Parse Lets You Run Custom Code For Your Mobile Apps

A year ago I first used Parse for a fun side project to check out the functionality and reliability of the service. I was amazed at how quickly I was up and running with a cute little iOS app that collected user's answers to polling questions and graphed results.

BUT back then I kept running into things I wanted to do with Parse that were not yet supported. e.g. Users could like certain questions, and I wanted to be able to increment the like value. At the time this could have caused collision issues if multiple users requested the like value and incremented it, so instead I created an object for each like and queried on the number of objects. This, like most other hurdles I've run into while working with Parse for about a year now, has been resolved.

As a front-end dev, Parse has literally changed my outlook on what I can accomplish on my own or with the help of a couple other developers. With the cloud code announcement my mind is already racing with the possibilities this opens up to me.

That being said, it's not the solution for everyone. For bigger projects with complicated backend needs, I'd still go with a custom solution.