How can you use cloud-based programming languages to advance your IT career?

Native advantages of Cloud-Based Programming Languages: a) Accessibility and Collaboration: Cloud-based languages allow multiple developers to work from anywhere with internet access e.g. Google's Colab b) Scalability: Cloud languages often integrate with cloud services, facilitating easy scalability. AWS Lambda lets developers write serverless functions, automatically scaling based on demand, reducing infrastructure management efforts. c) Reduced Setup: Cloud environments eliminate the need for local installations, reducing setup time and compatibility issues. d) Version Control and Backup: Cloud-based tools inherently provide version control and backup. GitHub repositories host code, track changes, and enable rollbacks.

Here's a simple explanation of the benefits of cloud-based programming languages in two paragraphs: The other major benefit is collaboration. When your code and applications live in the cloud, it's much easier to share them with others and work on them together in real-time. Rather than emailing code files back and forth or trying to merge everyone's changes, the cloud lets you see what everyone on your team is doing immediately. That makes development much faster and makes it easier to build complex programs as a team. Overall, cloud-based languages take away a lot of the hassle and pain points that typically come with writing software locally on your own computer.

a) Dependency on Internet: Developing in the cloud requires a stable internet connection, lower Downtime and faster connectivity. For example, poor connectivity might disrupt coding on Cloud9. b) Security Concerns: Storing code and data on remote servers raises security concerns. Sensitive information could be exposed in a breach. Even trusted platforms like GitHub have had security incidents. c) Limited Customization: Cloud environments might limit customization options compared to local setups. Specific libraries or configurations may be restricted. e.g. CodeSandbox d) Vendor Lock-In: Relying heavily on cloud-specific tools can lead to vendor lock-in. AWS's proprietary Lambda programming can make migration to other providers difficult.

Unlike traditional programming on your own computer, if you lose connectivity in the cloud for whatever reason, you will be unable to access or make changes to your programs. This could seriously disrupt your progress if you are working on something with tight deadlines or wanting to frequently iterate on an application. Having to fully trust and depend on the reliability and security of the cloud does come with pitfalls compared to having direct control over all your work via your own computing devices and servers. So while the benefits are substantial, ceding that control is the major potential hurdle one has to consider with cloud-based development.

The key things to consider: 1) what you want to build - some languages are better for web apps, others for data analysis, 2) how easy it is to learn - languages like Python relatively straightforward for beginners compared to one like C++, and 3) community support - larger open source languages like JavaScript or R have more tutorials and helpers online. You also want to make sure integrates well with major cloud platforms like AWS, Azure or Google Cloud so you deploy your applications easily after writing them.

It's clear that this article was written by AI because it barely makes sense. First off, I originally thought this to be an article on Infrastructure as Code, a concept very closely related to cloud as its commonly used to stand up and ensure high fidelity in cloud infrastructure. This article seems to imply there is a "cloud based programming language" which is specific to cloud applications. NOT TRUE. It's the exact same programming languages that have been found in development and web applications whether its cloud or not. Python, Javascript, markup and notation languages. These have nothing to do with cloud specifically. That being said, if you want to have a career in cloud; get an AWS certification or equivalent.

I don't know what this article is supposed to be about, but I received an invitation to contribute. There's no such thing as a cloud-based programming language. Perhaps they meant a cloud-based IDE? Even so, I wouldn't recommend it. There's no benefit to a cloud-based IDE. Zero setup? Rubbish. What happens when your application integrates with other applications and you need those running as well? What are the cost implications of using a cloud-based IDE? These are but 2 of the many questions you should ask before even seriously considering this approach. Don't be fooled by this. No language is "cloud-based" or "cloud-native". And there's ZERO benefit to having an IDE in the cloud if you already have a VCS.