I'm supportive of anything that can help make app/product-creation more accessible. I also love the playful branding.
@anildash / @spolsky - what happened with HyperDev?
@rrhoover@spolsky Gomix is what HyperDev has evolved into (it's a rebranding plus upgraded features). We wanted to make it easier to get started and to emphasize the community aspects of collaborating and sharing code or ideas, and that's the biggest difference in becoming Gomix. Also, the name's a little friendlier for people who might not see themselves as "devs" but still want to make stuff.
Very. Cool. In addition to lowering the bar for tinkering + side-projects, it seems Gomix could be amazing platform for extending / modifying an existing application ie, what Apps Scripts does for Google Sheets/Docs/Etc. What if I could embed a button in my app that says "create an add-on". A user clicks this and is redirected to a clone of my boilerplate project on Gomix all ready to go with my sdk already installed. If you also gave me a way to securely populate .env secrets in .env....magic. A user clicks one button, logs into Gomix and they they are instantly building an app for my system with GoMix ....Please??
@rsweetland You can already do this using GitHub import links (https://coffee-pig.gomix.me). Secrets you put into .env are secure and aren't copied across when your project gets remixed.
Looks like a different code/project playground... But who's the target exactly? I like the branding too but it feels a bit cluttered, especially for my fellow hackers with dyslexia.
@wilhempujar we think of Gomix as being for those wanting to solve problems and build stuff with code, but who aren't necessarily developers. Around 46M people hit Stack Overflow each month, and yet there are only an estimated 12M or so professional developers. We think there's a need for tools like Gomix that help make building apps and bots easier and faster for everyone who wants to.
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This is great. I am far from being a developer but I spend hours on Stack Overflow trying to solve problems I encounter while trying to create something out of tutorials and code bootcamps. Sometimes for me, sometimes for young entrepreneurs in latin america with limited resources. In that way I feel like Gomix is just right for me. Awesome work and UI!
@jaironpz Awesome, that's exactly the kind of thing we had hoped for!
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Removing a barrier to entry is only beneficial when a learning opportunity is present.
If I really want to develop an application that does exactly what it should efficiently (super DRY) then, I'm not going to start with gomix.
If I want to learn how other previously built apps work with others who have a deep understanding of them then, gomix is a good option.
To jump into say, a Python Flask project on gomix with, absolutely no knowledge of computer science or programming fundamentals is actually pointless so,
gomix should most certainly encourage it's users to learn the languages that support each mix otherwise,
users are ferociously pointing and clicking on stuff with no knowledge of how asynchronous patterns are required or, how certain things must be declared.
The best mix to encounter then is one with great comments- perhaps comments that guide the mixer along allowing them to slowly unravel how the app is actually working otherwise,
Someone is going to get boggled down in point-and-click-ville and be likely "changing" source code in a way that is not standard.
Because programming is a standardized practice that must follow specific patterns to be deemed efficient and DRY, gomix needs to promote efficiency and the DRY principles from within otherwise,
People are actually getting stupid as they play around with source clueless as to whether they are following best practice (if they aren't then they are potentially learning nothing in the mix).
To allow me to clone a github project into gomix is to bring in all the standards of that repo and all the hard work that someone put into holding to a standard of efficiency and DRYness so,
To let people just grab a finished project and not play with it within this standard is unproductive.
Before someone uses gomix they need to be surveyed: Have you written code before? What code have your written?
The survey results before using gomix should be applied to their mixing experience so that they actually have a chance via links to Python & Flask docs to really understand what they are doing when they "change" "anything"...
As a learning platform gomix makes sense to me- but this does not seem to be clearly communicated.
I see this as a glorified Codepen.io that supports a full-stack app as opposed to only front-end programming and, this is needed no doubt but, the execution is important if someone actually wants to not just "play" with "changing" source as opposed to completing their mixing experience having learned how to change the app within the standards I previously mentioned.
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This is incredible work! I think opening up the web development space to less technical folks could radically change the web. It really feels like "Github for non-technical ppl". This is what Google Sites should have been. I think the community aspect of it is the biggest potential here, but I wonder what kind of community/communities will be fostered and grown.
Initially, I think the biggest missing feature is seeing some kind of count of "stars", "remixes", and "popularity (views)" for each project. Stars are an internal community gauge, whereas a simplified metric for views would gauge public interest in the project. These counts would make the site feel more dynamic and gamify the experience a bit.
After more projects are up, it would be great to see 'trending' type filters and sorting for the projects.
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