What is Low-Code/No-Code?

Written by Dizu.

The percentage of programmers in the world is very low; less than 1% of the world’s population knows how to program, which represents a very important barrier to access to programming. Perhaps this is what makes it so difficult—and such a high price for services—to obtain and develop customized systems for companies.

However, many companies and SMEs could benefit from being able to implement their processes in a digital tool tailored exactly to their processes.

Low-code/no-Code development is an innovative methodology that allows users to create applications without requiring in-depth programming knowledge. These platforms provide graphical user interfaces that allow you to drag and drop components to build applications.

Advantages of Low-Code/No-Code

Low-code and no-code platforms offer several advantages, including:

Speed in development: Allows users to create applications in less time compared to traditional coding methods.
Accessibility: No advanced coding skills are required, opening the door to a wider range of developers.
Reduced costs: By allowing users to create their own applications, the costs associated with hiring professional developers can be reduced.

Disadvantages of Low-Code/No-Code

Limited customization: No-code/low-code platforms can be limiting in terms of the customization that is possible. This can be a problem if you need to create a highly customized application.
Lack of control: By using a no-code/low-code platform, you are giving up some control over the development process. This can be a problem if you need to have complete control over the way your application is developed.
Scalability: No-code/low-code platforms can be difficult to scale as your application gains popularity. This is because they are often not designed to handle large amounts of traffic.
Technical debt: No-code/low-code platforms can generate technical debt if not used correctly. This is because they can make it difficult to make changes to your app in the future.

Overall, no-code/low-code development can be a great way to build apps quickly and easily. However, it is important to be aware of the potential disadvantages before deciding to use this approach.

Here is a comparative table of the advantages and disadvantages of low-code and no-code platforms:

ADVANTAGES OF LOW-CODE/NO-CODE	DISADVANTAGES OF LOW-CODE/NO-CODE
Speed in development : Allows users to create applications in less time compared to traditional coding methods.	Limited customization : No-code/low-code platforms can be limiting in terms of the customization that is possible. This can be a problem if you need to create a highly customized application.
Accessibility : No advanced coding skills required, opening the door to a wider range of developers.	Lack of control : By using a no-code/low-code platform, you are giving up some control over the development process. This can be a problem if you need to have complete control over the way your application is developed.
Reduced costs : By allowing users to create their own applications, costs associated with hiring professional developers can be reduced.	Scalability : No-code/low-code platforms can be difficult to scale as your application gains popularity. This is because they are often not designed to handle large amounts of traffic.
	Technical debt : No-code/low-code platforms can generate technical debt if not used correctly. This is because they can make it difficult to make changes to your app in the future.

Use cases

Low-code and no-code platforms are used in a variety of sectors, from creating internal applications for companies to developing mobile applications for startups. Some examples include automating business processes, creating custom dashboards, and implementing e-commerce solutions.

For internal company processes:

Internal processes for companies. No-code platforms can be used to create custom applications that meet a company’s specific needs. For example, a company can use a no-code platform to create an app that tracks employee time and attendance or an app that manages customer relationships.
Development of mobile applications for startups. No-code platforms can be used to create mobile apps without the need for coding experience. This can be a great way for startups to get their products to market quickly and cheaply.
Process automation. No-code platforms can be used to automate repetitive business processes, such as data entry or customer service. This can save companies time and money.
Creation of custom dashboards. No-code platforms can be used to create custom dashboards that track business key performance indicators (KPIs). This can help companies make better data-driven decisions.
Inventory Management: You can create an app to track inventory, manage orders, monitor stock levels, and receive replenishment notifications.

For external client processes:

Project management apps: You can create an app to track tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and collaborate on projects with a team.
Forms and surveys: You can create custom forms, surveys, or questionnaires to collect data and opinions. These applications usually have options for analysis and presentation of results.
Booking and scheduling: You can develop an app for users to book appointments, meetings, or class times and manage their schedule.
Customer Management (CRM): You can create an application to store information and track your customers, manage interactions, record activities, and send reminders. For example, this CRM app to control costs and expenses in construction works.
Digital Marketing: You can create landing pages, lead generation forms, conversion tracking, and marketing campaign automation without programming knowledge.
Electronic commerce. No-code platforms can be used to create e-commerce solutions, such as online stores or marketplaces. This can be a great way for businesses to sell their products or services online.

These are just a few examples, but the flexibility of no-code tools allows you to create a wide variety of custom applications without coding.

Who can use No-Code?

Anyone with an idea and the desire to create an app can use Low-Code/No-Code platforms. This includes entrepreneurs, product managers, designers, and even people with no prior software development experience.

The learning curve is much lower than traditional programming; this allows software solutions to be developed and deployed in much less time and with fewer resources, which makes these solutions more usable.

How Low-Code/No-Code Works

Low-code and no-code platforms work by providing a graphical interface where users can drag and drop components to build their application. These components can include elements such as forms, buttons, tables, and more. Users can also define logic and interactions between these components to customize the behavior of their application.

It is visual programming, to which we are already accustomed in many cases because we use tools such as WordPress and WebFlow. “Drag and Drop” techniques and “boxed” design are used, which have already been used for some time in the development of websites, but with the novelty that their functionality has expanded—and continues to expand rapidly—to more powerful aspects. Conditional fields, forms, AI, notifications, interaction with databases, etc. These are some of the capabilities that the new no-code programming systems are adding, increasing their power and development capacity.

Examples of Popular Low-Code/No-Code Platforms

Some popular platforms in the Low-Code/No-Code space are Bubble, Glide, Adalo, and Futterflow.

Each of these no-code platforms has some advantages, better use cases, and different pricing structures, which is no small issue when working with tools like these software as a service (SASS), where a change in the scheme of pricing changes the entire business of a potential no-code development agency.

MVPs (Minimum Viable Product)

The ease of development and deployment of these solutions makes it possible, for example, to develop and test ideas in a simple, fast, and effective way and to be able to test an idea live with a minimum viable product of applications that can be put to the test. hypotheses into specific use cases, before investing millions to discover that it does not work as expected.

Low-code/No-code development is transforming the way applications are built. With its promise of greater speed, lower cost and greater accessibility, we are very sure to see a rise in its adoption in the coming years.

The no-code movement is rapidly gaining popularity. These technologies have the potential to democratize software development and make it accessible to a broader audience.

Future advances

The future of no-code and low-code is promising. As these technologies continue to develop, they will become even more user-friendly and powerful.

In the future, we are likely to see greater integration of no-code and low-code with other technologies, such as artificial intelligence (which has already started and going strong) and machine learning. This could allow users to create even more sophisticated and personalized applications.

No-code and low-code are disruptive technologies that have the potential to change the way we live and work. As these technologies continue to develop, we will see them used to create exciting new applications.

No-code, No-code Apps