Bespin Web-based code editor effort launched

"We haven't seen anything yet on the Web that anyone would consider using for their day job," he said.

The focus of the preview release is speed along with support for large files. "To do this, we've used new HTML 5 technologies, specifically the Canvas tag," said Galbraith.

Bespin developers have envisioned cloud-based scenarios for the Bespin editor in which it would be easy to go to a Web site, type the name of an open source project, and then quickly be in that project. Developers could make changes and submit changes to the Web site.

"We don't enable the above scenario today, but it's an example of what is possible once we have a foundation of a great, high-quality Web-based code editor. So that is one of the things we're hoping to facilitate with the Bespin project," Galbraith said.

Although currently a preview, Bespin could turn into something more, he said. "Right now, we're just experimenting," Galbraith said. Mozilla is looking for developer feedback on Bespin.