Macaw – Code-savvy web design tool

by ApertureHour • 13 years ago

147 52 13 years ago

th0br02• 13 years ago

I had actually expected something for "real" code. (e.g. Scala, Go, younameit)

While CSS3/HTML5 definitely made web design somewhat closer to actual coding (esp. on the CSS end), I still find it difficult to call renderer instructions in a markup language true "code".

However, this looks like an interesting tool! Too bad that you only seem to be aiming for OSX. Are ports planned?

namenotrequired• 13 years ago

Me too - I expected something about sketching / visualising how a programme works before you write it. :)

wasabian• 13 years ago

OSX and Windows seems to be the targeted platforms according to their Kickstarter FAQ.

We have no plans to bring Macaw to Linux at this time. Once the Mac and Windows versions are released we will look into Linux.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/macaw/macaw-the-code-sav...

th0br02• 13 years ago

Thanks. I only saw the app store mention when you watch the preview video and thought it was OSX only.

GhotiFish2• 13 years ago

I can understand not paying any mind to linux for other developers. It's a mostly unused platform for almost all demographics... except actual developers.

This is not the kind of application I was expecting to "not support linux". That said, They're not actually supporting windows right now either, so I guess for designers only. Oh well.

hackula1• 13 years ago

The headline should replace "code" with "markup" for clarity.

bryans• 13 years ago

It's more than a submission title problem. The tagline they're using for the product is actually "the code-savvy web design tool". Perhaps I'm just an unreasonable person (it is just a single world, after all), but I have trouble getting behind any product for which the creators can't accurately describe.

icambron4• 13 years ago

It's a textural representation of instructions for a computer; it's certainly code. I think the distinction you're looking for is whether writing HTML/CSS/etc constitutes programming or not. That's a recurring discussion on HN (I've personally come around to the view that it is).

mikeash3• 13 years ago

Seems like a pointless definitional quibble. What matters is that when people see "code" used as a verb in this context on this site, they think of programming. Whether that's "what it means" or not doesn't really matter.

lifeisstillgood• 13 years ago

Can I put in a vote for a language based entirely on anonymous lambda functions called 'younameit'?

please :-)

turingbook• 13 years ago

According to the story by Pandodaily [1], "It’s a native OSX app, but it was built inside a customized version of Google’s Chrome browser. " I guess that it will be relatively easy to target Windows and Linux if they want.

[1] http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/17/macaw-a-kickstarter-funded-...

dubcanada2• 13 years ago

I believe it is using CEF, so porting it to either OS's (including Linux) will be pretty easy.

dancecodes• 13 years ago

nice palette!

where is that big red button for start?

afandian• 13 years ago

"Stop writing the mark-up for your designs by hand, let us do it" more like. Perhaps this is an example of where the original title is misleading and requires editorialising.

MAGZine• 13 years ago

That makes them sound like a front-end development agency.

mooted1• 13 years ago

As a Webflow user, this seems to handle a lot of the things that annoy me about Webflow and gives the author more freedom. All around, it seems like a better product. Super keen on giving this a go when it's ready. Oh and no monthly subscription charge, it would appear. Fantastic.

pjmlp2• 13 years ago

Stop the press. Web developers discover tooling desktop RAD developers were using in the 90's.

skylan_q• 13 years ago

RADs didn't target web browsers (and especially not to this extent)

pjmlp2• 13 years ago

Because browsers are for documents.

selmnoo• 13 years ago

Either that app is really good, or the demo video was really good.

I normally don't get excited over tools like these, but wow that actually seemed very well done and very impressive.

The HTML/CSS code it produced was beautifully clean, so interestingly I'm actually most excited about the possibility of this being used as a training tool: the option to be able to instantaneously see the code in a side window as you're 'drawing' it -- this kind of simultaneous feedback is always a real boon for the beginner learner.

wonderyak• 13 years ago

I'm sure they tailored the demo to show the best aspects of the software.

nacs• 13 years ago

Narrator on video: "We're going to move through this pretty quickly".. Video length: 20 minutes.

The code produced by the app does look quite clean for a WYSIWYG however.

gaoshan• 13 years ago

It does look impressive but keep in mind the presentation would likely be tailored to the tool's specific strengths.

