://m.imgur.com/a/3eCnqUE https://m.imgur.com/a/3eCnqUE)! That's a good point tho, will discuss with the team.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  I have that exact Chromebook! It runs Linux pretty well, but I can see schools not being all to pleased with going in that direction…
atiffany 7y ago
It's amazing for anyone learning to code. I run my coding school's classes off of Replit Classroom.
TrackerFF 7y ago
Might wanna check out Google colab, if you haven't. I switch between repl.it and colab, depending on what I'm working on.

mattigames 7y ago

The big thing missing on repl.it is to use visual studio code instead of their own editor (think like Stackblitz), that would really be a game changer to be able to use one custom key-shortcuts, to use vscode plugins and so on.

enigmadev 7y ago
Suggest it at https://repl.it/feedback/ https://repl.it/feedback/ :D In fact,y es this would be really cool!
amasad 7y ago
We decided against using vscode verbatim for a few reasons, chief among them is keeping repl.it simple for people starting to code. And as much as I like vscode and the team behind it, it doesn't seem smart to tie your core tech to a project under the control of MSFT. With regards to extensions you can easily imagine a vscode-replit bridge. Finally, we came up with a novel approach to IDE/window management that we think people will be excited to write extensions for when we open it up: https://repl.it/blog/ide https://repl.it/blog/ide
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- mattigames 7y ago
  I disagree, vscode UI is pretty simple and even if not you can always creat a basic theme and use it as the initial default (after all it's just css/html) to make it simpler for novice users, the code is not really under the control of Microsoft in the sense the is open source and in the worse case scenario you create a fork from the latest build, which is already pretty stable. Microsoft itself realized the reality of this rationale and that's why their latest web browser is Chromium-based despite Chromium being under the "control" of Google.
  - amasad 7y ago
    For engineers it may look simple but for someone new to programming -- and we've done the research -- the more elements in the app the more easy it is to get overwhelmed (cognitive load). Repl.it, with all the features we added, still loads with an editor and a console and a huge green run button. Most users, even those very new to programming, intuitively get it. >the code is not really under the control of Microsoft in the sense the is open source and in the worse case scenario you create a fork from the latest build, which is already pretty stable. I'd like to see a 10 person startup maintain a monster codebase fork like that. I agree it's a nice insurance policy, but it just not realistic. Anyways, your original feedback is well taken and we'll make sure to create some compat layer :-)

ZainRiz 7y ago

Fyi, there's another similar project called gitpod.io Take any github repo, prepend the url with "https://gitpod.io/#" https://gitpod.io/#", and hit Enter (so https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus would become https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/ZainRizvi/UseRWithGpus) That'll open up an instance of VSCode in a web browser and you can start coding

amasad 7y ago
Gitpod is awesome and a really bright team behind it. However, Repl.it is different in that we're focused on speed and minimal configuration. You don't even need to login to clone a repo and start it. The URL structure is repl.it/github/<GitHub path> Try this 2048 implementation in C: https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c (You can even run it on your phone!)
- whycombagator 7y ago
  > Try this 2048 implementation in C: https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c https://repl.it/github/mevdschee/2048.c I did and got: "Failed to connect, retrying"
  - amasad 7y ago
    Are you behind a firewall? Some block websockets. It also could be an aggressive adblocker.
    - TumorousJoker 7y ago
      Yup, I can confirm it doesn't play nice with Ad blockers for some reason because it worked on chrome and Firefox on my android phone, but did not work with Firefox focus
      - amasad 7y ago

snek 7y ago

so it tries to automatically submit prs to repos using the users? sounds like why typescript has the @types org. I'd be annoyed receiving prs of weird metadata from people using some random site or tool.

enigmadev 7y ago
No not automatically! It obviously suggest implementing it and it shows you what you have to do and prepares a pr.

wishinghand 7y ago

Will this change the pricing model at all? Or add a new tier? NBD if it does, just wondering if a lot of people start using this if Repl.it can keep the lights on.

amasad 7y ago
No, not at all. Our infra costs are a lot less than most people expect.
- JoshTriplett 7y ago
  Can you talk a little bit about your infrastructure and how you manage that? I'm also very interested in the distributed filesystem you mentioned as item 5 in the post.

