Changed my mind about using online code editors after a slow work computer made me try one

I always thought local installs were the only way to go, but last week my old laptop took 5 minutes to open VS Code, so I gave CodeSandbox a shot and was surprised how fast it ran a React project, anyone else find web editors better for learning on limited hardware?

2 comments

2 Comments

maxpalmer9d ago

Local installs give you way more control and don't break when your wifi goes out. Web editors are fine for a quick test but relying on them for real work is risky. I've seen CodeSandbox crash mid-session and lose changes, plus the free tier limits are super annoying. If your laptop is that slow, a cheap SSD upgrade would fix VS Code way better than switching to a browser tool. Cloud stuff also means your code lives on someone else's server, which is a hard pass for anything even slightly private.

tessa_rivera9d ago

@maxpalmer you mentioned losing changes from a crash - did that happen recently or just something you're worried about happening?

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