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Ask HN: Do you trust low-code platforms?

2 points by pencildiver ↗ HN
I'm the CEO of a low-code platform called Hatch Apps. We started as a no-code platform and are shifting to low-code (i.e. in-browser code editing) to enable developers to edit and extend an app's features, business logic, and integrations.

Curious how much developers trust (or appreciate) low-code platforms? This can be in relation to speed to market, quality, app complexity, etc.

3 comments

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BA4gDY-cqjsEPWn
I'm very appreciative until I come by a limitation that would be trivial in a "traditional" development environment, but practically impossible in the low-code platform due to it's design. Then the magic is gone and suddenly I have a bunch of negative emotions about the platform as a whole.
scarface74
The main problem I have with low code solutions is that it doesn’t work with traditional development workflows.

- can I export/import a plain text representation of my implementation and version control it?

- can I create separate environments dev/qa/UAT/staging/prod and automate pushing changes to the environment via the command line?

- Is there an “escape hatch”? When I get to the limits of what the platform can do, are there extension points?

jppope
Unpopular opinion here...

Investors and Technologists are always chasing after solutions that will drop the barrier between hard tech things and "normal" people. Think wix, squarespace, salesforce, etc.

...But the uncomfortable truth is that code isn't that barrier. Most Devs lego-piece projects together from open source repos that are fairly easy to configure and use IDEs that code-complete A TON of our work for us. The hard part isn't the code, it is the way that we approach problem solving, the way that we put projects together... its the way that we think about "hard tech things". Low code doesn't make that part any easier.

So do I appreciate or trust low code platforms? Sort of... mainly because it gets people started in our world.