Pipedream Learning Curve vs. Zapier and Make: Is JSON Knowledge Required?

1

This topic was automatically generated from Slack. You can find the original thread here.

I’ve been using Zapier and Make for a few weeks and stumbled across Pipedream.

What is the learning curve for Pipedream vs the other two? PD seemed like I needed to know a bit of JSON or was am I incorrect?

2

Hi Steven, yes, knowledge of JSON, HTTP, and other technical API concepts can be helpful. Have you seen https://pipedream.com/university ? That’s a good place to start, and we’re happy to answer any questions here

3

I know what I want to do.

  1. I want to open a folder in Google Drive.
  2. Find the latest folder.
  3. Open the Google Sheet in that folder.
  4. Copy the rows from that Google Sheet and put it in another Sheet.
  5. Add some additional information to each row.
    I was able to do 1.

I can see from step 1 it returned an array of 6 because their are 6 folders.

This is where I am stopped at because I was attempting to turn the count of the array, subject 1 and then open that folder to get the Google Sheet.

Sigh.

All these no code apps can’t satisfy me but I think PD has the best shot.

4

As someone who was in your exact position, the time I spent learning Pipedream is well worth it, and it gets a lot easier once you complete your first full Pipedream flow. I still use Make every so often, but once you use Pipedream there’s almost no reason to return to Zapier

5

are there any books or sites you would recommend for learning Node? I do know PHP and MYSQL.

6

Not sure about books necessarily, but W3Schools has helpful tutorials on both JavaScript and Node.js. What I find most helpful is tailoring my learning to whatever subject I find most interesting. In my case, I learned Node through web scraping, using Apify’s academy that shows how to use their web scraping library. You learn more about your topic of interest while picking up the language along the way. I find going topic → language to be much more helpful than going language → topic.

If your topic of interest is API integration, then I’d definitely recommend Pipedream University as Dylan mentioned above

7

+1 to what Andrew said. I would also recommend ChatGPT as a teacher! I’ve been using it to learn all about specific machine learning topics recently, it’s a fantastic mentor

8

Yes. I did have ChatGPT write me a code in Node that could count an array. I got stuck on how to implement that code.

I’ll get it at some point. I’m a little rusty but I pick up quick. Hopefully my wife and kids don’t suffer. When I go in, I go in