Learning to use APIs for open source libraries is really where the power of creating quality custom apps fast and easy resides and a GUI laid on top of those is

Learning to use APIs for open source libraries is really where the power of creating quality custom apps fast and easy resides and a GUI laid on top of those is a very limiting factor. I made my first app with one called "The Apple Media Tool" and another with it's successor, "iShell". Using those did help me understand how code worked when I was first learning but they also exposed the limitations of taking that route, and they're huge. If I had an app that provided a GUI for all the features I might want or need now it would be bloatware that takes a very long time to learn how to use and I would still be limited to what it included. The rub is, you don't always know what you need until you need it when building an app. Learning how to use available APIs on the other hand has no such limits and allows you to drop them in and learn how to use them on a "Need to Know" basis, and to contribute to the projects that provide them. That's really a pretty great way to build software.