Does Xano replace the need for server side frameworks & coding languages?

Jamar Sloss

I understand that Xano is great for building a database, but is Xano's server side functionality advanced enough to replace the need to learn server side programming languages & frameworks? I'm asking because I'm currently learning to code & with me being in a rush, I'm wondering if using Xano will allow me to skip learning server side languages & frameworks such as Python & Django, Node JS & Express, PHP & Laravel, C# & .Net, etc. 

Sean Montgomery

Hi ,

Xano is a complete backend solution. It can definitely do as much as you can do inside a server side framework.

If you have an interest in programming languages, then I highly recommend you pursue that interest as it gives you a deeper understanding of how things work. That being said - it is not required to use Xano.

Justin C

 just to add to Sean's answer, you can think of Xano as not just for "building a database". If that were the case, Xano's functionality would end after you create your tables.

All the other functionality you can do (such as the function stack, returning values, and creating endpoints), is the backend language.

For example in Xano you can create a function stack that queries your user table, and returns the user where "id" equals "123". This is the functionality you would write code for by hand if you were using a traditional backend language such as python, php, C#, etc.

If you begin to think of Xano as the "whole backend package" I think it should become more clear. Xano isn't just a visual editor, but rather a way to "create code visually" (without ever having to interact with the actual code itself). I'd be happy to elaborate if any part of my answer isn't clear!

Jamar Sloss

 Thanks for the response. It sounds like Xano will save me lots of time & speed up development. 

Jamar Sloss

Thanks for your response. Is the backend functionality as powerful or more powerful than bubble.io? If Xano's backend functionality is on the same level as bubble.io or more powerful than bubble.io, that means I can put my server side courses on hold & start building today with Xano. 

Prakash Chandran

 Since we are 100% dedicated to the Backend, we tend to do the heavy lifting of dealing with lots of data a bit more efficiently.  This includes data transformations and dealing with large data sets (millions of records).   We also are built to work with data from many 3rd party services.  I would watch this video as a good primer if you plan to use Bubble along side Xano:



Jamar Sloss

Thanks for the response. I'm hoping I'll be able to connect XANO directly into HTML files because I plan on building my web front ends with HTML, CSS & JS. I'll start my native apps off with Flutter, React native or Xamarin, but I plan to build my ios apps with the official apple swift framework after I buy a MacBook pro & use kotlin frameworks for Android apps. Being able to build my full backend with Xano will also allow me to focus more on business & marketing courses sooner instead of learning server side languages & frameworks 1st & SQL code. I need to become a pro at app development & business because I want to grow my own big tech company soon. 

Justin C

 If your goal is to connect Xano directly into HTML files, you're good to go and wouldn't need to learn any full-stack framework. I'd recommend looking into either react or vue.js for your front-end, but really you could build the app without any (new age) front-end framework and stick to jQuery.

For your Bubble question, Prakash touched on it, and I definitely agree. Bubble is more of an "all in one" platform that does everything. A pro to this is you can do everything in 1 platform, but a con is that you are then stuck in that platform. Another con is that companies such as Bubble have to pick and choose where to put their engineering resources, whereas Xano is doing 1 thing and doing that 1 thing exceptionally well (the backend).

My recommendation to you would be to use Xano as your backend & database so your data always lives here. Then, you can use whatever front-end stuff you want to display the data (eg. HTML/JS for a web app, flutter for mobile app, etc).

This lets you have a source of truth for all your data, and you would be able to easily switch front-ends or systems around should the need arise in the future. 

Jamar Sloss

I really wanted to use bubble, but I can't because of bubble terms of use rules against nudity. I'm not building a porn site, but I want to build a content subscription / membership marketplace like Onlyfans that gives content creators freedom to post any type of content they want. As I become a better programmer, I'll eventually build my own advanced ad system like Google & Facebook's ad system, so businesses can advertise & content creators can make money from ads from viewers who are not on a paid plan. I also want to build a multi level network marketing affiliate program, so subscribers & content creators can make more money. Figma & Webflow will be big parts of my front end web stack because they allow us to build our full front end & export the code. I want to use no code tools as much as possible, so I can focus a lot on the business & marketing side instead of mostly coding.