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Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

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Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#31

Post by ElFitz »

whoisjuan wrote: post #3

I already use Airtable as a backend for some small internal tools. It definitely does the job but there are some moments where I feel it might be easier and more flexible just to create something on Firebase. From an API perspective storing and retrieving objects in both is equally as easy. The only reason I went with Airtable is because I needed a GUI to add data manually.

Perhaps you should look into Forest Admin? (for the GUI) They have a free open-source tool.

Never got to use it because I'm mainly running on DynamoDB, but heard lots of good things about it

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#32

Post by ElFitz »

kine wrote: post #5
whoisjuan wrote: post #3

I already use Airtable as a backend for some small internal tools. It definitely does the job but there are some moments where I feel it might be easier and more flexible just to create something on Firebase. From an API perspective storing and retrieving objects in both is equally as easy. The only reason I went with Airtable is because I needed a GUI to add data manually.

100%. I love Firebase's speed but digging into the data and modifying it through their console is a total pain.

Their console is a pain, and some of other aspects too.

Remember getting an error because a document was getting updated too fast (four or five times in less than a second).

Heck, their own documentation states a document can only be updated about once (1) per second[0]

[0]: https://firebase.google.com/docs/firestore/solutions/counter...

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#33

Post by yesimahuman »

latchkey wrote: post #16

I went through something like this. I was thinking oh... airtable saves me from having to develop the crud aspects of my app! Boy was I wrong. For super super basic stuff, Airtable is fine to code against their API. But as soon as you get into anything more complicated, you are going to get screwed. They have a 5 concurrent connection limit and no real transactions. Want to insert 6 rows quickly across two tables? No…

The way to use it in my experience is if you have a good data set that will be edited by non-engineers, periodically pull it into a more appropriate application database. Then you’re enabling others to manage the data but still get the performance and scalability the app needs. This will suit only certain kinds of apps, of course

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#34

Post by sandGorgon »

I see a lot of people talking about SQL or Airtable. But there's a third middle ground here - Graphql based headless CMS.

For example Graphcms, Prismic, etc. You get the standardization of Graphql (which means no lock-in) and pretty much as powerful as SQL really.

You also get the admin/dashboardy/WYSIWYG aspects of a CMS - https://prismic.io/feature/custom-type-builder

Very easy integration - https://medium.com/better-programming/graphql-combine-and-sw...

(of course this works just as well on Android, React Native/Web,etc)

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#35

Post by syspec »

kine wrote: post #20
bloudermilk wrote: post #17

This is a great concept! I'm not surprised to see you getting flak for building on Airtable, but as a "real developer" leaning heavily on low/no code lately I wanted to share how well it's worked for our open source team over the last few months. In terms of scale, it has supported dozens of editors, hundreds of public submissions, and several thousand rows of data. We have also successfully scripted a number of use…

lol "real developer." I was the Director of Engineering for Bump, a YCW18 company. I've run mobile teams as well. I just wanted to mix two tools together, no need to hop into who's real and who's not a real developer here. If you want more: https://linkedin.com/in/zackshapiro

bit of a hack

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#36

Post by rat9988 »

zapzupnz wrote: post #28
kine wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol "real developer." I was the Director of Engineering for Bump, a YCW18 company. I've run mobile teams as well. I just wanted to mix two tools together, no need to hop into who's real and who's not a real developer here. If you want more: https://linkedin.com/in/zackshapiro

You realise that GP's "real developer" wasn't a challenge to your pride, yes? It wasn't to denigrate you or your skills, just to give context for the remainder of their own post about their own experiences — as an experienced developer using tools that may not necessarily be aimed at experienced developers.

I still don't see why he said "real developer" and not "developer"

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#37

Post by altschuler »

I built an ERP-like application for a small production company entirely with Airtable as the backend, but wrapped in a GraphQL schema. The Airtable app fetches the schema of a base when you load it, complete with all type columns, data types, select options, lookup ids, etc. You can use that to generate a GraphQL schema and fetch the data from Airtable in your resolvers. The rate-limiting and general speed when fetching a lot of data makes it unsuited for things that need to scale, but having the excellent Airtable UI for raw data entry and a custom application for everything else (complex data entry, reporting, kpis and such) was very nice.

That said, if I were to do it again today I'd probably go with Hasura or something more suited as an actual backend.

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#38

Post by zapzupnz »

rat9988 wrote: post #36
zapzupnz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise that GP's "real developer" wasn't a challenge to your pride, yes? It wasn't to denigrate you or your skills, just to give context for the remainder of their own post about their own experiences — as an experienced developer using tools that may not necessarily be aimed at experienced developers.

I still don't see why he said "real developer" and not "developer"

To make much more explicit the differentiation between traditional developers, using programming languages, and the sorts of people at which things like PowerApps, Google App Maker, or this AirTable are aimed — usually more database-y, business/data analyst types.

(Not to say developers don't use them as well, of course they do.)

Re: Show HN: I built an open-source SwiftUI app with an Airtable back end

#40

Post by beefbroccoli »

rat9988 wrote: post #36
zapzupnz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise that GP's "real developer" wasn't a challenge to your pride, yes? It wasn't to denigrate you or your skills, just to give context for the remainder of their own post about their own experiences — as an experienced developer using tools that may not necessarily be aimed at experienced developers.

I still don't see why he said "real developer" and not "developer"

By the context it's clearly in response to others giving OP flak. That's why he put "real developer" in quotes, as a dig at anyone who might presume a "real developer" would have no use for this kind of solution.
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