Ask HN: What low code platforms are worth using?

Interesting. All in like 1h. Also might be less relevant for AskHN, since the idea is to comment / discuss the topic. Surprised that there is not a more effective solution to this.

I think that assuming that technology is secondary is a trap that skilled developers encounter when moving into management-they assume that development is as easy for others as it is for them. When I moved into technical management, I was fortunate enough to work with high performing teams for a while, so when I encountered a poor performing team (the team lead didn’t know basic good practices, and bug counts rocketed up because of an inexperienced dev team) it was a nasty shock.

Low/no code have long learning curve because they provide too many configurable tools and have big limitations because they don't provide enough configurable tools.

I've started using Anvil 6 years ago and never looked back.

I never liked low code solutions, but I was the only developer in my company, so I didn't protest when the management tried them. We hired consultants, spent tons of money, hit tons of walls and gave up.

Anvil is only code, only Python. It's no javascript, no html, no sql, no server management, etc., but yes code. Only Python, but it leaves the door open if you want to use javascript, sql, git, etc.

Here is a post that summarizes it quickly: https://anvil.works/forum/t/showing-off-anvil-to-others/1864...

This matches my experience as well - in an enterprise environment when you already code .NET and people already use Powerapps, etc... why go looking for a new platform to integrate? Just keep using the platform you are already invested into.

Anything specialized for your industry, then a nocode platform can work real well. General purpose nocode, without either domain knowledge or software knowledge? Hnnnnnhg[0].

Why[1] is that? Whelp, what the nocode tools do - in my completely non-credible opinion - a real good job of is exposing the base abstractions used by developers. But - and whew, am I gonna piss off some people here - good base abstractions need domain knowledge. So when you combine "no industry knowledge" with "no coding knowledge" into a Superteam making Enterprise Software, you got a magic formula for making tools with negative value.

Since I come from the interface between technical representation and domain knowledge, I think something that really speaks to this is the utter insistence on having documents that automatically populate from BIS (business information systems). XML was the NoCode of this application, and it never worked. The reason it never worked, is because neither the domain knowledge (CAD or PDM or LSA or WI, consumables/fasteners location, flight ops mission plan AND emergency engine procedures[2] AND most of preflight, et cetera et cetera) OR the schema ("BREX allows you to do whatever you want with the schema! Go nuts!") have enough information to formulate natural language descriptions, procedures, checklists, and the like. Either the Powers-That-Be thought the domain stuff would sort itself out[3], OR they're making the assumption that documents don't need natural language. Either is super duper dumb, but the basic notion is so seductive that we keep on chasing it, for decades and decades. I see a shadow of this in the general nocode platforms. Maybe, possibly, AI has the answer here in the form of "instant domain knowledge", but boy, would I never use that for anything safety critical without SOMEONE who knows what they're doing. Overfitting is a thing.

[0] I've seen Zapier do crazy cool things, but teams with domain knowhow (and programming knowledge) had already been at it, chunking up useful blocks for the "users" making actual apps.

[1] In my experience, is the probably-unnecessary adder.

[2] "What do you mean, 'our engine doesn't catch on fire'?"

[3] Which, right there, would be a good software application. "Will the FAA let me fly with the business system informations I have?". Instead of hashing it out in your pilot checklists three weeks before cert, because natural language is the crappiest place for that analysis.