Revolutionizing software development: Rise of low-code, codeless platforms
A computer code is seen on displays in a company office in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 25, 2017. (AP Photo)

Countries and organizations failing to meet the rising demand for coding skills invest in low-code and no-code software solutions to accelerate digitalization. Such solutions facilitate software creation, eliminating the need for extensive coding expertise



The rising demand for coding skills is surpassing the capacity of many countries, resulting in a reliance on importing digital talent. An environment where human resources have proved to be insufficient to accelerate the process has also prompted the promotion of low-code or codeless software development.

The concept of low-code software development was first introduced in 2011. In addition to this, there has been a growing interest in codeless software solutions that allow the creation of applications without requiring expertise in IT or writing any code.

These software tools typically feature intuitive interfaces and convenient drag-and-drop functionalities.

No need to be an expert

Indeed, codeless software solutions offer the ability to visualize the application development process and design the entire business logic in a visual manner. By utilizing a visual development interface, non-technical individuals can create fully functional applications by simply dragging and dropping software elements. The remarkable aspect is that users typically do not require any coding experience when utilizing codeless software tools.

On the other hand, instead of relying on traditional coding techniques, low-code development frameworks provide a coding environment through a visual user interface for software application development. These frameworks enable IT professionals to integrate pre-built components into applications and business processes. By exposing the programming behind actions and commands, these components empower IT experts to create interfaces and business applications without the need for manual coding.

Goal: Rapid code generation

Low-code development platforms are built upon the principles of model-driven design, automatic code generation and visual programming. Consequently, these platforms comprise software applications that provide a user-friendly coding interface, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), enabling swift code generation and reducing the need for manual coding. This, in turn, leads to integrated tools that eliminate the necessity of writing code line by line.

Instead, users can employ a visual editor to create flowcharts, with the code being automatically generated as a result. In most of today's commercial low-code/no-code platforms, users can conveniently build software applications by simply dragging and dropping pre-defined components.

Talent barrier

By mitigating the complexity of application development processes, these technologies have become significantly more accessible to a broader audience. Now, individuals can create software applications without the requirement of years of programming experience. Compared to traditional software coding, this approach expedites code development considerably. Consequently, low-code platforms facilitate the adoption of sophisticated technologies such as AI, IoT (or AIoT) or Edge Computing.