Author: Alfred Nutile

Date: 01/23/2025

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Okay, I’m watching this video, and it’s speaking directly to the challenges I’ve been tackling! Basically, it’s about using 21st.dev to grab UI components and drop them straight into Lovable apps (which is a no-code platform that integrates well with Bolt.new – another low-code tool). The key takeaway is that it addresses the common problem of making no-code/low-code apps look *good*. Let’s be honest, a lot of the UI you get out-of-the-box can be, well, a bit bland.

For someone like me, who’s moving from traditional Laravel development into an AI-enhanced workflow, this is huge. We spend so much time hand-crafting UI, tweaking CSS, and ensuring responsiveness. The promise of instantly importing well-designed components and focusing on backend logic and automations? That’s the dream. I can see using this to prototype new app features incredibly quickly. Imagine using an LLM to generate the functional logic for your Laravel backend, and then rapidly prototyping the frontend with imported UI components. Plus, this could be a game-changer for internal tools where I don’t want to spend hours on design but still need a professional look.

What makes this video worth experimenting with is its practicality. It offers a tangible solution to a very real problem: UI design bottlenecks in no-code/low-code environments. It’s not just theoretical fluff; it’s a concrete tool (21st.dev) being used in conjunction with other platforms (Lovable) to create something better, faster. Honestly, anything that lets me shift my focus away from pixel-pushing and towards high-level problem-solving gets a big thumbs up from me. I’m going to play around with this and see if it can cut down my UI development time!

Date: 01/22/2025

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Okay, this Fireship video on open-source alternatives to popular SaaS tools is *exactly* the kind of content that gets me excited right now. It’s essentially a rapid-fire showcase of FOSS options for things like MS Office (LibreOffice), Notion (Appflowy), Heroku/Vercel (Coolify, Dokku) and even Zoom (Jitsi). Why is this relevant to AI coding? Because it highlights the shift towards more control and customization, which is exactly what you get when you start integrating LLMs and no-code tools into your workflow. We’re talking about building our own solutions, not just relying on pre-packaged SaaS.

For me, the value is in the mindset shift. Instead of thinking, “I need X feature, let me find a SaaS that offers it,” you start thinking, “I need X feature, how can I build it, or adapt an existing open-source project, using AI to speed up the process?” For example, let’s say I need a custom CRM. Instead of Salesforce, I could use NocoDB (a no-code database) and leverage an LLM to generate custom APIs or workflows. This video plants that seed of possibility. And hey, the mention of self-hosting with Coolify and Dokku? That’s pure gold for anyone who’s ever felt locked into a specific cloud provider.

Ultimately, it’s worth experimenting with because it unlocks possibilities. Suddenly, that complex internal tool you were dreading building feels less daunting. You see a path to building a tailored solution instead of settling for something off-the-shelf. Plus, the open-source angle means you can contribute back to the community and learn from others. It’s not just about saving money (though that’s a nice perk!); it’s about taking ownership of your tools and workflows, which, in my book, is where the real magic happens when you combine traditional development with the power of AI.

Date: 12/22/2024

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Okay, this video is *exactly* what I’m looking for right now. It’s a walkthrough of building a mobile app from scratch to deployment using Claude, Cursor AI, and N8N. Basically, it’s the holy trinity of AI-assisted development.

The reason this is valuable for us, as developers transitioning into AI-enhanced workflows, is that it provides a concrete example of how to stitch together these tools. We’re talking about using LLMs for code generation (Claude via Cursor), and no-code automation for the backend (N8N). This addresses the big question: how do you go from initial concept to a fully functioning app *without* writing every single line of code manually? The video covers everything from setting up the environment (Expo) to feature implementation, testing, and deployment. It is a complete solution to the problems of manual development.

Think about it. You could use this to prototype an internal tool for your team, automate lead generation, or even build a basic e-commerce app. Imagine significantly cutting down the development time by having AI generate the boilerplate code, and then use a no-code platform to handle the backend logic. Seeing a practical end-to-end example like this demystifies the whole AI-assisted development process. I am definetly going to try out N8N to reduce my manual workload. It’s about leveraging AI not to replace us, but to make us *way* more productive. That’s why I’m excited to dig into this video and see what I can adapt for my projects.