ActiveState Community

So here's a nice easy one :P

How about realtime collaborative editing through komodo? The kind of editing that permits remote developers to engage in pair programming remotely without leaving the comfort of komodo.

I know this is far from trivial! I'm thinking something along the lines of Gobby (http://gobby.0x539.de/trac/) or something like Una which looks more promising: http://www.n-brain.net/overview.htm

I'd have thought some key possible features would be:

• chat area big enough for use as a scratchpad
• clearly visible who's done what and who's working where
• session initiator controls document prefs that affect the text such as spacing / tabs etc.
• for pair programming (and I've not seen this feature elsewhere) instead of simultaneously editing maybe the option could be a "request control" - "you have control" type system to hand over the keyboard to somebody to be the new navigator. Possibly this could be a preference you set - "work in parallel or in series"
• any participant can highlight areas of the text to be discussed e.g. "this bit here needs sorting..."
• follow open documents as a client preference? i.e. session initiator switches to another file and the clients window follows? or at least a strong indication of who's viewing which files
• jotter / whiteboard area?

I'd envisage this would tend to get used with Skype, or the phone and would be used for environments where if you were in the same room you'd be pair programming. Could be very powerful and useful, particularly in a world where more and more software development is done at a distance. On the other hand, it sounds like a product in itself!

Just my 2 pence worth...