Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Swift Playgrounds VS CloudShell

Compare Swift Playgrounds VS CloudShell and see what are their differences

Swift Playgrounds logo Swift Playgrounds

Learn serious code on your iPad in a seriously fun way

CloudShell logo CloudShell

Cloud Shell is a free admin machine with browser-based command-line access for managing your infrastructure and applications on Google Cloud Platform.
  • Swift Playgrounds Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-24
  • CloudShell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-12

Swift Playgrounds features and specs

  • Engaging Interface
    Swift Playgrounds offers a visually appealing and interactive user interface that makes learning to code enjoyable and engaging for beginners, especially younger audiences.
  • iPad and Mac Support
    It is available on both iPad and Mac, providing flexibility for learners to practice coding on different Apple devices.
  • Interactive Learning
    The platform provides hands-on exercises and real-time feedback, which helps learners understand coding concepts through practical implementation.
  • Comprehensive Curriculum
    Swift Playgrounds includes a well-structured curriculum that covers basic to advanced Swift programming concepts, making it suitable for a wide range of learners.
  • Swift Language Focus
    The tool is dedicated to teaching Swift, Apple's powerful and intuitive programming language, which is widely used for developing iOS and macOS applications.
  • Free to Use
    Swift Playgrounds is available for free, which removes any financial barriers to entry for those interested in learning to code.

Possible disadvantages of Swift Playgrounds

  • Apple Ecosystem
    Swift Playgrounds is limited to Apple's ecosystem, requiring an iPad or Mac, which can exclude users who prefer or only have access to other platforms.
  • Swift Exclusivity
    The focus on Swift can be a limitation for learners who wish to explore other programming languages or need a more versatile coding education.
  • Limited Professional Depth
    While great for beginners, Swift Playgrounds may lack the depth and advanced features that more experienced developers or those seeking to build professional-grade applications might require.
  • Peripheral Requirements
    Some advanced projects might require additional peripherals and resources, such as access to hardware features or external libraries, which may not be readily available.

CloudShell features and specs

  • Integrated Environment
    CloudShell provides a fully integrated development environment directly within your browser, including access to Google Cloud resources, pre-installed Google Cloud SDK, and other useful tools.
  • Convenience
    Because it's browser-based, there is no need to install or configure anything locally, which can save considerable setup time and eliminate environment inconsistencies.
  • Security
    Operating within Google's infrastructure can add layers of security, including secure connection to cloud resources and less risk of exposing local machines to vulnerabilities.
  • Access to Project Resources
    Directly connects to Google Cloud resources associated with your account, making it easy to manage and deploy applications within your cloud environment.
  • Scalability
    Seamlessly scalable environment that can handle different workloads without performance degradation.
  • Persistent Storage
    CloudShell offers persistent storage, allowing users to save their work and configurations, which are available in future sessions.
  • Pre-installed Tools
    Includes a range of pre-installed tools, such as git, gcloud SDK, and language libraries, enabling efficient development and deployment workflows.

Possible disadvantages of CloudShell

  • Resource Limits
    CloudShell has usage limits, including limited disk space and CPU, which may not be sufficient for all types of workloads, particularly resource-intensive tasks.
  • Inactive Use Timeouts
    Sessions that are inactive for a period of time may be automatically terminated, which can disrupt ongoing work.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    Being a cloud-based solution, a stable internet connection is required. Any disruption in connectivity can hamper development and deployment processes.
  • Latency Issues
    Depending on your geographical location, there may be latency issues which can affect performance and response times.
  • Limited Customization
    While CloudShell provides many pre-installed tools, users have limited control over the environment compared to a locally managed development setup.
  • Paid Subscription Needed for Extensive Use
    Beyond the free tier, extensive usage of CloudShell resources may incur additional costs, which can add up depending on the scale and nature of the tasks.
  • Learning Curve
    New users who are not familiar with Google Cloud's ecosystem may face an initial learning curve to fully leverage CloudShell's capabilities.

Swift Playgrounds videos

Swift Playgrounds for Mac is Here!

