Apps Script on Github - trends and data

[Bruce Mcpherson]

My regular update on what's going on with Apps Script projects on github - this time with some predictions so it's a bit longer than usual.

I started tracking the Apps Script community contributions in Feb and now we have a decent amount of data, I've done some modelling on how long before the github/apps script densities double  from that initial benchmark in February. 

Here's when doubling is predicted.

- Apps Script Developers  -   2246 by 17th September - 220 days

- Apps Script Repos - 3106 by 16th August - 188 days

- Apps Script Projects - 4810 by 30th October - 263 days

This is quite a velocity for something that doesn't lend itself to especially easy integration. Imagine if apps script had properly integrated git support to the IDE, and how that would take off even more.

Something that surprises me is that you'd expect clasp projects, with integrated git support to be growing at a faster rate  than IDE type projects. 

However

- when I started this in February,  27% of projects on github were clasp

- currently 24% are

- by the time the number of projects has doubled in October, only 21% will be

- the number of clasp projects won't have doubled until March 2022 - 50% longer than the overall project growth rate.

Another thing that's quite surprising is the low number of developers that say they are hireable - currenly 13% with a prediction of that being down to 12% by the time the number of developers has doubled in September.  Of course this may be that those who are hireable have forgotten to add this to their github profile (call to action for thos who haven't)

Summary -

so the takeaway from all this

- Apps Script developers have discovered Github

- Surprisingly, they mainly didn't (and won't) get there via clasp

- It's not just hireable developers that are putting their stuff out there

- There's both demand and supply for Apps Script community contributions

- There's a need and appetite for real IDE/Git integration

For more detail on all this see 

https://ramblings.mcpher.com/vizzy-scrviz/

And to explore Apps Script on Github try https://scrviz.web.app

And to see a totally unscripted episode on this subject, see https://sites.google.com/view/totallyunscripted/previous-episodes/season-3/tu3-14

Interested to hear your thoughts on (if/how/why/why not) your own usage of github.

[Alan Wells]

Thank you for the analysis.  There is obviously an unmet opportunity for GitHub integration with an IDE.  It seems that there is a substantial percent of Apps Script users who prefer a browser based IDE that requires no installation.  I think it's quite possible that many Apps Script users are looking for code that they can copy and paste, not necessarily collaborate on, or use version control in a repo.

[Bruce Mcpherson]

Yes Alan - absolutely. That's exactly what I was going for with the clone option in scrviz

https://ramblings.mcpher.com/vizzy-scrviz/vizzy-clone-apps-script-github/

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[Alan Wells]

It took me a while, but I finally learned how to clone GitHub files using scrviz.

I use GitHub to share basic code to the public in order to provide help to others, and for my own personal reference.

I don't use GitHub for open source collaboration, work, to backup files, or to maintain current versions of code.
It does happen that when I don't know how to write the code to get something done, that I'll search GitHub for ideas, and information.

I rarely copy or use other people's code on GitHub, and if I do, I usually just open the raw file, highlight it, and copy it.

It would be interesting to have a poll about how Apps Script users use GitHub.

[Michael O'Shaughnessy]

Very interesting information!

I am not a professional programmer.  I do however write a lot of solutions for many in the education field.  For example, gifted students need a Written Education Plan.  I have a spreadsheet solution that makes creating and maintaining this plans fairly easy.  Right now we have about 100 schools using the solution.  As I work on the code, there has to be a way to update it.  I was SOOOOOO happy when I found the "GitHub Assistant"!  I was able to get a "main" repository set up and learned how to create "development" branches.  I have instructed users on how to use the GitHub assistant to update the code.  So that is the MAIN reason I use GitHub.

The other is for my own personal use.  I keep working solutions and Gists so that if I need to use them in another project I can easily get to them.  And like Alan, I usually just get the "raw file" copy and paste.

And, I do really enjoy/need/use the Google Apps Script online editor.  I know it is nowhere near as powerful as others BUT it is always available to me no matter where I am logging in from.  I travel from school to school on a daily basis.  So I rely on the internet and web apps to get my "stuff" done.  I know I can use VSCode and GitPod online and use Node and clasp BUT... I lot of hoops have to be jumped through.  Compare that to opening a Google Spreadsheet and going to "Tools - Script Editor" and I am up and coding... easy peasy!

So, if the GAS IDE would integrate the GitHub assistant that would be wonderful!  If it could get even more like VSCode that would be nice as well.  

I would be more than happy to participate in any survey if anyone wants to put one together!  I owe a lot of my knowledge and success to this community and it would be a way of giving back!

Thanks,

Michael

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-apps-script-community/b28e4205-6382-4fb3-9be3-9ecaf781e5c7n%40googlegroups.com.

[Alan Wells]

Anyone can email me at aj.a...@gmail.com if you want to discuss ideas.  Ultimately, unless Google gets involved in adding features to the code editor, then we can talk forever, and wish, and hope and try to come up with our own solutions, but it could all be wasted effort.  There are some things that only Google could integrate into a code editor, unless they add capability to the Apps Script API.

[Bruce Mcpherson]

Yes indeed - even though I use node and vscode as my main development environment, when developing Apps Script, I prefer to just use the IDE.  I have a couple of hundred Apps script projects on github, and very few of them are clasp projects. I just use gasgit 

https://ramblings.mcpher.com/drive-sdk-and-github/getting-your-apps-scripts-to-github/ 

to automatically push them to github if they every get modified, and now I can use scrviz to clone copies as required.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-apps-script-community/23d7b8ac-32a5-4f84-8639-9d7d029978c0n%40googlegroups.com.

[Alex]

I'm using a code snippets pack for this https://google-apps-script-snippets.contributor.pw and I 'd like to add a chrome extension that would allow snippets to be used directly in the IDE.

Unfortunately, the structure of the snippets is still a mystery known only to me.

Also I'm still hoping that scrviz will be more popular. I'm not using it for my common jobs but I often use it for demonstrations and code testing.

[Adam Morris]

I also used to use clasp and local dev environment to start and then would move to browser IDE when close to finished. 

Now I’m totally in the new IDE. I wish I could turn off the pop ups … other than that pretty happy with using it.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-apps-script-community/8acf318d-7ef3-4c66-a3cb-97de7cc7c93cn%40googlegroups.com.

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http://classroomtechtools.com

[Clark Lind]

Alex, I would love to see the snippets developed into something tangible. Have you seen a site called 1LOC (one line of code)? That is my go-to JS reference for copy/pasting simple JS snippets I need.

If the GAS snippets could be standardized, that would be a helpful start (but a huge task!). 
A Chrome extension could prove difficult, however, a Tampermonkey/Greasemonkey script might be worth looking into since you can link directly to github files...   hmmm. 

[Alex]

Thanks Clark!

I saw  1LOC. It's nice.

I also see UserScripts as a first step. Thanks for your advice!