No-code tools have been really taking off lately, and for good reason. They can majorly boost productivity and team collaboration, simplifying and automating what used to be a very time consuming and tedious process.
In the past, no-code tools weren't easily extensible by code and APIs. This meant they were limited in what you could achieve. But fortunately for us developers this is no longer the case.
These are my 5 top recommendations every developer should take a look at for your next or current projects:
1. Airtable
Airtable is a powerful tool for creating databases with no code that non developers can edit and manage. You can also connect to it via APIs to read and write data as well.
As opposed to a typical spreadsheet, Airtable is structured like a relational database. This makes it easy to plug into and power typical developer workflows, while still being fully collaborative.
2. Zapier
Zapier allows you to create backend workflows with no code. Compared to setting up your own backend infrastructure, logic, and connections - Zapier is a breeze.
Additionally, creating custom integrations into Zapier is simple and easy.
3. Figma
Figma is a fantastic collaborative design tool. It has great support for design systems, as will as grabbing code snippets for styles used on any element.
You can also use HTML to Figma to convert your code to Figma designs, and JSX Lite to convert Figma designs to code of your framework of choice.
4. Builder.io
Builder.io plugs into any site or app and allows you and your teammates to drag and drop to build content and pages with no code.
It even supports bringing your own code components (React, etc) into the visual editor. This means you still get to build and control the code, but also get instant drag and drop support for the rest of the team.
It works with any tech stack, and is fast and incredibly customizable.
Disclosure: I work at Builder.io, so I most certainly believe (from experience!) this is a huge help to developers and teams.
5. Retool
If you are making custom internal tools, take a peek at Retool. It has a ton of integrations for popular databases, and makes it very easy to make powerful custom read/write apps for internal purposes quickly.
Retool can also be easily extended with custom code and components as well.
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Top comments (9)
For a while I used appsheet which is excellent for creating mobile apps from spreadsheets with no code - just spreadsheet formulas. Great for spreadsheet aficiandos.
I stopped using it because I like to code. Possibly I would have the same "problem" with any of these tools. Give them a try I guess, (they're probably all fab at what they do!) if only to rediscover the freedom that coding brings.
True, a lot of these tools can be outgrown. Can definitely say I've moved stuff from Airtable and Zapier to code for more logic
Builder for me has stuck around, I/we can build out docs and pages much faster dragging+dropping with our components and hitting the publish button than we can to code up all these various layouts and run deploys for every new page or typo fix
Definitely think theres a happy balance
I find DronaHQ better than Retool, since for using Retool you need a bit of tech knowledge like JS, MongoDB, and all.
DronaHQ is for both developers and business users.
Its Studio offer ready UI templates, frontend logic builder, workflows, customized UI, a Designer. Ready to connect REST and database APIs. Automations. Integrate 2 micro-apps. You can extend existing apps or code and create reusable widgets/functions. Can build any type of app even multi-lingual. And it also provides a PDF generator!
Check it out > dronahq.com/
There's also Desech Studio which is a nocode tools for html/css. You import your figma, sketch, adobexd design file and then integrate it with react, angular, vue or a design system like material design.
You may want to check out Nodezap. It is an emerging no code tool I have been using. It is excellent for creating dashboards, internal tools , creating forms and other real time use cases.
Ummmm if builder is what I think... I'll give it a try!
Figma is so good even if you don't have a design background it is worth checking out.
I find Integromat.io a better tool than Zapier for developers
You may want to check out appveen.com/platform-data-stack-cl.... appveen data.stack lets IT teams rapidly build backends for modern applications.