All courses: Remove Replit

[Eduardo06sp]

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Describe your suggestion

To put it succinctly, I have no idea what benefits we get from using Replit instead of GitHub.

I was looking for similar issues, but instead, I actually found several drawbacks to using Replit including, but not limited to:

• Having to pay to have a public deployment of your project, this used to be free
  • I had trouble finding any information mentioning how they removed the "run" button for our projects (that would let anyone run it, for free), but this describes their new payment-based model for deployments: https://blog.replit.com/hosting-changes
• Having a fork limit (of 3 repos) - discussed in "Replit" is paid now #28412
  • Also in their pricing page (https://replit.com/pricing)
• Having AI-assistant features enabled by default - discussed in Fundamentals Part 2: Look into disabling AI assistance from Replit #26551
  • Their site shows how to disable it, so I assume it's still the case (https://docs.replit.com/faq/)
• Having a development time limit (of 600 minutes/month) - reported in Discord: https://discord.com/channels/505093832157691914/543074220691947531/1301859947834769448
  • This may have increased to 1200 hours/month, per their pricing page (https://replit.com/pricing)

If we agree to make this change, then I can dig deeper and get all the Replit links I can find. In the meanwhile, this is The Odin Project's Replit profile, which indicates what lessons use Replit:
https://replit.com/@OdinProject

Path

Other / NA

Lesson Url

https://www.theodinproject.com/paths

(Optional) Discord Name

Eduardo06sp

(Optional) Additional Comments

Progress: #29054 (comment)

[bizarf]

I would add that the Replit repos need updating as the config files are outdated. Pressing the run button causes nothing to happen now, and the user will have to click on the shell window and type node index.js to run the code.

The four Replit repos are from this lesson:
https://www.theodinproject.com/lessons/foundations-data-types-and-conditionals

I believe the use was to allow the user to quickly try JavaScript coding by solving the short problems in the repos.

[MaoShizhong]

@TheOdinProject/maintainers I vaguely remember a past discussion about migrating to Stackblitz for these sorts of exercises (inc. codesandboxes e.g. from the React course)?

[ccooffoo]

@Eduardo06sp Does TOP uses Replit just for the 4 exercises already mention here? when I was doing the exercises I got confused using Replit. So I suggested some changes to the content to avoid confusion but, if you guys are going to migrate, I think it's better to wait for the decision about the tool you guys are going to implement.

[Eduardo06sp]

@ccooffoo I haven't done a thorough search, but I think that may be the case.

I need to go through the lessons and double check. I'm wondering if we can just copy them over to a GitHub repo and have the same exact functionality as before without all those drawbacks.

[XAJX179]

replit has a 1200 minutes per month limit on development time https://replit.com/pricing , which has resulted in some users getting timed out in just 2 days accidentally because it would count the time even if u just leave the tab open or don't log out

replit is also mentioned in how to ask great question page and the odin bot commands in discord and in many ruby lessons too so we should remove it from there too - https://www.google.com/search?q=site:theodinproject.com+replit

[KevinMulhern]

I need to go through the lessons and double check. I'm wondering if we can just copy them over to a GitHub repo and have the same exact functionality as before without all those drawbacks.

@Eduardo06sp I think you're right, we should be able to add them to the JavaScript exercises repo. All the prerequisites with using Git have been covered by the time these exercises come around. Theres no strong reasons for them to be in Repl.it as far as I can tell.

[JoshDevHub]

@KevinMulhern @Eduardo06sp I think the exercises could be moved to the JavaScript exercises repo, but another thing will have to change to accommodate that: the position of the node install lesson, which currently doesn't happen until very late in Foundations. Without node installed, learners have no way to run JS programs locally.

I don't think that's a huge deal or anything, but it's just something to keep in mind.

[Eduardo06sp]

@JoshDevHub A quick grep search indicates that the only place we actually have Replit exercises is for Data Types and Conditionals (https://www.theodinproject.com/lessons/foundations-data-types-and-conditionals#assignment).

Most of the rest of the mentions are scattered throughout the Ruby lessons, but we can just leave IRB as the recommendation. There are a few other places too, but without any actual exercises.

To get to my point, all we would need to do is move the Installing Node.js lesson back a little so it's right before Data Types and Conditionals, which is still in the same JavaScript Basics section (https://www.theodinproject.com/paths/foundations/courses/foundations#javascript-basics). The change honestly does not seem drastic as it would only be moved a few lessons back. I think it would still remain at the same level difficulty for users going through the curriculum.

[Eduardo06sp]

I am now willing to work on this issue, as I'm not sure that this would be a good Issue for a first-time contributor.

If I get the green flag to proceed on this, I can produce a list of changes that need to be made, and get that approved before beginning my work on it.

[KevinMulhern]

Thanks @JoshDevHub, I forgot that was a prerequisite.

I think we're good to go @Eduardo06sp!

[ccooffoo]

Changes sound interesting. In my case, after reading this text: —To get started, you will need to create a free Replit account.—I got little confused because I thought the exercises would open a .js file or folder to add in vscode and run the code.

I'll follow up on the changes.

[Eduardo06sp]

@KevinMulhern Please assign me, and let me know if this looks good to you:

Criteria for approval:

• Create 4 new exercises in our javascript-exercises repo - All exercises: Add four new exercises javascript-exercises#509
  • They will be similar to the 4 exercises we currently use Replit for: https://www.theodinproject.com/lessons/foundations-fundamentals-part-2#assignment
  • Please note this will take me a little longer, as I will modify every exercise to match the style of rest of the Javascript exercises (including writing any tests as needed)
• Move the Installing Node.js lesson so it is right before the Data Types and Conditionals lesson - Feature: Relocate Node.js installation lesson theodinproject#4870
• Update lessons that reference the javascript exercises, since I am adding new exercises that will change the order a bit - JavaScript Basics Course: Replace Replit exercises #29161
• Add note to the Array and Loops lesson, reminding users that they should have done the Node.js installation lesson
  • Since this is the point from which we would be moving Installing Node.js further back
• Remove Replit mentions in Join the Odin Community lesson - All lessons: Remove/replace Replit suggestions #29180
• Remove obsolete Replit instructions from Basic Informational Site (Node.JS project)
• Remove Replit mentions from various Ruby lessons, leaving IRB as our recommendation (where applicable)

[Eduardo06sp]

I know @MaoShizhong mentioned perhaps sticking to another platform. I was under the impression that we could just stick to GitHub and follow the same kind of pattern that all the javascript-exercises files follow.

To elaborate on my plans, for each exercise, I can create:

• a README that describes what to do
• an exercise file
• a test file
• a solutions folder

This may be overkill, but I think it would be a lot less confusing than forcing users to go to an entirely different platform (Replit). I honestly got confused trying to navigate Replit and following the instructions a few moments ago when I tested it out.

However, I don't mean to overstep any boundaries or sidestep any discussion you guys may have held about it. I am just eager to help improve things at least a little. :}