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Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

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Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#41

Post by edwinyzh »

the_other wrote: post #26

Hey, well done for getting something functional working and in the public eye. > I made this because building UIs in a lexical medium like code is super annoying. I have to pre-render what I’m making in my head I'd call the pre-rendering in your head a benefit, tbh. Also.. watching your vid, the property editor being "far away" from the selected item renders this tool much less useful to me than writing code. My eyes…

>> A similar tool got shown here on HN...a visual tool to edit CSS is a) so handy but b) really hard to build because it's not programmatically obvious which file to make updates too...

Can you point me to the post so that I can study more details? As mentioned about, the idea of my http://liveditor.com is not to edit the css for you but points you to the line of the css file so that you can edit the styles in the code editor and see the result instantly.

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#42

Post by pendar747 »

echopom wrote: post #20

I'm a bit fed up with those "IDE" for web attempts. Every 9 Month or so , we get a new attempt at fixing Web Dev lack of Visual Feedback and productivity issues. The typical coder behind this type of project get "Mental Fatigue/ Coder Exhaust" after 6 Months as they generally ignore the complexity behind building such product and end up abandoning the project.... There is a google graveyard , but we should also build…

Despite your negative tone, I think you have a point. There are many project like this. I'm working on another one at the moment and I have compiled a long list of similar projects. There is definitely a need for a tool that can create UIs visually. IMO such a tool needs to have interoperability with code, as in changes to the code reflect in the tool and changes in the tool make reflect back in the code.

We haven't succeeded in creating an intuitive and robust enough tool that accomplishes this, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible. It's a technical challenge which can be overcome.

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#44

Post by [deleted] »

Doches wrote: post #19
onion2k wrote: post #17

It reminds me of Visual Basic or early versions of Dreamweaver to an extent (which is a huge compliment). That enabled a massive number of people to make apps who wouldn't otherwise have been able to, but after using it for a long time most users abandon the visual UI builder in favor of the code editor. If you're a visually-driven person then this looks ace, but I think in the opposite way to the narrator. Rather th…

This, very much so. One of the (few) things I genuinely love about modern frontend web development is the speed of the edit loop with React and hot reloading. Look, I'm an engineer; _writing code_ is my jam, not clicking pretty widgets in a (nice!) UI. It's genuinely faster for me to turn an image in my head into a functioning component by just writing out Typescript or CSS; the abstractions are less leaky, and the e…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#45

Post by simon_000666 »

I want this - but mobile first.

Whenever I’m sitting on a bus or train for a short trip that doesn’t warrant bringing a laptop but there is a simple little tweak that could be made in 10 mins. I would like to use a tool like this designed to be used on a mobile device.

Also I think then people who only have mobile devices could also create their own software.

It grates on me that in order to build mobile web applications you need a laptop or desktop.

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#46

Post by thomasfromcdnjs »

echopom wrote: post #20

I'm a bit fed up with those "IDE" for web attempts. Every 9 Month or so , we get a new attempt at fixing Web Dev lack of Visual Feedback and productivity issues. The typical coder behind this type of project get "Mental Fatigue/ Coder Exhaust" after 6 Months as they generally ignore the complexity behind building such product and end up abandoning the project.... There is a google graveyard , but we should also build…

I don't think the criticism is wrong.

Though it would seem that something in this space will eventually attract a decent user base.

I'm basing that thought off the idea that Dreamweaver and others were once useful to different groups.

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#47

Post by danielvaughn »

dgb23 wrote: post #27
elanning wrote: post #13

Great idea. I think UI/UX designers would love a tool like this. Especially if they could import React components made by the development department.

If the components are headless. Otherwise it makes more sense to do it the other way around. Designers write components that just render stuff, which then gets wired up by devs to be state/effectful.

This is what I’m doing. I’ve been building a “programming language” for UI designers. The idea is that they just describe the visual behavior, and then devs can wire it up with business logic.

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#48

Post by tscepo »

math-dev wrote: post #28

Is it via class or functional components ? Keep up the good work - maybe jetbrains will buy / fund you!

Right now we export class components, but the option to export functional components is coming soon. Will likely default to functional component export.

Thanks!

Re: Show HN: A Visual IDE for React

#50

Post by beshur »

Sorry, I could not go farther in the video after watching the narrator trying to accurately click on all those inputs, dropdowns etc. simultaneously saying "writing this in code would be annoying".

In my opinion using mouse pointer to click things on screen is annoying when it comes to programming.

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