Google unveils Project IDX: AI-powered browser-based development environment

Google has introduced Project IDX, aimed at streamlining the process of building full-stack web and multiplatform applications.

Unlike creating a new integrated development environment (IDE) from scratch, Google has built Project IDX on the foundation of Visual Studio Code, leveraging its features and integrating Google's own AI models.

Project IDX currently supports popular frameworks like Angular, Flutter, Next.js, React, Svelte, and Vue, and programming languages such as JavaScript and Dart. Support for additional languages like Python and Go is also under development.

One of the special features of Project IDX is its integration with Codey, Google’s PaLM 2–based foundation model for programming tasks.

With Codey capabilities, Project IDX offers developers benefits such as intelligent code completion, a ChatGPT/Bard-like chatbot that provides help and explanations on code, and contextual code actions such as adding comments. Google sees Project IDX as a means of improving code productivity and quality by utilizing the power of artificial intelligence.

As a cloud-based IDE, Project IDX integrates seamlessly with Google Firebase Hosting and Google Cloud Functions. It also allows user to import existing code from GitHub. Each Project IDX workspace includes access to a Linux-based virtual machine, and will soon include built-in Android and iOS simulators directly in the browser.

While the IDX chatbot offers valuable support, Google recognizes that it is still a work in progress. As the project develops, Google plans to expand its capabilities. The IDX project is entering the artificial intelligence coding arena alongside other similar offerings such as GitHub's Copilot and Amazon's CodeWhisperer.