The complete guide to low code
- What is low-code?
- What is low-code application development?
- What are the benefits of low-code?
- What are the features to look for in a low-code platform?
- Who does low-code help?
- What industries can low-code cater to?
- What are the use cases of low-code solutions?
- What makes a low-code platform faster than traditional development?
- How is low-code different from no-code application development?
- Low-code predictions and numbers
- FAQs on low-code
What is low-code?
Low-code is a programming approach that requires users to know minimal coding to create applications. It's used to develop software applications faster, in a visual environment and without the need for extensive training. A low-code development platform allows users to create applications without needing to write lots of code. This can be done using visual drag-and-drop tools or by using a limited amount of code. Low-code platforms can be used to create everything from simple applications to complex ERPs that aid the digital transformation in an organization.
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What is low-code application development?
Low-code application development is a software development methodology that uses low-code tools to develop applications with less code than traditional software development. A low-code development platform provides a graphical user interface (GUI) and drag-and-drop tools that allow developers or business users to create applications without much coding. Low-code application platforms also typically include no-code features like prebuilt templates, components, and modules that can be used to accelerate the development process.
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What are the benefits of low-code?
Increased productivity:
Low-code development platforms enable business users/developers to create applications much faster than traditional methods—allowing them to get products and services to market faster and respond more quickly to changes in the marketplace.
Reduced costs:
Low-code development can significantly reduce the cost of developing applications, since it requires little to no code and fewer development resources.
Greater flexibility:
Low-code platforms offer a high degree of flexibility, allowing businesses to tailor applications to their specific needs.
Better collaboration:
These platforms make it easy for developers and non-developers to work together on projects, fostering increased collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Improved quality:
A low-code platform can also help to improve the quality of applications by providing built-in quality assurance tools and processes.
Higher user satisfaction:
Low-code development can lead to increased satisfaction among customers and users, since it allows them to focus on more creative and innovative tasks.
What are the features to look for in low-code development platforms?
Visual development:
Low-code platforms typically use a visual development environment, which makes it easy to learn and create applications.
Faster app building:
These platforms can help you create applications quickly, which is ideal for businesses that need to get up and running rapidly.
Drag-and-drop builders:
Most low-code development platforms provide a drag-and-drop interface, which makes it easy to create applications without needing to write much code.
Prebuilt components:
A good low-code platform typically comes with a library of prebuilt/no-code components, which can be used to create applications quickly.
Integration capabilities:
Low-code solutions should connect seamlessly with other software using APIs or prebuilt connectors.
Scalable by design:
Low-code platforms are designed to be scalable, so they can be used to create enterprise applications of any size and cater to large businesses, too.
Looking for a low-code solution for your organization?
EXPLORE NOWWho can use a low-code platform?
IT Leaders:
Low-code can help IT leaders have their teams quickly develop and deploy applications without having to write code from scratch. This can save time and money, and allow IT departments to focus on more strategic tasks aimed at the organization's digital transformation.
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Business managers:
Business managers and their teams can use low-code to create departmental applications using a visual interface, without having to code. This can accelerate the org-level app development process and allow nontechnical users to create applications.
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Enterprise architects:
Low-code can help enterprise architects implement their enterprise-wide transformation plans faster, with the help of prebuilt connectors and integration capabilities that facilitate tech stack modernization.
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Professional developers:
Low-code tools enable developers to save time on development by automating repetitive tasks, thereby improving their productivity. Additionally, it can help them improve the quality of their code by providing templates and high quality code snippets.
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Looking for a low-code solution for your organization?
EXPLORE NOWWhat are the use cases of low-code platforms?
There are many possible use cases for low-code platforms:
What makes low-code development better than traditional development?
Time saving:
Low-code development can help reduce the amount of time it takes to develop an application, as well as the overall cost.
Ease of use:
A low-code platform often provides drag-and-drop interfaces and other tools that make development faster and easier, even for users with no coding experience.
Business-IT sync:
They help promote collaboration between business and IT, as well as between different teams within IT.
Quick to adapt:
Low-code platforms are often more flexible and agile, making it easier to make changes or add new features as needed.
Built-in quality:
Due to the modular nature of components and better error detection frameworks, low-code can help improve the quality of applications, as well as reduce the number of errors.
Easy to maintain:
Thanks to its highly abstracted nature, low-code can help make applications more scalable and easier to maintain in the long run.
How is low-code different from no-code application development?
Room for customization:
A low-code platform comes with the option to code more customization in to the applications that are built on them compared to a no-code platform, which uses graphical components with little space to tweak existing templates/logic.
Scalable solutions:
Apps built on a low-code platform can grow with usage volume and requirement demands, whereas no-code tools are usually best suited for simple process digitization use cases.
Inclusive design:
Most low-code platforms are designed in a way that simple solutions need no coding at all, hence catering to a business user's needs and technical know-how. They also come with powerful tools to improve the productivity of professional developers. No-code tools, however, are solely built for business users.
Low-code predictions and numbers
Gartner predicts that, by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies—up from less than 25% in 2020.
The worldwide population of low-code developers will grow with a CAGR of 40.4% from 2021 to 2025. This growth rate for low-code developers is roughly 3.2 times the 12.5% CAGR for the general population of developers worldwide.
Zoho Creator’s State of low-code research report: Approximately 60% of respondents said their organizations are planning to invest in low-code technology in the near future.
Looking for a low-code solution for your organization?
Explore nowFrequently asked questions about low-code
What is the difference between low-code and zero-code?
A low-code platform is a seamless combination of no-code features that enable accelerated development of user interfaces—like data forms, reports, and dashboards—with an English-like scripting language which supports deeper customization of apps.
Zero-code, or no-code, on the other hand, is a completely visual development approach to app building and does not require any coding knowledge. The use of both low-code and no-code platforms will depend on the scope of the automation project that a business is looking for.
What is the concept of low-code?
Low-code development is based on the concept of abstraction. Low-code technology abstracts away the complexity in the software development process and focuses on promoting the functionality of the app development platform. Low-code app development platforms do this by providing drag-and-drop features and high level scripting languages, which is much easier to learn and adopt for even business users/citizen developers.
Who should use low-code?
Low-code is a technology that's built to cater to a variety of users, ranging from nontechnical business users to professional developers. Low-code empowers business users to become citizen developers—any user with little to no technical expertise—who can contribute to the digital transformation drive of a business. Citizen developers can take the load off professional developers by using low-code application platforms to build departmental apps while developers focus on core business software solutions.
On the other end of the spectrum, low-code enables professional developers to accelerate application delivery, modification, and maintenance. With low-code, professional developers can produce prototypes and pivot fast, to stay in alignment with the organization's vision.
What skills do you need for low-code development?
Leading low-code platforms provide a high-to-medium level of visual development capabilities that is enough for even a business user to develop functional business applications on both web and mobile.
Someone with exposure to at least basic levels of software development will usually have the advantage of learning low-code programming quicker—but the struggle to learn low-code and build custom applications on these platforms is drastically less than learning a traditional programming language.
Do low-code platforms support business process management (BPM)?
Business process management solutions are a type of software that can be built on low-code application platforms. Low-code platforms support BPM projects much better than traditional development, thanks to their highly visual interfaces and prebuilt code templates that lead to dramatically quicker deployment times.