More videos:

  • Review - Getting started with Swift Playgrounds
  • Review - Programming toys with Apple's Swift Playgrounds | First Look

CloudShell videos

No CloudShell videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Swift Playgrounds and CloudShell)
Text Editors
24 24%
76% 76
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
IDE
0 0%
100% 100
Development
40 40%
60% 60

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Swift Playgrounds and CloudShell

Swift Playgrounds Reviews

  1. Terrible online training course

    The lowest available rating score is 1, but if there were a zero, I would rate this program a zero. There are no pros to this programming course. The lessons are so brief that I cannot understand them. Before I gave up for good on this programming course, I was writing tons of messages to people on Youtube asking them to explain things to me, and I hated the constant hassle of having to write online messages asking for explanations for the simplest of things that the lessons did not explain. This programming course is NOT a do-it-yourself training course by any means --- and it should not be used by schoolteachers as student homework assignments, as I recently advised a 13-year-old who was having trouble with the lessons and nothing was being helpful to him. This training course should be accompanied not by brief and intelligible on-screen lessons, but it should be accompanied by a detailed high school-style textbook complete with images. By the way, I have Asperger's syndrome, I have all kinds of problems with learning and with executing tasks, and I cannot participate in gainful employment in ANY profession for this reason.

CloudShell Reviews

We have no reviews of CloudShell yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CloudShell should be more popular than Swift Playgrounds. It has been mentiond 12 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Swift Playgrounds mentions (2)

  • Ask HN: I'm a rookie building an app and need advice. Can you help?
    > I’m using AI to assist me and I’m building an app Vibe coding is a myth, it will take you only so far and will require manual fixes and refactoring before MVP. Learn the basics of and keep learning, say, Swift. https://developer.apple.com/swift-playground/ > Should I actually use a completely blank iPhone for this instead? Does not make any difference. Every app runs in its own separate environment. Only iOS... - Source: Hacker News / 9 days ago
  • 🚀 iOS vs Android Development: Which One Should You Learn First? (The Truth No One Tells You!)
    💡 Want to see real-world examples? Check out Apple's Swift Playground: Swift Playground. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago

CloudShell mentions (12)

  • Intro to the YouTube APIs: searching for videos
    Command-line (gcloud) -- Those who prefer working in a terminal can enable APIs with a single command in the Cloud Shell or locally on your computer if you installed the Cloud SDK which includes the gcloud command-line tool (CLI) and initialized its use. If this is you, issue this command to enable the API: gcloud services enable youtube.googleapis.com Confirm all the APIs you've enabled with this command:... - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Explore the world with Google Maps APIs
    Gcloud/command-line - Finally, for those more inclined to using the command-line, you can enable APIs with a single command in the Cloud Shell or locally on your computer if you installed the Cloud SDK (which includes the gcloud command-line tool [CLI]) and initialized its use. If this is you, issue the following command to enable all three APIs: gcloud services enable geocoding-backend.googleapis.com... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Getting started with the Google Cloud CLI interactive shell for serverless developers
    While you might find that using the Google Cloud online console or Cloud Shell environment meets your occasional needs, for maximum developer efficiency you will want to install the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud) on your own system where you already have your favorite editor or IDE and git set up. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Cloud desktops aren't as good as you'd think
    Here is the product https://cloud.google.com/shell It has a quick start guide and docs. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • I do not have a personal laptop. Should I use my school's library computers to start learning or just wait until I get a laptop?
    If you are worried about creating other accounts etc - you can just use your gmail account with https://cloud.google.com/shell and that gives you a very small vm and a coding environment (replit or colab are way better than this though). Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Swift Playgrounds and CloudShell, you can also consider the following products

CodeMonkey - Learn to code. Eat Bananas. Save the World.

GitHub Codespaces - GItHub Codespaces is a hosted remote coding environment by GitHub based on Visual Studio Codespaces integrated directly for GitHub.

CodeTasty - CodeTasty is a programming platform for developers in the cloud.

StackHive - Design, develop or publish websites right from your browser

Dirigible - Dirigible is a cloud development toolkit providing both development tools and runtime environment.

Glitch - Glitch is the friendly community where everyone builds the web. Simple, powerful interface for creating web apps.