Low-code Platforms

February 5, 2023

What are low-code platforms?

Low-code is a software development approach where application developers use drag-and-drop easy-to-use interfaces to develop applications. These platforms come with an IDE containing code validation. This enables citizen developers (developers without any programming background) to create custom business applications to suit their needs.

Why use low-code platforms?

Here are some of the benefits of low-code platforms:

Low-code platforms enable rapid application development with a web-based visual interface. There is no need to set up special development environments to work with most low-code platforms.
They provide ready-to-use web-based deployment environments by eliminating the need for a deployment infrastructure setup.
It is easier to develop equivalent mobile-friendly versions of web-based solutions with low-code platforms.
A study conducted by IDC IDC suggests that there is going to be a shortage of 4M full-time developers by 2025. But with low-code platforms, business teams do not have to fully rely on IT teams for custom business application development.

Examples of low-code platforms

There are over 200 low-code/no-code providers in the market today. These providers specialize in various application types. Some of the leading low-code providers that specialize in the enterprise application space are Microsoft Power Platform, Mendix, and OutSystems. There are several cloud providers that provide low-code solutions in the ML/Analytics space as well - Google AutoML, Azure ML Studio, Amazon SageMaker Canvas

Conclusion

While starting a new build project, it will be beneficial to evaluate the available options before deciding to build the solution using the traditional approach. This may result in a reduced total cost of ownership and faster time to market which is the ultimate goal of any business.