Low code is the future

No-code has been a dream of some companies for a while, so I thought I'd go beyond the hype and test drive some of the tools. This was a gap in my 2018 post Tools to help your start-up in starting up, so an update of sorts.


This post was prompted by coming across this great summary ðŸ¤– No-Code - Unleashing Creativity on the Internet and I'd say most of them are still at the stage of "low code" to be truly useful. Also there are a lot of flame wars across the internet about what is a "proper language" to write software in, so in the spirit of this tweet about PHP ...

... make things that work they way people want them to and don't worry about your stack! (too much :-)

Webflow/.bubble/WiX site builders

These tools are really easy to get a small web app and e-commerce site going. My finding is that which one you use really depends on plug-ins available. I think this is the guilty secret of "no code", it doesn't reduce the total number of developers and they need to have created the framework and system of plug ins for the citizen developer to get going. 

It's here alongside the site builders that integrators like Zapier and data tools like Google Sheets come into their own. In fact, they are easy ways of getting used to creating your own personal workflow. My personal recommendations:

  • WiX for photography portfolios
  • .bubble for web apps with single source for basic back-end
  • Webflow for relatively static sites and greater control over complex designs

I did originally have a printing on demand service in mind for my WiX site, but ended up using that same supplier's Etsy integration for my Etsy shop. So, check the level you are willing to pay for before going too far in site setup. A tip for WiX is also to view each page in Mobile mode and click the "optimise page for mobile" button ... not sure why it doesn't do it automatically.

For Webflow one thing I found annoying was trying to get objects to run JavaScript when clicking. In fact there was a little easter egg in the console log that warned me to check I wasn't being scammed, by being asked to do so, or to apply for a job there :-) 

.bubble had the most rounded web app tool kit, with the database viewable from the same management screens as the page design. Which for a "no code" system is what you want - a single login and place to go to look at your app.

Diagrammatic programming

Simple API using sub-flows for authentication
Here is where things get interesting for me, and an approach I took for WayFare was in using a diagrammatic programming tool to get a launch MVP ready. I can write some code, but I haven't been a full time dev for a number of years. To quote Node-red diagrammatic programming is great for " Low-code programming for event-driven applications", without getting bogged down in web server setup and all sorts of boiler plate code.

I had already created the design for the target set of RESTful APIs and architecture so it was a case of composing these, and then configuring the nodes. The actual code written is minimal because of the community supported nodes, which give you capabilities that you can use to compose your workflow, and SaaS with API end points that can be called with the HTTP node.

The workflows themselves can be exported from the editing tool as text files, which define the workflow layout and configuration of nodes. This allows them to be stored in version management tool, such as git, with all the version control functionality that you'd expect from code.

It's great for professional services where complex business rules can be built using standard capabilities. Each node also has a rich text description field that allows usage and trouble shooting notes to be stored with the code. It is also really simple to build dashboards to monitor your app in this same screen, but sending the output of a node to a dashboard collector.

The future?

Gartner have been discussing the "Citizen developer" for a while, and I think that yes low code will only increase. That isn't to say that developers will be going anywhere, as the systems behind them are likely to become more complex ecosystems that require all the modern professional software development skills to make them "just work". One area that I am going to look at next is how these can be paired to tools to scale out ... or if there is a point where there is no choice but to have custom bespoke code written by professionals.

I'd love to hear your stories and experiences of the no/low-code world, get in touch in the comments below, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

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