eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Cloud9, a browser-based software development environment provider, has launched a fully featured, online integrated development environment (IDE) for Salesforce developers—Cloud9 for Salesforce.
Initially released in beta at Salesforce.com‘s Dreamforce 2015 conference in September, Cloud9 officials said this launch is a step toward Cloud9’s larger vision of improving the development experience by offering a more integrated and productive way to build applications in the cloud.
“The pressure was on since we knew we needed to not only be as good as a desktop IDE, but significantly better,” said John Dunham, chief operating officer at Cloud9. “And based on the feedback we received on the beta release and at Dreamforce, we feel confident that we have exceeded expectations.”
Cloud9 for Salesforce is an intuitive, modern development environment for App Cloud, Salesforce’s platform as a service (PaaS). By removing the need for time-consuming steps including installation, configuration and updates, developers gain instant access to everything they need from high-quality desktop editors, yet with the convenience, flexibility and power of the cloud.
“Cloud9 for Salesforce enables Salesforce developers to code entirely in the cloud,” said Brooke Estin, director of marketing at Cloud9, in a blog post. “This marks the first time 2.5-plus million Salesforce developers will have access to a high quality and complete developer workflow in the cloud—the inevitable home for all future software development.”
From language support and project sharing to live collaboration and workspace customization, Salesforce developers have a seamless, more productive experience developing for the cloud—entirely in the cloud, Cloud9 said.
“In the vast landscape of Salesforce IDEs, developers wander from desert to desert in search of an oasis of simplicity, clarity, and consistency,” said Jeff Arwady, a senior Salesforce developer at Xede Consulting Group and beta tester for the product, in a blog post on the Cloud9 for Salesforce IDE. “Up until now, that oasis has only been a mirage. Enter Cloud9’s new Salesforce IDE: a surefire thirst-quencher for those seeking a reliable code editor on the Force.com platform.”
With well over two million developers and counting, the Salesforce developer community is one of the fastest growing enterprise developer communities worldwide. “From our perspective, the most exciting and immediate opportunity for software development today is to move to the cloud. We know that is not just possible, it’s actually happening. And it’s better,” said Ruben Daniels, CEO and Founder of Cloud9, in a statement.
Cloud9 officials said this product will be the first of many more enterprise-level customizations that improve the developer experience. Based on the amount of time developers spend inside their IDE, Cloud9 saw an opportunity to turn the IDE into a useful hub that connects the many different cloud services. In the case of Salesforce, this includes Force.com and Heroku to start. Cloud9 also has integrations with development services such as GitHub and Atlassian’s Bitbucket.
“The Cloud9 Salesforce IDE is superb and really shines as a world-class code editor,” Arwady said in a statement. “With the streamlined setup, elegant interface, useful toolset, and consistent experience, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better way to write your Salesforce code.”
Cloud9 received an investment from Salesforce Ventures that will be used to further enhance the Cloud9 IDE developer experience by offering a more integrated and productive way to build apps entirely in the cloud.