[CodeProject] Need honest review of agile platform

Davide Marquês

Discussion

Hi all!

Just caught this question on CodeProject:

Hi all, 

My company have asked me to have a look into outsystems agile platform for RAD development. We currently use asp.net with jquery and entity framework as orm. I couldn't find much on the google for product reviews except this https://www.codingforums.com/showthread.php?t=257777. So I thought what is better than CP for an honest review. So this will be a medium size application (with about 500 users) and will continue to grow with new features. It is basically data driven application with reporting functionality and document generation.

The pros and cons that I have found so far are:
pros:
  1- quick basic crud 
  2- true change ( if you make change at one place it reflects at other instances)

cons:
  1- Very difficult to continue forward if disconnected from the tool due to tons of generated code(this is a big one for us)
  2- cost
  3- source control is very cumbersome

Any further thoughts on this framework ? Anybody who has developed medium to large applications with this ? Can you think of a better RAD framework for data driven application ?

Anyone interested in sharing their honest review? :)

Cheers!
Davide

01 Jul 2013

Tmlewin .

@Davide
wow there are lots of interesting stuff that are being discussed at that forum but one of the points raised that rang a bell was one of the posters remarks undermining the ability of the platform in developing apps other than basic crude apps.he even went as far as stating that even with integration studio,developing middleware apps like a payament processing engine is virtually not possible with the agile platform.

I am still digesting the content of the info but i would like to know the honest views of our great community members pending when i can offer a really well thought out response.

01 Jul 2013

Robert Chanphakeo

@Davide

As much as I like to disagree with the reviewer, he is right.

That is one honest review indeed!

However......

Outsystems platform is good for business that keep on changing, because change is hard, and change can become a very costly process really fast!

Developing a piece of software is one thing, but its not like you build it once and it will never change again!

Your business is going to change and your software needs to change to adapt with your business needs.

If your business can not adapt to change fast enough with the change of your business, you could go out of business.

Technology is one thing, and business is another, you have to make them work together, you can have the best of the best technology but if it doesnt meet business needs in a timely manner, whats the point?

Business use technology to help their business become more efficent and productive. Being able to deliver software really fast, able to maintain software easily and make changes to software really fast is important! You have to consider these factors when you choose a framework/platform for your business!

02 Jul 2013

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02 Jul 2013

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Davide Marquês

Robert Chanphakeo wrote:

[...] because change is hard, and change can become a very costly process really fast!

+1. This is perhaps the most profound learning experience I've had while working at OutSystems (It took a bit to sink in though).

For those looking for additional perspectives the following discussion is definitely worth a read:
Why choose the Agile Platform instead of a proper .NET setup ?

02 Jul 2013

MVP

It's honest indeed.

about the cons he proposed...

 1- Very difficult to continue forward if disconnected from the tool due to tons of generated code(this is a big one for us)

1. well, yeah, that's a bit same as buying a toyota prius because of the the awesome features, strip it down to bone and complain the engine is too complex to fit it in a fiat 500.

  2- cost

2. eye of the beholder. yes there is a big gap between community and first "proper" licence. (but that is soon(tm)

  3- source control is very cumbersome

3. source control works, but could have some love and attention.

02 Jul 2013

Sathiya Durai

Does the Outsystems support external connectors like Real Magnet ?

01 Mar 2016

Ricardo Araújo

Hi Sathiya,

The OutSystems Platform supports several external connectors, you can see in detail in our knowledge base.

I don't know any ready made connector for Real Magnet but if RM expose for example a Rest or a SOAP API then OutSystems will be able to import it and integrate with it.

Do you have more details about RM integration capabilities?

01 Mar 2016

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