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Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

alan-platform.com

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Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#131

Post by jf- »

jf- wrote: post #127

Tutorial has some issues. “from_scratch.migration” should be “from_zero.migration”, and visiting server_ip:7584 gives an invalid address error. This is after downloading the virtual box image, installing Alan connect, doing the build steps, importing the built image and starting it. Edit: Looks like the Alan connect app needs to be restarted after adding the image. Clicking “advanced” nothing was running, it’s fixed…

Also can’t find a valid username/password for Hours. There is what looks like a username (hello world) and password in the source but they don’t let me log in.

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#132

Post by klageveen »

yayr wrote: post #111

How are you going to differentiate against Mendix or ServiceNow? At the moment their offering seems to be much more mature. Niche strategy? Price? Open Source community? Grow faster (needs more money)?

They have a head start in getting to the market. We need more time to reach their level of maturity, but we believe we have the core concept and technology to surpass them quite a bit. For the really large projects our focus on the core specification already makes a difference.

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#133

Post by klageveen »

jf- wrote: post #127

Tutorial has some issues. “from_scratch.migration” should be “from_zero.migration”, and visiting server_ip:7584 gives an invalid address error. This is after downloading the virtual box image, installing Alan connect, doing the build steps, importing the built image and starting it. Edit: Looks like the Alan connect app needs to be restarted after adding the image. Clicking “advanced” nothing was running, it’s fixed…

Thanks for catching that. Did I mention we're still moving fast and breaking things? ... Sorry. The tutorial text should be fixed, will be looking into the Alan Connect app.

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#134

Post by klageveen »

jf- wrote: post #131
jf- wrote: post #127

Tutorial has some issues. “from_scratch.migration” should be “from_zero.migration”, and visiting server_ip:7584 gives an invalid address error. This is after downloading the virtual box image, installing Alan connect, doing the build steps, importing the built image and starting it. Edit: Looks like the Alan connect app needs to be restarted after adding the image. Clicking “advanced” nothing was running, it’s fixed…

Also can’t find a valid username/password for Hours. There is what looks like a username (hello world) and password in the source but they don’t let me log in.

If you add users to your model, you can generate a new "from_zero" migration that includes an initial user and password. Run

  ./.alan/dataenv/system-types/datastore/scripts/generate_migration.sh migrations/from_zero systems/server/model.lib.link --bootstrap

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#135

Post by jf- »

klageveen wrote: post #133
jf- wrote: post #127

Tutorial has some issues. “from_scratch.migration” should be “from_zero.migration”, and visiting server_ip:7584 gives an invalid address error. This is after downloading the virtual box image, installing Alan connect, doing the build steps, importing the built image and starting it. Edit: Looks like the Alan connect app needs to be restarted after adding the image. Clicking “advanced” nothing was running, it’s fixed…

Thanks for catching that. Did I mention we're still moving fast and breaking things? ... Sorry. The tutorial text should be fixed, will be looking into the Alan Connect app.

No worries! Nothing is ever perfect on launch day.

It’s a nice app you have here. My gut instinct is that you will need to allow under the hood customisation if you want it to really catch on. Your potential customers will be afraid of getting 90% of the way to their goal and realising that the last 10% is impossible.

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#136

Post by jf- »

klageveen wrote: post #134
jf- wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also can’t find a valid username/password for Hours. There is what looks like a username (hello world) and password in the source but they don’t let me log in.

If you add users to your model, you can generate a new "from_zero" migration that includes an initial user and password. Run ./.alan/dataenv/system-types/datastore/scripts/generate_migration.sh migrations/from_zero systems/server/model.lib.link --bootstrap

Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#137

Post by yuchi »

klageveen wrote: post #125
dmitriid wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We understand people want to see the UI, but it's not the key selling point. Pretty apps isn't what you'd use Alan for And yet, > This makes it ideal for administrative tools and data gathering > Solutions built with Alan include everything from small accounting systems you can build in an afternoon, to large ERP solutions. I really pity the users of those systems then.

If prettiness isn’t a key selling point, doesn’t mean it’s not gorgeous. Sorry if it came across like it’s not a priority for us. But it’s not what sets it apart: all our competitors also have pretty apps, they don’t have our language.

As dev AND ux designer I ask you to, please, not to forget that most of decision makers have been in a situation where they had to throw away a medium to big system whose UX was blatantly old and poorly executed because it was on top of something similar to Alan. (This is just 4GL again)

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#138

Post by klageveen »

jf- wrote: post #135
klageveen wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for catching that. Did I mention we're still moving fast and breaking things? ... Sorry. The tutorial text should be fixed, will be looking into the Alan Connect app.

No worries! Nothing is ever perfect on launch day. It’s a nice app you have here. My gut instinct is that you will need to allow under the hood customisation if you want it to really catch on. Your potential customers will be afraid of getting 90% of the way to their goal and realising that the last 10% is impossible.

Thanks for understanding.

You’re not alone with that gut instinct. We haven’t run into that problem though. Also, that last 10% can probably be achieved using a custom side app, or a custom front end. We didnt cover that in detail in the introduction, but the options are there. Also, current traditional approaches aren’t guaranteed to get you near 100% either. They may hold the promise of getting there, but we’re usually dealing with clients who understand that most projects don’t make good on that promise.

Re: Show HN: Alan – a low-code application platform

#139

Post by jameshart »

klageveen wrote: post #81
jameshart wrote: post #75

‘M-Industries’? Any relation to the defunct Microsoft Oslo/M-Language model-driven development platform?

Nope, no relation. It's a long story for some other day ;)

Did you at least take a look at any of the Oslo stuff? There were some solid ideas in there.
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