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Tried a low-code plat recently. Ended up writing more js than I'd bargained for and then decided it'd be quicker and easier to write my own API to expose to the

Tried a low-code plat recently. Ended up writing more js than I'd bargained for and then decided it'd be quicker and easier to write my own API to expose to the low code tool purely as a frontend. This was just simple composition of rest endpoints exposed via a 3rd party API - some looping. Maybe there's better platforms...be interested to hear which ones are working well for people.

gervwyk 5y ago
Check out https://lowdefy.com https://lowdefy.com - we recently open-sourced it. We’ve been building apps with Lowdefy for customers for a while now and very seldomly need to setup an API endpoint for a task. Often surprised how flexible it is, in one project we are rolling out full MRP for a food processing factory at the moment.
- aszen 5y ago
  I had a look at your product, it seems like a good idea, using yaml to declaratively describe the ui. I'm curious though if this is actually low code, when I see the docs I still imagine it's actual developers who will be writing all the yaml or not. As more use cases pop up I actually expect the yaml to grow considerably complex, at which point you will need to reuse yaml blocks, reference other blocks and so on. Essentially it feels to me writing yaml is no different from coding using a high level library or framework.
  - kkevv 5y ago
    Especially curious what the actual distribution of users for these low code internal tools are. Theres a lot of rhetoric about how business users/operations can quickly create tools, but it really seems like developers are the main customer.
    - arey_abhishek 5y ago
      Most low code / no code products are used by developers. But a no code integration product like Zapier would have a high number of business users, while a low code product would have very few business users. Low code products tend to be aimed at developers in a hurry or ones with limited skills.
  - gervwyk 5y ago
    We've been asking ourselves the same question and trying to figure it out. We currently have some developers and non-developer users, but the mimimum requirement seems to be that the builder understands the data and is proficient in writing data queries. For now, we mostly try to make Lowdefy work for developers, since it is developers who carry the responsibility of solving software and data related problems in companies. We do plan to make Lowdefy more attractive for citizen developers in the future, but we believe the first goal should be to serve developers well. What is really cool about writing these apps in YAML is that it enables all developers to build a web UI. Many backend developers have the need to put a UI in front of their services but have very little desire to learn React, webpack, css, etc. And for frontend developers, they often want to focus on the consumer side of their applications, yet spend a great deal of time building administrative features. Lowdefy enables all developers to build web apps without learning additional skills - it's almost like full stack "infrastructure as code". > you will need to reuse yaml blocks, reference other blocks and so on. Essentially it feels to me writing yaml is no different from coding using a high level library or framework. Absolutely. We have a _ref [0] operator which enables you to template our parts of your YAML. Then helps Lowdefy apps scale really well. It is true that one has to "think like a coder" to write Lowdefy apps. But I'm wondering if this can or should be removed at all when you are working with data. Even when using Excel I need to think like an excel developer to develop a more complicated sheet.
- 9dev 5y ago
  I’m absolutely sold on this. Next time I’m working on any internal application, it’s going to be with Lowdefy!
  - gervwyk 5y ago
    Great to hear! Looking forward to your feedback, we are currently finishing auth docs, and we'll focus on some additional examples and tutorials soon. You are welcome to join our discord channel - https://discord.gg/VR2k5QAZ https://discord.gg/VR2k5QAZ Or just ask a question in the github discussions if we can help.

gervwyk 5y ago

Check out https://lowdefy.com https://lowdefy.com - we recently open-sourced it. We’ve been building apps with Lowdefy for customers for a while now and very seldomly need to setup an API endpoint for a task. Often surprised how flexible it is, in one project we are rolling out full MRP for a food processing factory at the moment.

aszen 5y ago
I had a look at your product, it seems like a good idea, using yaml to declaratively describe the ui. I'm curious though if this is actually low code, when I see the docs I still imagine it's actual developers who will be writing all the yaml or not. As more use cases pop up I actually expect the yaml to grow considerably complex, at which point you will need to reuse yaml blocks, reference other blocks and so on. Essentially it feels to me writing yaml is no different from coding using a high level library or framework.
- kkevv 5y ago
  Especially curious what the actual distribution of users for these low code internal tools are. Theres a lot of rhetoric about how business users/operations can quickly create tools, but it really seems like developers are the main customer.
  - arey_abhishek 5y ago
    Most low code / no code products are used by developers. But a no code integration product like Zapier would have a high number of business users, while a low code product would have very few business users. Low code products tend to be aimed at developers in a hurry or ones with limited skills.
- gervwyk 5y ago
  We've been asking ourselves the same question and trying to figure it out. We currently have some developers and non-developer users, but the mimimum requirement seems to be that the builder understands the data and is proficient in writing data queries. For now, we mostly try to make Lowdefy work for developers, since it is developers who carry the responsibility of solving software and data related problems in companies. We do plan to make Lowdefy more attractive for citizen developers in the future, but we believe the first goal should be to serve developers well. What is really cool about writing these apps in YAML is that it enables all developers to build a web UI. Many backend developers have the need to put a UI in front of their services but have very little desire to learn React, webpack, css, etc. And for frontend developers, they often want to focus on the consumer side of their applications, yet spend a great deal of time building administrative features. Lowdefy enables all developers to build web apps without learning additional skills - it's almost like full stack "infrastructure as code". > you will need to reuse yaml blocks, reference other blocks and so on. Essentially it feels to me writing yaml is no different from coding using a high level library or framework. Absolutely. We have a _ref [0] operator which enables you to template our parts of your YAML. Then helps Lowdefy apps scale really well. It is true that one has to "think like a coder" to write Lowdefy apps. But I'm wondering if this can or should be removed at all when you are working with data. Even when using Excel I need to think like an excel developer to develop a more complicated sheet.
9dev 5y ago
I’m absolutely sold on this. Next time I’m working on any internal application, it’s going to be with Lowdefy!
- gervwyk 5y ago
  Great to hear! Looking forward to your feedback, we are currently finishing auth docs, and we'll focus on some additional examples and tutorials soon. You are welcome to join our discord channel - https://discord.gg/VR2k5QAZ https://discord.gg/VR2k5QAZ Or just ask a question in the github discussions if we can help.