Low-Code

To create a website, desktop software or mobile app, you need the right pro­gram­ming platform and language. Depending on the project and the com­plex­i­ty, a range of platforms are available – all of which require in-depth training. However, those who have no time to learn the basics of pro­gram­ming can al­ter­na­tive­ly use a low-code platform.

As the name suggests, the low-code approach does not involve writing many lines of complex code. It largely dispenses with con­ven­tion­al manual pro­gram­ming. Instead, low-code de­vel­op­ment utilizes a graphical user interface as well as pre­de­fined visual com­po­nents. This sim­pli­fies the creation of software con­sid­er­ably and saves time, since each element does not have to be pro­grammed from scratch. Low-code is a sim­pli­fied form of software de­vel­op­ment that requires only limited pro­gram­ming knowledge.

However, low-code platforms can’t fully eliminate the need for manual pro­gram­ming. Up to 80 percent of software de­vel­op­ment can generally be performed without writing code. Platforms that require no code at all are called no-code platforms. These offer even more time-savings, but they’re not as flexible as low-code platforms which enable de­vel­op­ers to make in­di­vid­ual ad­just­ments.

The term “low-code” was coined by the market research company Forrester Research in a report on new de­vel­op­ment platforms for customer-related ap­pli­ca­tions. Analysts Clay Richard­son and John Rymer noted four important features that char­ac­ter­ize low-code platforms:

Thanks to their graphical user interface, low-code platforms allow intuitive working that follows the building block model. The user is provided with visual models that can usually be selected via drag and drop and in­te­grat­ed into the project where necessary. Visual modeling enables the rapid de­vel­op­ment of complex web and mobile ap­pli­ca­tions, offering a sig­nif­i­cant pro­duc­tiv­i­ty increase.

When it comes to low-code de­vel­op­ment, the focus is always on saving time. This not only results from visual modeling that replaces manual pro­gram­ming, users can also increase their pro­duc­tiv­i­ty by using templates, plug-ins, and widgets. They can be utilized as often as required. Some companies even provide their de­vel­op­ment teams with com­po­nents via a private store.

Most low-code platforms allow users to provide and manage their ap­pli­ca­tions in a cloud. No re­pro­gram­ming is required when switching clouds or using a new database. The visual tools involved are also offered in the cloud – enabling immediate im­ple­men­ta­tion and ap­pli­ca­tion avail­abil­i­ty.

If you use a low-code platform for de­vel­op­ing software, you can receive support from the provider that goes beyond the de­vel­op­ment phase. This means that, besides ap­pli­ca­tion design, its provision and main­te­nance are also included. Moreover, it’s possible to pause or postpone projects and resume them at any point in the future.

There are many favorable aspects of low-code. The biggest ad­van­tages offered by the de­vel­op­ment method are listed below:

• Speed: Since manual pro­gram­ming is mostly un­nec­es­sary in low-code de­vel­op­ment, pro­to­types and complete ap­pli­ca­tions are developed much faster. This also boosts the ef­fi­cien­cy of pro­fes­sion­al de­vel­op­ers. They have the ability to con­cen­trate on core tasks instead of having to weed out bugs in code.
• Sim­plic­i­ty: The approach is easy to follow, allowing people with little ex­pe­ri­ence and no technical back­ground to get started right away. The source code that de­vel­op­ers normally write them­selves is au­to­mat­i­cal­ly generated by the intuitive arrange­ment of elements. Sub­se­quent ad­just­ments can be im­ple­ment­ed with ease.
• Cost reduction: Reduced costs are directly as­so­ci­at­ed with the time-savings. The visual com­po­nents of low-code platforms are reusable and don’t have to be rewritten each time. Thanks to the ease of use, cost-intensive staff training is un­nec­es­sary.
• Flex­i­bil­i­ty: Flex­i­bil­i­ty provision tools enable the developed ap­pli­ca­tions to be released in a preferred en­vi­ron­ment. Low-code platforms are easy to use and also enable a high degree of adapt­abil­i­ty. This means de­vel­op­ers have the ability to respond quickly to changes or market re­quire­ments.
• Higher quality: Since low-code de­vel­op­ment is also intended for non-pro­gram­mers, it is possible to involve expertise from different de­part­ments. Experts from different de­part­ments act as citizen de­vel­op­ers and help to find creative solutions. This prevents group­think and increases the quality of the final product.

From websites and mobile apps to desktop ap­pli­ca­tions – low-code platforms make de­vel­op­ing cross-platform ap­pli­ca­tions easier than ever. Thanks to the numerous ad­van­tages, the de­vel­op­ment method has become suc­cess­ful­ly es­tab­lished across many fields. Low-code is es­pe­cial­ly useful for recurring processes. For example, low-code ap­pli­ca­tions help to optimize internal processes that would otherwise involve a lot of paperwork. Par­tic­u­lar­ly in staff man­age­ment, these solutions save time and money.

But low-code can be used for both internal and external purposes. The rapid de­vel­op­ment of im­me­di­ate­ly usable and customer-oriented software ap­pli­ca­tions is popular in public ad­min­is­tra­tion, e-commerce, and industry. While non-pro­gram­mers often develop apps for or­ga­ni­za­tion­al ef­fi­cien­cy, pro­fes­sion­al de­vel­op­ers use low-code platforms to generate pro­to­types for in­no­v­a­tive apps. It’s also possible to improve legacy systems in this way. This means that an existing app can be adjusted to new customer or market re­quire­ments using low-code, or to improve user-friend­li­ness for instance.

Many self-employed people and bloggers use low-code platforms to create their own websites. The best-known example is un­doubt­ed­ly the content man­age­ment system WordPress. Here, users first select a model layout for their website. They then have the option to add text and different media. Since the provider follows an open-source approach, users with pro­gram­ming ex­pe­ri­ence are able to view the source code and adjust it as they wish. WordPress is a classic low-code platform, designed for both laypeople without pro­gram­ming knowledge and de­vel­op­ers.

Low-code makes it easier to program new software and enables pro­fes­sion­al results without extensive training. For this reason, low-code de­vel­op­ment is a great time-saving and cost-effective al­ter­na­tive to tra­di­tion­al de­vel­op­ment methods.