Google Code Source Code Browser Released
Jason Robbins and Jenan Wise have released a new Ajax source code browser for Google Code project hosting: … The new system certainly feels fast, and uses jQuery to flip around in short order, jumping through the revisions of your system, expanding into new directories, etc.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already explored browser-based developer tooling through Mondrian's web-based code review and storage and made source discovery more accessible with Google Code Search. The new interface brings fast repository navigation into the hosted-project experience itself, using jQuery to move through revisions and directories without a full-page workflow.
First-order effects
- Google Code project users can inspect revision history and expand directories through a faster Ajax interface, reducing friction when browsing hosted source.
- Jason Robbins and Jenan Wise give Google Code a jQuery-based navigation layer for repository exploration.
Second-order effects
- Google Code's hosted projects become more useful for quick code inspection in a browser, rather than requiring a local checkout for every look at a revision or directory.
- The implementation gives jQuery a visible role in developer-tool interfaces, where responsive navigation is central to the product experience.
Third-order effects
- Paired with Google's earlier web-based review and storage work, the release points toward browser interfaces absorbing more of the code-browsing and collaboration workflow if hosted tools continue to improve.
- Repository hosts will increasingly compete on the speed and usability of web interfaces, not only on where source code is stored.
The trend: Developer infrastructure is moving code discovery, review, and repository navigation into richer browser-based interfaces.