Overall Best Practices

Database and Data Management

• Design for Scalability from Day One: Plan your database structure, workflows, and features with growth in mind. Use efficient data structures, avoid redundancy, and ensure that your architecture can handle increased user loads without requiring complete rebuilds. Consider how manual processes can be automated as your application scales.
• Implement Proper Database Design: Create database structures that avoid redundant fields and optimize for performance. Use relational linking between objects rather than storing large amounts of data within single records.
• Optimize Data Loading: Implement pagination and lazy loading to manage large datasets effectively. Display data in manageable chunks rather than loading everything at once, which significantly improves performance, especially on mobile devices. Use Bubble's pagination features or create custom pagination with repeating groups.
• Establish Multiple Environments: Set up separate development, staging, and production environments. This allows you to test new features safely without affecting live data.

Design and User Experience

• Global Style: Use each platform's styling capabilities. This reduces decision fatigue and ensures a cohesive user experience.
• Responsiveness: Ensure your applications work seamlessly across different devices and screen sizes. Test regularly on mobile, tablet, and desktop views.

Maintenance and Monitoring

Stay Updated with Platform Changes

Keep up with updates and new features from Bubble, Glide, FlutterFlow, and Supabase. These platforms frequently release performance improvements and new capabilities that can benefit your applications.

Key Decision Factors for Backend Solutions

1. Complexity vs. Flexibility

   • Supabase Functions (Code): Better for complex business logic, data transformations, or security-critical operations. Written in TypeScript, they offer full control but require developer skills.

   • Make.com (No-Code): Ideal for third-party integrations, data routing, or lightweight automations. Limited debugging capabilities, but accessible to people that doesn't know code.

2. Maintainability

   • Code solutions (Supabase) require documentation but provide clearer version control.

   • No-code workflows risk becoming "black boxes" if not properly documented.

3. Team Skillset
   Prefer Supabase if you are comfortable with:

   • TypeScript/JavaScript

   • SQL query optimization

4. Performance Requirements
   Supabase edge functions execute closer to your database, different than Make or any other automatition tool, so make sure that using third-party is the best call.