Introduction:
Back in the days, low code was intended for anyone to write code without programing experience. Later there was low code and no code platforms. The low code platform evolved from the agile concept and the sustainable need for faster digital transformation. Hence low code was born.
What is low code:
So what is low code? Well, low code is a platform mostly used by programmers to quickly transform business logic/requests to application in real agile form. This is done by dragging and dropping ready boxes to create work flow, or create a form, or some business rules. The creation of the database happens automatically without spending time and effort. Security levels are set by another module that helps creating different user profile to your application. In a nut shell, low code is writing applications with little programming.
Pros & Cons:
The cons of the story, there are multiple features missing on the programming level. The look and feel has limitations and affect the UX on the output level. Limitations in programing for some specific requirements. Mobile version of the application is not the same if you are to program in native android or IOS environment. Further, conventional programing is both expensive and takes long time to see results. To give a realistic example, we needed front end, back end, database administrator, android developer, and iOS developer. Then you need a senior team leader to drive the whole project. Then you will wait for 6-10 months before seeing any results. Now that we mentioned cons, pros are the reason this industry is over 20 USD billion in 2022. Pros comes to the true meanings of agile and fast digital transformation. In low code world, this same project that takes 6 – 10 months of development and a team of 4-8 developers, would take one low code developer who will deliver your project in 4-6 weeks. Naturally, these periods are not exact, however, they are very close to the approximate difference between both approaches. The most important two aspects are saving money and time which is also money.
Who is it for:
As we have seen from the ease of development, by dragging and dropping, the low code platform has managed to attract tech and non-tech developers to its market. The tech developers sees the value of the low code platform of dramatic decrease in development time which is a major plus. Weather, they are developing for some apps in house, or to a client as a software house, time saving is definitely equals money. The non-tech developers, in most cases are called implementors, play a major role of increasing the labor force of developers and bringing the development cost even lower. This low code platform became easy enough to attract developers who does not have big certificates in programing and coding. You only need the logic of the applications and required components in the platform to make it happen.
Market:
As business requirement increase in quantity and developed in less time has been the norm, low code platform has been a more appealing answer to smooth digital transformation. It is estimated that the market will reach usd 159b by 2030 as opposed to usd 16bin 2020 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/07/31/2489071/0/en/Low-Code-Development-Platform-Market-Size-Was-Valued-at-USD-16-Billion-in-2021-and-Will-Achieve-USD-159-Billion-by-2030-growing-at-28-8-CAGR-Owing-to-the-Growing-Need-to-Accelerate.html All researches point to an enormous growth in the low code platform year on year. Technical factors affecting the growth are: speed of delivery, low cost of development, scalability, and security. These factors played a high role in expediting digital transformation. Furthermore, the low code started attracting non-tech developers, which increased the supply of overall developer. This later factor has contributed to lowering the cost of development from an economic approach. For sure, we will see major transformations of the IT industry both from a technological as well as labor force.
Final word:
The market has been growing momentum towards low code platform as opposed to conventional programing. Clearly, there is enough business sense to move your applications on low code platform. Bear in mind the pros and cons to set your expectations right. Low code platform is a game changer to the industry, and we are still to see more evolvement.