Can you use bubble to build another bubble? In theory

Questions
1

I’m new to bubble, while researching, I came across a comment goes like

“all no-code or DIY app builders are kinda easy until you hit the limitation of such system, then a simple function that can be achieved easily with codes suddenly takes way more effort”

This has been my experience while hunting for a good platform over past year, I still haven’t found an ideal system that can handle say 80% of desired functions, all seems promising in the beginning, as I dive deeper I got hit with limitations, then I have to either drop the function or do a convoluted workaround.

On top of the frustration, I wouldn’t know what question to ask about the limitation until cornered.

So I just thought of asking this theoretical question:

Can bubble build another bubble?

If this is possible in theory, not that there’s any practical sense, then it’s going to be pretty hard to run into some limitation with bubble.

If this is not possible, then would any experienced bubbler point out where the limitation likely to be.

1 Like
2

You can’t really build Bubble (the Bubble editor, the Bubble deployment system, etc.) per se in Bubble. You can build very advanced, customizable apps, apps that make embeddable things (“widgets” if you will), apps that are themselves sort of website generators, etc.

(Note that the marketing site side of bubble.is is built in Bubble. This is of course different from building an advanced authoring tool. Could you build a thing that gives users a lot of leeway in terms of the design and flow of whatever it does? Absolutely. Could that thing even have drag and drop type metaphors? Yeah, with a little bit of work. Can you make a thing for users that is itself sort of an authoring tool for some very specific application that the user will then put in front of their customers/users? Most definitely.)

“No-code” and “low-code” authoring systems can serve some very diverse types of users. For the user who has significant web development skills: In the case of Bubble, it’s actually wildly extensible and there are ways that it fits in really great with modern development paradigms like “serverless” architectures.

Users who don’t know anything about building even simple websites: Users like that can actually do a lot with Bubble. But of course, they’ll have to quickly learn the ropes of basic web stuff and basic app/product design stuff.

(Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone in our modern world doesn’t have at least some inkling of how “web stuff” actually works. But based on some of the questions I see here, apparently one can be constantly exposed to something and not even pick up the vaguest notions about how it all all works.)

The great thing about Bubble – to my mind – is that it makes certain things VERY VERY easy. A couple of highlights:

  • Bubble is automagically multi-user. So, if you have an idea to build something of use to yourself, you can build that… and at the same time be building that for anyone who might also desire such a thing. Setting up a database and having built-in concepts around login, signup, etc. is just HUGE in terms of getting started.

  • While it has its quirks, the API Connector is just awesome. Most web stuff is an amalgamation of some native hosted stuff, embedded stuff, and RESTful APIs. Before I started using Bubble, I had imagined that taking advantage of all the amazing API services that are out there was either out of my reach or just way too time consuming to really get a handle on. After a few weeks using Bubble, I was building my own microservices to extend Bubble in new ways that I needed but that no off-the-shelf solution provided. (It’s a gateway drug!)

  • Bubble has a TON of built-in functionality for achieving common web interfaces and common app functions. Nobody’s yet written an exhaustive guide for noobs as to how these core features map to things that the new user imagines, but doesn’t know how to achieve. (Those with a background in web design and web dev see Bubble’s core features and are like, “OMG… I can’t believe all the things I could build with this!!!”)

  • I freaking love the “data type” metaphor embodied in Bubble’s database. Old skool database people who refer to database objects as “tables” sometimes don’t. This in itself scores Bubble huge points.

Is Bubble better with a healthy dose of JavaScript and external APIs and your own microservices? Absolutely. That combo enables someone with only moderate skills on the coding side to build amazing things by ones self. Without that stuff you can also build amazing things, but within a rather narrower range of possibilities.

4 Likes
3

Said some coder, 10 years ago, based on his knowledge of Visual Basic.

And they were probably right. But this myth about the lack of extensibility is now just that … myth.

Because someone invented microservices. A way to extend your app with little bits of functionality it can’t do.

Let’s be honest here, coders don’t code. Generalisation ? Yes. Ok, 99% of coders don’t code. They go an find some other code, or module, that does what they want and use that.

Now, that is not quite how Bubble works. You can’t (currently) spin up a little function to do something. You need to create it externally,. And that is not super efficient.

But imagine a whole bunch of user created Bubble functions that are sat on the same server as your Bubble App.

Sort of like user created super Excel Functions.

“hey, calculate me some complex maths on this list”
“hey, can you tweet this for me”
“hey, can you convert this image for me”

From a data perspective, Bubble is just a hub for functions. If you can create the function, you can extend.

The part where the path is not quite as clear, is in visual elements. Bubble have not yet opened up the system to allow “widgets” for want of a better word.

And that is really the issue with “can bubble build bubble” ? Some of the UI elements would be hard to replicate. Not impossible. But not cloneable as such.

You could, I am fairly certain, build a “website creator” on Bubble.

1 Like
4

Quick answer: No.

Bubble.is website is built on bubble but the Bubble editor isn’t. Source: Bubble team.

Very long and very painful answer: Most probably yes. But it’s not worth anyone’s time and devotion :slight_smile:

1 Like