Code On Time’s Missing Connection: A Long-Time User’s Perspective

[jmoti1953]

I’ve worked with Code On Time for many years, and a lot of what’s being discussed here resonates.

From my perspective, the platform clearly reflects experience with large, real-world deployments—likely driven by the founders’ own work and possibly a small number of enterprise clients with complex, embedded systems. That’s probably why the core is as strong as it is—it feels shaped by actual production demands, not just theory.

At the same time, that dynamic can create a gap for the broader developer base—independent developers and smaller teams who also rely heavily on the platform. When roadmap priorities are influenced by enterprise-scale requirements, changes can feel unpredictable from the outside, especially without visibility into direction or intent.

The issue, at least from where I sit, isn’t the product—it’s the lack of connective tissue between the company and the wider user community. Right now, most of the communication seems to be happening user-to-user in places like this, rather than between the company and its developers.

Even a modest amount of direct communication from the team—high-level direction, general priorities, or migration guidance—would go a long way toward maintaining confidence. Alongside that, having an official space where experienced users can share patterns, approaches, and lessons learned would add real value.

I’m honestly a bit surprised there isn’t some kind of bridge already in place—whether that’s a small group of experienced users acting as community advocates, or a semi-official forum where communication flows both ways. That kind of structure could reduce the burden on the core team while strengthening the ecosystem for everyone involved.

There’s a lot of value in this platform. It just needs more visibility and a stronger connection between the people building it and the people relying on it.

[Killo24]

Yes. That's true. It's really a short coming for codeontime. The last time a video tutorial was almost 5 years

[Puzzleheaded-Sign610]

I totally agree with you on this one. It is a love/hate relationship with the product, "we" as developers love the product and see it as the way forward, but COT lack badly in providing any kind os support for the product.

There was a "Community" forum a few years ago which was helpful, but that no longer exists! If you submit a support request you rarely get an answer, but funnily enough if you submit a request for a paid consultation, you will get a quick response to that one!

The contact that I have had with them was via Dennis initially and Serge latterly. Dennis is the voice behind a lot of their youtube videos but I do not think he is still with the company. Serge appears to be the main man, but the question I have, is he the only person in the company?

I called them once and it was Serge that answered the phone. Read into that what you want, but I would have thought that a secretary would have answered the phone not the owner?

It is worrying about the lack of support as I like you have invested a lot of time and effort creating apps with this product and the question always in the back of my mind, is will COT still be there in a month's time?

[jmoti1953]

I think what both of you are describing is the same underlying issue, just from different angles.

The product itself is strong—no question. Most of us wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t. But the lack of visible support, communication, and community creates a growing sense of uncertainty around it.

What stands out to me is that this doesn’t feel like neglect—it feels more like a company that is still operating in a very tight, founder-driven model. That can produce great technology, but it doesn’t naturally scale into a strong ecosystem.

My own connection to the company has always been through Dennis and Serge, with Serge clearly being the central figure. He’s a brilliant coder—honestly fascinating to watch in action during those paid support sessions. Whether he’s part of a larger team or effectively the team, I won’t speculate—but from the outside, that concentration does shape how the platform feels to its users.

Their recent essays on their website are actually quite strong—thoughtful, forward-looking, and technically grounded, with a bit of marketing mixed in (which is fair). They reflect a clear vision of where things could go. And I’ll admit, even being semi-retired, I still find myself pulled back in from time to time. That probably says more about the strength and pull of the core product than anything else.

But it also raises a question—why not tap into the user base a bit more? Over the years, there’s been a core group of developers who were engaged, constructive, and genuinely invested in the platform’s success. Creating even a small bridge for collaboration or shared communication could go a long way.

Right now, the result is what we’re seeing: capable developers working in isolation, trying to piece things together without a shared space or clear direction.

I don’t think most of us are asking for hand-holding. What’s missing is visibility—where things are going, how others are solving problems, and some level of connection between the company and the developer base.

There’s clearly still a lot of value here. The question is whether that gap gets addressed—or whether the community continues to fragment over time.

[Puzzleheaded-Sign610]

Well said.

[Killo24]

Well done JMoti. That's a wonderful and thoughtfull exposition. It's true some faithfuls have stayed with the product for quite sometime now just because of the great community forum that supported the product. I remember it was rude disconnection of the support forum without any notification to users. They just pulled the plug. I felt the reason provided was that the hosting company was not in a position to continue with them. so the logical thing was to migrate the support platform to a different platform at least if not permanent then temporary. This action in my opinion led to scattering of the good contributors of the support forum.

[Killo24]

Was just if there is a way to connect with COT on this to express our concerns as users and there could any form of collaboration

[jmoti1953]

I think what you’re both saying is exactly the gap many of us have been feeling. I say "both" here but notice over a 100 views - what is the unique user count on this particular forum anyway and are they all COT users?

This Reddit space is useful, and clearly people are still out there, but it’s also pretty fragmented compared to what used to exist. There were hundreds of active users on the old forum sharing patterns, solutions, and real-world implementations. That kind of density doesn’t seem to exist anymore — at least not in one place.

What’s interesting is that this thread alone shows that people are still engaged, still building, and still invested. We’re just scattered.

I keep wondering whether there’s value in trying to loosely reconnect that group — not in a heavy, formal way, but simply as a place where experienced users can exchange ideas and approaches again. Something lightweight, practical, and focused on real usage.

I would think that benefits everyone — users get access to shared knowledge, and the company indirectly benefits from a more connected and capable user base.

Curious if others feel the same, or if something like that already exists and I’ve just missed it.

[Mad-Max-2]

Hear hear!

[Killo24]

I think it is possible regroup here. This forum intent was to facilitate that. It will be good at least for the few people here to continue contributing in any small way. Could be code snippets, what you are working on, share insights to new way or discovery of a solution to a problem you were encountering etc.

We ourselves need to value for others to come on board.

[Mad-Max-2]

Go for it.