Show HN: We built an open-source alternative to expensive pair programming apps (opens in new tab)

(github.com)

39 pointskonsalexee6mo ago17 comments

My friend and I grew frustrated with the high cost of existing pair programming tools, and of course of grainy screens when we used Huddle or similar tools.

We believe core developer collaboration shouldn't be locked behind an expensive subscription.

So for the past year we spent our nights and weekend building Hopp, an open-source alternative.

We would love your feedback and we are here to answer any and all questions.

17 comments

robertlagrant6mo ago

Feels like pair programming could use its equivalent of LSP, so editors could standardise interactions.

konsalexeeOP6mo ago

Pair programming though is not only editor interactions. Debugging through logs, drawing etc are happening outside an IDE.

BoorishBears6mo ago

I don't understand what makes this less grainy than any other option, like Discord

Clicking in I thought this was going to be like Jetbrain's pair coding setup which uses your local native editor and only transmits editor content and user interaction

ofrzeta6mo ago

I think it is detailed in this blog post: https://gethopp.app/blog/latency-exploration

iparaskev6mo ago

One of the maintainers here. I am looking at improving this more. With av1 we can get even better latency at 4K, the problem is that it is not supported on Safari for old devices, so I am looking into getting the stream in rust and sending it to the frontend via a local ws server, surprisingly to me the added transport latency is less than 5ms.

1 more reply

prmoustache6mo ago

I wish there was a way for people using different editors to pair program using their own favorite instead of say...dishing neovim or intellij for something monaco or web based.

BoorishBears6mo ago

I mean IntelliJ does have native collaboration

CodeTogether has multiple platforms but I'm not sure if it allows different clients to connect together

(And I was thinking this would be OSS CodeTogether)

2 more replies

pbd6mo ago

Congrats on shipping! For adoption, have you considered integrating with existing workflows? CLI tools, IDE extensions, Slack integrations? The friction to start a pair session often matters more than the session quality itself.

iparaskev6mo ago

One of the maintainers here. Very good point. Yes we want (and need) to start doing this, we should open github issues so people can help if they want.

yencabulator6mo ago

Your demo video is blocked as as tracking URL by uBlock Origin.

(And loads janky after allowing that, the modal frame visibly shifts and resizes while loading.)

konsalexeeOP6mo ago

Wow did not know this, thanks for reporting, will probably then skip the video and add something more light-weight.

gkove86mo ago

This rocks.

iparaskev6mo ago

Thank you :) (one of the maintainers here)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

Show HN: We built an open-source alternative to expensive pair programming apps (opens in new tab)

(github.com)

39 pointskonsalexee6mo ago17 comments

My friend and I grew frustrated with the high cost of existing pair programming tools, and of course of grainy screens when we used Huddle or similar tools.

We believe core developer collaboration shouldn't be locked behind an expensive subscription.

So for the past year we spent our nights and weekend building Hopp, an open-source alternative.

We would love your feedback and we are here to answer any and all questions.

17 comments

robertlagrant6mo ago

Feels like pair programming could use its equivalent of LSP, so editors could standardise interactions.

konsalexeeOP6mo ago

Pair programming though is not only editor interactions. Debugging through logs, drawing etc are happening outside an IDE.

BoorishBears6mo ago

I don't understand what makes this less grainy than any other option, like Discord

Clicking in I thought this was going to be like Jetbrain's pair coding setup which uses your local native editor and only transmits editor content and user interaction

ofrzeta6mo ago

I think it is detailed in this blog post: https://gethopp.app/blog/latency-exploration

iparaskev6mo ago

1 more reply

prmoustache6mo ago

I wish there was a way for people using different editors to pair program using their own favorite instead of say...dishing neovim or intellij for something monaco or web based.

BoorishBears6mo ago

I mean IntelliJ does have native collaboration

CodeTogether has multiple platforms but I'm not sure if it allows different clients to connect together

(And I was thinking this would be OSS CodeTogether)

2 more replies

pbd6mo ago

iparaskev6mo ago

One of the maintainers here. Very good point. Yes we want (and need) to start doing this, we should open github issues so people can help if they want.

yencabulator6mo ago

Your demo video is blocked as as tracking URL by uBlock Origin.

(And loads janky after allowing that, the modal frame visibly shifts and resizes while loading.)

konsalexeeOP6mo ago

Wow did not know this, thanks for reporting, will probably then skip the video and add something more light-weight.

gkove86mo ago

This rocks.

iparaskev6mo ago

Thank you :) (one of the maintainers here)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse