Throwing in the towel on backend dev.
Throwing in the towel on backend dev.
After years of trying to get to grips with backend dev I just find that I don't enjoy it, and I'm slow, and my code sucks.
Is there hope in creating unique, purposeful digital products with just HTML/CSS/JS + interacting with APIs? Am I forever limiting myself to a no-techspace, like trying to monetise blogs and doing drop shipping and eCommerce sites?
Any front-end only products out there that do cool and interesting things, but without a backend?
Your post resonates so much with me, but just from the other side of the spectrum :). To answer your question though, there are quite a lot of sites out there where front-enders build templates and sell them for a good price. For ex, check out https://wrapbootstrap.com/
Personally I did purchase a couple of them from these sites because I'm not a great UI guy but the world needs to see stuff :)
Thanks for the link! But that's exactly the kind of thing I want to avoid 😅
I want to create whole products, and I'm fine with being more limited in terms of what I can build, but I still want to create a whole end-to-end offering.
Ah sorry 😅. For building a decent end to end app can be done with using a lot of API's without needing to write db code or auth code. For ex: Use Auth0 for doing login and user management, use firebase for persistence and real time notifications. Use sendgrid or mailchimp kind of products for mail. Use https://www.elastic.co/cloud/ for a good search experience, loggly for logging stuff.
It's possible today to build apps with zero infrastructure, but integrating with many products opens up the avenue for multiple points of failure in the product.
I can probably help narrow down the tools list if you can elaborate what it means by end-to-end offering for you ✌️
Yeah that kind of Frankenstein product is exactly the direction I want to go in :)
I think it'll be decent as soon as I get to grips with all the different services I'll be leveraging.
One example I wanted to build, for example, is https://wikiflix.org/, which would utilise the Google Text-to-Speech machine learning API. I can foresee there eventually be an user account section, and so on. Similar to a Netflix experience.
Then another thing I was toying with for a while is something akin to a lovechild between Geocaching.com and Medium.com.
Those sorts of things...
Shameless plug: try https://cloudbackend.appdrag.com
It's super easy to create your serverless backend based. There is a free tier :)
AppDrag looks impressive.
I couldn't find how much space do you get in the free tier.
Also how can I secure my API request to prevent someone else from calling them (I haven't gone through the whole documentation)
I'll give it a try.
Thanks :)
Storage is linked to the Cloud CMS part with Code Editor
Free tier for that is 500MB of storage for files
More info about how to prevent anyone to call your API here:
https://support.appdrag.com/blog/17-Authentication-and-Access-Control.html?category=13
"In some instances, you don't want your API function to be public, in which case, you can check the "Require APIKey" checkbox found in the security section of your function's edition panel. Every call made to this function will now require the APIKey parameter."
Also the good thing is it's standard Node.js / MySQL Db and you can export / import at any time, no lock-in :)
I just launched my second app using Firebase. I can do back end but it's not my favourite and I would rather spend time shipping than reinventing the wheel (most back ends end up doing a lot of similar stuff). I can't recommend it enough.
Thank you! Heard about Firebase before but didn't know if could help someone in my situation. Will check it out.
I went through the same thing. What languages/frameworks have you been using?
Dark (a new programming language) is coming out soon, and it's aiming to simplify backend dev. Bubble is another option if you want to forego code altogether. Or maybe you just need to work with someone – a partner, contractor, etc.
I went through learning Ruby on Rails first, then switched to Node.js / Express. MongoDB for the database. Even tried my luck with Swift in iOS dev, and really the only thing I truly feel "in my zone" in is HTML/CSS/jQuery.
Yeah partnering with someone sounds like the way to go, but I'm a stubborn ol' fella and want complete control of the products I build. Seems like tools like the one you shared and https://www.netlify.com/ are starting to slowly mature. So maybe they are my best bet.
Try PHP then a bit. It's one of the easiest and best-documented solutions. Avoid the "popular" and "cool" option. Go with the boring and tested solution.
How long did you use Rails/Express/Swift?
Maybe about 1-2 years each. Swift being the longest at 2-3 years.
Thing is I can figure it out eventually but it takes me 10 hours to do something I was hoping would take 30 minutes, and I don't enjoy it anymore by the time I'm done.
Sounds like you want Firebase-- https://firebase.google.com/
Second person to recommend! Will definitely check it out in greater depth. Thanks 🙏🏼
It's important to recognise what you do and don't enjoy!
I'm not a developer, a bit techy, but dev stuff just freaks me out. It hasn't stopped me creating a (successful) business. I just don't think everyone can be everything and stay sane. Hiring devs is a totally feasible way to build a business, even if it feels impossible at the time.
Yeah I hear you. Problem is that it makes bootstrapping an MVP that much harder because now you need to invest capital before you even validated.
I mean, I could validate ideas with front-end only "dummy" prototypes and then only invest in them if I think they have promise.
Do you have any tips for hiring backend devs?
Sorry to hear you're struggling with backend dev. All software eng is pretty tough.
Games are an option. Ecommerce is also an option.