I'm digging into a project that aims to create full-stack code—covering both frontend and backend—that can be self-hosted without locking users into any vendor. Before I dive deeper, I want to hear about your major pain points with current tools like code generators, boilerplate generators, and project templates. What aspects do you find slow or clunky? Is there anything specific you think these platforms could improve on?
4 Answers
One big issue is vendor lock-in. Tools like Replit and others really tie you to their platform, and once you try to self-host, you often run into problems with their specific setups and abstractions. Code that works in their environment usually breaks when you try to move it somewhere else. You lose control over your own project!
The 'last 20%' problem really irritates me. These tools might get you 80% of the way there quickly, but then you're stuck dealing with poorly generated code for all the tricky parts. After a while, it feels easier to just code from scratch instead of fighting the generated mess.
Agreed! We need tools that give us a solid, clean foundation right from the start without all the unnecessary magic.
Boilerplate templates are often outdated! For instance, create-react-app feels abandoned, and Next.js templates assume you want their entire ecosystem. Many generators provide older setups with outdated dependencies, which is a pain.
It's so true, we need something fresh and modern out of the box!
Context loss is also a major problem. A lot of AI code generators start fresh with each prompt, so after getting some code, you often need to repeat yourself for new features. It can be super tedious! Some tools like Cursor handle it better by being aware of your whole codebase, but it's still a bit clunky.
Totally get that. Keeping track of context is crucial for developers, and it's frustrating when tools don't get it right.
Exactly! It feels like they want to keep you reliant on their ecosystem. Switching to self-hosting should be smoother.