Notes on Low Code Dev. Platforms

I am interested to know how to quickly provide small to medium size web apps. In that context, low code and no code development platforms seem to be quite fascinating. But there seems to be a plethora of such development platforms! And the pricing for many seem to be based on per user which I presume is users using the app. That may be a big tripping point for many small organizations especially charitable organizations.

One doubt I have is that if some of these low code dev. platforms are great then why all this buzz about MERN stack, Ruby on Rails etc. Instead the buzz should be about few of these dev. platforms that are great. I think I will get some idea of the answer only after I explore some of these low code dev. platforms myself. Plan to do that sometime in the near future, time permitting.

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7 Best Low Code Development Platforms in 2024 [Full Software Demo], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHcY7VetK10 , 15 min. 17 secs., published by Business Solution in Feb. 2024

Covers: Zoho Creator, Monday Dev, Appsmith, OutSystems, Appian, Glide, Softr

Appsmith: https://www.appsmith.com/ - has a free plan for individual developers

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What Is Low Code Development | Low Code No Code Development | Intellipaat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZJ6zJ1XwxI , 11 min. 47 secs., published by Intellipaat in Dec. 2023.

Mentions Salesforce, Shopify and Bubble as low code dev platforms, https://youtu.be/aZJ6zJ1XwxI?t=301

Below video shows how to create a very simple To Do App in Bubble. There is no programming language coding. It has drag-and-drop support for adding visual components to forms and one has to set properties and link stuff up (workflows). For data storage there is something called 'tables' if I got it right. Overall, it does not seem very complicated. I think Bubble is worth digging deeper into. But I do wonder how it handles errors. Are the components smart enough in error handling? Error handling can be complicated in a regular coded web app.

Bubble Tutorial - How to Make a Simple App in Under 10 Minutes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axeOmRNpXMM, 8 min. 51 secs, by Build Apps Without Code in Feb. 2021

This video is longish but seems to be thorough and in-depth based on my quick browsing of it: Bubble.io Tutorial for Beginners: How to Build a Scalable App, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYHtR7IONl8 , 3 hrs. 12 mins, by Coaching No Code Apps in Aug. 2022.

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Was told by an expert in or around Dec. 2023 that these two low code platforms are worth checking out:

AppGyver

Firebase (from Google)

...

AppGyver does not seem to have easily available and large set of tutorials. Its website does have a "Start guided experience" (for SAP Build Apps free tier) but that seems to need registration. I was little disappointed that as compared to tools/dev. platforms like Firebase and Bubble, AppGyver seems to have limited free tutorials. ....

Browsed through this playlist of 12 videos: Appgyver Absolute Beginner Tutorial, seems to be total of 4 to 5 hours, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYWBKxY2jpP-UNGBpbwyocG-nlNt8NpIZ  (last updated in Sep. 2020), by TableBase. In this video set, Appgyver only seems to connect and use a REST API backend. Don't know if Appgyver creates REST API backends too. The video set develops a front end. Like Bubble, Appgyver has drag-and-drop support for adding visual components to forms. But the way the components are set up and linked seems to be different from Bubble and perhaps more sophisticated as it allows for adding some JavaScript code as well.

...

Browsed through this video and found it to be fascinating. Given that Firebase is from Google, I am very tempted to explore Firebase. The video: What is Firebase and how to use it,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9pgI3Mg-So, 41 mins, published by Firebase in Sep. 2023. It has an associated video of the same speaker guiding viewer through creating the app. she mentions in the previous video using Firebase and React. I browsed through that video too and found it to be of great interest. The video: Build an expense tracker web app with Firebase and React, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2RZOiUD5E0, 56 mins, published by Firebase in Oct. 2022. The source code repo for the app: https://github.com/firebaseextended/expense-tracker .

In contrast to Appgyver, Firebase seems to be more focused on back-end. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebase states that Firebase is "is a set of backend cloud computing services and application development platforms provided by Google. It hosts databases, services, authentication, and integration for a variety of applications, including Android, iOS, JavaScript, Node.js, Java, Unity, PHP, and C++." Note that the term "Backend as a service" (BaaS) seems to be used for Firebase.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt7u_y_QC1noJ_HkNhCm-r32usYvKazqf, Feb. 2021 is a set of videos titled, "Appgyver / Firebase CRUD". Have yet to go through them but it seems that it may be demonstrating how to use Appgyver as frontend and Firebase as backend!