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Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

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Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#101

Post by adsharma »

jeffasinger wrote: post #41

Why not start out by using the Django Admin features? That allows you to start with next to no code, but you can easily add a little business logic anywhere you need it eventually, and it provides a way to long term transition to a true application if the need arises.

I explore this topic in my blog post from a few months ago:

https://adsharma.github.io/flattools-programs/

In short, django models are written using a very low level of abstraction. I much prefer dataclasses generated from a high level IDL.

The blog post compares different IDLs and argues why flatbuffer IDL is more suitable.

In order to express queries over such models:

https://adsharma.github.io/fquery/

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#102

Post by adsharma »

adsharma wrote: post #101
jeffasinger wrote: post #41

Why not start out by using the Django Admin features? That allows you to start with next to no code, but you can easily add a little business logic anywhere you need it eventually, and it provides a way to long term transition to a true application if the need arises.

I explore this topic in my blog post from a few months ago: https://adsharma.github.io/flattools-programs/ In short, django models are written using a very low level of abstraction. I much prefer dataclasses generated from a high level IDL. The blog post compares different IDLs and argues why flatbuffer IDL is more suitable. In order to express queries over such models: https://adsharma.github.io/fquery/

Also see:

https://github.com/oxan/djangorestframework-dataclasses/issu...

on how this could work. The author wasn't interested, but I might pursue it in a fork.

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#103

Post by codechoir »

arey_abhishek wrote: post #12

I'm a founder of Appsmith that has already been mentioned here. It's an open source project to help you build CRUD UI on top on any database(MySQL, Postgres included) or API. We give UI components to create forms, charts, tables, etc. GitHub link: https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith

I've just looked into Appsmith and it seems like a fantastic solution! Thanks! :)

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#104

Post by codechoir »

gervwyk wrote: post #50

Hi, We've built Lowdefy [0] for exactly this reason. It it is open-source, low-code and self hosted. On our team we have data analysts and implementation engineers (non-developers) creating apps in Lowdefy. For Lowdefy I would say that the minimum tech expertise required is someone who can learn to write data queries. We are currently working on SQL support and should have the first SQL connectors out next week. Plea…

I love Lowdefy (I've seen it a couple week back here on HN) but I have dismissed it given that there's no SQL connector right now. It's great to hear that you're working on that!

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#105

Post by codechoir »

davnicwil wrote: post #28
biztos wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn’t the asker’s goal a front-end to Postgres? Your product looks interesting but I don’t see how it fits the requirements here.

Thanks, yeah you're totally right, but worth mentioning if OP had never considered backing an app with a spreadsheet. It's a really powerful option for non developers to manage data without having to use SQL / a PG client etc.

Unfortunately, for the current project(s) I have to work with existing DBs. That said, your product looks great for the use case!

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#106

Post by codechoir »

hakanensari wrote: post #32
ReDeiPirati wrote: post #29

> I'm currently looking for a solution to provide (non-technical) team members with a way to interact with a SQL database ... While I'm generally willing to pay, I'd really prefer an open and self-hosted solution. You should definitively check Metabase [0] then: it's open source, very easy to self-host, and democratize data access inside your team. We started using it for the same reason 3 years ago, I cannot recomme…

Metabase is great for querying and visualising your data but won’t help you collect input like Google Forms, which sounds like what the OP is after.

Thanks for pointing Metabase out. Unfortunately, while great for analytics, I'm really more focused on data input.

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#107

Post by codechoir »

ducharmdev wrote: post #94
ecesena wrote: post #74

How big is the db? I've used a Google Spreadsheet as a backend for hasgluten.com, so non-tech people can just edit the content without my involvement.

That's kinda where my mind went - even though it's not as exciting to a developer, that'd be a lot more accessible for non-technical people. Worst-case scenario, if you need a more fully-fledged app down the road, you could write a small script to import the .csv into a database.

I'd love to go that route - unfortunately the DB is already set in stone (long before I ever thought about it).

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#108

Post by ReDeiPirati »

hakanensari wrote: post #32
ReDeiPirati wrote: post #29

> I'm currently looking for a solution to provide (non-technical) team members with a way to interact with a SQL database ... While I'm generally willing to pay, I'd really prefer an open and self-hosted solution. You should definitively check Metabase [0] then: it's open source, very easy to self-host, and democratize data access inside your team. We started using it for the same reason 3 years ago, I cannot recomme…

Metabase is great for querying and visualising your data but won’t help you collect input like Google Forms, which sounds like what the OP is after.

yeah, you are totally right, I somehow skipped the CRUD-form requirement.

Re: Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends

#110

Post by larodi »

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #52

I know everyone hates Oracle, but they do have an "always free" tier of Oracle APEX, which is pretty much designed to be a low/no-code environment for CRUD apps. https://oracle.com/cloud/free/ https://apex.oracle.com

funny... as nothing is ever really free with Oracle.

APEX was created to replace Forms, which really proved itself as stable technology with some apps having a 30 years lifespan now (code quality and performance aside). but APEX has not even neared Forms in terms of speed of dev. fortunately or not - Forms is so-90-ies and quite discontinued.

...should you mention APEX, then perhaps you should also note MS Access as is pretty much the same.

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