Cloud platforms are becoming more complex
Tags: javascript, react, vue, angular
Published: 2019-07-13 21:36:05

Cloud providers today are in constant competition for the attention of front-end developers. Cool new technologies spring up virtually every day. Often these technologies can be re-packaged and added to the platforms' growing lists of Software-as-a-Service options.

Some people frown upon this tendency because it appears as if the providers are making money off the free labour of the open-source community. While a valid point, this is not the topic of this post.

I would like to bring to your attention another side effect of the evergrowing SaaS portfolios of most well-known cloud platforms. 

Complexity.

Rather unsurprisingly, the more options get added, the more confusing and hard to navigate the platforms become. This, however, is hard to notice by the people developing those platforms and those who have been on the ride since the beginning. At any given moment, these people are fully familiar with all existing, let's say 30, options and it is obvious to them where the new 31st option fits in the puzzle.

However, for a newcomer, the learning curve gets steeper and steeper with every new offer added to those platforms. The more offers there are, the more likely it is that there is more than one way of achieving a given task. There will always be doubts in the mind of a junior developer deciding to use a cloud platform today if a given approach is correct, or if it is a good approach or if it has already been rendered obsolete by something newer.

This trend has already started to become obvious and it will only get more obvious as cloud platforms continue to grow in their complexity.

The good news is that this creates a nice opportunity for small entrants into a market otherwise considered by many as impenetrable. I call it the "Zero-Clicks Revolution".

**Imagine being able to set up your cloud infrastructure with zero clicks.** Wouldn't that be nice? The concept is simple and the complexity from the user's point of view is practically non-existing. Also, this is an offer that is beyond the reach of the big cloud platforms because the more they work on expanding their portfolios of services, the larger the number of clicks to get something up and running gets.

An example of an initiative which belongs to the "zero-clicks revolution" category is a simple online tool called CrudCrud. It describes itself as a provider of instant CRUD REST API endpoints for front-end developers.

CrudCrud allows front-end developers to save the time they would otherwise waste creating a back-end for their prototypes and instead focus on the work they actually care about, the front end. And that can be achieved with zero clicks.

When you visit the [CrudCrud website](https://crudcrud.com/) a unique REST API endpoint is automatically generated and displayed to you. With zero clicks. At that point you are ready to go. The endpoint is up and running, managed by the CrudCrud back-end. You can copy it in your prototype or proof-of-concept application and immediately start using it, be it in vanilla JavaScript, React, VueJS, Angular or any other front-end development framework.

CrudCrud enables front-end developers to set up a quick and dirty CRUD back-end with zero clicks. No registration, no accounts, no navigating through numerous confusing menus and options. Straight to the point and no second thoughts. **An experience beyond the reach of the big cloud providers.** That's the "Zero-Clicks Revolutions".

*Disclaimer: I am involved in the CrudCrud project.*