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I have had the same reaction. I am not sure what customer pain these services are addressing. Even if it made prototyping and MVP developing vastly easier, what

I have had the same reaction. I am not sure what customer pain these services are addressing. Even if it made prototyping and MVP developing vastly easier, what happens if the product starts to take off? The lock-in seems dramatic, but I could be off-base.

mattyfo 14y ago
As a UX Designer and front-end guy a lot of the appeal is being able to build something functional without a lot of help. You are correct about the taking off part. If any of my ideas were to take off then I would need to swap out one of these services for an actual back-end.
- swalkergibson 14y ago
  Perhaps it is my own lack of experience with the services themselves, but I feel like if you are equipped to build out a complete front-end javascript application, you are probably equally qualified to bang out a little server-side API that will be suitable for you. Call me old fashioned, but I feel like this new cottage industry might just be a bridge too far...
adrianpang 14y ago
* disclaimer: I'm working on a service that's an entry into this space as well * I believe the customer pain is that for many applications, it takes many iterations before the product takes off -- and for non-developers, who have to hire developers to implement each iteration, it could be cost-prohibitive to get to the take off stage. Easy application prototyping and MVP developing products allows agility in fine tuning ideas to make sure it meets a need, before spending the money to hire a developer and implementing the final, more optimized version. It's also advantageous for developers to use these products as well -- not only is it faster to develop (no need to learn a ton of APIs), it's also easier mentally to change the product to suit a business need (after all, it's easier to toss out an afternoon's worth of work than 2 weeks', if needed)
Floegipoky 14y ago
As a student, I feel compelled to mention the educational value of services like these.
aespinoza 14y ago
The pain is that Backend developers are expensive, and there are not a lot of good ones. Most of the good backend developers are already hired in big companies. Creating Backend functionality is not just about putting your webservices up into AWS and that is it. There is a lot of capacity planning, Security concerns, scalability concerns, etc. Things that are usually covered by more than 1 person. Additionally not all Backend as a Service have that extreme lock-in. In our case (iKnode) you build your backend using pure C# code, which is your and you can take with you. Creating Web Services out of the code you put in our servers is plain and simple.
aespinoza 14y ago
Backend as a Service is in the business of saving time and money.
johnwark 14y ago
I've also been using Backlift at Nashville Software School. We have a class that is an introduction to front-end development and as an educational tool Backlift has been great. Allows us to focus on learning how to program and build browser-based code without forcing us to teach our students a lot of details about the server-side at the same time. Big win. Does it replace learning all of that server stuff at some point, no, of course not, but it allows us to focus on fewer issues at any given point in the course. To the lock-in point, I've not seen that in what our students have built. There's a bit of unique code but mostly they're using standard AJAX & JSON techniques. My own perspective is that Backlift and tools like it have real value for not just training but also for prototyping applications, rapidly evolving MVPs, etc. If something clicks and you've got to scale, great - that's when you invest in the real back-end. But there are also a lot of simple, low volume applications and websites where a back-end as a service tool could well be all that someone needs.

mattyfo 14y ago

As a UX Designer and front-end guy a lot of the appeal is being able to build something functional without a lot of help. You are correct about the taking off part. If any of my ideas were to take off then I would need to swap out one of these services for an actual back-end.

swalkergibson 14y ago
Perhaps it is my own lack of experience with the services themselves, but I feel like if you are equipped to build out a complete front-end javascript application, you are probably equally qualified to bang out a little server-side API that will be suitable for you. Call me old fashioned, but I feel like this new cottage industry might just be a bridge too far...

adrianpang 14y ago

* disclaimer: I'm working on a service that's an entry into this space as well * I believe the customer pain is that for many applications, it takes many iterations before the product takes off -- and for non-developers, who have to hire developers to implement each iteration, it could be cost-prohibitive to get to the take off stage. Easy application prototyping and MVP developing products allows agility in fine tuning ideas to make sure it meets a need, before spending the money to hire a developer and implementing the final, more optimized version. It's also advantageous for developers to use these products as well -- not only is it faster to develop (no need to learn a ton of APIs), it's also easier mentally to change the product to suit a business need (after all, it's easier to toss out an afternoon's worth of work than 2 weeks', if needed)

Floegipoky 14y ago

As a student, I feel compelled to mention the educational value of services like these.

aespinoza 14y ago

The pain is that Backend developers are expensive, and there are not a lot of good ones. Most of the good backend developers are already hired in big companies. Creating Backend functionality is not just about putting your webservices up into AWS and that is it. There is a lot of capacity planning, Security concerns, scalability concerns, etc. Things that are usually covered by more than 1 person. Additionally not all Backend as a Service have that extreme lock-in. In our case (iKnode) you build your backend using pure C# code, which is your and you can take with you. Creating Web Services out of the code you put in our servers is plain and simple.

aespinoza 14y ago

Backend as a Service is in the business of saving time and money.

johnwark 14y ago

I've also been using Backlift at Nashville Software School. We have a class that is an introduction to front-end development and as an educational tool Backlift has been great. Allows us to focus on learning how to program and build browser-based code without forcing us to teach our students a lot of details about the server-side at the same time. Big win. Does it replace learning all of that server stuff at some point, no, of course not, but it allows us to focus on fewer issues at any given point in the course. To the lock-in point, I've not seen that in what our students have built. There's a bit of unique code but mostly they're using standard AJAX & JSON techniques. My own perspective is that Backlift and tools like it have real value for not just training but also for prototyping applications, rapidly evolving MVPs, etc. If something clicks and you've got to scale, great - that's when you invest in the real back-end. But there are also a lot of simple, low volume applications and websites where a back-end as a service tool could well be all that someone needs.