itin 7y ago

I've been a fan of repl.it from the start, though I failed to see the utility that a senior dev/someone with compute resources would derive from it. With this new feature, however, I think repl.it will save developers a lot of time. Kudos!

amasad 7y ago
Thank you! ^^ According to "disruption" theory we're on our way :P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovator%27s_Dilemma

chrisaycock 7y ago

I can get the repo cloned, but nothing builds automatically. Specifically, when I click the "run on repl.it" badge, a repl.it command line appears with the cloned repo, but the run command from the .replit file is not invoked. I can type the command manually and then everything works. I tried the first three examples (ascii_racer, minesweeper, ddgr) on both Safari (with ad blocker) and Chrome (no ad blocker). I do not have a repl.it account, so I am not logged into anything. Overall this feature looks very impressive.

sweetjerry 7y ago
hi, repl.it engineer here. Are you hitting the run button in the header? We now put you in a blank repl, and will upgrade you to the right language once we read the .replit file. After we do that reload, hitting the run button should work!
- chrisaycock 7y ago
  Oh! My bad. The "Run" button is featured in the video.

AcerbicZero 7y ago

I really like Repl.it as a learning tool, and I used it a bunch while transitioning from ruby to python, although its also given me a few bad habits, and I've never been able to find much use for it while working on "real" projects. Still, I pull it up from time to time, just to confirm some bit of code I'm working on. it's still the best multi-language Powershell ISE-ish repl I've ever used though :)

amasad 7y ago
Give it a try for a "real" project and see how you feel about it. We've improved a lot recently. I'd love to hear your feedback when you try it out: amjad@repl.it

westoncb 7y ago

Somebody submitted a PR to a JavaScript/glsl game of mine last night (https://github.com/westoncb/under-game https://github.com/westoncb/under-game), adding a badge/link that would open the repo on repl.it. I looked around at the user's activity a bit and they had sent essentially the same PR to at least one other repo recently, and appeared to be affiliated with repl.it. I went ahead and merged the PR since it does just seem like a small net positive addition. I still wonder though: what downside to this might I be missing?

davesque 7y ago
Yep, I got the same thing. Haven't merged it and probably won't. Since it appeared to be a bot that created the PR, it seemed like a rather underhanded, spammy way of promoting the repl.it project. It kinda reminds me of the whole tip4commit debacle with the flask project: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8542969 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8542969
- amasad 7y ago
  We're certainly not operating any bots if that's what you're implying.
  - davesque 7y ago
    The PR's commit message said that the commit was "automatically generated on repl.it". I guess I don't know how to interpret that. Maybe I'm mistaken and someone did manually created the PR with a bad commit message: https://github.com/davesque/go.py/pull/2 https://github.com/davesque/go.py/pull/2
    - davesque 7y ago
      And I did eventually confirm that the commit was, in fact, created manually by an actual person and not a bot.
amasad 7y ago
I looked up the PR author and it's a repl.it user and community moderator (https://repl.it/@eankeen https://repl.it/@eankeen). Anyways, I hope the PRs are not annoying -- it certainly cool to be able to run under game quickly (I scored 97 https://imgur.com/a/HHMMXAY https://imgur.com/a/HHMMXAY)

zapita 7y ago

I would be surprised if repl.it didn't get acquired by Github before the end of 2020.

PRTIFFANY 7y ago
my thoughts exactly

ebbflowgo 7y ago

This is awesome guys! One conversion suggestion, in your "Try it out" section, add the repl.it link beside the project. I went into ascii_racer and didn't find the repl.it button so I bounced. From repo to running repl is a dream.

anaphor 7y ago

What's the recommended way to deal with projects that have system level dependencies? (E.g. in C). I have build scripts but no way to install anything. Do I have to use docker or some other container technology? Edit: sounds like they plan on allowing docker containers which would be really nice. Great job on the MVP.

gnumoksha 7y ago

There is a well established FOSS IDE that does the job: http://eclipse.org/che http://eclipse.org/che (SaaS http://codenvy.com http://codenvy.com)