No-Code Definition
No Code (curtailed as “NC”) alludes to a bunch of strategies that permit the product to be created without composing a solitary line of source code. These procedures are frequently used to make versatile web applications, graphical UIs, or half-breed applications. They depend on realistic models (formats) and programmed code age.
The thought is to permit the end client to interface with a site or an IT instrument without composing a solitary line of code, consequently diminishing improvement expenses and time. American engineer James Martin authored the term in 2007. The thought of “no-code” appeared during the 1980s, with instruments like the Microsoft Frontpage programming suite (presently SharePoint) and its modules that permit designers to make graphical points of interaction without composing any code.
In 2003, it was the appearance of WordPress, the most generally involved no-code advancement stage on the planet for making sites. The term no-code was promoted in 2008 when Wired magazine distributed an article about designers who utilize these advances in their work. The idea of no-code has developed throughout the long term, turning into a simple pattern, especially in versatile and web improvement, business knowledge or graphical UIs.
The No-Code For Companies
The term sometimes describes tools that automatically generate code (in English, “no-code generation”). Applications developed with no-code techniques are often intended for use in companies for non-expert users, i.e. business profiles.
Features Of A No-Code Platform
No-code platforms are often considered solutions allowing companies to be more agile in their IT management by avoiding needing a dedicated developer. No-code development can also create SaaS (Software as a Service) applications.
The Main Features For Creating No-Code Business Applications
- Web interface development,
- The creation of workflows/automation,
- navigation management,
- User Management,
- Display and rendering management (customization).
What Can Enterprise Software Be Developed With No Code?
The No-Code trend is increasingly present, and ERPs are not necessarily the first target of no-code development. Indeed, the development of no-code applications today focuses on projects requiring flexibility and great speed in getting started. These no-code tools often deal with a narrow scope.
What Are The No Code Tools?
Here are some examples of no-code applications:
- Activecampaign.com: Marketing platform to generate marketing emails and automation to your customers and prospects.
- Airtable.com: a collaborative spreadsheet,
- Asana.com: a task-tracking tool,
- Automate.io and zapier.com to connect market tools,
- Calendly.com, a device connected to your calendar to manage online appointment booking,
- Webflow.com for website creation and hosting
- Webflow.com for website creation and hosting
No-code development is also a way of responding to agility issues and improving teamwork. Indeed, no-code development allows people with different profiles to work together: developers and end users. No-code action, therefore, makes it possible to create applications very close to field needs.
No-code applications are often preferred to traditional development because IT teams are not necessarily dedicated to creating applications and, therefore, only sometimes have the necessary skills for growth. By using No Code SaaS platforms, companies avoid managing the hosting, maintenance and support of the tools created internally.
No-Code Challenges
The development of no-code solutions is often perceived as a means of reducing the costs linked to IT development. It is also a means of freeing oneself from the constraints related to the languages and tools traditionally used to produce an IT application. No-code development platforms provide their users with ready-to-use tools/blocks. Put them together to form an application or a process.
These solutions are highly appreciated for their visual, ergonomic and easy-to-use user experience. You can create automation and interfaces without a single line of code. One of the best no-code tools widely used in marketing is undoubtedly Zapier, which allows you to create simple automation between applications on the market.
The Disadvantages Of No-Code
No-code development usually allows for the creation of simple functionality or user interfaces. These solutions are not the most efficient for creating business applications requiring custom UX design or development work.Indeed, no-code toolkits are made for relatively simple uses and are not created to manage complex tasks. These tools cannot, therefore, offer end users a mobile application that provides them with an optimal and personalized user experience. This is why care must be taken so that the solution is unlimited in functionality.
Is Low Code An Exciting Alternative To No Code?
Low-code solutions are more suited to the industry, where customer needs are often specific. Thanks to low-code technology, deployment times are improved by low-code technology, making it possible to address a vast part of low-code needs.Low code guarantees the open door to code and, therefore, to tailor-made functionalities and an optimized user experience.
Under these conditions, the IT tool becomes a faithful productivity ally, fully meeting the customer’s needs. It, therefore, represents a differentiating factor and a source of profitability for the company, a rare commodity in an increasingly competitive industrial world.
What Is The Impact Of No Code Low Code In The IT World?
Low code is an approach that is currently being developed to create applications at a lower cost, thanks to simplified programming and development tools. This approach aims to make application development more accessible to people who lack the necessary programming skills. Indeed, most mobile applications today are created using low-code solutions. The low code, therefore, allows companies to digitize projects without having advanced technical skills.
Developers can thus create mobile applications cheaply and quickly. According to Gartner, by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies, compared to less than 25% in 2020. The number of No-Code Low-Code platforms is increasing, and prices are decreasing. At the same time, companies’ needs are growing to meet productivity and profitability challenges. Through the common code approach, companies equip themselves more efficiently with business applications :
- To have the option to answer business needs rapidly
- To work on up-to-date data and obtain better responsiveness to customers
- To stop wasting time re-entering information from one software to another
- To gain autonomy in the digitization of their processes
Which Industries Use No-Code The Most?
No-code is used in various fields, not just to create low-cost mobile apps or websites. Indeed, low code development can be used in many sectors:
- Health: applications developed by hospitals can use this approach. Doctors can thus have access to real-time diagnostic tools (dashboard).
- Industry: in the industrial sector, low code is used to create prototypes and quickly test new solutions for time tracking, business tracking, receipt of goods, etc.
- Bank: Banks use this approach to develop low-cost mobile applications. They can thus have access to a mobile application without spending large sums of money on development.
- Online sales: mobile applications developed in low code can create e-commerce sites or sell products directly on the application.
- Marketing: low code development can automate actions between market applications (see zapier tool).
How Can Companies Use Low Code?
Low code is a simple and cost-effective way to create a business application or software for small and medium-sized businesses.
What Are The Steps In Creating A No-Code / Low-Code Application?
- Define the need: the first step is to define the company’s market by defining what users want to do on its application and what they don’t want, focusing on the principal elements and functionalities.
- Make a mock-up: the purpose of this step is to get a first look at the application. It is, therefore, necessary to create a model, that is, an application model, from which it will be possible to develop functionalities.
- Have end users test the prototype application: Once the model has been created, users can test the tool’s functionalities and list the improvements.
- Improve the application: make the improvements listed by users. By operating through creation/testing/improvement cycles for each application’s modules, we create a tool that meets users’ needs as the project progresses.