Developer tools specialist JetBrains has scaled up the functionality of its Code With Me service for remote pair programming and collaborative development over audio or video for the beta release.


Ekaterina Kalinina, blogging for JetBrains, says the update means that developers can share projects securely and collaborate on their code in real time as well as talk to each other without leaving the JetBrains IDE.


"Code With Me now supports video and voice calls," Kalinina writes.


"The new built-in communication toolkit significantly improves software development workflows where remote collaboration has become the new norm."


The plugin is bundled in with version 2021.1 of compatible JetBrains IDEs -- such as IntelliJ IDEA (Community and Ultimate), WebStorm, PyCharm (Community and Professional), PhpStorm, GoLand, RubyMine, CLion, and AppCode.


Those working on version 2020.3.1 or higher can download and install Code With Me from the JetBrains Marketplace, she says.


"There has been a big shift toward remote work. Collaborative solutions provide software teams with the necessary tools to be productive and engaged with one another, no matter where the members of the team are based," says Kalinina.


Code With Me simplifies remote collaboration and provides developers with an environment to pair program, troubleshoot, and share knowledge live and remotely from their IDE, with integrated video and voice calls.


"Whenever you want to talk to your peers, you can initiate audio and video calls right from your JetBrains IDE. Code With Me works perfectly for both 1:1 meetings and group sessions," Kalinina says.


Code With Me currently does not limit how many team members you can invite to your collaborative coding session.


However, inviting a large number of participants could affect host machine performance -- especially since this is an early-access version of the software which may contain errors, Kalinina notes.


( Photo by Berkeley Communications on Unsplash )