Use Google Drive (or any cloud storage) as development workspace? [closed]

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Closed 8 years ago.

This somewhat applies to all cloud storage, but specifically I'm wondering:

Is it practical to use Google Drive as a root development folder?

For example with setup like this:

C:\Google Drive
       \Projects\...
       \Photos\...
       \Docs\...

would I even need to have local copies or is this type of service stable enough to just use as a "workspace"

My concerns would be if I use an IDE or have many things over at once, will it causes noticeable latency or bandwidth problems while I manipulate files?

If this is not practical, is there a "best practice" for this type of infrastructure now that cloud storage is being so widely used?

Note that I'm interested in the answer from a programmer's point of view

Answer 1

This was my first thought when Google released Drive. I've been running eclipse using a Google Drive folder as the workspace for a few days now. I do mostly JavaScript and PHP.

The beauty of Google Drive is that it does all the work behind the scenes. I've manipulated folders, imported projects, deleted folders and there is no issue client side. It makes no difference whatsoever to eclipse. It just takes a minute or so and the changes are reflected on Google Drive.

That being said I can save a single file as I work and there is no noticeable lag between save and sync. I can't physically see it anyways. I also agree that revision control should be combined with this as Google Drive's revision system is a bit limited, it only works for Docs formats.

Save often and let your computer sync for a few minutes at the end of the day and you should have no trouble using Google Drive as your workspace. The System Tray Icon tells you sync progress so it's easy to see when it's done.

Answer 2

Yes, you can safely put your workspace folder in Google Drive and as a bonus you will be able to make quick edits using an online IDE, e.g. ShiftEdit, Drive Notepad or Neutron Drive.

Answer 3

This would work, but your probably best bet is revision control. You could of course combine both to have a revisioned directory on your Google Drive, which would be quite cool.