First Impressions: Squad - think Google Wave for Code Monkeys

12/01/2009 12:35 PM by Chris Toohey

Checking out ReadWriteWeb.com, I saw an article titled Like Google Wave for Developers: Real-Time, Collaborative Code Editing. Real-time collaborative code editing? I was immediately intrigued. So I quickly signed-up for a free account, Sametime'ed Nathan, and jumped into a session.

I immediately realized that I didn't need to sign up for a free account, as Squad allows you to try out - without registration - their services at squadedit.com/free. Once I gave them my name (as I want it to appear in the chat, as each Squad share allows you to chat with your collaborators, I was in!

At the bottom-right of the code dashboard (if you will), you will find a unique URL that you can send to your would-be collaborators. You can send that via IM, email, etcetera and your fellow code monkeys will be prompted for their names and thus allowed access to your share. Simple.

And once Nathan was in, I started writing some HTML. From the aforementioned RWW article:

Squad supports a variety of languages, including HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Python, SPARQL, Lua and XML. Squad works great as an HTML editor, a PHP editor or a plain text editor.

Sorry, no LotusScript or Java (although if this takes off, I could see Java making a debut in this space as yet another supported language shortly).

My first impression: at first glance, it's a slick little service. It's certainly an excellent example of a technology mashup turned SaaS addressing a need for dispersed development teams. And I can tell you one thing right now: it's something that I am definitely going to keep playing with!

As mentioned, I opted for the free/non-registered version (which I screencap'ed above). The RWW article does a nice job of capturing the premium (read: pay for play) Dashboard features... but I'd rather just suggest you check it out for yourself and report your thoughts back here.