Google Is Building a Chrome App-Based IDE 209
An anonymous reader writes "Google's Chromium team never ceases to amaze. Its latest project is a Chrome app-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) codenamed Spark. For those who don't know, Chrome packaged apps are written in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, but launch outside the browser, work offline by default, and access certain APIs not available to Web apps. In other words, they're Google's way of pushing the limits of the Web as a platform."
Re:A browser is not an iPod (Score:4, Informative)
the only thing they are "providing" is an expectation in your clients that you support Chrome only, and an API that is guaranteed to break and need maintenance in the near future
You're forgetting; A browser is supposed to be a sandbox app. That is, its job is to render data and present an interactive interface to the user -- but not allow automated access to resources on the host system. Their APIs break that. Badly. One need only look to the recent example of Java and it's failed sandbox to recognize the problem here.
Haven't we heard this before? (Score:4, Informative)
2007 Apple - you don't need native apps. You can build great web apps. Developers complain. Apple released a native SDK.
2009 Palm. You can build great apps using the web technologies you already know. Developers complain. Palm releases native SDK.
2011 RIM announces that you can build great apps using the technology you know. Developers complain. RIM releases native SDK.