Repl.it : A great cloud IDE

Repl.it  is a wonderful development tool for anyone who is looking to collaborate with other developers. It has support for over 50+ programming languages and runs completely on the browser and has features like real-time, multiuser editing with a live chat feed.

A BIT OF HISTORY :

Its name comes from the acronym REPL, which stands for "read–evaluate–print loop". Replit was created by programmers Amjad Masad, Faris Masad, and designer Haya Odeh in 2016. Repl.it is very similar to Cloud9 IDE which after the acquisition by Amazon, became a paid service. 

FEATURES OF REPL.IT :

Some of the main features include,

• An in-browser IDE
• Connect to GitHub
• Real-time Collaboration
• In-built Database for testing
• Live Hosting of your code
• GUI programming tools
• Public and Private repl's

CREATING YOUR VERY FIRST REPL :

STEP 1 : CREATE AN ACCOUNT

You can create a free account by clicking on the Sign Up button at Repl.it. You can create a new account by using email or use your existing Gmail, GitHub or Facebook to Sign Up.

STEP 2 : CREATE A NEW REPL

A repl is basically like a container for your project that you can share with others. To create a repl click on the + icon at the homepage or click on the 'New Repl' button in the Menu bar. Select the Programming language that you wish to use and give a name to your repl. Private repl's are only available in the hacker plan.

STEP 3 (OPTIONAL) : CONNECT TO GITHUB : 

Connecting to Github allows you to edit your repos in Repl.it and also push your code to Github from the online IDE. To connect your Github account click on the 'Connect Github' button in your home and login with your Github account and allow acess.

GET HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT : 

Repl.it has one of the best and active communities.You can ask your questions and get them answered or even search for templates. You can also share your code with others in the community.

PRICING : 

As we saw, the starter plan is completely free but it only comes with a max of 500MB of RAM and 0.5 vCPUs, which is enough for most coding projects but incase if you need more, You can always upgrade to the Hacker plan which costs about 7$ a month which is cheaper than most other cloud IDE providers. It also comes with 2GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs.

CONCLUSION : 

If you are looking for an online IDE to collaborate with your team or if you don't want to clutter your local workspace or if your PC is old and slow for development, then Repl.it is an tool that is worth having a look.