Borland Delphi was the modern MS Access clone. Ever have seen how fast you can build an DB app with that? I'm sure the newest version of Delphi is still as good today as the 2001/2003 version at that time ;)
On Mac it is Filemaker or not?
Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
21–30 of 114 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#22fieldbook.com seems to check a lot of your boxes.
it has plenty of rough edges but has a solid relational model and is fun to use.
my only complaint is that api access is really expensive (making it cost-prohibitive to most HN readers) but the main product is cheap/free.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#23Maybe because writing an Access database still requires a programmer, and you can get better value by hiring a PHP programmer to write two pages and three tables.
Yep, this is what always happens with these types of applications. There was a whole slew of these type of tools in the 90s dubbed '4GL' with the idea they were a level above traditional programming (3GL) where business people could drag &drop their way to a new app. It was a disaster and none of those 4GLs are around anymore. There is no interface that's as easy as sending an email to a developer saying "I need an a…
They are around though. I did a job at a company that had a 4GL app used by business analysts to generate the APIs, UI and business logic to be used for e.g. mortgage calculations on websites.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#24I came across this one recently:
http://www.matssoft.com/product/
Doing well in the enterprise sector in the UK. Recently acquired, though for relative peanuts:
https://www.youinvest.co.uk/articles/stockmarketwire/123954/...
Then again, I tend to be very skeptical of such tools, having seen them in action in the 00s, where they were very poor as a medium/long-term solution that ultimately hindered, not helped.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#25Borland Delphi was the modern MS Access clone. Ever have seen how fast you can build an DB app with that? I'm sure the newest version of Delphi is still as good today as the 2001/2003 version at that time ;) On Mac it is Filemaker or not?
Pricing killed Borland/Delphi. Unattainable to regular developers and small businesses.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#26Borland Delphi was the modern MS Access clone. Ever have seen how fast you can build an DB app with that? I'm sure the newest version of Delphi is still as good today as the 2001/2003 version at that time ;) On Mac it is Filemaker or not?
Pricing killed Borland/Delphi. Unattainable to regular developers and small businesses.
What about Lazarus?
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#274th Dimension (4D): http://www.4d.com
Started as a Mac only RDB in the '80s. Now runs on Mac and Win, as a single user, from a server, or can be compiled as a standalone app. Rich development environment, includes web server, PHP, SQL and a lot more. There is a small but vibrant community of developers but is accessible to anyone with some technical experience.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#28Borland Delphi was the modern MS Access clone. Ever have seen how fast you can build an DB app with that? I'm sure the newest version of Delphi is still as good today as the 2001/2003 version at that time ;) On Mac it is Filemaker or not?
Pricing killed Borland/Delphi. Unattainable to regular developers and small businesses.
Agreed. They finally have an "express" version but even that was $199. I'm sorry but I'm not going to pay that much money for something that I may never even use, especially for a stripped down version of it.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#29There are quite a few products that attempt to be a web based equivalent of Access. The two that seem to be the closest to me are Google's AppMaker ( https://developers.google.com/appmaker/ ) and Bubble.is ( https://bubble.is/ ). I call these two out because they both allow for coding when the "default path" runs into a wall, and both include more than just forms and tables. However, they both still have warts. Appma…
Dabble was pretty neat, and it was written in Smalltalk, too. I think each user got their own Smalltalk image, and their data was saved directly to the image.
I can't remember if I learned that in a video or a post somewhere by Avi Bryant, though. I was really interested in Smalltalk in 2009/2010 and I remember seeing Dabble DB coming up a lot.
Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?
#30I came across this one recently: http://www.matssoft.com/product/ Doing well in the enterprise sector in the UK. Recently acquired, though for relative peanuts: https://www.youinvest.co.uk/articles/stockmarketwire/123954/... Then again, I tend to be very skeptical of such tools, having seen them in action in the 00s, where they were very poor as a medium/long-term solution that ultimately hindered, not helped.
Looks interesting, but no pricing..."call for demo". Ugh, hate that.