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 utilises 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 char­ac­ter­ise 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 modelling 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 modelling 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 fa­vour­able 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 optimise 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 or­gan­isa­tion­al 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.