Introducing Remote Programming from AdaCore. The smarter, simpler way for developers to connect from just about anywhere to just about ‘anyware’. Integrated into GPS, GNAT Pro’s powerful IDE, Remote Programming provides a secure and efficient way for programmers to access any number of remote servers running a wide variety of platforms while taking advantage of the power and familiarity of their local PC workstations.
Read about Remote Programming as described in the Embedded Technology Journal.
Power to the programmer
Nowadays, even low-end PC’s contain enough processing power and high-level functionality to compete with the capabilities of most traditional servers. Likewise, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) have become increasingly advanced, offering desktop users features like code navigation, automatic error fixing, automatic indentation, smart completion, and graphical debugging, to ease code creation and speed up the development process.
All dressed up…
The problem is that even with all this power at their fingertips, developers working on applications running on various operating systems, or those who need to work remotely for other reasons, are not able to take full advantage of the processing power at their disposal. When this happens, there are two choices: use the developer’s PC to access an IDE running on a server and displayed via an X-Window system, or abandon the IDE altogether and resort to using a text editor and terminal.
X-Window - Good idea (Bad solution)
Unfortunately the X-Window approach is not a very efficient solution. It bogs down network resources, and when running multiple instances of an IDE on a single server, consumes significant amounts of memory and processing power. Despite these drawbacks, this approach does provide certain benefits. The ‘one server / multiple clients’ configuration allows companies to control the development environment and ensure that tested code is identical to the code that will be in the final application. It also simplifies installation of node-locked software and eases the sharing of project sources and builds.
Enter Remote Programming - A (much) better way
As a major provider of software development solutions, AdaCore has many customers confronted by this exact situation. This first hand experience led us to thinking that there must be a better way. And now there is – GPS’s Remote Programming facility.
Using remote shell tools such as SSH and GPS’s built-in file synchronization mechanism, programmers can connect to a remote server in a way that requires minimal network resources and allows them to run GPS on their PC workstation. The result is that they can take full advantage of their local CPU, display and memory for IDE-related operations, while allowing compilation, debugging, and execution of the user’s project on a remote server.
The win/win technology
GPS’s Remote Programming facility is technology that clearly benefits all the stakeholders in the development chain.
For developers
Remote programming lets developers do their job under the best possible conditions. They make better use of their local processing power and can customize their IDE the way they like for their local working environment while continuing to use shared company resources.
For companies
By providing a secure, efficient and flexible way to
work remotely with their developers, GPS’s Remote Programming
facility helps companies expand their options for managing
their development projects and allows them to take
full advantage of the latest advances in computer and
network technology.