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I don't code. I would love to learn and may still someday and there's an app I would like to build. This article doesn't give me any idea where I would start.

I don't code. I would love to learn and may still someday and there's an app I would like to build. This article doesn't give me any idea where I would start. At all. I wish it did. I've looked around for quick and dirty ways to try to build the app I want to build. They never seem to do what I want them to do, the "in minutes" part fails to materialize for an outsider without a strong coding background, etc. I think there are some wonderful tools out there and it's always good to lower the barrier to entry so people with other strengths can do their thing, but I read ideas like this and think of a book I saw written by a professional clothing maker who was decrying the shortcomings of off-the-rack clothes and the punchline was to the effect of "Why would you wear that dreck? Life is so much better when you can easily make custom pants in minutes -- like I can because of my many years in the industry!" I didn't buy the book. My mom sews beautifully. I know something about making clothes and, no, you aren't going to replace off-the-rack clothes with teaching the whole world how to make custom clothes "in minutes" because that's so much better and easier.

pdimitar 5y ago
Yes, you are very correct. The "build X in minutes" definitely assumes strong background because you know what to look for. Without that you might as well give it blank stares for a year. But then again, I am not sure this article -- and presented technology -- is aimed at you. IMO it's more aimed at jaded programmers who are sick of hand-rolling the ever-almost-the-same 99% identical code for each project. Hopefully such tools can give them a less stressful time. For a programming beginner who would like to build something you'd be much better off looking at something like Airtable.
- DoreenMichele 5y ago
  I do blogspot blogs and the interface is brilliant in terms of letting anyone of any skill level interact with it. They have precoded templates you can just click on. They have the option to "customize" where you can click on different colors or whatever without knowing any coding. You can also use your own hex codes to change colors to exactly what you want. You can add custom CSS snippets safely without digging around in the code. If you are a serious coder, you can access the code and edit. I do everything but that last because I know some HTML and CSS (and UX etc) but I don't have the programming experience to figure out how to go into the guts of the code. I spent hours and hours learning my way around the blogspot interface. Yes, anyone can just click a template and swap out background photos or whatever but if you don't already have prior experience with their backend and some basic design knowledge and UX knowledge, good luck making it do what you want while looking good and yadda. I spent some time thinking I could sell my skills as a blogspot expert but there doesn't seem to be a market for it. People with money and ambition and so forth don't use blogspot. People who use it don't pay for help with it. They do it themselves. So I have some idea of how much background knowledge someone needs to have to "do X in minutes" though I'm not a serious coder. I'm the computer geek in some circles I hang in though I would never identify that way on HN, just like I don't generally try to tell HN that I'm some mathy person. I am often the "mathy" person in other settings. Just not here. Anyway, thanks to anyone who suggested some entry level options for me.
- kirso 5y ago
  Aren't various boilerplates created for this which already route all the necessary libraries and tools like analytics, stripe etc?
  - pdimitar 5y ago
    Sure, there are. They do almost nothing about having to modify the generated code afterwards though. They are just a start; you don't have a command like "modify this validation to be this or that".
nicoffeine 5y ago
I am helping a few people getting started with web dev, and I have had good success using Svelte. It's not necessarily the best choice if you're trying to start a resume to get hired, but if you're trying to get comfortable with the foundations of all of the possibilities (javascript, html, css) it's a lot less intimidating. I think it will be a big player in the future, and you can make just about anything you want with it. https://svelte.dev/tutorial/basics https://svelte.dev/tutorial/basics In my case, I always have to do video tutorials to get started with a new stack. I use Academind ($20 a month) since their courses are comprehensive and still manage to split topics into shorter videos. When I get confused, I can usually find a good refresher on what I'm having trouble with. They have a course on Svelte specifically and 101 guides to all the technologies involved.

pdimitar 5y ago

Yes, you are very correct. The "build X in minutes" definitely assumes strong background because you know what to look for. Without that you might as well give it blank stares for a year. But then again, I am not sure this article -- and presented technology -- is aimed at you. IMO it's more aimed at jaded programmers who are sick of hand-rolling the ever-almost-the-same 99% identical code for each project. Hopefully such tools can give them a less stressful time. For a programming beginner who would like to build something you'd be much better off looking at something like Airtable.

DoreenMichele 5y ago
I do blogspot blogs and the interface is brilliant in terms of letting anyone of any skill level interact with it. They have precoded templates you can just click on. They have the option to "customize" where you can click on different colors or whatever without knowing any coding. You can also use your own hex codes to change colors to exactly what you want. You can add custom CSS snippets safely without digging around in the code. If you are a serious coder, you can access the code and edit. I do everything but that last because I know some HTML and CSS (and UX etc) but I don't have the programming experience to figure out how to go into the guts of the code. I spent hours and hours learning my way around the blogspot interface. Yes, anyone can just click a template and swap out background photos or whatever but if you don't already have prior experience with their backend and some basic design knowledge and UX knowledge, good luck making it do what you want while looking good and yadda. I spent some time thinking I could sell my skills as a blogspot expert but there doesn't seem to be a market for it. People with money and ambition and so forth don't use blogspot. People who use it don't pay for help with it. They do it themselves. So I have some idea of how much background knowledge someone needs to have to "do X in minutes" though I'm not a serious coder. I'm the computer geek in some circles I hang in though I would never identify that way on HN, just like I don't generally try to tell HN that I'm some mathy person. I am often the "mathy" person in other settings. Just not here. Anyway, thanks to anyone who suggested some entry level options for me.
kirso 5y ago
Aren't various boilerplates created for this which already route all the necessary libraries and tools like analytics, stripe etc?
- pdimitar 5y ago
  Sure, there are. They do almost nothing about having to modify the generated code afterwards though. They are just a start; you don't have a command like "modify this validation to be this or that".

nicoffeine 5y ago

I am helping a few people getting started with web dev, and I have had good success using Svelte. It's not necessarily the best choice if you're trying to start a resume to get hired, but if you're trying to get comfortable with the foundations of all of the possibilities (javascript, html, css) it's a lot less intimidating. I think it will be a big player in the future, and you can make just about anything you want with it. https://svelte.dev/tutorial/basics https://svelte.dev/tutorial/basics In my case, I always have to do video tutorials to get started with a new stack. I use Academind ($20 a month) since their courses are comprehensive and still manage to split topics into shorter videos. When I get confused, I can usually find a good refresher on what I'm having trouble with. They have a course on Svelte specifically and 101 guides to all the technologies involved.