gluestack — Making Fullstack Fun Again

gluestack — Making Fullstack Fun Again

Introduction, key features, and ecosystem

Imagine having an idea for an application that solves a critical real-world problem. On digging deeper, you realize that that app has great potential. However, once you start, multiple overheads start blocking your workflow. Every step you take is rife with conundrums:

  • Which component/styling library to choose?

  • How should you build an authentication system?

  • What should the backend be?

  • Which CMS will be correct?

  • How should you proceed with a design system?

Selecting the best tools, tech stacks, and set-up is confusing, time-consuming, and even frustrating. You end up spending more time on these overheads than the app itself.

We understand how exasperating these issues can be during a project. Our consulting experience has given us our fair share.

But we always believed, and still believe, that ideas and real-world problems must take the front seat in every project.

gluestack, the latest full-stack framework, is going to change all that.

What is gluestack

It is a 100% open-source framework for building full-stack web and mobile apps with backend. Everything is built as swappable modules, with the core pieces as Next.js, Storybook, TypeScript, GraphQL, Hasura, and Dapr for functions.

The framework is built with a focus on simplicity and modularity. The monolithic model is ditched for a microservices architecture.

The Core and the Opinions

gluestack architecture has two parts - a loosely coupled, language-independent, and architecture-first core framework and a set of opinions.

The plugin architecture is a game-changer in terms of customizability. We provide a recommended set of plugins based on our opinions. They are collated based on our work as an app development agency. The default set is added to ensure better integration and development experience.

But even if the plugins we recommend do not align with your specific use case, gluestack always allows you to create custom plugins. Installation is straightforward. The power always remains with you.

Key Features of gluestack

  • It allows you to initialize and develop full-stack apps with a CLI

  • It has a clean and scalable API layer

  • Database modeling and migrations are included

  • Developers can queue workers for background jobs

  • It allows third-party integration with services for Messaging, Webhook, etc

  • Custom plugins are allowed with easy installation

List of available plugins

Frontend

Web (Next.js), Mobile (React Native), Storybook (Universal components)

Backend

auth, storage, GraphQL (Hasura), Dapr (functions), CRON, Jobs

The ecosystem & future

Our ecosystem also includes seal - a hosting platform specially designed for gluestick apps, and also a design system builder (stay tuned), which lets you create scalable and customizable design systems.

gluestack makes full-stack development enjoyable again. One can switch between multiple platforms to check different components and functionalities. A huge effort is not wasted on ensuring compatibility and interoperability. It is a paradigm shift in app development.

We are considering adding Flutter for mobile and also Strapi for CMS. With new updates, we believe gluestack has the potential to become the one-stop solution for everything application development. The team is working to make this target a reality.

If you are interested in testing gluestack out, you can sign-up for early access at gluestack.io

The waitlist is now open.

AMA.