Ruminating on nip.io and Let's Encrypt

nip.io is a free, open-source service that allows you to use wildcard DNS for any IP address. This implies you may build a hostname that resolves to any IP address, no matter where it is. This may be beneficial for a number of things, including:

• Testing local machine applications. When constructing a local application, you may utilise nip.io to provide it a hostname that can be accessed from anywhere. This makes it simpler to test and distribute the application with others. This service has been made free by a company called as Powerdns. Examples: 
• 10.0.0.1.nip.io maps to 10.0.0.1
• 192-168-1-250.nip.io maps to 192.168.1.250
• 0a000803.nip.io maps to 10.0.8.3  (hexadecimal format)
• Many online services expect a hostname and do not accept an IP address. In such cases, you can simple append *.nip.io at the end of the public IP address and get a OOTB domain name :)
• Creae a SSL certificate using letsencrypt:  If you use the "dash" and "hexadecimal" notation of nip.io, then you can easily create a public SSL certificate using "Let's Encrypt" that would be honoured by all browsers. No need of struggling with self-signed certificates. 

ngrok is another great tool that should be in the arsenal of every developer.