Low Code/No Code – Myth or Reality

Digital Revolution in the software industry has been making strides for the past few decades, delivering dramatic results to businesses in all industry verticals.

To gain cognizance of the future, we should dive into the major transformations we have already come across.

• Graphical User Interface Operating System – Windows & MAC operating systems promoted personal computing through visual interfaces and experiences.
• Software As Service Business Models – Pay-As-You-Go services have eliminated the high on-site costs of licenses and accelerated the adoption of new platforms and tools by consumers and businesses alike.
• Cloud Computing – On-demand availability of computer system resources like data storage and computing power without direct active management by the user.
• Apps – Mobile Apps have become an inherent part of how we use software across devices and operating systems.
• Agile Development – This gave an Iterative and incremental approach that accelerated the process of software development.
• Lean Startup – Methodology which runs on a “build-measure-learn” feedback loop and creates “minimal viable products”, thereby advancing the growth of new applications across industries.

Low Code/No Code has been the buzzword in the industry for quite some time now.

No-code platforms work in the way the name suggests. They aim at making software development as effortless as a layman using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

Whereas Low Code solutions still require coding skills. However, they aim in speeding up the software development with the help of pre-written code components.

In conventional software development, programmers write lines of code to create the functionality desired from a computer program or application. This requires in-depth knowledge of the computer language, development platform, deployment, and testing protocols.

Now, the Low Code/No Code platform has encapsulated all the conventional development work behind the scenes. It provides a visual programming approach that allows companies to create software applications quickly using a graphical user interface without having to write the code directly.

Though Low Code/No Code is a new breed of programming, the idea behind this is not new.

As the technology visionary James Martin has said “The number of programmers available per computer is shrinking so fast that most computers in the future must be put to work at least in part without programmers.”

The concept roots back to 4th generations of programming languages, computer-assisted software engineering (CASE) tools, and the rapid application development tools of the 1990s and early 2000s. Back in that era, solutions were pitched in such a way that it seemed that the development environment was open to a larger audience enabling non-programmers to create the application themselves.

However, these technologies did have some shortcomings: –

• Unrealistic expectations were set at the inception. But building applications that would scale up to that extent was difficult as the tools themselves could not live up to the hype.
• Best practices like version control, testing, deployment, documentation, and various other development best practices did not exist in most of the tools; thus, these had to be performed manually.
• Security Risks were amplified as non-technical people who built these stand-alone applications lacked the skill set to create and deploy applications with appropriate security and governance.
• By the mid-2000s, the internet had engulfed almost everything. The focus shifted to web applications as better productivity was achieved on cloud environments rather than on traditional server environments. This led to the need for traditional IT solutions for everyday problems.

Having said this, it will be incorrect to conclude that the idea was wrong as the technology was not advanced enough back then to cater to these new changes.

So, the question is what exactly has changed which has led the tech world to accelerate the adoption of LCNC to such an extent?

The answer to this is the platform itself!

Forrester characterizes low-code platforms as those “products and/or cloud services for application development that employ visual, declarative techniques instead of programming.”

This next generation of business application development has empowered the citizen developers to create new applications or modify the existing ones without the need to involve IT departments. Through citizen development, IT can partner with the business to build solutions faster and with less rework.

The cloud platform approach ensures more security and reliability. High-level security and compliance controls are configured by the enterprise developers thus making it much easier for the organizations to deploy the applications with confidence.

LCNC have become game-changers in the software industry as they are mostly considered as drivers of customer-facing applications.

Despite its rapid growth, there are certain myths about this platform. To list a few,

Myth 1: Some say LCNC tools are only for “citizen developers” while others say that they are meant for “techies” only;

There is no doubt that LCNC helps business users to build simple applications. But professional developers step in where the enterprise-wide applications having complex business logic are undergoing digital transformation. In such scenarios, LCNC has been considered as the right platform as they can develop the components seamlessly and deliver those in the stipulated time frame.

Myth 2: LCNC is for simple applications.

This is not completely true as low-code platforms can also be used for highly scalable specialized applications involving complex UI, business logic & data. As per the Forrester study, an application routing 1.5 million orders to multiple plants have been developed in the LCNC platform. With proper planning & design, this level of scalability can be achieved.

Myth 3: LCNC means no collaboration or reusability.

Although this platform allows multiple teams across enterprises to build solutions independently, it still maintains efficiency through collaboration & reusable components.

Myth 4: LCNC tools provide no customization.

Modern tools are flexible enough to support customization to the business logic and allow you to edit the generated OOTB code.

Myth 5: LCNC encourages SHADOW IT.

The reality is that the siloed approach to development is fading away. Rather LCNC brings one platform where business users can contribute extensively and IT maintains the control of the development, keeping the citizen developers away from the unnecessary complexity.

The fact is…..

The LCNC platform has modernized the legacy systems by bringing consistency into the system.

Productivity & Operational Efficiencies have increased across various domains.

LCNC has been a key contributor in software development innovation as it can integrate with the next-generation technologies and smart services (like AI, Machine Learning, Block Chain etc.) hosted in cloud.

Outstanding omnichannel customer experience can be delivered through LCNC.

As Bilhorn says, “Low-code by its nature is going to force certain approaches and consistency which is helpful when you’ve got the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th person making changes. In turn, you should have a more consistent level of quality and performance given the standardization a low-code platform provides.”

So, to sum it up, Low Code/ No Code undoubtedly gives more power to people. Furthermore, it is the right platform that handles the rising business demands of innovation for operational excellence and customer satisfaction. However, if not governed properly, this can become a real threat to the industry. Thus, a proper plan has to be in place to harness the capabilities of LCNC.

– Anurita Bhunia

Solution Consultant- Pega Practice