What is bubble.io?
Bubble was founded in 2012. It’s a nocode / no-code / visual development application that allows non-technical creators to build web and mobile applications without writing traditional code also referred to as programming.
Source – According to quikStarts
At a higher level, Bubble is a tool that empowers creators to build software without writing traditional code. Bubble has a user interface that allows for:
- Visual click and drag functionality.
- Database.
- API (Consumption AND Serving)
- File storage.
- App hosting.
These are all powerful features and benefits. However, where, I believe the true power of bubble resides is in the database and the API features. The database itself functions like any other database at it’s core, eg. PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, etc.
Database
Time Saving
What’s a bit different is the ability to define data types and fields (know as tables in other database solutions) through the interface n realtime as the app is developed. This saves a lot of time and makes it easier to make changes that are discovered as the logic is being built after the planning phase.
In addition, linking database tables using primary and foreign keys is not required in Bubble. Bubble cares for building relationships to database types out of the box. There are techniques that can be used to make linking more robust if needed. This is another huge time saver.
API
Power through integration
Bubbles interface contains a native feature called the API Connecter. It makes consuming APIs less complex than writing code for this purpose. Think of a very light version of Postman ( a tool used for consuming, writing, and testing APIs). What would normally require weeks of development can now be done in hours or minutes.
Move past this benefit and onto the possibilities. A creator now has at their disposal the ability to integrate some, all, or a mixture of a wide variety of features and functionality for your application. Zeroqode has a list of available APIs. Be advised that this list inst all-inclusive and that any API can be consumed by bubble.
Reverse power through integration
Similarly to the potential when consuming APIs, bubble empowers creators to serve their app’s content by providing APIs. A creator now has at their disposal the ability to trigger functions or provide data for some, all, or a mixture of it’s features and functionality for other applications. This function allows creators apps to become platforms. The possibilities are endless.
