norbert515 (u/norbert515)

norbert515 commented on Show HN: Nocterm – Flutter-inspired TUI framework with hot reload (Dart) nocterm.dev... · Posted by u/norbert515

norbert515 · 7 days ago

I haven't actually tried WASM yet. The demo on the landing page is using Dart transpiled to JS (embedded in xterm.js). But Dart does also support compiling to WASM directly, I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know about the stats!

norbert515 · 6 days ago

Compiling to WASM is a huge reduction in size (as we don't need to ship a runtime etc. ourselfes anymore), but that requires some browser runtime. Dart specifically doesn't support standalone WASM (outside of the JS/browser context) yet.

I was able to get a WASM binary as small as ~234 KiB!

norbert515 commented on Show HN: Nocterm – Flutter-inspired TUI framework with hot reload (Dart) nocterm.dev... · Posted by u/norbert515

ugotsta · 7 days ago

That's what it was! I really, really wanted to use Dart because I love Flutter (only ever used it through FlutterFlow and was duly impressed) but I couldn't get around the binary size, mainly because I'm supporting WASM as a backend so it needs tiny binaries.

How did you handle the WASM backend? That part was extremely impressive to me. But aren't the binaries practically too large for WASM?

In any case, really love what you're doing and will be following progress. Outstanding work!

norbert515 · 7 days ago

I haven't actually tried WASM yet. The demo on the landing page is using Dart transpiled to JS (embedded in xterm.js). But Dart does also support compiling to WASM directly, I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know about the stats!

norbert515 commented on Show HN: Nocterm – Flutter-inspired TUI framework with hot reload (Dart) nocterm.dev... · Posted by u/norbert515

ugotsta · 7 days ago

Wow, the website excels at showcasing the framework!

What are compiled binaries like with this and Dart? I've been building a sort of similar framework and engine in Nim, mostly because I can get binaries under 200Kb. I looked into implementing the concept in other languages but don't recall much with Dart.

Also, how does this carry over to Flutter? Is this similar enough that minimal changes would be needed to move a TUI app into Flutter's graphical domain?

norbert515 · 7 days ago

Thanks!

Binaries in Dart are definitely larger than 200kb, I just AOT compiled one of the examples and it was ~7.4MB (arm64 MacOS). Dart has a few different targets it can compile to, but it generally requires a couple of MBs, as it packages the whole runtime.

Yeah, my goal definitely is to have to as close to Flutter where it makes sense. You should mostly be able to copy it over 1:1, with a couple of caveats (GUI and a TUI app have a few differences here and there).

norbert515 commented on Show HN: Nocterm – Flutter-inspired TUI framework with hot reload (Dart) nocterm.dev... · Posted by u/norbert515

modulovalue · 8 days ago

Very interesting, I always believed we should have more declarative frameworks in other domains and not just UI. My experience shows me this gives LLMs a much smaller space to explore which leads to better results.

norbert515 · 8 days ago

Yeah, I fully agree. UI has become a pretty obvious example for declerative programming, but it probably makes sense for so many other domains as well!

norbert515 commented on Show HN: Free Logo API – logos for any company or domain logos.apistemic.com/... · Posted by u/lorey

norbert515 · 2 months ago

That's awesome! Love that you can use it out of the box without annoying singups/keys :)

norbert515 commented on Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025) · Posted by u/david927

czarofvan · 7 months ago

Any reason to not use flutter flow with all the AI stuff?

norbert515 · 7 months ago

I'd say it depends on where you are coming from. With Vide, I'm approaching this problem from the code side. In my opinion, any application that is supposed to go into production and scale should be built on a solid code foundation.

My value proposition is to make developers more productive by skipping the boring stuff, while FlutterFlow is more of an "all-in-one" app platform.

norbert515 commented on Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025) · Posted by u/david927

norbert515 · 7 months ago

Working on https://vide.dev, the Cursor for Flutter devs.

While Cursor stops after writing great code, Vide goes the extra mile and has full runtime integration. Vide will go the extra mile & make sure the UI looks on point, works on all screen configurations and behaves correctly. It does this by being deeply integrated into Flutters tooling, it's able to take screenshot/ place widgets on a Figma-like canvas and even interact with everything in an isolated and reproducible environment.

I currently have a web version of the IDE live but I'm going to launch a full native desktop IDE very soon.

norbert515 commented on Ask HN: Companies of one, what is your tech stack? · Posted by u/ecmascript

gizdan · 4 years ago

On a similar note, has anyone used a pre-built "saas starter kit" or the like? If so, how is it going? Do you regret using it?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to write a new app from scratch but I'm getting demotivated having to implement things like users, organisations, and other things that is essentially just re-inventing the wheel.

norbert515 · 4 years ago

There is www.divjoy.com which seems promising (haven't tried it myself though)

norbert515 commented on Widget-Maker – A Flutter UI Builder widgetmaker.dev/... · Posted by u/rohan1024

latchkey · 6 years ago

I am thinking from the perspective of a user of a product like this. I personally do both development and design work.

Your example does not convince me that it would save time ('probably' isn't enough) or be generally useful enough that a designer could be convinced to drop Sketch for it.

As a designer, I want to use Sketch.

As a developer, I want a Sketch design over generated code.

For sure, it is a neat experiment to create something like this, but time and time again, people always resort back to tools like Sketch. I think this developer would be better off spending their time building out a super epic component widget library than trying to build a visual designer.

norbert515 · 6 years ago

Original Author here, thanks for the feedback. I totally agree with most of the points made.

Right now, I wouldn't call it production-ready. It is too complex for non-coders and too trivial for actual developers.

I've been working on this for quite a while and I wanted to get something released so I wouldn't keep coding in my basement without feedback.

Right now, I'd say this tool is handy for Flutter beginners getting to know the layout system.

Addressing the problem regarding this being just a "Klickibunti" application.

I feel strongly about having this tool produce actual code a human developer would have written, therefore this could be considered the "groundwork" for future actually useful features.

Such features could include a full sketch integration that strongly connects to the actual widgets which work with different screen sizes and gesture behaviors.

One big feature which I've been planning for a while is a full 2-way code integration, meaning you'd be able to open up a random Flutter project in the widget-maker, tweak something and proceed with writing code.

Again, the points mentioned are very valid and I'm trying my best to build something which doesn't fall into the category of being a "nice idea that just doesn't work".