During the Google I/O 2024 developer conference, Google revealed that Project IDX, its next-generation, AI-powered browser-based development environment, is now in open beta. Initially introduced in August as an invite-only service, Project IDX has already been tested by over 100,000 developers.

"As AI becomes more prevalent, the complexities that come with deploying all of that really becomes harder, becomes greater, and we wanted to help solve that challenge," said Jeanine Banks, Google’s VP and general manager for Developer X and the company’s head of developer relations.

"That’s why we built project IDX, a multi-platform development experience that makes building applications fast and easy. Project IDX makes it really frictionless to get going with your preferred framework or language with easy-to-use templates like Next.js, Astro, Flutter, Dart, Angular, Go and more."

With this update, Google is integrating the Google Maps Platform into Project IDX, enabling the addition of geolocation features to apps. The update also includes integrations with Chrome Dev Tools and Lighthouse to assist in debugging applications. Soon, developers will be able to deploy apps to Cloud Run, Google Cloud's serverless platform for front- and back-end services.

The development environment will also integrate with Checks, Google's AI-powered compliance platform, which is transitioning from beta to general availability on Tuesday.

Project IDX isn't just about building AI-enabled applications; it's also about using AI to enhance the coding process. To facilitate this, IDX includes standard features like code completion and a chat assistant sidebar, as well as innovative tools like the ability to highlight a snippet of code and use Google's Gemini model to modify it, similar to generative fill in Photoshop.

Whenever Gemini suggests code, it provides links back to the original source and its associated license.

Built on the open-source Visual Studio Code, Project IDX also integrates seamlessly with GitHub, simplifying integration with existing workflows. In one of the latest releases, Google added built-in iOS and Android emulators for mobile developers directly into the IDE.

Feeling like you have to give it a go?. Check ProjectIDX here

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