Developing an application from scratch takes a lot of time and requires serious software development skills. It is also a job that requires expertise in the platform being developed on. Low-code platforms, which emerged as an alternative, reduce the time and skills needed for business applications, although they require a certain period of adaptation and learning.
In general, a low-code platform includes forms, processes, workflows and data models that can be built with drag-and-drop design tools, integrations and software development languages that can be used within the platform. The software targeted by low-code platforms is the same as software developed with traditional methods, such as desktop, web and mobile software.
What is a no-code platform?
No-code platforms are essentially low-code software development environments that do not include a software development language. Although no-code platform vendors usually provide interfaces for writing any code snippets that may be needed, using them is both time-consuming and not very easy.
No-code platforms look very easy at the start of a software project, but over time their limitations can create serious obstacles to taking the software further. To overcome this, no-code platform vendors usually support third-party modules and plug-ins through integrations. Sometimes, with the SDK they provide, they allow expert software developers to write the new modules they need.
Who builds solutions with a low-code platform?
Low-code platform vendors describe the people who will build solutions on their platforms with titles such as Business Analyst, Process Development Specialist and sometimes Software Specialist.
To build successful solutions with low-code platforms, you need a team that knows first the work to be done, then the platform and the existing IT infrastructure (especially the enterprise application infrastructure and databases), and that has management's backing.
What are the benefits of low-code platforms?
Low-code platforms reduce the time and cost of software development and let less experienced employees take part in the development process without depending entirely on software development and database experts. Less experienced employees here means people with less software development experience but with experience in the business itself, which is the fundamental purpose of low-code platforms in the first place.
When should low-code platforms be used?
If you have the opportunity to work with a low-code platform that is cost-effective compared to the alternatives, lets you quickly deliver the applications you need and provides the necessary features and integrations, your choice should be that low-code platform without hesitation. The only exception, we can say, is direct-to-consumer applications where user performance matters more than development speed and cost.
In short, low-code platforms make the difference between companies that have to keep their business units' software requests waiting for years and companies that can quickly develop and use the software they need. From this perspective, low-code platforms can be seen as a company's secret weapon
Fevzi Öztürk, Digital Transformation Director
Sources
https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/enterprise-low-code-application-platform
https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/low-code
https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/low-code-vs-no-code
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