Every WYSIWYG editor I've ever used was always only useful up to a point. Maybe this one breaks that mold but there's no way to know until we can take it for a spin.

medell• 13 years ago

In the sneak peak, at 7:20, Why Command-Option-C to copy visual styles? A simple Command-C to copy, and the user has the choice to Cmd-V to paste as normal, or modify with Cmd-Opt-V to paste only the style seems more intuitive. Looking forward to this! Nice logo animation & sound btw!

sixQuarks• 13 years ago

This. Is. Beautiful.

abhididdigi• 13 years ago

Not coming to Windows? :(

As you mentioned it's coming to app store soon?

teleclimber• 13 years ago

It is coming to Windows... eventually.

https://twitter.com/macawco/statuses/378215232512208896

jebblue• 13 years ago

FYI, on Ubuntu 12.04 using Google Chrome, the Vimeo player kept going black after starting the video, I had to keep making small movements with the mouse to keep the video showing.

It's almost like a div is made black and floated over the top of it if that's possible.

MaxGabriel• 13 years ago

I had the same problem on OS X 10.8.5 running Chrome 30.0.1599.69. When I clicked the fullscreen button, the black went away, but it was only showing a static image of the program (I did have audio though).

evmar• 13 years ago

This looks really neat. It also helps me understand why so many websites look bad on non-Mac platforms (aka 90% of desktops): designers who do stuff like "that looks a bit heavy, let's bump down the font weight a bit" without realizing that these settings look unreadable on Windows or Linux.

cseelus• 13 years ago

On Low-Res devices running Linux or Windows, that is.

sangnoir• 13 years ago

In other words, you're confirming the 90% figure, right?

dubcanada2• 13 years ago

I don't think that figure if accurate. I think it's save to assume that a great deal of people looking at Macaw will be on a Mac (considering it is being released on the Mac first).

seanmcdirmid• 13 years ago

Golden girls and Matlock used to be the most popular shows on TV but advertisers hated them since the viewing demographic didn't actually buy anything.

Its ok to optimize for mac if that's who will give you money.

manuelflara• 13 years ago

I have to say after trying a few visual website editors (Dreamweaver, et), I've pretty much given up on this. But this video is really impressive. As someone else said, this could be really awesome specially for beginners. Looking forward to try the final product.

parvatzar• 13 years ago

Awesome demo and App. Interesting name for the App. Made me look it up. Macaw: a large long-tailed parrot with brightly coloured plumage, native to Central and South America.

stcredzero• 13 years ago

Certain technical things really are amenable to the Archy inspired "Zoomworld" spatial organization ideas behind iOS 7. There are lots of things that are best understood in diagrams, as flows of information, or material. Scheduling natural gas or petroleum, for example. Operations that data scientists do to tables of data in something like Stata are another example.

That said, not all things are suitable for this. For many things, you still want code. I suspect that there are opportunities for people to find harmonious ways of blending the two.

EDIT: Wouldn't something like hosting a web app be amenable to a Archy/Zoomworld style representation? The relationship between front-end servers, app server workers, back-end processes, and databases could exist as a giant diagram.

shaneofalltrad• 13 years ago

speaking on iOS 7, I would love to look at that page in an iOS 7 phone, landscape and see how much gets cropped out of view.

ezequiel-garzon2• 13 years ago

Any ideas as to how much it will cost?

cturhan• 13 years ago

If you support 99$ on kickstarter they will give free. There is no pricing option they mentioned other than that :)

ezequiel-garzon2• 13 years ago

Got it. Thanks!

GhotiFish2• 13 years ago

We have no plans to bring Macaw to Linux at this time. Once the Mac and Windows versions are released we will look into Linux.

damn it.

asciimo• 13 years ago

Their language was slightly more optimistic in this October 10 comment:

There is definitely a chance we will port Macaw over to Linux. We are working on getting the Mac and Windows versions out first then we will re-evaluate.

camus22• 13 years ago

It looks great, i wonder what technology it uses(what is it built upon? qt?...)

camus22• 13 years ago

ok , i found the answer , looks like it is JS/HTML with chrome embedded. I hope it will run fast.

dsego• 13 years ago

You can help fund it on kickstarter - http://kickstarter.com/projects/1658523427/macaw-the-code-sa....

kkotak• 13 years ago

Divshot?

Macaw – Code-savvy web design tool

Related Stories