hey everyone, Ayazhan here. i'm a co-founder at Dropbase.<p>i would like to highlight a feature called "State and Context".<p>as python developers, we want to focus the logic part and don't worry too much about the ui. however, we still want the ui to look good. to accommodate that, we've introduced the concepts of State and Context (that are popular in frontend development) to python functions.<p>with State, you can access the data that the user is interacting with (row selection, form inputs, ect)<p>with Context, you can control the ui and communicate with the user (show messages, hide components, ect)<p>you can learn more about these features here:<p><a href="https://docs.dropbase.io/concepts/state-and-context">https://docs.dropbase.io/concepts/state-and-context</a>
Excited to make Dropbase available for local setup! It’s free for personal use. It’s still early so we're really excited get your feedback, especially on our approach to tools building.<p>Dropbase lets Python developers build fullstack internal apps without writing frontend code. Just Python. Import any Python scripts/libraries, declare UI components, and layer granular app permissions atop so you can share them with others. To make this work, we created a State class that lets you access UI state and a Context class that lets you access/modify UI component properties directly via Python functions. It does the job but results in occasional state syncing issues. Maybe you have some ideas on how to improve this architecture.<p>Our app layout is highly opinionated to speed up app building. Instead of an open canvas for UI building, we just give you a main table view and a widget sidebar. This approach significantly reduces app-building time by focussing on what you need for most tools: to see some data for context and to trigger actions based off it.<p>We have a hybrid hosting model that combines a self-hosted client and worker server, with a backend API for app and component definition hosted by us to simplify pushing feature updates. The worker server sits in your machines so your sensitive data doesn’t leave your infra.<p>We’re a middle ground between Airplane and Retool — simpler UI creation than Airplane; more code-centered than Retool. UI building is declarative and you can bind UI components to Python functions. You can write Python scripts/functions using our App Studio with support from a Python Language Server Protocol (LSP) for linting. Since the self-hosted worker directly references .py or .sql files in the filesystem, you can even write them on VSCode directly or import any other Python script or library.<p>A neat feature we are experimenting with to build admin panels fast is “Smart Tables”. We can convert any SQL SELECT statement (even across multiple joins and filters!) into an inline editable table, like spreadsheets, without any additional code.<p>We envision a product that lets you quickly add UIs and permissions to any Python scripts, libraries, files, etc., and turn them into simple web apps that you can share with others. We’ve designed it in a way that would let us add support for Rust, Go, and others later.<p>We have some demo videos here: <a href="https://docs.dropbase.io/category/demos">https://docs.dropbase.io/category/demos</a><p>Create account and setup here: <a href="https://docs.dropbase.io/category/setup">https://docs.dropbase.io/category/setup</a><p>Note: Developers can only signup/setup via our docs page at <a href="https://docs.dropbase.io">https://docs.dropbase.io</a>. It's currently closed for the general public. Looking forward to your feedback!