Dropbox is one of the greatest web applications in use today: it;s simple, it;s accessible, it;s ubiquitous, and it has a myriad of uses. I;ve written about using Dropbox as a remote Git repository in the past, and other authors have compiled lists of unique and interesting ways to get the most out of it. The best explanation for it’s popularity and prolific use was probably given on Quora.com: Why is Dropbox more popular than other programs with similar functionality?
At a recent KC Ruby Meetup, in which we were duscussing code retreats, I had the idea of using Dropbox as a bridge to enable Test Driven Development between two (or more) developers. Here’s how it might work:
I could see how two developers wouldn’t necessarily even need to talk as long as the tests written well enough (but that would kinda suck.) But seriously, as long as the tests tell you what they are expecting, there’s no real need to communicate.
This might not be the ideal environment to work in if you were building a serious project, but as a learning tool and as a playground, I think it could be a lot of fun. And honestly, I can imagine an entire site being built around the idea of programmers coming together to mentor each other and learn from one another.