The current era has induced rapid development of technology. This new era executes tedious daily tasks with the use of technology, which has simplified and solved common obstacles. There is increased demand for software solutions for both individuals and businesses. Reports state that there will be a shortage of 500,000 developers in the U.S. by 2024 (Source: Korn Ferry). Seventy percent of IT leaders believe that the developer shortage will impact their businesses (Source: OutSystems). How do we bridge this gap? Enter No-code/Low-code development.

No-code and low-code development are approaches to creating software applications with minimal or no traditional coding required. They both aim to simplify the development process by equipping the developer with an easy-to-use visual interface and tools that will save the developer the hassle of having to write custom code to create the application. Let’s first discuss the difference between Lowcode and No-code development. No-code platforms use pre-built components or ‘widgets’ that are dragged and dropped onto a visual interface to build the application. You can then connect different parts of the application using defined workflows to navigate and pass data across your application. The properties of the widget can be edited to enable customization that creates a visual appearance that suits your branding or needs. Low-code development platforms offer similar tools that are offered by no-code platforms, with the additional ability for the developer to add custom code. Low-code platforms also assist by giving the developer pre-made templates that increase the rate of production time. Low-code development can accelerate application delivery by 10x compared to traditional coding (Source: Forrester).

Due to the nature of No-code and low-code development, it offers a low entry level into the field, allowing people with little to no coding experience to develop applications. This allows people with a firm understanding of business operations and use cases to develop applications instead of relying on traditional developers or IT departments. Seventy-five percent of developers believe that low-code platforms are useful for bridging the gap between business and IT (Source: OutSystems).

No-code/low-code platforms allow rapid prototyping and agile development, enabling organizations to save costs while also developing quality products. By 2024, over 65% of app development will be done using low-code platforms (Source: Gartner). Although no-code/low-code development offers a lot of benefits, it does not allow the creation of extremely complicated applications that require intricate functionalities. Additionally, careful consideration of security, scalability, and long-term maintenance is essential when using these platforms. A projection of 70% of new applications being developed using low-code platforms by 2025 (Source: Gartner) makes it hard not to admire and embrace this new technology, which will bring us one step closer to fulfilling computer science’s longest-standing dream – To create an application that can create applications.