The Alpha platform is a unified mobile and web app development and deployment environment with distinct "no-code" and "low-code" components. The vendor says that using the Alpha TransForm no-code environment, business users and developers can take full advantage of all the capabilities of the smartphone to turn any form into a mobile app in minutes, and power users can add advanced app functionality with Alpha TransForm's built-in programming language. IT developers can use the…
If you want to teach your team or students how to program and learn programming languages, you would not want to utilize Phone Gap software. The Phone Gap software creates an easy fix to avoid learning every programming language for mobile devices. This creates a learning curve for some programmers because they no longer need to learn every language to be successful. However, for personal growth, this could pose an issue if programmers need to change jobs and are only capable of programming in web languages and then translate them using Phone Gap. Adobe Phone Gap works wonderfully for what our company uses it for. We use it because we have app launch deadlines and our programmers are invested in the company; therefore, they are aware that output is our goal, not actually learning the various languages, but more making sure the client is happy
The speed of development from concept, through development and delivery of the end product is so impressive [with Alpha Anywhere]. There is an impressive array of genies and helper functions meaning that you can focus on what matters, the end user experience. It is not a "No code" solution but it is a very impressive "low code" solution which allows detailed access under the hood to tweak the applications to your own needs and the needs of your clients.
Our company had been creating small business applications since the 1980's, when we used DBase IV (don't laugh... that's what was available). Then, we got more "sophisticated" with Microsoft Access. Clearly, we would always be limited with what we can do with those two programs. By accident, during an Internet search, we saw and ad for Alpha Anywhere (back then, it was called Alpha V). After working with the 30 free trial for just two weeks, we retired Access, for good. The best part was Alpha's flexibility in its use of "back end" data tables. That allowed us to use existing Access tables as we redesigned the front-end program (Alpha ships with its own DBF system, but we prefer SQL-Based tables). You can choose, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Access, Paradox (actually, too many to name) for your tables. You can even create links to Excel spreadsheets or QuickBooks Tables. It's outstanding!
Alpha allows developers to create very large and very complex programs. However, it's also a great choice for RAD (Rapid Application Development) for those who need to be up and running quickly or for less experienced programmers. Actually, the interface truly allows for "codeless" development of your application (more on that later). That means you can design a fully functional application, without typing a single line of code. They have some examples on their website.
My favorite part of Alpha is that it is constantly adding features and functions that allow us to do more with our applications. In fact, one of my biggest problems is that I need more time to learn and practice the added features as fast as they are introduced
Prior to Alpha Anywhere, we never considered creating/developing "mobile" applications (for tablets, smartphones, etc.). Alpha created a unique "panel" system that makes those application work great... and allows for the design of very sophisticated Apps.
I would like to see the ability to write mobile applications using SWIFT and then use Phone Gap software or plug-ins to be able to transfer the iOS language into the Android language or to Java, CSS and HTML.
We've experienced errors when transferring from one language to another. We worked on solving the issue and then had to simply adjust the native language and functionality for it to work.
I have a team of graphic designers who would be able to like to assist in building of the apps but they are very limited, so perhaps adding functionality like a wix or weebly where there are options given that can drag and drop so marketing teams can support development.
We have not found competitors to Adobe Phone Gap that allows us to be able to code and transfer into alternative languages. The only alternative is to write in the languages required by apple and google in order to launch our apps on their devices and in their app stores. Using Phone Gap removes the learning curve of needing to write in each individual language and therefore would beat the competition because from what we have found and been recommended, there is no alternative to Adobe Phone Gap that is worth pursuing
Alpha Anywhere is a full-stack IDE. It’s no code and low code, but you can also custom code if you need to. About 10% of our application is no code. 80% is low code and 10% is custom code.
Allows for a great return on investment since you can quickly become very productive and complete more projects and applications in a shorter period of time with hand coding and the normal programming headaches of PHP, C#, Angular, etc.
You can afford to take on more and smaller projects since they will require far less time to complete than more traditional development environments.
Alpha Anywhere is continuously updated coming out with new features and capabilities on essentially a daily basis. Continuous improvement and frequent updates allows you to always stay ahead of the curve and competitors.
Alpha Anywhere allows you to offer lower cost solutions that will be completed in less time and that will be much easier to support and maintain.
