I'd never tell anyone that learning to code is easy (only that most people can do it with some hard work), but I would also never tell anyone that tools like this will make it easier because I do not believe that to be true.
Making an app like this and putting it online (with roughly the same level of features) requires:
* Learning a backend language, like Python * Learning how to design a data model * Learning how to design an admin interface * Managing authentication, security, and performance * Learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript * Learning how to set up a uwsgi server * Learning how to set up an nginx server * Learning how to set up an AWS VM and deploy the above to it * Learning how to use a VCS
I'm an experienced programmer and sysadmin who has done all of those things and more over the last 20 years, and I still can't imagine going to the trouble of actually doing all of that if I can just log into HoneyComb and make everything nice and quick and just get it done.
There's value in learning how to do it, but there's also value in spending your time somewhere else. If you're making a simple CRUD app, bashing it together with Django and deploying it to an EC2 VM is almost definitely not your differentiated value proposition. If it's just a throwaway app to handle some mundane task, then it's definitely not wort hthe time it takes to make it if you don't have to.
That sounds all nice and good until one inevitably runs into limitations of the software. And then it has to be made again, this time from scratch.
> bashing it together with Django and deploying it to an EC2 VM is almost definitely not your differentiated value proposition
It never -was- the value proposition. Customers simply do not care about what stack you used in the first place. They will care when features don't get rolled out because of limitations. Or when bugs arise because developers duct-taped solutions together because of the limitations of their software-making software. Not that traditional apps are perfect, but that's one issue they don't have.
Yes, it is complicated, and if you're making a toy app it probably will suffice. But I would never rely on it for a business.
You sir have options. Every place I have ever worked has at least one app that someone hacked together through some combination of PDFs, Excel and Access. This is a tremendous opportunity for those folks. The ones who will never learn to code, never learn to deploy an application and never get enough visibility to have a developer assigned to their project.
For the everyteam, these types of tools are exceptional. I continue to be amazed by what dedicated people pull-off with these no-code solutions.
I fail to see how Honeycode outright disqualifies for everything related to vast field of "business" because of its limitations. In fact, I think that is very much, where it will be able to solve a lot of problems efficiently.
All of them? No, just like any other tool. They all come with their set of drawbacks.
That's what this tool looks like will accomplish. A new class of apps will be built - that have never been built before. The so called app market will expand.
This doesn't replace the current apps, or the current set of engineers developing these apps. This grows the overall market to be 10x larger than what it is now.
1) Agreed. Writing the code is the easy part. Determining and defining what to build? That's the magic.
2) In the wrong hands, making things too easy can be detrimental. First, there's add too much, simply because you can. For instance, WordPress n00bs are notorious for adding too many plugins. Why? Because they can.
The second reason is, changing too soon without enough data, without enough user input. Yes, iteration is helpdul. But if it's borderline pivoting then that's likely to end badly. Again, in the wrong hands.
Javascript, java and python have made it too easy to write software. Would be better to return back to the days when everything was written in C and Assembly.
/s
I'm not knocking Honeycode and similar. I think they're great. But they are simply tools. They are at their best when they are paired with a user with some understanding and sufficient knowledge.
You can have all the magic in the world upfront with planning and have it fail spectacularly without the right execution that is accurate, on-time and on-budget.
Yes. Execution matters. But it's only as good as understanding the target. Miss that target (read: meet biz needs) and no one will say "Yeah. But it was great execution."
Every few years someone comes along with a new toy that promises to finally deliver.
It's been going since at least the 90s (when I was old enough to start reading programming magazines (remember those?))
Truly, software development is sisyphean in nature...
