5 ms·

This is exactly why I built Molecule.dev. It's brand new, using all the latest and greatest battle-tested tools. I started it because I recognized that it took

by loh 5y ago

This is exactly why I built Molecule.dev. It's brand new, using all the latest and greatest battle-tested tools. I started it because I recognized that it took entirely too long to implement some of the most basic core functionality for cross-platform apps in a way that is up to my standards (i.e., minimal with no real vendor lock-in). It actually boggles my mind that nothing of the same quality as Molecule.dev exists yet. It's obviously a problem that developers everywhere run into when building custom apps. I've seen a few solutions, but (again) they're all either not up to my standards or they try to lock you in. I think most developers prefer to implement things themselves, as they have their own preferences and may (like me) not trust that the code quality is up to their standards, so the difficult part here may actually be to convince developers that the code is high quality and something they themselves would write.

tomrod 5y ago
Interesting. If I did my math right, you have 917,294,284,800 combinations of configuration available, not counting the "other" option in each category. That's a lot! Most are coming from things like the deployment OS (720 options since you aren't limited to only one choice).
- loh 5y ago
  I've never considered all the different combinations, but it is definitely quite a lot of work, and I'm planning on adding more. My goal with this is to help developers and teams of any level, from beginners to experts, quickly get started building the highest quality product(s) they possibly can. I want to raise the bar and eventually set a new standard of DX and UX for both developers and end users.
amackera 5y ago
How can something be both state-of-the-art and battle tested? I thought battle tested meant something more like "tried and true" (AKA not new). Cool product though!
- loh 5y ago
  Most of the tools have been around for quite some time (on the web tech timescale, at least), and they've each evolved and improved as they've been battle-tested. For example, React is pretty state-of-the-art as it has changed (improved) significantly over the years, while still being used in production everywhere.
aerovistae 5y ago
What you've built here is GORGEOUS and is exactly what I'm imagining the future of development will look like. It's a dream. Until you get to the end and it says "$400" -- then I remember it's still 2022 and we're not there yet. You deserve to be compensated for this work, absolutely. I just look forward to a future where tools like this are no longer privately held.
- loh 5y ago
  Thanks! And yeah, I wish I could release this for free but it requires so much time and effort to do it right that I would end up homeless.
  - aerovistae 5y ago
    It's the right choice! When an open version comes, it will most likely be a community effort. I would do the same thing in your shoes.
  - bqe 5y ago
    I haven't tried it yet, but if it does what you say it does, I honestly think you underpriced this.
    - loh 5y ago
      You could be right, but at the same time, many people seem to expect this for free. Perhaps they underestimate the amount of work required to implement quality core functionality, or maybe they feel that all core software should be free and open source. I recently lowered the price in hopes that more people would be willing to follow through on buying. There have been many submissions but no one seems willing to pay. I may increase the prices again later on, but it really depends on how things go. Ultimately, I want this to be accessible to the average developer so more people have the opportunity to quickly build awesome things and bring their ideas to life. It may prove difficult to find the optimal price point. There's still a lot of work to done, especially on the marketing/convincing side of things. Maybe I'll look for funding, but I would prefer to bootstrap it. I'll probably need to find contract work soon if no buyers follow through, however. Ideally, clients would submit via assemble.molecule.dev and we move forward from there.
techsin101 5y ago
how can you be 'latest' and 'battle-tested' at the same time?
- loh 5y ago
  A good example is probably React. I would consider it to be battle-tested, but it's evolved significantly over the years. "Latest and greatest" would refer to e.g. hooks in the particular case of React.
desireco42 5y ago
