Show HN: Amplication – Instantly Generate Node.js Apps with GraphQL and REST API

What are you implying?

> you can absolutely write great software in it

I wouldn't question this for a second. Nor that some people may be extremely happy with it. But me personally, for my most common use case (end-to-end monolithic web apps, complete with client and back-end) it feels like it places a higher cognitive burden than the alternatives, due to all the things we're mentioning (eg, lack of an established ORM)

> Comparing Django to NodeJS itself is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison

Well, yea, but that's the point of my whole comment - Node could have a Django or Rails equivalent after ten years, don't you think?

> It seems like the biggest issue with the NodeJS ecosystem is that everyone wants to roll their own thing

Completely agree - it's almost an ethos thing. Though I'm not sure if it's a conscious "ethos" or rather having to due with the ecosystem and developer population being disparate and disjointed - anarchical, maybe?

Again, not questioning that there are some really good devs out there that are deliberate and successful in rolling out their own thing. I also think however there's a group of devs who think that they want to roll their own thing, until they have to face the consequences down the road and wish they hadn't.

> how deceptively easy it is to work with NodeJS

Yes, that's a big point in my comment. To add: I have a formal education in software engineering but like many others had to pick up web dev on my own. I bought into the Node.js "one language to rule them all" hype, only to find a much steeper learning curve than I would have had otherwise (mainly due to the async model and the lack of a batteries-included framework), without much of a payoff for it.

I feel no regrets, my path has been what it's been, I've learned a lot and I'm glad to have Node.js as an option in my toolbelt since it's so prevalent and there are good use cases for it. But if I had to recommend a young dev where to start I'd probably point them elsewhere.

As for me going forward I see myself sticking to Django and exploring things like Elixir/Phoenix, Swift, Go or F#, and only coming back to Node if the situation really calls for it or maybe, like I said previously, if there's a batteries-included framework that reaches maturity.

Every time I look at one of these I get anxieties...

At first because they look so easy, clean and productive (just 5min!), but then because I try to get specific answers, like: what drives the schema? Can I use websockets with this? What problems does it solve that others don't? Why does a simple CRUD application need GraphQL integration? Why are there emojis everywhere? Why does it feel like their intentions are unclear?

Then I close the tab and leave with an empty feeling.

> Well, yea, but that's the point of my whole comment - Node could have a Django or Rails equivalent after ten years, don't you think?

It's not that such a thing hasn't been developed, but that by the time such a thing gets developed (for example: [0]), NodeJS devs have already decided they don't like gulp (even though just last week gulp was the new thing vs. grunt), they like webpack; they don't like AngularJS, they like React (or VueJS now); etc.

Almost feels like the JS ecosystem is plagued by people who want to rise to dev stardom by making the next big framework, and they spend a LOT of time trying to convince people their thing is the next best thing since sliced bread. I've seen grown up devs abandon stacks that were perfectly fine to spend years migrating to the new thing — granted this happens more at larger companies where resume building sometimes overtakes business needs.

[0]: https://github.com/angular-fullstack/generator-angular-fulls...

redwoodjs aims to provide a framework for a serverless architecture with jamstack - It looks amazing. Amplication aims to provide an easier and continuous development experience with Node.js, to allow node.JS developers to focus on their business domain instead of design and boilerplate. Amplication generates a human-readable source code to allow the developers the freedom to choose how to use their apps and how to deploy it - Whether because of business policies and architecture, privacy and security concerns, or just personal preferences.