working on the cloud

[RizbIT]

I want to work on images, code and other stuff on different devices (pc or laptops) but i want to be able to access the files / source code across all devices.

So the solution is to use a cloud service right?

What is the best setup.

I need to be able to save projects/files locally but when these are saved/updated they are also synced with the files on the cloud. I can then go to another device hook it up to the cloud and work on those same files.

is there anything like this. the important thing is security and having local file synced on all devices aswell as the cloud

 

[Mercerenies]

It sounds like you're looking for version control. Specifically, something like GitHub will suit your needs. There's a getting started page on the GitHub website. The way version control works is: whenever you make a substantive change to your code base, you "commit" the changes. For instance, if I were to, say, add a new enemy to my game, I would make a commit with those changes and the message "New enemy added". Any code that's been committed can be pushed to the GitHub website and then later pulled down to any other computer. If you lose your device, all of your committed code is still on GitHub, so it functions as a backup. And even better, if you make a change that you don't like or find a bug, it's easy to "rewind" time and go back to an earlier version of your project. All around, it's definitely worth learning. And GitHub will let you have unlimited free public and private repositories, so whether you want to open source your code or keep it to yourself, you can do either one.

 

[RizbIT]

it needs to work with no coding files like images too

 

[TsukaYuriko]

I'll move this to GD&D as it is very much on topic for this community!

I want to work on images, code and other stuff on different devices (pc or laptops) but i want to be able to access the files / source code across all devices.

So the solution is to use a cloud service right?

No, at least not if "cloud service" means "cloud drive" such as Dropbox. It is heavily recommended not to put your working folder in a cloud drive, as this can cause complications on a file system level. Files may be locked while a cloud service is syncing them, which can lead to disruptions in the IDE, ranging from extended load times, crashes, deadlocks where both the IDE and the cloud are waiting for each other to release a lock, newer files being overwritten with older ones from the cloud due to a failed or delayed sync on your other devices up to, in the worst reported cases, outright project corruption due to interrupts and only parts of files being written.

Don't let two processes mess with the same file at the same time - that goes for any software.

it needs to work with no coding files like images too

Those are not causing any problems with source control. The answer remains unchanged.

While source control repositories can also be hosted in the cloud (or on a local server - which can be one of your devices), it is not a cloud drive in the "real time sync" sense. Source control is not affected by the issues I explained above because every sync, whether upstream or downstream, is an explicit action invoked by the developer, not some background process that does it whenever it feels like it. This means that, unless you intentionally try to provoke it or disregard telltale signs that file access is ongoing (such as saving/loading of the project or compilation), there won't be any access conflicts resulting in consequences like in the examples I outlined above.

Source control grants you immeasurably more benefits (what Mercerenies listed is only a small portion) than just allowing you to decentralize your workstation, not to mention being industry standard that should be common practice for any serious developer in the field as it is widely used across the world, anyway.


The current de facto standard source control solution is Git. Take a look at what Git is about - maybe you'll find that it is to your liking.