Hey readers! I had the incredible opportunity to chat with the co-founder of Bubble, Emmanuel Straschnov, over the holidays. For the unfamiliar, Bubble is a popular no-code tool you can use to build SaaS products, social media sites, marketplaces, CRMs, and so much more, which a number of startups have used to launch and achieve success.
We touched on several themes, including advice for current and aspiring web developers as no-code starts to render some of their olds job obsolete, growth and success times for no-code and low-code tool creators, and so much more.
I thought I'd share some bits from the interview I know my Inside Dev readers may find helpful. For more advice from Emmanuel, check out the full interview here. For more no-code/low-code interviews and news like this delivered to you regularly, subscribe to Inside NoCode.
Without any further ado, here are the highlights from our chat:
NO-CODE AND WEB DEVELOPMENT:
I know some of my Inside NoCode readers are, in fact, developers who rely on low-code and no-code tools as a part of their work. For you guys, I had to ask Emmanuel about no code's impact on the industry, and his advice for those aspiring (or current) developers interested in programming or attending web development bootcamps.
What would you say to web developers worried about no-code tools taking away their jobs or hurting their prospects?
“What engineers want is leverage. No-code is a way for engineers to do more in less time — see that as an opportunity.”
Emmanuel adds that he sees no-code as a “continuation of software development,” noting that no-code tools have actually been around for a while.
With no-code, engineers can focus on “higher levels of abstraction,” and thus don’t need to work on “boring, repetitive tasks” thereby “wasting their talent.”
“Engineers should be excited about no-code. They can focus on more complicated problems.”
Plus, Emmanuel adds: engineers should not worry about no-code as “there will always be a job for developers.” Tech, and thus code, will become more complicated and will require engineers who can work on those higher-level tasks.
What kind of advice would you give those interested in attending, or who are currently in, a web development bootcamp, given no-code is rendering so many "simpler" tasks junior developers once did obsolete?
Ask yourself, Emmanuel says: “What do you want to achieve with this bootcamp?”
“If it’s your goal to build a product, don’t waste time learning JavaScript," he advises.
If it’s your goal to change careers so you can make more money, Emmanuel says to ask yourself: “Should I invest $10,000 in coding when there is a growing category of jobs that want no-code tool experience, which is much cheaper to learn?”
The demand for no-code tool experience is growing fast, he notes, pointing out how many jobs he saw that asked for Bubble experience while browsing freelancing platforms like Upwork before the interview.
For those actually studying computer science, "continue crafting code for more complicated things," he says, noting that there will continue to be an increasing demand for that kind of work.
FINAL THOUGHTS: NO-CODERS ARE CRUCIAL FOR A MORE DIVERSE WORLD
At the end of the interview, I asked Emmanuel for his final thoughts and tips he could offer no-coders.
According to Emmanuel, no-code and Bubble are so important precisely because of diversity.
No-coders need to start building, he says, because "software engineers are fixing rich people problems."
"The accessibility of no-code and Bubble means problems uniquely suited to those from other communities can be solved," continues Emmanuel. "Users know these problems from their communities intimately that software engineers, [who tend to be paid a lot and belong in different circles], are not familiar with. COVID made this even more visible — we need to have technology where people can build solutions everywhere, and it’s [not only the privileged who can]. Keep building."
For more, read the full interview here.