I honestly feel like you have way too many options. I went to select for some imaginary app. I do appreciate your work, don't get me wrong, but maybe iteration couldn't be bad to happen. Talk to few people, see what they say.
- loh 5y ago
  I agree! There is a lot involved in building full-stack apps, especially with all the different tools available, and Molecule.dev barely scratches the surface. I'll soon be adding presets and templates, which should reduce the complexity of selection. People often have requirements which I have not considered though, so the ability to customize everything will likely remain for them.
  - aerovistae 5y ago
    Counterpoint, I didn't think there were too many options. It took me <1m to scroll through the whole list and select what I wanted, ignoring the ones I wasn't interested in. I thought it was perfect. If it was 5m, on the other hand, or had page after page of options with no end in sight, that would become tedious I think. But this was very brief and straightforward.
gassiss 5y ago
This has to be the coolest experience I've ever had with a landing page
- loh 5y ago
  That is very kind of you to say. I worked hard on it, but I think it can be better. Marketing and succinctly communicating the value of a solution to a problem has never been my strong suit.
  - Beltiras 5y ago
    I'd AB test a different color scheme. I don't mind but I know some managerial types that would.
pbronez 5y ago
When I click the “get started” link and go to https://assemble.molecule.dev https://assemble.molecule.dev I get a blank page on iOS safari.
- loh 5y ago
  Looks like Safari was being extra strict about the CSP (content security policy). It should load on Safari now. Thank you!
frx 5y ago
This is amazing. Could you elaborate on the "No vendor lock-in" part? When we select cloud services like Heroku or AWS, aren't we technically locked-in? For example, AWS Amplify will create DNS entries and its own SSL certificate for the domain. If we wanted to switch, we'll have to set these up again in the new provider. How does Molecule not make you locked-in to the providers you select?
- lowercased 5y ago
  i take it to mean you're not locked in to molecule directly.
  - loh 5y ago
    Yes, this is also the case. (Referencing my sibling reply.)
- loh 5y ago
  Great question. As it is now, Molecules are designed to be as independent (platform/vendor agnostic) and flexible as possible. For example, when I was trying out all the different cloud services myself, I was able to connect each of them to my git repository, and they would each build and deploy the same exact codebase with no extra setup beyond defining a few environment variables. It took zero effort to switch from one service to another. I take no credit for this though, as it's the result of these services being designed so well, competing with each other. I only ensure that it works perfectly for your selection and provide instructions to help you get started as quickly as possible. As for other types of services, like cross-platform payment processing, push notifications, certain libraries/frameworks, etc., some of these try to lock you in, which are all avoided. Your Molecule's code covers all of this on its own so you don't have to rely on a third party. But at the same time, sometimes it can be cost effective to use a third party service, and in which case, the code is written so that adding and removing features and integrations of your own is super easy. I try to make no assumptions about what you will eventually need to add (or remove), while providing the most solid foundation possible for you.
idontwantthis 5y ago
Like others, this sounds amazing and I'd totally pay $400 for it if I could try it out somehow first. Some kind of freememium model makes more sense to me. I'm an experienced dev with plenty of my own ideas, but I'm not experienced in everything and I always balk at how much drudge work I'd need to do to really get something going. This sounds awesome and super valuable.
toshk 5y ago
Just some feedback! Because of your message here I read through, but just the intro and headline would have been too abstract for me and didn't solve anythings specific for me: "Assemble a simple but powerful, fully functional codebase consisting of only what you need." Maybe add a small list of features you supply out of the box? Auth, Subscription management, billing, etc...?
incr3dbl 5y ago
You've done a great job here. I've been a PM in this space for 10+ years at major cloud providers. DM me if you want to brainstorm on GTM / monetization levers.

