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Distributed means you can run the editor UI and the actual backend on separate machines. One long-term goal of such deployments is developers just having a thin

Distributed means you can run the editor UI and the actual backend on separate machines. One long-term goal of such deployments is developers just having a thin chromebook with the UI and the actual code being on a corporate server, like terminals and mainframes in ye olde days. I believe this is a reaction to VS Code, which has supported this functionality for a while already.

kevincox 4y ago
Another big use case is running the "backend" inside a VM or container that has a well-defined set of dependencies installed while the host OS can be updated and managed by the user.
woojoo666 4y ago
But conventionally the word "distributed” is for apps running on multiple servers. Your definition makes every web app "distributed". And I feel like most of HN would disagree with calling Spotify Web a "distributed app"
- kuschku 4y ago
  It's not "my" definition, it used to be a very common definition. e.g., quassel, an irc bouncer + client, used the same term since 2007.
intelVISA 4y ago
As you noted w/ VSCode (and others) this dev style can be done quite easily for free, what advantages does a vendor lock-in provide?
- kuschku 4y ago
  You'll get actually useful suggestions and refactoring abilities. VS Code is today still just a editor with syntax highlighting and very basic suggestions. Even with language servers it can't come close to what JetBrains does. JetBrains first major product was an addon to improve the suggestion abilities of Visual Studio, and VS Code is a downgrade even compared to normal VS
  - intelVISA 4y ago
    Interesting... I will have to check it out properly at some point then, thanks for the insight.
yamtaddle 4y ago
So... every X-Window application is "distributed"? I'd not have described them that way.
- kuschku 4y ago
  Yes, that's what X-Windows was created for. The original goal was for terminals connected to large servers, where you'd have the application distributed with the UI on the terminal and the backend running on the remote server.

kevincox 4y ago

Another big use case is running the "backend" inside a VM or container that has a well-defined set of dependencies installed while the host OS can be updated and managed by the user.

woojoo666 4y ago

But conventionally the word "distributed” is for apps running on multiple servers. Your definition makes every web app "distributed". And I feel like most of HN would disagree with calling Spotify Web a "distributed app"

kuschku 4y ago
It's not "my" definition, it used to be a very common definition. e.g., quassel, an irc bouncer + client, used the same term since 2007.

intelVISA 4y ago

As you noted w/ VSCode (and others) this dev style can be done quite easily for free, what advantages does a vendor lock-in provide?

kuschku 4y ago
You'll get actually useful suggestions and refactoring abilities. VS Code is today still just a editor with syntax highlighting and very basic suggestions. Even with language servers it can't come close to what JetBrains does. JetBrains first major product was an addon to improve the suggestion abilities of Visual Studio, and VS Code is a downgrade even compared to normal VS
- intelVISA 4y ago
  Interesting... I will have to check it out properly at some point then, thanks for the insight.

yamtaddle 4y ago

So... every X-Window application is "distributed"? I'd not have described them that way.

kuschku 4y ago
Yes, that's what X-Windows was created for. The original goal was for terminals connected to large servers, where you'd have the application distributed with the UI on the terminal and the backend running on the remote server.