From Zero to MindMaps... Without Writing a Single Line of Code? 🤯

Red Doe — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 15:35:10 +0000

I'll admit it – I’m a lazy programmer at heart. So when I saw that viral video where some genius used OpenAI to whip up an app without coding, my inner sloth rejoiced. Could I pull off the same magic with Google’s Gemini and avoid the drudgery of typing?

Challenge accepted! My mission: build a web app that could magically transform dull documents into beautiful MindMaps, all with the help of AI. No coding experience required… right?

Round 1: "Hello World," Says Gemini (and a Mountain of Errors) 💪

Armed with a blank text file and the unyielding optimism of someone who’s never actually built a web app, I summoned Gemini into my coding arena (aka my chat window).

“Hey Gemini, my brilliant AI friend, let’s make a Flask app where people can upload documents, and you, with your infinite wisdom, will turn them into glorious Mermaid mindmaps!”

Gemini, bless its silicon soul, responded with a torrent of code snippets, helpful explanations (or so I thought at the time), and a Flask app skeleton. “Cool,” I thought, naively. “This AI stuff is easy!”

Round 2: The Encoding Labyrinth of Doom 🤯

The honeymoon phase was short-lived. My first boss battle? Encoding. Gemini dutifully generated Mermaid code, but mermaid.ink, the online rendering service I was using, kept spitting back errors.

"Invalid encoded code!" it screamed. "Bad Request!"

Turns out, Base64 encoding wasn't enough. We ventured into the treacherous realm of URL-safe encoding, battled mysterious "pako:" strings from the Mermaid Live Editor, and I swear I saw a hex editor flash before my eyes.

Round 3: Mermaid Syntax: Where Spaces Are Deadly Weapons ⚔️

Mermaid diagrams, those elegant visualizers of information, are beautiful… until they're not. Gemini and I spent an eternity (or at least what felt like it) wrangling Mermaid's finicky syntax:

Missing spaces around arrows: "400 Bad Request!"
Extra spaces around arrows: "400 Bad Request!"
The graph LR directive: A mystical incantation that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.

I began to suspect that Mermaid was sentient and enjoyed tormenting me.

Round 4: The Phantom "Syntax Error" Image 👻

Just when we thought victory was near, a new terror emerged: the dreaded "Syntax error in text" image. But wait… Gemini was now generating perfectly valid Mermaid code! What dark sorcery was this?!

Enter the villain: browser caching! My browser, like a stubborn mule, refused to let go of the old, error-ridden image. Clearing the cache and performing hard refreshes became my new mantra.

The Result: A Frankensteinian MVP 🧟‍♂️

Bruised, battered, but not entirely broken, I emerged from the AI coding gauntlet with a working app! It was a Frankensteinian creation, cobbled together with duct tape and Gemini's digital sweat.

A diagram that was generated:-

The UI was hideous, performance was slower than a snail in molasses, and I still had nightmares about encoding. But it functioned! And I hadn’t written a single line of “real” code.

Lessons Learned from the AI-pocalypse:

AI is a powerful tool: Gemini's ability to generate code, explain concepts, and assist with debugging was impressive.
Human skills still matter: Clear communication, problem-solving, and the ability to understand (and fix!) code are essential.
Patience is a virtue: When working with AI, be prepared for unexpected errors, cryptic messages, and a whole lot of head-scratching.

The Quest Continues... Manually!

Now, armed with newfound (and hard-won) knowledge, I'm embarking on a new quest: rebuilding this app from scratch, using my own coding skills. Will I be able to create a better, more refined version? And how will the time and effort compare to the AI-assisted approach?

Forem: Red Doe

From Zero to MindMaps... Without Writing a Single Line of Code? 🤯