The Dojo-based Bespin project has added collaboration and social features so developers can more easily share code in real-time! Finally, a truly productive use of social networking for developers!
By combining the benefits of SubEthaEdit and many of the social features you find on networking sites, the project is headed in a very useful direction that should significantly improve the way software is developed.
Bespin has huge potential for open source projects… imagine being able to easily submit a patch to Dojo or jQuery, use a clickthrough option to confirm that you have a CLA on file, and have the maintainers of the code see the patch come through, review it, and approve it, all with ease. This would take the benefits of source control, cloud computing, and social editing to make a more fluid of a process for contributing to open source software!
It also offers a lot of potential for learning and training. For example, imagine a replay mode to watch how Bryan writes code for the Dojo Grid and learn from his approach. Or, if you’re stuck on a problem, easily share it with a colleague and have them take a shot at solving your issue. It could also simplify how SitePen solves support issues by working through an issue together on Bespin.
Ars Technica has a nice write-up about the direction of Bespin. And of course, Bespin uses Dojo as its JavaScript toolkit to deliver a great user experience for developers.