When it comes to software and application design, businesses are no longer restricted to labor-intensive conventional coding platforms.
Alternatives have emerged: namely no code and low-code approaches. But how do business leaders decide on which is the best solution for their projects?
No code, Low-code or Pro-code?
Tools and platforms that allow you to create applications and to use data to solve problems without the need for writing computer code have become increasingly popular. This group of easier-to-use platforms: no-code and low-code solutions include tools for building websites, web applications and designing just about any kind of digital solutions that a company might need. No-code and low-code solutions are even becoming available for creating AI-powered applications, dramatically lowering the barriers to entry for anyone wanting to leverage AI and ML.
Using purely drag-and-drop website builder user interfaces, the no-code approach can help businesses to build simple, repetitive applications based on common use patterns. Ideal for non-technical business users who have little or in some cases no programming skills, no-code is primarily used to create tactical applications to handle simple business functions.
An enhancement to this idea has been the low-code platform which adds some "light" coding functions to the graphical user interface. This added level of control enables developers to focus on creating the 10% that makes their application different or specific to their business while leaving the standard (more mundane programming tasks) pieces to drag-and-drop features. Low-code is suited for rapid implementation and development but adds the power to tailor an application to bespoke business requirements. A technical business user or a junior developer tend to be the typical users of this approach.
At the other end of the development platform is pro-code. The conventional professional software build-up is normally created by experts who are trained in using specialized programming languages like Python and SQL. This code can then be inserted as a pluggable module into a larger software system. As with anything that has to be built from scratch development times and costs are high but the returns are higher customization abilities, better security, and more scalability for the business.
Which one should you use?
According to IDC, more than 500 million digital services and apps will be developed and deployed by 2023. With traditional development methods unlikely to meet this demand much is expected from both no-code and low-code development environments to help plug the shortfall and help build applications as rapidly as possible. In fact, Gartner predicts that low-code/no-code tools could lay the foundations for 65% of all applications development by 2024.
With demands for faster development at an all-time high, no-code and low-code options are already held in high esteem by the computing industry. And while they are more manageable and less expensive, they may not be the panacea many believe they will become and are not necessarily the best option for every application.
Low-code approaches are best suited for creating independent mobile apps, web apps and portals that integrate with other systems and data sources. On the whole they can be used for almost anything and would only ever struggle in mission-critical systems that need to interface with various backends and external data sources. No-code environments on the other hand are a good fit for product prototyping (app prototypes, ecommerce solutions, blogs), landing pages, single-page sites and customer-facing apps with simple functionality. Pro-code approaches handle complex workflows on more robust systems and while both no-code and low-code apps could manage minor parts of such a structure, they lack the sophistication to manage the entire system.
Adding complexity invariably adds to more time being spent fixing bugs and security flaws. Low-code or no-code platforms benefit from running more smoothly having been tested to more rigorous standards. Agility and scalability are also impacted by complexity. A developer has to spend time learning and operating a pro-code platform while low-code and no-code solutions bypass much of this with the easier to use embedded drag-and-drop features.
In terms of cost, traditional end-to-end software development is expensive and will cost a business in the region of hundreds of thousands of pounds to roll out. Low-code or no-code development comes in at a much lower price-point as businesses will ordinarily only pay for accessing specific services.
Fusing the approaches: Can no code + low code = pro code?
Is there any advantage in combining both no-code with low-code to create a better solution?
There is merit in the idea. Combining low-capability codes with the full-stack while leveraging the expertise of citizen developers enables the seamless collaboration between the two approaches.
Low-code development enables many enterprise personas with little to no coding experience working outside of an IT role to augment existing applications and build lightweight applications. While coping with tech-shortages, organizations will increasingly leverage low-code development technologies to respond to their business challenges in time. The adoption of low-code development technologies will scale for both internal use cases within the enterprises and for supporting external projects.
By adopting low-code approaches to data, proficient IT experts can work more efficiently by leveraging features such as code generation, drag-and-drop editors, component assembly, model-driven, and metadata-driven development. These functions will, in turn, amplify and accelerate the outputs of data projects, both internally and externally.
The opportunity created by trends such as multi-cloud, cloud native apps, and composable business architecture are urging organizations to adapt and to evolve in line with these developments at an exponential pace. Facing a highly-skilled technology talent shortage, executives will surely go with the most formidable choice – to leverage low-code development technologies to solve their business challenges.
As an example, low-code could be utilized in creating visual models while pro-code is used for a wide range of user requirements. The connection of the two platforms creates a dynamic structure of front-end and back-end tools that allow developers to make apps quickly and efficiently while offering both customisation and long-term viability.
While developers aren’t likely to become obsolete, the growth of the use of both low-code and no-code development methods has led to a rise in businesses being able to create and design their own apps, web apps, and integration workflows fairly rapidly and at acceptable costs. Businesses have been able boost their digital transformation efforts, reduce costs, and increase agility and productivity levels.
Combining the two approaches can give you the best of both worlds. No code platforms can build your basic applications with low code platforms adding more complex features. No code platforms could be used to create prototypes and proof-of-concepts while low code platforms could then build the final version of an application. The combination of the two can build powerful applications quickly and easily for an even greater impact. No-code + low-code = pro code and more.
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