Are Web Dev GUIs Going to Replace Us?

In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk about web dev GUIs — what are they, are they going to replace developers, are they good or bad, and more!

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Show Notes

1:30 - What is “codeless”?

• The codeless movement is coming in with a force. Are they just selling something? Or is it a real concern?
• All types of jobs are being replaced by computers
  • Truckers
  • Cashiers
  • Lawnmowers
  • Doctors
  • Why not web developers?

7:22 - First experience building sites with a GUI?

• Dreamweaver

10:18 - Entire website builders:

• Wix
• Squarespace
• Webflow
• Modulz
• Grid.io
• Wordpress Builders

13:17 - When are GUIs useful?

• Brochure site
• Basic e-commerce

20:26 - Is a GUI/Codeless always better?

• It depends what you’re capable of doing

25:21 - Levels of hell GUI assistance in builders

• CMS - Just modifying content and basic markup
• Access to code, drag blocks into place
• No or minimal access to code
• No modification outside of options

31:36 - Are there GUIs for making applications?

• Native Mobile
• Zapier

36:54 - Are jobs at risk?

• Yes

  • I think a lot of WordPress tinkering has already been replaced
  • The guy who knows what buttons to push is at risk?
  • Webmaster jobs where the roll was just occasionally updating HTML and text

• No

  • Government
  • Educational institutions
  • Major corporations that can’t have their content stored via a service

39:55 - Our favorite GUIs to help development

• Scott:

  • Netlify
  • Heroku
  • Studio 3T
  • VS Code

• Wes:

  • Sketch CSS Export
  • Digital Ocean
  • Cyberduck
  • Transmit
  • ZSH
  • VS Code

Links

• Roomba’s first autonomous lawnmower
• Notepad++
• Geocities
• Angelfire
• Sketch
• Figma
• Gatsby
• Excel
• Meteor
• Recurly
• Gumroad
• Begin.com

××× SIIIIICK ××× PIIIICKS ×××

• Scott: Baron of Botox
• Wes: Owlet Smart Sock

Shameless Plugs

• Scott: How To Build A GraphQL API - Sign up for the year and save 25%!
• Wes: All Courses - Use the coupon code ‘Syntax’ for $10 off!

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