No-code is a software development approach that requires few if any (as the name states!) programming skills to build an application exponentially faster than with code.
This allows business users with the knowledge and understanding of their company requirements to create and customize their systems without the need for scarce developers.
In reality, plenty of coding is involved behind the scenes, invisible to business users. This is accomplished through data abstraction or simplification and encapsulation, resulting in less complexity for users to accomplish the same results faster and more easily.
In early 2021, Gartner published a press release about low-code/no-code development technologies. In it, the firm forecasted the worldwide LCNC development technologies market to grow 23% in the same year.
With ever-changing customer demands and urgent needs from companies to digitize workflows, enhance employee experience and streamline operational teams, it is no surprise that we hear the terms low-code and no-code more often.
Although we usually see these two terms grouped together, a common belief is that the main differentiators are functionality and ease of use, but the truth is that these will depend on the type of platform used and what it is used for.
For instance, when building a website, some people might find that a low-code tool offers more functionality if they have the programming skills, and that no-code will deliver faster but with a few limitations.
As mentioned, this rule of thumb is not entirely true and is a common misconception of the terms. As technology evolves faster than ever, some no-code tools can already deliver the same functionality and logic as low-code or traditional coding.
This is something relatively new and disrupting in the Enterprise Software Industry, which brings us to our next point…
If we take look back in time and think of the evolution of programming languages, we will be able to talk about zeros and ones, machine code, and high-level programming like C+ or Phyton to then move on to low-code and no-code, the last one being a visual and declarative language with components such as building blocks.
As technology evolves over time, the same thing happens with companies and ERP. In the ’60s, companies used to operate with mainframes, to then move to midrange, client/server, cloud, and platform in the present day.
