No code / low code: why you should pay attention

We’ve all heard about low-code and no-code platforms lately. The promise of non-code platforms is that they will make software development as easy as using Word or PowerPoint so that the average business user can get projects going without the extra cost (in money and time) of an engineering team. Unlike non-code platforms, low-code platforms still require coding skills, but promise to speed up software development, allowing developers to work with pre-written code components.

According to Gartner, 65% of application development will be low code by 2024.

I was involved in a comparative productivity benchmark test between traditional development (using Java) and a model-driven low code / no code development project in 2017. The results were impressive: 5x to 7x productivity improvement with low code / development without code. A No-Code Census survey in 2020 showed a 4.6-fold increase in productivity over traditional programming.

Low code / no code: a fragmented market

The low code / no code scenario is complex, with several solutions, platforms and submarkets. For example, there are submarkets that target large companies, medium-sized companies and small businesses. Low-code / no-code business platforms provide high scalability, performance, security and integration with enterprise applications. They tend to be more expensive. This is Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for the company’s low code platforms:

Gartner defines a low code application platform (LCAP) as “an application platform that supports rapid application development, deployment, execution and one-step management, using high-level declarative programming abstractions, such as programming languages ​​based on in models and based on metadata. “

G2 provides an overview of the similar scenario for small businesses. There is not much intersection between low code platforms for small businesses and businesses. Some of the small business platform providers will not be known or recognized in the companies. Likewise, small and medium-sized businesses generally do not tend to buy business platforms – mainly due to their price and complexity.

Not surprisingly, many low-code platforms are business process management platforms. BPM has long supported model-driven development (MDD) – where you first diagram how the software should work before creating it. This diagramming is similar to the BPM process map approach, where, to specify a business process, you drag and drop the shapes that represent the subprocesses in the correct order. (The most popular process mapping standard supported by most BPM platforms is BPMN.) Therefore, low code solutions focused on processes are quite popular. Examples of low-code / non-BPM code platforms include Appian, Pega and Outsystems. (Disclosure: I previously worked as VP of BPM technology at Pega.)

But there are other paradigms under the low code / no code umbrella:

Low code / no code website platforms: Companies of all sizes can take advantage of these platforms. The main competitors are WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and WebFlow.

Low code / no code database management platforms: In the high end (enterprise), you have platforms like Mendix. At the bottom end, you have Airtable. There are also low-code / no-code NoSQL database platforms, such as KgBase for knowledge graphs.

Low-code / no-code automated integration platforms: There are several exciting and emerging platforms in this field: Zapier, Parabola and Integromat are in this category. You can develop powerful and complex integration flows relatively quickly using these tools. Here is an example of a Parabola workflow that extracts from one API, does some data manipulation and then sends it to another API. The automated workflow can be run on demand, scheduled or invoked via a webhook.

Mobile application development: Most low-code / no-code platforms, such as Bubble, provide responsive UI capabilities for mobile apps. Others offer native support for major mobile operating systems (iOS and Android). Thunkable is perhaps the definitive example for developing low-code / no-code mobile applications.

Many of these platforms provide rich collections of plug-ins and templates for certain types of applications.

Other categories of low-code / no-code platforms target specific application areas or niches:

• E-commerce and online stores: An important example in this category is Shopify.
• Work management: A good example in this category is Monday.com.
• ERP applications: An interesting example here – also listed on Gartner’s MQ – is Zoho. Another significant and impacting platform for ERP and CRM is Salesforce.
• Blockchain and IoT: Atra is an example in this category – for blockchain.
• Artificial intelligence: A fascinating area for low code / no code is AI, and now we are starting to see the emergence of tools in that area. An example here is C3 AI Ex Machina.

Low code / no code challenges

Low-code / no-code platforms have many benefits, but they also present some challenges and involve a learning curve. Many best practices are just emerging and are relatively immature. This is a critical risk. With traditional programming, there is enormous experience, robust communities and documented best practices. In many ways, low / no code is in its infancy – although MDD has been around for a long time: especially with BPM platforms.

Here are some of the most critical challenges for low / no code:

1. It involves a change in culture: Low code / no code requires a change in the culture of an organization, whether that organization is a company or a startup. Changing the culture to destroy silos is not easy. Requires executive vision and endorsement. It also requires budget allocation and training for a low-code / no-code digital transformation competence center.

2. It takes time and effort to learn the platforms: Low code / no code increases speed and productivity. But it is not easy. Tools and platforms are not trivial, and developing a certain level of expertise takes time. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of low / no code. Complex programming constructs, such as nested loops, are not so easy on any platform.

3. You may need multiple platforms: Some platforms are more complete than others. Unqork and Bubble, for example, are designed to be used in any use case and therefore offer many options for integration with corporate systems. However, they can benefit greatly from other specialized components in specific areas; for example, Bubble along with, say, Parabola or the Zapier plugin for automated integration. The data manipulation and integration features in Parabola or Zapier are easier to work with than the native ones in Bubble. There are other plug-ins or technology components that complement low-code / no-code platforms with additional technologies: Check, for example, technology partnerships for Unqork or the comprehensive list of plug-ins for Bubble.

4. Resources and community support are scarce: Many low-code / no-code platforms are relatively immature. There are millions of developers – sometimes tens of millions – for conventional programming languages. Many online and on-site courses, books and materials are readily available for languages ​​like Java or C #. There are several communities and resources for outsourcing. It’s a totally different scenario for low code / no code – especially for the latest platforms.

5. The price can be confusing: Low-code / no-code corporate platforms tend to be unnecessarily expensive. Medium and small market platforms are less expensive, but are usually less scalable. The involvement of multiple platforms for an end-to-end solution further complicates pricing issues.

These are just some of the main challenges. They make it clear that low / no code is not a panacea. However, it remains a formidable trend for the development of innovative solutions, both for established companies and for startups.

We should expect to hear more challenges from this space as it continues to mature. And there will be failed projects. But the advantages – especially in accelerating the speed of development and productivity – will outweigh.

Are you ready?

Dr. Setrag Khoshafian is a co-founder of Startup Assistant and Principal and Chief Scientist at Khosh Consulting. Previously, he was vice president of BPM technology at Pega, senior vice president of technology at Savvion and CTO at Portfolio Technologies and is a member of the Cognitive World Think Tank on enterprise AI.

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