Introduction to Github Codespaces

GitHub Codespaces is a cloud-based development environment that allows developers to write, run, and debug code directly in their browser. It provides a fully configured dev environment with all the necessary tools and extensions pre-installed. This feature eliminates the "it works on my machine" problem by ensuring consistent development environments across team members.

Create a new codespaces

To create a new codespace, navigate to your GitHub repository and click on the Github icon on the top left, and then on Codespaces.

Once you click on Codespaces, you'll see an option to create a "New codespace". After clicking this button, GitHub will start setting up your development environment with the repository's default configuration.

The setup process typically takes a few minutes, during which GitHub clones your repository and configures the environment according to your repository's specifications.

Then, it opens Visual Studio Code in your browser, providing a familiar development interface. The web-based VS Code editor includes all the essential features you'd expect, such as syntax highlighting, integrated terminal, and extension support. You can start coding immediately without any additional setup on your local machine.

You can also open it on the local VSCode by clicking on Open in VS Code Desktop.

Then you can do anything you would normally do in VSCode. This includes writing and editing code, using the integrated terminal, managing version control, and utilizing VS Code extensions. The development experience is virtually identical to working with a local installation of VS Code, but with the added benefit of cloud-based resources and configuration.

You can also commit changes and push to the repository.