Google’s IDX is powered by Google Cloud and Codey (PaLM 2) for full-stack AI-assisted development.
Building an app, coding websites, and writing software, in general, requires a lot of time from idea to production and deployment. There are many tools that make the job easier, but in what could be called a new way of developing with AI, Google has announced an early draft of its experiment called “IDX.”
Google’s Project IDX is a browser-based development environment running on Google Cloud. It includes Codey—A PaLM 2 AI model specifically trained in programming (on code). Using IDX, developers can build and manage full-stack web and multiplatform applications using their favorite framework and language.
- Google for Developers announcement blog post
- Project IDX homepage (you can join the waitlist now)
The experiment is just that, at this point. And Google wants the larger developer community to try this experiment and provide feedback.
Developers can make use of the many features of the IDX platform including app optimization; multi-device previews and simulations; and most importantly, AI-based code generation, completion, and commenting. To begin, it’s possible to import your existing app or project into IDX.
IDX also includes “pre-baked templates for popular frameworks, including Angular, Flutter, Next.js, React, Svelte, Vue, and languages such as JavaScript, Dart, and (coming soon) Python, Go, and more.”
As Google also has other development-oriented products, it’s easy to see what the larger ecosystem will look like. For example, IDX projects can be deployed using Firebase directly.
Notably, Google’s IDX is a full-stack development environment and not just a coding assistant like GitHub’s Copilot or Amazon’s CodeWhisperer. Further, as TechCrunch notes, Google can also use its Cloud Code IDE plugins to basically bring Codey to every popular IDE (integrated development environment).
Project IDX starts with a web-based workspace that’ll feel familiar for coding but fresh. And we’re just at the beginning of this journey. We’d love your input as we work to make application development better.
