Low-code and no-code platforms are said to have the potential to replace programmers in the future. These tools help to create applications faster, and in some cases allow to manage without developers. You can try to figure them out on your own, or you can turn to Hallwil Agency, where professional designers and developers can offer you unique opportunities. Now let's look at Low-code and No-code platforms.
How Low-code and No-code platforms evolved
The Low-code and No-code platforms emerged as independent tools: the former simplified the development of programs and applications, and the latter allowed visualizing business processes and creating simple applications for specialists skilled in coding, but not at a developer level.
Low-code platforms developed on the basis of two types of systems: for programmers and for system analysts.
The first type is tools for quick application development. These are special programs in which you may use ready-made functions and logic blocks.
Gradually they began to be supplemented with visual editors of interfaces and business processes, and began to be simplified and automated.
The second type is business process management tools. They allow the analyst to display processes and events in the form of diagrams and charts.
At the analytics stage, it is necessary to build schemes of what the user interface of the application will be like. Interface editors began to be built into the tools so that analysts could design them themselves.
The capabilities of these two types of tools expanded, so they began to overlap. Eventually they began to merge into a new type, and Low-code platforms emerged. Such platforms allow to create a complete application for a certain business need: to model and visualize processes, customize the interface, use ready-made development blocks or write your own program code.
No-code platforms have emerged as a tool for people in business who do not know how to code at all. It could be a sales manager, a marketing executive or any other business role.
A No-code platform allows you to visualise business processes and create application interfaces. It can be used, for example, to make a form for collecting incoming customer requests. To do this, the user selects ready-made elements, such as buttons and input fields, from a set that the platform offers.
Initially, companies were introduced to No-code technologies through the automation of routine tasks. For example, they created an application that automatically transfers all correspondence with a client in messengers to a single repository, and then shows the history of messages on demand.
Over time, more and more companies, including large ones, started to use No-code solutions as a key technology for development and digitalization.
Why it is difficult to distinguish between Low-code and No-code
The two types of systems did not initially compete for users: they were aimed at different audiences. Now the line between Low-code and No-code is blurring.
No-code vendors create platforms that help companies of all sizes to stay competitive in the marketplace. Today's systems are equally suited to the challenges of small, medium-sized businesses and large corporations. They meet the scalability and security requirements and allow the creation of large applications that are designed for thousands of users.
Developers are adding new features to No-code platforms, with which you can:
- write scripts for complex business logic;
- develop software code;
- more flexibly customise interfaces.
This allows for longer development without the involvement of programmers, but requires more knowledge and skills in working with the platform.
Low-code vendors are interested in making their solutions available to users without development skills. Digitalisation and automation are sweeping all areas of business, and companies that weren't planning on opening an IT department before are being forced to hire developers. The demand for programmers is constantly growing, and the market cannot meet it.
This situation is particularly difficult for companies that need software that is not too sophisticated for internal use. They cannot compete for developers with IT giants because they do not offer high salaries or interesting tasks that would retain programmers.
Low-code platform developers are attracted to such companies because they add more simple customizations, interface templates, functional modules, and business processes. They allow automation tasks to be solved with little or no development or by a small IT department of junks.
How Low-code and No-code platforms work
Briefly, the principle of drag-and-drop describes how platforms work: the user drags ready-made blocks from a menu into the working field of a program. These can be simple interface elements such as buttons, input fields and inscriptions. You can also use ready-made modules: authorization forms, reports, dashboards.
To create an application, you just need to think over its idea and functionality, select the necessary elements and arrange them in the right sequence on the screen. No programmers are needed at this stage. The person who has the idea for the app can sketch out the basics right away: the business logic, the interface, and the software functions.
For example, if a company wants to automate the maintenance of loan applications, they need to create a registry. This can easily be done without program code, in a visual editor. And the draft interface can be prepared in different versions: for desktop, tablet and mobile application.
Not all features can be configured without programming. For example, interfaces sometimes require complex logic of transitions between screens, which cannot be created out of ready-made modules. This is where programmers get involved in development.
When complex tasks need to be solved, developers use more advanced platform tools, such as the script editor. They use it to create those elements of the application that could not be configured without program code. But development moves faster and more efficiently, because even in this case they use some of the ready-made modules.
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