What is low-code development? If you are looking to create and develop smart, efficient business applications, and you don’t have the budget or the time to hire a team of brilliant developers to write and troubleshoot the codes necessary to bring your concept to fruition, low-code development may be the best solution for your business’s needs.
Low-code development is one of the newest and biggest trends to gain popularity over the last few years. It allows users to create and assemble workflow applications faster, thereby increasing productivity and speed of service in the marketplace. In a nutshell, low-code development is a toolbox of various basic building blocks that you assemble, based on your specific criteria and design, to assemble just about any workflow and application to meet your business needs. Low-code development also gives you a more defined screenshot idea of where your application is going and what it is designed to do and the problems you hope to solve. In a low-code environment, there is some basic coding that is generally necessary to pull everything together and run seamlessly, but it can still all be done in an extraordinarily short period of time.
Savings! Low-code development saves both time and money. The bulk of the work is already done for you. You start with a concept, create your desired flowchart, and the low-code development process takes over from there. Using existing templates, low-code development delivers a usable finished product in minutes, rather than months. There is no longer a need for a team of developers to create code or to maintain processes and security. The hard work is already done and made simple for you.
Low-code development also gives you a great level of control over your business flow concept. You are in the driver’s seat, and can interpret your concept, course-correct, and have greater control over precisely how your workflow will function throughout the entire process. There is no more back-and-forth with a team of developers. It is your design and your process, from start to finish.
The basic answer is control.
Low-code leaves some wiggle room and the opportunity to make adjustments to better suit your desired outcomes. As mentioned above, low-code may potentially require some coding expertise to get your application to satisfy all your chosen outcomes. All of this can still be done in an extremely accelerated time frame, getting you from concept to finished application in minutes as opposed to hours, days, or even months.
No-code, although offering faster options and overall simplicity, does not allow for changes or tweaks to the processes and configurations. In a no-code environment, you will find a selection of predesigned basic templates created to satisfy numerous, general business needs. As no changes are permitted, there is no need for additional coding work to be done. If you are looking for an application that can fit into a basic pre-set template, then no-code may be the right choice for you.
Low-code and BPM are the same but different. BPM, or Business Process Management, is pretty “old school”. BPM is simply managing a business through thought and processes, troubleshooting, idea exchange, etc. Essentially, low-code begins with a finished, fine-tuned BPM and gets to work creating an application to meet your specifications. More and more, you will see the two terms together in combinations such as “low-code BPM.” Low-code works best when coupled with a brilliantly-executed business process.
A low-code development platform is a developmental environment used to create applications through defined pre-set selections rather than extensive time-consuming hand-coding. A low-code development platform offers an array of choices to initialize the framework of your desired application.
Once you have decided that low-code development is right for you, you need to choose a platform. The marketplace for low-code development platforms has a plethora of diverse selections to choose from. To make the right choice and find the best match, you should have a solid understanding of your business needs, desires, and goals. Is your business small, medium, or large? How many users need to have access to the platform? Do you want cloud-based or web-based? Which interfaces are you working with - IOS, Android, Windows, Linux, or all of these? What is your budget? These are just a few of the things to consider when choosing the right platform.
There is a platform that will fit your business needs, and many even offer free trials. It is advantageous to use the free trial period offered to give the platform a test drive and see if it is truly the best fit for you and your organization.
Low-code and no-code development is where tech is now and will be for the foreseeable future. So many applications use the same basic code components, making the need for hand coding somewhat redundant. Low-code / no-code platforms are akin to superhighways offering a direct route to where business wants to go and can get you there easier and faster than ever before, saving you time and money and giving you greater opportunities for growth and success.
