196 @lemmy.blahaj.zone DumbAceDragon @sh.itjust.works 1 yr. ago

ruleless

23 comments

It's code, but without automated tests, comments, style rules, and often stored in binary files making change management a nightmare.

It's trying to paint but you can only use your fingers and also one of the other devs ate all the red.
- Sure, but for kids, or someone new to development, it also lays out things visually for them. A seasoned software engineer writes a for loop with muscle memory, but when you’re trying to learn the underlying basics of what code does, stuff like this can be super helpful. While it’s obviously not designed for professional work, it’s great to let these tools flourish, for many they can be the stepping stone into going into a career of actually writing code.
  
  Then, as a professional, they too can lament writing tests, commenting their code, linting it properly before they merge it, dealing with actual merge conflicts, dealing with others’ bad code, dealing with their own bad code, the cycle continues
  
  I wish I could show this comment to people who built a multi million dollar project for the government using just these kinds of tools. But maybe you can only get away with that kind of thing in government contracting work lol
  
  The node graph (shown on the left side of the image) is like one of the cornerstones of unreal engine though isn't it? Meant for professional work? I think it's stupid and could never use it.
- It's code, but without automated tests, comments, style rules
  
  So it's game code.
  
  But seriously, Unreal blueprints actually support all of those.
  
  That's what I said when I joined a place that wrote almost everything in blueprints. Somehow all the other devs didn't think it was possible.
  
  Binary assets though.... and performance.... and debugging when things start to misbehave in native code called from blueprint.... 😵‍💫
I made a codeless RuneScape bot 10 years ago and it looked pretty much like this picture. The main advantage ended up being that it was plug n play (so you could quickly automate something) rather than "no code"
- I made a code less bot engine too. I used a modified oscillating fan motor to click my mouse to grind mining when I wasn't home.
  
  So you manipulated physics to turn an analog process into a digital process. I would call that extremely low-level code.
- I too made a "no code" solution that looked like this... But to play poker online.
  
  Screen reader software to read the cards. It took months to give it all the hands and positions to play from. It looked worse than this and ran on an old PC hidden under the stairs.
  
  It paid for uni up until the point they added table captcha. I wasn't smart enough back then to solve that one.
I have to use no code automation tools at work sometimes (marketing). I have created automation that are too big to load and have crashed the platform and require help desk to go in and delete my automation and start from scratch, but would probably be a dozen lines of code, because it restricts how you use AND and OR.

so you can't do

If (A OR B) AND (C OR D) THEN set E to true

you have to do

first check A

A is false

now check B

B is false

exit

first check A

A is false

now check B

B is true

now check C

C is false

now check D

D is false

exit

first check A

A is false

now check B

B is true

now check C

C is false

now check D

D is true

Check if they have E

they don't have E

exit

first check A

A is false

now check B

B is true

now check C

C is false

now check D

D is true

Check if they have E

they have E

check if E is already set to true

it is

exit

first check A

A is false

now check B

B is true

now check C

C is false

now check D

D is true

Check if they have E

they have E

check if E is already set to true

it is not

set E to true.
- Those no code automation tools drive me nuts.
  I look at them and I think "oh that's really handy" then 2 seconds after I find out it simply doesn't have support for what I'm trying to or it's cumbersome as fuck.
  And it's not even like I'm trying to do anything crazy either, it's like the second you put one finger outside their perfect little use cases it all falls apart.
Lol this meme format has been completely replaced https://www.tumblr.com/music-sync-maniac/732094691848372224/unholy-amalgamation
- You can still see the subway cup in the background 😂
- https://imgflip.com/i/84kzgv
I actually really enjoy using Blueprints in Unreal Engine.

It feels like working with modular synths, and can get chaotic very quickly, which is honestly a ton of fun. It also forces you to have to stay organized and comment and format your blocks of code into something readable.
No, this is Patrick
Doesn't scratch advertise its self as a visual coding langauge and not a "code less game engine"
Text editor free code.
You'll have to use logic gates only for that one ...

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