Non-Tech + Backendless : Suitable or not?

Hi. I am a non-technical person trying to build some application using the no-code fundamental. I discovered Backendless few days back, and I think Backendless has awesome features and the possibilities to build application is huge.

But I am wondering for a non-technical person like, is Backendless recommended as my development platform? The reason I am asking is when I try to do the Crud Rookie Mission (Add Object Using API), I found it hard to understand on how to perform the task. Should I start to learn coding before I can use Backendless to build an application with it?

Hi @Faisal_Karim,

I’d say it depends on numerous things, not least:

  • If you’re prepared (& have time etc) to learn new “development” skills
  • Whether you intend to build your platform entirely on your own.

Nocode in my opinion is like when everyone used to say they were going “paperless”, as in, they intended not to use paper. Being entirely paperless is quite impractical but using “less” paper (paper-less) is much more achievable. Nocode for me is similar, it’s not that you won’t have any “code” it’s just that you may have different tools that allow you to build it more easily.

Ultimately, you can’t really get away from the fact that some scripting / development or visual design environment will be required to configure your platform and that will require you (or someone on your behalf) learning how to build those blocks. If you’ve looked at Bubble.io it’s got a slightly different approach but I don’t like their “code” / business logic system, I just found it a bit clunky.

I too discovered Backendless very recently (2-3 weeks) and despite not being a developer I’ve been able to complete all the missions. I did check the forum and asked for help when I’d exhausted all avenues. Thanks to the support of the forum I was able to complete all the missions last week! :slight_smile:

Personally I had never used Android Studio before in my life but with a little perseverance and support from the forum I was able to create my own Android app that receives push notes, quite cool. This gave me the confidence to continue and play more with the platform.

I also never thought I’d be able to write my own API and again with the thanks to forum and the aids of the missions I’ve been able to do that too, it’s actually easy once you get your head around it, trust me.

I would encourage you to continue and ask help along the way, I can’t praise this platform or forum enough for helping me.

My plan is to do 80% all the backend stuff myself and I’ll use a more experienced developer to create my front end mobile app. For me this is the idea mix.

I must admit I nearly gave up a couple of weeks ago as I got really stuck on and that first API mission was one of them.

Good luck in your journey, I’d be interested to know what other system you’ve reviewed. You might like Adalo too if you’ve not looked at that?

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Dear @Graham_Reddie,

Thank you for reply and encouragement. I am kinda relief that fellow non-developer background like you able to develop using Backendless, it gives me hope :wink: I am using Bubble.io for 8 months, although it is a little bit clunky like what you said, but it is pretty easy to understand for a zero coding knowledge person like myself.

I will definitely spend more time learning Backendless and complete the mission. Looking forward to start “coding” my own application with it.

Thanks again mate, cheers!

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Hi, @Faisal_Karim

and, Welcome at Backendless!

It is hard to write in one message about all advantages which Backendless provides for developers :grin: I recomment you to create simple app and to feel by yourselve power of platform. Backendless provide concept of “missions” by which you will learn faster about features of the system. You can find them in the Missions section. Also, I will post several links which will help you to get started:

If you want to get systematized information about platform features you can look at our documentation: https://backendless.com/docs/bl-java/
We offer for our developers our non-coding Codeless system, I am sure you will like it, you can get acquainted with it by this link:
https://backendless.com/feature/codeless/
Also video lessons are available on our Youtube chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5qcm9PqNZvdDPPVhbhc3YQ
If you interested in UI-Builder you can check out lessons for it by this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWRqDbbT5r9CJlZrWlGrQOZSZ5mxUK1Zf
Also you can get free course for Backendless UI-Builder and Codeless on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/mobile-web-app-development-without-coding-with-backendless-ui-builder/

I hope that my answer helped you.
If you have any additional questions we will be glad to answer them.

Regards,
Marina

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Thank you @Marina.Kan.

Awesome links to help me learn more about Backendless features. Going to start working immediately!