Do applications exist that allow non-programmers to create applications without coding? That are simple and have a friendly GUI?
Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
1–10 of 30 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#2What kind of applications do you want to be able to build with such a tool?
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#3I believe the nature of software prevents such an application from existing. I would cite the complicated nature of all parser-generators as partial proof.
WYSIWYG HTML generators may be as close as it gets, and that doesn't end up creating much in the way of "code".
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#4What kind of applications do you want to be able to build with such a tool?
I was thinking about basic CRUD applications to start. I think it would be valuable for a business to be able to build a small, basic CRUD application to manage certain processes like QA, or any other basic data-keeping that's needed - in situations where ready-made products just don't fit the bill.
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#5You can build Android apps using a drag and drop interface with Google's AppInventor.
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#6We're working on a framework we hope to expose to our customers for just this purpose. It'll be made up of modules you can add and a GUI for field/form customisation. A bit like Microsoft Access but web based, is that what you had in mind?
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#7What kind of applications do you want to be able to build with such a tool?
I was thinking about basic CRUD applications to start. I think it would be valuable for a business to be able to build a small, basic CRUD application to manage certain processes like QA, or any other basic data-keeping that's needed - in situations where ready-made products just don't fit the bill.
Technically you can build basic CRUD stuff using Xcode and Interface Builder on Mac OS X:
1. Design your GUI using Interface Builder
2. Design your Core Data model in Xcode.
3. Connect the two using Bindings in Interface Builder.
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#8The closest thing I've heard of recently would probably be VisualStudio LightSwitch. I've never used it and am pretty skeptical about this sort of thing in general from experience with MDA tools in the past, but it's probably worth a look.
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#9What kind of applications do you want to be able to build with such a tool?
I was thinking about basic CRUD applications to start. I think it would be valuable for a business to be able to build a small, basic CRUD application to manage certain processes like QA, or any other basic data-keeping that's needed - in situations where ready-made products just don't fit the bill.
Business-oriented databases generally have this kind of feature. I believe both MS Access and FileMaker have drag-and-drop-style form builders allowing a non-programmer to create a purpose-built user interface to query and update the database.
Re: Ask HN: Is there software for building software?
#10HyperCard was the gold standard for this kind of thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCard#Applications