We want to emphasize that while Open Node Protocol enables no-code development, it's absolutely not limited to it. The Open Node Protocol is a specification, a set of standards for how these "blocks" (nodes) interact. Developers can build nodes in any programming language and with any framework they choose. The visual assembly is just one way to use ONP; the underlying power comes from the standardized communication between nodes, regardless of how they're built or connected. This means experienced developers can create highly sophisticated, code-based nodes and leverage the benefits of modularity and AI integration at a much deeper level. Think of it as a way to create reusable, interoperable components, regardless of whether you're connecting them visually or programmatically. In fact, in the near future, you can ask AI to assemble the nodes for you.

A great next step would be to check out our tutorial[1] – it walks you through the core concepts and helps you build your first node.

If you need more help, join us at our discord[2].

[1]: https://openexus.com/tutorial [2]: https://discord.gg/uvEPXWrmkp

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43193185

Points: 4

# Comments: 2

- React (if you want the largest support, packages, community, but sacrifice on performance) - SolidJS [1] (best performance, composability, low-level primitives, but sacrifice on packages/community)

Every other choice like Angular, Vue, Svelte are just somewhere in between these 2 spectrums which I felt was not worth it. Either choose the one with the largest ecosystem or one which has the best primitives & performance.

- React (vdom, slow) (largest ecosystem) - Vue (vdom, faster than react) (large community) - Svelte (fine-grain, faster) (best dx pre-v5) (composability is still not as flexible in v5 compared to SolidJS) (small ecosystem) - SolidJS (fine-grain, fastest, most consistent) (dx similar to react) (small ecosystem)

[1] https://www.solidjs.com/

My attempt on this is https://openexus.com where the goal is really to create some form of universal plug-and-play building blocks. Your approach is almost very low-level with direct translation to code. My attempt is slightly higher-level (but developers can create as low level as they want). More importantly, the visual diagram build on openexus is a reactive graph (almost like spreadsheet), not a sequential directional flow graph (like node-red, or yahoo pipes).

Would love to chat if you are up for it. m at lominming dot com.

It would be helpful to understand why you feel like version control (git, not github), a programming language (javascript), a browser, a database are all fundamentals? They are not the first in their respective categories, just that they all became popular? I feel like your examples also lean heavily towards developer only tools?

Couple of core differences with what we are building:

(1) Instead of directional data flow, we have reactive data flow. For example, in the simple utility color example, [RGB Sliders] <> [Conversion] <> [HEX Color Wheel] have data flowing bi-directionally where any modules can trigger a change. Users still have the option to decide how data flows, so data flow pipelines are just a subset of what our system can do.

(2) Beyond just data or automation, we focus heavily on UI modules, allowing users to easily express interactive creations.

Besides the common use-cases of creating apps or dashboards, we are excited about: AI apps and workflows, interactive education materials, a playground for kids to start thinking about logic, and hardware interface controls.

Developers can import NPM packages, load external javascript files, use JSX, write CSS, use Typescript, etc. We will provide all the necessary tooling online so that building a module is as simple as using an online IDE like codepen. No need for downloads, building, compilation, etc.

Non-developers can also create custom modules that consist of other nested modules grouped together. We also aim to have a lightweight way for citizen developers to write modules using spreadsheet-like syntax.

During the initial connection, we have to “pick a winner” and determine which of the 2 cells’ values to use. The logic is that the empty cell will be overridden. If both cells have values, the direction of how you connect them determines the winner. Dragging A to B will have B’s value overridden by A’s value.

However, the developer of the module, or the creator have the ability to specify the direction flow when necessary. For example, in the Github example, the Github module populates the (issues) cell via fetch call and is expected to be a read-only cell. This means that any connection to the cell will become a directional data flow out.

The simple big picture is that we are drawing lines to tell the system how we want data to flow among the different modules, very much like how we pass variables around in code.

The idea is to build a platform and community for composable building blocks where anyone can easily create, find and connect different modules to create dynamic and interactive apps, sites, dashboards, and docs. This can be done without using a single line of code.

Key principles of what we are building:

1) True composability that enables infinite possibilities — Modules today are either too complex to be used only by developers (e.g. NPM packages) or too simplistic where they are usually used as an embed in isolation. We are establishing a modularization foundation that is powerful enough for developers to express functionalities, simple enough for anyone (even kids) to use, and flexible enough to build sophisticated creations.

2) Smart connect without code — All logic can be clearly expressed by simply drawing lines. Depending on the data type and other characteristics of the connector, we can figure out how the connection should behave. For example, triggers can only be connected to actions, and data connectors that fetch from APIs can be defined as directional read-only connectors.

3) Open-connections for instant forking — Forking today is a time-consuming complex endeavor. Even a simple change requires many layers of code understanding. Instead of open-source code, we see a future of open-source connections, where remixing simply means adding new blocks and re-wiring them.

What we are building can be described as NPM for non-developers, connectable Lego blocks for the Internet, or Minecraft for non-game creations. Our focus is to create a community where we can share ideas and innovations.

We are super excited about the possibilities of this platform, especially when we incorporate AI. We will be releasing tutorials, opening up the playground, and sending out invites in the coming weeks. If you are eager to try out our tooling and create your own building blocks, drop us an email! We would love to hear your feedback!

Website: https://openexus.com

Email: m@openexus.com

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36938356

Points: 38

# Comments: 13

Hello -> Lac

Has that been changed/improved? Or RoR is still primarily used to build server side rendering (SSR) web apps?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8568874

Points: 15

# Comments: 0

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8553265

Points: 7

# Comments: 0

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8461906

Points: 8

# Comments: 0