by loh 5y ago

tomrod 5y ago

Interesting. If I did my math right, you have 917,294,284,800 combinations of configuration available, not counting the "other" option in each category. That's a lot! Most are coming from things like the deployment OS (720 options since you aren't limited to only one choice).

loh 5y ago
I've never considered all the different combinations, but it is definitely quite a lot of work, and I'm planning on adding more. My goal with this is to help developers and teams of any level, from beginners to experts, quickly get started building the highest quality product(s) they possibly can. I want to raise the bar and eventually set a new standard of DX and UX for both developers and end users.

amackera 5y ago

How can something be both state-of-the-art and battle tested? I thought battle tested meant something more like "tried and true" (AKA not new). Cool product though!

loh 5y ago
Most of the tools have been around for quite some time (on the web tech timescale, at least), and they've each evolved and improved as they've been battle-tested. For example, React is pretty state-of-the-art as it has changed (improved) significantly over the years, while still being used in production everywhere.

aerovistae 5y ago

What you've built here is GORGEOUS and is exactly what I'm imagining the future of development will look like. It's a dream. Until you get to the end and it says "$400" -- then I remember it's still 2022 and we're not there yet. You deserve to be compensated for this work, absolutely. I just look forward to a future where tools like this are no longer privately held.

loh 5y ago
Thanks! And yeah, I wish I could release this for free but it requires so much time and effort to do it right that I would end up homeless.
- aerovistae 5y ago
  It's the right choice! When an open version comes, it will most likely be a community effort. I would do the same thing in your shoes.
- bqe 5y ago
  I haven't tried it yet, but if it does what you say it does, I honestly think you underpriced this.
  - loh 5y ago
    You could be right, but at the same time, many people seem to expect this for free. Perhaps they underestimate the amount of work required to implement quality core functionality, or maybe they feel that all core software should be free and open source. I recently lowered the price in hopes that more people would be willing to follow through on buying. There have been many submissions but no one seems willing to pay. I may increase the prices again later on, but it really depends on how things go. Ultimately, I want this to be accessible to the average developer so more people have the opportunity to quickly build awesome things and bring their ideas to life. It may prove difficult to find the optimal price point. There's still a lot of work to done, especially on the marketing/convincing side of things. Maybe I'll look for funding, but I would prefer to bootstrap it. I'll probably need to find contract work soon if no buyers follow through, however. Ideally, clients would submit via assemble.molecule.dev and we move forward from there.

techsin101 5y ago

how can you be 'latest' and 'battle-tested' at the same time?

loh 5y ago
A good example is probably React. I would consider it to be battle-tested, but it's evolved significantly over the years. "Latest and greatest" would refer to e.g. hooks in the particular case of React.

desireco42 5y ago

I honestly feel like you have way too many options. I went to select for some imaginary app. I do appreciate your work, don't get me wrong, but maybe iteration couldn't be bad to happen. Talk to few people, see what they say.

loh 5y ago
I agree! There is a lot involved in building full-stack apps, especially with all the different tools available, and Molecule.dev barely scratches the surface. I'll soon be adding presets and templates, which should reduce the complexity of selection. People often have requirements which I have not considered though, so the ability to customize everything will likely remain for them.
- aerovistae 5y ago
  Counterpoint, I didn't think there were too many options. It took me <1m to scroll through the whole list and select what I wanted, ignoring the ones I wasn't interested in. I thought it was perfect. If it was 5m, on the other hand, or had page after page of options with no end in sight, that would become tedious I think. But this was very brief and straightforward.

gassiss 5y ago

This has to be the coolest experience I've ever had with a landing page

loh 5y ago
That is very kind of you to say. I worked hard on it, but I think it can be better. Marketing and succinctly communicating the value of a solution to a problem has never been my strong suit.
- Beltiras 5y ago
  I'd AB test a different color scheme. I don't mind but I know some managerial types that would.

pbronez 5y ago

When I click the “get started” link and go to https://assemble.molecule.dev https://assemble.molecule.dev I get a blank page on iOS safari.

loh 5y ago
Looks like Safari was being extra strict about the CSP (content security policy). It should load on Safari now. Thank you!

frx 5y ago

This is amazing. Could you elaborate on the "No vendor lock-in" part? When we select cloud services like Heroku or AWS, aren't we technically locked-in? For example, AWS Amplify will create DNS entries and its own SSL certificate for the domain. If we wanted to switch, we'll have to set these up again in the new provider. How does Molecule not make you locked-in to the providers you select?

lowercased 5y ago
i take it to mean you're not locked in to molecule directly.
- loh 5y ago
  Yes, this is also the case. (Referencing my sibling reply.)
loh 5y ago
Great question. As it is now, Molecules are designed to be as independent (platform/vendor agnostic) and flexible as possible. For example, when I was trying out all the different cloud services myself, I was able to connect each of them to my git repository, and they would each build and deploy the same exact codebase with no extra setup beyond defining a few environment variables. It took zero effort to switch from one service to another. I take no credit for this though, as it's the result of these services being designed so well, competing with each other. I only ensure that it works perfectly for your selection and provide instructions to help you get started as quickly as possible. As for other types of services, like cross-platform payment processing, push notifications, certain libraries/frameworks, etc., some of these try to lock you in, which are all avoided. Your Molecule's code covers all of this on its own so you don't have to rely on a third party. But at the same time, sometimes it can be cost effective to use a third party service, and in which case, the code is written so that adding and removing features and integrations of your own is super easy. I try to make no assumptions about what you will eventually need to add (or remove), while providing the most solid foundation possible for you.

idontwantthis 5y ago

Like others, this sounds amazing and I'd totally pay $400 for it if I could try it out somehow first. Some kind of freememium model makes more sense to me. I'm an experienced dev with plenty of my own ideas, but I'm not experienced in everything and I always balk at how much drudge work I'd need to do to really get something going. This sounds awesome and super valuable.

toshk 5y ago

Just some feedback! Because of your message here I read through, but just the intro and headline would have been too abstract for me and didn't solve anythings specific for me: "Assemble a simple but powerful, fully functional codebase consisting of only what you need." Maybe add a small list of features you supply out of the box? Auth, Subscription management, billing, etc...?

incr3dbl 5y ago

You've done a great job here. I've been a PM in this space for 10+ years at major cloud providers. DM me if you want to brainstorm on GTM / monetization levers.