Not for Hongkonger though. Browser work but that is not the point. Is it just USA?
Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
201–210 of 331 posts
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#202It's a spreadsheet and for when you need more (aka have to write some code), there are conditions, functions etc... https://honeycodecommunity.aws/t/honeycode-functions/90
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
~20 years ago, I spent a year or so mostly creating and updating Lotus Notes 'apps' for internal use at my employer. Most of these were CRUD apps to support existing business processes. The v1 of each one, which was immediately useful and used, usually took me 4 to 8 hours to create. That includes the time talking to the main user to understand what they needed. I can't achieve the same speed with Django or Flask. Ma…
That's interesting. Personally, learning Django to be comfortable with it takes quite some time for me. Translating the business process to code means you have to be comfortable with the framework, no matter what you're using. What do you often you feel you're stuck on?
It's not that I get stuck. It's just that, with Lotus Notes:
- authentication was already taken care of
- adding a field at a particular place was one step (rather than updating a model, updating a view and running a database migration)
- I could make small changes in production (ok, maybe that's not so good!!)
- adding events between different Lotus Notes apps on the same server was a snap
- the learning curve to become productive was just a few days
Of course, I'm not saying every type of app fits this model. Or even that every app that fits this model can be strung together with Lotus Notes functions and without using 'proper' code (Lotus Notes had its own variant of Visual Basic).
But for many use cases, you could do a lot in a very short time without very few lines of code.
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#204Has programming 'without writing code' ever panned out for anyone? 27th times the charm?
I believe the answer is yes: Excel. Even without using macros, it's basically dataflow programming and a built in user interface structure.
People solve problems and build useful tools using Excel, even those who have no realistic expectation of ever learning to write code. In fact it may be the most widespread programming tool.
Are there things it can't do, and problems with scalability and collaborative development? Sure. But BASIC had those problems and nobody says it isn't programming.
I've seen master programmers use Excel, when they wanted to do something with mixed-type tabular data and graphs, that they could share for others to use.
For a lot of people, hacking a spreadsheet together is easier than trying to communicate their needs to a programmer.
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#205Are there any tools where you can design something in the UI, and then export it as actual React or JavaScript code, that you can then take and upload somewhere else? Using low-code as a developer to iterate faster, and bang out lots of mini code apps quickly, is an interesting idea.
I am trying, https://www.gatsbyjs.org/
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#206I think the thing that "coding without code" fundamentally misses is that learning to actually write Python or Java or whatever is not the hard part of being productive in a business context. The hard part of creating useful software is that you have to understand a business process and its requirements so precisely that you can write it down for the computer to do. I work with business stakeholders creating internal…
I mean, writing code that is good enough to easily work with is actually pretty hard. I've yet to come into an organization where I am like "damn, that is some pretty good legacy code yall have there." I can't even look at my old code and say that, certainly not my earlier work. Mind you, I'm not even saying great code. Nothing about design patterns, unit tests etc... just good enough to not be complete fucking spaghetti with 3,000 line classes and 500 line long methods that take you down the rabbit hole.
TL;DR I had a tough day on legacy system because learning to write code is easy and learning to write good code is hard. I actually saw this today "SELECT %s FROM %s WHERE %s JOIN %s";
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#207I'm very eager to see the Office 365 answer to this. Microsoft is the one that needs to come up with a defensive play here, because this is an area where Excel is used in many businesses both small and large. I'm guessing Microsoft could do a better job than AWS integrating this with Excel and the Office 365 or MS Teams kind of UI to make it feel at home to their users. On the other hand, AWS is ahead now and likely…
It's called Power Apps https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/
Powerapps I think still charges per user login, That is where I think Honeycomb wins, I expect Powerapps, and google appsheet to drop charges soon.
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#208In my experience, when people build apps without having to write code, the first iteration is awesome.
Get something working and shows great promise.
But as complexity grows, the app ends up being a badly designed excel screen on the web.
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can someone smarter than me explain why the AWS UI is so off-putting? I also find myself just put off by AWS UIs. I can't even figure out why I hate it so much. Looking at the screenshots though immediately filled me with the sense that this thing would just be awful to use. When I go back to the screenshots to try to find objective things I dislike about the UI, I can't really find anything. It seems to do the stuff…
I seem to be the only person who likes the AWS UI. So here's my defense of it. AWS is like the hardware store. Who thinks Home Depot is elegant? It's not. Who think their organization scheme is a thing of beauty? It's clunky and just functional. But the idea is, when you go to Home Depot, you're there to get work done. The interior communicates that. The real work comes after you leave - Home Depot understands it's j…
You're not alone, and thanks for putting into words what had been the back of my mind.
I could not care less about the aesthetics of their dashboard, when I'm on it I'm there to get something done and I never seem to have an issue with that.
Re: Amazon Honeycode – build web and mobile apps without writing code
#210I think the thing that "coding without code" fundamentally misses is that learning to actually write Python or Java or whatever is not the hard part of being productive in a business context. The hard part of creating useful software is that you have to understand a business process and its requirements so precisely that you can write it down for the computer to do. I work with business stakeholders creating internal…
I think you are radically underestimating the perceived barriers to entry with programming. You sound a lot like the Linux advocates who think everyone should just memorize a bunch of commands, and get used to using shell. This type of insider view is often referred to as 'the curse of knowledge'.
they teach python in business school these days, so I think programming is more accessible than ever.