David van Aelst

David van Aelst

Builder. No code. Three products.

Badges

Tastemaker
Tastemaker
Gone streaking 10
Gone streaking 10
Gone streaking
Gone streaking
Gone streaking 5
Gone streaking 5

Maker History

  • APE Language
    APE LanguageDeterministic AI-first language. Built in 6 days. No code.
    Apr 2026
  • 🎉
    Joined Product HuntApril 11th, 2026

Forums

•

6mo ago

How not knowing became a method, and how that method became structure

Hi, I m David.

I ve always looked at things structurally and analytically. That s just who I am.

I never had a technical education, but I could still see where tools in the workplace were falling short. Sometimes I could simplify things, automate parts of the work in Excel, and make processes clearer.

Then AI came along, and I started experimenting with it.

Questions about APE, XOX, or what “no code” means in practice?

I expect some of the claims around APE to raise questions, and that s fair.
So rather than overloading the launch page, I wanted to open a space for discussion here.

APE was built through XOX.
XOX did not come from theory. It came from repeatedly seeing where AI failed in real work, and realizing I had no coding knowledge to step in and correct it myself.
Structure was the only weapon I had.
So I analyzed those failures, found the patterns, and turned them into a method.

In XOX, architecture and decisions are locked before execution begins. If you want to ask about the method, the product, or what no code means in practice, ask away.

•

6mo ago

APE Language - Deterministic AI-first language. Built in 6 days. No code.

APE is a deterministic AI-first programming language for unambiguous human-AI collaboration. Built in 6 days using XOX, a method where architecture is locked before execution. Includes a compiler, runtime, decision engine, stdlib, 850 passing tests, and integrations for Claude, OpenAI, and LangChain. 9,000+ downloads on PyPI.
View more