8base targets blockchain for no-code app development
The popularity of blockchain and demand for blockchain applications has spurred the creation of a no-code application development platform for building blockchain apps.
Everyone wants to be a part of the blockchain buzz, so it was only a matter of time before a development platform hitched itself to this platform du jour.
Blockchain -- the distributed ledger technology that seeks to maintain a permanent, tamper-proof record of transactional data -- has become a priority for buyers and sellers alike across the IT food chain. Now, it's caught the attention of 8base, a no-code app development startup in Coral Gables, Fla.
Albert Santalo
Launched just over a year ago, 8base introduced its eponymous product late last month. It was touted as a platform for use by developers who want to build blockchain apps. It also runs its reputation management system on blockchain.
The technology lets developers create profiles and assigns them a reputation score, "an immutable record" of the developer's rep. This functions as a social trust mechanism similar to aggregated reviews on Airbnb and Uber.
The 8base dev platform
Some companies are turning [blockchain] into the 2018 equivalent of the 'internet pixie dust' that was so common during the dot-com boom.
Charles Kinganalyst Pund-IT
The company's App Builder development platform automates mundane development tasks, such as setting up build systems and integrations. A scalable serverless architecture chassis automates infrastructure tasks, such as provisioning, scaling and managing computing resources, and it delivers these capabilities as configurable services. Citizen developers can use App Builder to create all types of applications without the need to write any code, such as customer-facing portal apps, document management apps and blockchain applications, according to the company.
"We have a democratizing effect on everything because of blockchain," said Alberto Santalo, CEO and founder of 8base.
Most blockchain work to date has been at the protocol level, which can be difficult to navigate, Santalo said. 8base has a UI that works with the protocol layer of blockchain, he said.
Blockchain hype?
The ability to secure records of when, how and who makes changes to a project could be valuable in some instances, but it's unclear why no-code and low-code technology require that level of oversight, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT in Hayward, Calif.
"Given the amount of empty hype currently surrounding blockchain, there's a danger that some companies are turning it into the 2018 equivalent of the 'internet pixie dust' that was so common during the dot-com boom," he said.
Albert Santalo
