Web and mobile app specialist Cloud9 IDE has extended its offering to produce a Windows Azure deployment from its core IDE. With technologies aligned towards the Node.js server side JavaScript environment, Cloud IDE will run inside a browser to run, debug, and deploy Node.js applications to now give programmers a route to directly deploying applications with permanently hosted code on Windows Azure's services platform.
Cloud9 IDE points to the importance here of Azure's immodestly termed "infinite scale" model, which (so says Microsoft) enables users to deploy enterprise-level applications globally, with the ability to grow or shrink resource usage based on need.
"Like Cloud9, Microsoft has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Node.js community through Windows Azure. This relationship shows how quickly Node.js is becoming the runtime of cloud and proves that a fully cloud-based development workflow is now a reality," said Ruben Daniels, CEO, Cloud9 IDE.
Cloud9 IDE offers a variety of Node-specific features, such as syntax highlighting, NPM support, code completion, testing, and in-browser debugging. The company also recently announced a variety of tools designed to support the growth of the Node.js community, including Nodebits.org, a blog featuring Node.js tutorials, and Nodemanual.org, Cloud9 IDE's Node documentation site. Similarly, Node.js developers can utilize Windows Azure's new Node.js Developer Center and Windows Azure SDK for Node.js.
"Windows Azure's adoption of Node.js gives customers new and powerful options that let them take advantage of the openness and flexibility of the cloud," said Microsoft VP Scott Guthrie. "By working with Cloud9 IDE, our goal is to make development even easier for customers and to continue to demonstrate our support for interoperability."
