What is a Low-Code Development Platform (LCDP)?
A Low-Code Development Platform (LCDP) can be described as a Jigsaw Puzzle approach towards Software and Website development, which involves a handful of coding as compared to the traditional approach. When you create apps with LCDP, you should expect to build your apps faster, reduce your maintenance costs and gain superior functionality as compared to traditional development. It also unifies all your resources – your people, technologies, and data – in a single workflow. These platforms are emerging as a rapid trend in the Software as a Service (SaaS)market.
The term “Low-Code” was coined by the market research company Forrester Research in a report on new development platforms for customer-related applications.
Why do we need them?
The two biggest expectations from any software are productivity, and the time required to build the application. LCDP beats the traditional ways essentially when it comes to the time constraint. The drag-and-drop approach accelerates the development speed and IT can thus accomplish more in less time. With its quick monitoring and alerting capabilities, which notifies the user of an upcoming risk of failure, LCPD has proved to be highly productive too.
Apart from this, other noteworthy advantages of LCPD are:
Reduction of OpEx (Operational Expenditure):
Usually for SMB’s (Small and Medium-sized Businesses), there is always a “Build vs Buy” dilemma. It comes down to developing an in-house solution, only after considering the ‘purchase from outside’ option. But LCDP changes this. Instead of months that are required for researching and testing different codes, here, the whole application development procedure can be completed in weeks. The reusable visual components of Low-Code give you an upper hand by eliminating the need of re-writing the codes every time and ‘Cost-Saving training’. This prevents bottlenecks in accounting.
Simplicity:
When it comes to LCDP, users with even a little coding experience can directly start working on the UI/UX of the software. This is made possible with the presence of pre-built integrations and API accessibility. The codes required are written by an intuitive arrangement of elements, instead of the research-testing-application-correction way, which leads to faster visual automation. Thus, providing an ease-of-use approach in development.
Adaptability:
Since the market demands keep changing from time to time, the way you present yourselves through the website, should also stay updated. The LCDP gives non-coders a unique opportunity to make complex changes in a website, as and when required, with a little knowledge of hard-core programming knowledge, which in turn leads to an effective and well-in-time response to the changes in the market.
Higher Quality:
The quality of a product increases with the increase in the diversity of minds, put to use in the development of the product. Traditionally, only the developer with relatable expertise of the tool worked on one product, but since LCDP is made for non-programmers too, a group of diverse and creative minds can indulge in the making of the product leading to its better quality.
Apart from this, LCDP also saves you from the most hated part of the programming world, finding Bugs in the program!
“By 2024, 75% of large enterprises will be using at least four Low-Code development tools for both IT application development and citizen development initiatives.”
– Gartner, Low-Code Development Technologies Evaluation Guide.
Will Low-Code Replace Developers?
There is this common notion that companies would not be needing developers in the coming times, but our opinion is in contrast to this. The creation of these platforms needs a one-time Backend Code. In coming years, the diversity and number of such platforms are only going to increase which in turn will need more specialized developers, creating more job opportunities.
What are No-Code Platforms (NCPD)?
NCDPs are the solutions that do not require coding at all to build an application. They allow non-technical professionals, or citizen developers, to quickly build apps through simple drag and drop features and user-friendly templates.
You can build 3 kinds of applications with No-Code software:
- Back-office (database) applications
- Web applications
- Mobile applications
Many self-employed people and bloggers use No-Code platforms to create their websites. Here, users first select a model layout for their website. Then they can add headings, content, media and integrate their social media accounts. There is an option for viewing and adjusting the source code too, as many of these platforms use the open-source approach.
Conclusion:
We have seen that in this pandemic many businesses have shifted to the digital mode and the previous work models are no longer effective. Similarly, in no time the upcoming trends become recent trends! So, keeping up with the market’s need is a must in today’s time. LCPD Platforms ensure that the product you’re developing is always up-to-date with the least efforts and time.
