[erichanson]

Check out Aquameta, a web dev stack built entirely in PostgreSQL (self-plug): http://github.com/aquametalabs/aquameta

There's a ton down this rabbit hole. One of the great anomalies of our industry is that we've used the database to bring coherence to countless "user domains", but never applied the same principles to our own stack. The benefits of doing so compound exponentially.

[ako]

So basically Oracle Apex, oracle html db before that, and end of the 90s we were generating this from Oracle Designer 2000: low-code tools to generate web applications from the database...

[tabtab]

When I hear "low code" I get a little skeptical. Often such tools make the first 80% of the project simpler but the last 20% a bear, unless you live with clunky defaults. There's a difference between managing code better and removing code. Generally I find the best path to "low code" is to write small simplification wrappers that fit your shop's conventions, because a big vendor probably won't fit your shop's conventions out of the box.

Thus, you can code like "currentForm.AddButton("clickMe", destination: screenY); and all the styling etc. is done by your shop's wrapper to fit your shop's preference. The wrapper won't fit all needs, but if fits 90% of buttons, then you only have to specialize 10% of them. I don't know why people tolerate copy and paste of verbose snippets for such. Wrap the repetitive clutter away to make it easier to grok your primary work.

I like optional named parameters such that customization is incremimental:

currentForm.AddButton("clickMe", destination: screenY, color: "green");

currentForm.AddButton("clickMe", destination: screenY, style: "compact", animation: "images/wiggle7.gif");

It's kind of like query-by-example: only specify the constraints you need instead instead of every potential attribute under the sun.

[thorin]

I worked on Oracle Developer/Designer in the 90s. Was pretty good. I also went to the Oracle course at Reading for MOD PL/SQL which Htmldb and Apex were based on. There is still quite a bit of Apex work around, and all the oracle "applications" of course as well.

[nerdponx]

This is wild and ridiculous and I am genuinely excited to try it in a project.

[dang]

Discussed in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21281042

[feifan]

Whoa, this project looks really cool. I'm trying to read the docs though, and there's a lot of broken links — e.g. all the "Backend Documentation" links here: https://github.com/aquametalabs/aquameta/tree/master/docs

[erichanson]

Yes, sorry. It's in a state of major upheaval. I'll get it cleaned up ASAP. Nice to see there's actually some interest in this direction from others!

[DemocracyFTW]

Oh the Eric Hanson I guess? I remeber watching an interview with you where you said something to the effect "back then I had time and money on my hands so I went and tried to build this thing. Four years later, and none of that is true anymore". That stuck with me.

[madhadron]

Lucid put C++ into a database back in the day. Didn't catch on, sadly.

[dimitrios1]

Dudes and dudettes let me tell you about this sweet technology called Oracle Forms.