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How I can build any app imaginable 50-70% faster than most software engineers with the help of no/low code.

One compliment (I think ;)) I get from people often is how fast I can develop very complex and, performance friendly data applications. I get many questions from clients about how I do it and how I can go from 0/nothing to a full React/Svelte app within a few weeks including full backend (machine learning included).

I usually answer with, I just use so many tools that I know how to intertwine them together to build quickly but I gave some more thought to this over the weekend and came to the conclusion it's not just how I intertwine the tools but it's actually the tools themselves that make it so quick and easy for me.

So what does this typically look like? I typically utilize Webflow for design and front end build (cause designers love it and it's easy), NoCodeDB for the database/front end data display, express.js backend via serverless cloud functions and, then an internal script that takes the frontend Webflow app and converts it into a Svelte app and then touches it up by adding/handling the states/props.

The final result is a blazing fast deliverable of any platform or website our clients need us to build without the performance drag (like building in Bubble.io would give you).

The crazy thing is, I can make the process even faster and thus have been working on doing just that by taking what we do and building a one-stop low-code building platform to combine all this functionality into one.

What's your process like? Curious to hear if anyone is doing something similar.

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    You wrote a script that converts a Webflow app to a svelte app? How does that work?

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      That's indeed the most interesting part of that post. Would also love to hear at least some more details.

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        @daveagill @tcurdt Its simply a transpiler of Webflow to Svelte. You mark up your Webflow app with custom html attributes declaring components. Then hit go => turns it into a Svelte app. I want to add React to. Have not gotten to it yet. We have toyed with the idea of adding it into the nocodedb.io stack eventually including hosting. Just have not had the inspiration yet as it only has been used internally. Is that something you guys would be interested in?

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          Hey Joe, I would be super interested in this transpiler! Is this something you would be comfortable sharing with me or chatting about? I’d appreciate it.

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            @Swanzi @daveagill @tcurdt Hello! We have an alpha released https://www.cliqflo.com/. Long roadmap ahead but let me know what you think and stay tuned for updates :)

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              Is it stable enough yet ?

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    That’s dope. Thanks for the post.

    I’ve built a ton of sites with Wordpress to test MVPs and new ideas with consumers so will look at WebFlow.

    However, as a non-techy - is there any one no-code platform you’d recommend starting with?

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      Depends on use case. For you it seems like currently, Bubble.io as it requires 0 technical skills to use and get starting. The problem is Bubble.io is incredibly slow, and has poor rendering engine. It is also poor for SEO. You also can not get source code. I love Bubble though and there are a lot of use cases this does not matter. Our goal at NoCodeDB is to take everything that Bubble does on the backend and create it as its own service, with source code, to be applied to Webflow to start then take it and do the same to Wix, Squarespace, etc. This way anyone can build anything in Webflow or any website builder they prefer with 0 technical expertise like Bubble. Right now, with Webflow, you would need a backend engineer to build a data driven application. You can use Webflow CMS for basic use cases but usually its overkill for data driven platforms and you still need custom code. Thats where nocodedb.io looks to come in.

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        Hey mate that's a really cool reply - thank you for taking the time!

        Yeah I've started with Bubble slow af - but it's good to learn. For me it's just to prove MVP, nothing more.

        Your goal with nocodeDB is dope. I'm an experienced marketer (previously ran an agency doing £150k MRR) so if you want a hand with any of that - give me a shout. Happy to help where I can.

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      Hello! We have an alpha released https://www.cliqflo.com/. Long roadmap ahead but let me know what you think and stay tuned for updates :slight_smile:

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    Curious on the process for this. Building an app on webflow and have a tight deadline. Currently using wized but it’s somewhat buggy.

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    Hey Joe,

    super interesting approach!
    Any plans on open-sourcing/sharing the code to convert the svelte app? Could be probably super helpful to a lot of builders and make it easier for a lot of people to build stuff. I think the approach is awesome and quite underrated.

    Best,
    Max

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      Hey Max, I recently open sourced a small tool that turns HTML into Svelte components. This could be used on the output from a Webflow design and easily turned into a Svelte app. Check it out and let me know if there are any features that might be helpful to you!

      https://github.com/drbh/html2svelte

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      Hello! We have an alpha released https://www.cliqflo.com/. Long roadmap ahead but let me know what you think and stay tuned for updates :slight_smile:

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