[20220322-beans]

From my quick research when I was selecting the next backend I was going to use for a project in the past, and today reading some responses on this page:

- Appwrite is written in PHP. Just because something is open source, doesn't mean it is extensible, scalable or otherwise written well. I haven't seen many popular projects written in PHP recently. The only time I used PHP was in university, where the PHP application was the target machine in a CTF.

- AppWrite doesn't yet have their Cloud version, so they aren't ready to be a "backend as a service" - it's a product that isn't ready "as a service". That's why I didn't use it, and I can see similar sentiment here on HN. I'd be willing to try it out when it's ready.

- It's not built on Postgres. Their comment about Supabase using postgres did not include any real substance: "I'm trying to be as objective as I can, but building the entire ecosystem around a single product like Postgres ( even though tried and tested ) comes with its own downsides...". The downsides of what AppWrite might be that they're rolling their own database... in PHP? They may not be database experts, and there's lots to think about and fix when building a database, and Postgres has been tested for a long time.

- Not much progress is happening on the GraphQL side: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/pull/974/files, whereas Supabase has it: https://supabase.com/blog/2021/12/03/pg-graphql.

Overall, it seems like the project doesn't move as fast as its competitor (primarily Supabase) for features I care about, and perhaps this is caused by PHP?

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts about my comments, Eldad and team.

[fiznool]

Not the OP but just wanted to weigh in on the PHP point. Just because it isn’t the coolest/hottest language around, doesn’t make PHP any less suitable for a project like this. Laravel in particular has been a game changer for modern PHP-based backends and sites, and the language itself has been steadily evolving and improving. It may not get the column inches of the likes of Phoenix or Remix, but it is stable, battle hardened and fully suitable for the majority of use cases in 2022.

[snapetom]

Plus the comment about it being not built on Postgres is absurd.

Postgres is great, but if something is not built on Postgres, it's bad? Use the right tool for the job. This looks like a combination of Redis and Maria, two great products with two different use cases which tells me the developers did think carefully about their architecture.

[20220322-beans]

Can you elaborate what you mean by "comment about not built on Postgres is absurd? I said "It's not built on Postgres.", but I didn't say that was necessarily bad - though it is likely depending on the circumstances. Again, same for PHP, likely bad, but you'd need to know the circumstances, which is why I made the post.

My statement was a response to their employee's comment about the downsides of Postgres, which I quoted. I didn't say what avoiding Postgres is bad, 1. I quoted their unbacked comment, and then 2. I explained it is not bad to use Postgres and actually it's worse to roll your own database. Not sure where you got the fact they use Redis and Maria, that is not very clear on their website, but I found an article on Github: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/blob/master/CONTRIBUTIN...

It's much easier to understand Supabase (they use Postgres) vs. AppWrite (I could not find out what they use). They did mention their "new database: completely rewrote the Appwrite data management layer". https://medium.com/appwrite-io/everything-you-need-to-know-a...

[snapetom]

> I said "It's not built on Postgres.", but I didn't say that was necessarily bad

The three other bullet points are criticisms of Appwrite, and now you're going to claim the fourth point about being not being built on Postgres was not a criticism? You set the tone with your three other arguments. Don't try to claim the fourth wasn't in line.

The Maria and Redis are the first bullet two points in the link you gave. I also actually read the docker-compose file instead of inferring.

[20220322-beans]

It is your assumption to believe any of them are criticisms. In fact, none are.

"AppWrite is written in PHP", "AppWrite doesn't yet have their Cloud version" and "Not much progress is happening on the GraphQL side" are not criticisms, "It's not built on Postgres" is similar. These are just facts I've come across which others may like. Following each fact, I follow with my thoughts.

Christy Jacob, from AppWrite said an unqualified statement: "I'm trying to be as objective as I can, but building the entire ecosystem around a single product like Postgres ( even though tried and tested ) comes with its own downsides...", and that was my response.

This is a pointless meta discussion though, isn't it? It is childish to assume I meant everything has to be built on Postgres for me to use it, or to make it "proper". If you already think its obviously absurd, you should think why one would say it? Perhaps you misread or there is more to it.

[snapetom]

You’re flat out lying at this point.

> In fact, none are.

Original post:

> doesn't mean it is extensible, scalable or otherwise written well

I could go on but there is no sense in arguing with intellectual dishonesty.