GitHub has created a new app, called Codespaces. Github was already the place to store your code, and with Codespaces you can now directly edit that code on Github.
In a traditional setup, you have your own Integrated Development Environment (IDE), like PyCharm or Visual Studio on your laptop.
When you want to make changes to a project, you need to make a pull request to get the code from Github and when you’re done you have to push your new version back to Github. With Codespaces, you don’t have to do that anymore. You can do all the coding online.
In 2018 Microsoft acquired Github and now it looks like the company integrates Visual Studio in the Github Cloud. On their blog they introduce Visual Studio Codespaces.
A privacy consideration might be, whether Microsoft is monitoring all of your actions on Github and in Codespaces. As an alternative you can move to GitLab or host your own Git server environment, like BitBucket.
Signup for Codespaces Beta
The easiest way to signup, is to login to your Github account and then visit the registration website. During registration, you can select the programming languages you are used to work with.
After joining, Github puts you on the waiting list and send an email when you can start using it.
Do you want to try it yourself? You can now signup here to join the waiting list for the Beta program.