What is no code?
No-code platforms provide a way to build web and mobile apps without writing code. Basically, you want to build an app (mobile, web) but you don’t know how to code, so you use a platform to build it and deploy it. Instead of building your layout with code, you typically drag and drop components or parts of an application. In short, No-code is all about the ability to create software without the traditional barriers of learning code or hiring dev teams.I think no-code tools are primarily democratizing software development. These tools are empowering people to develop software without the need to learn software development. Most commonly, these are things like websites, mobile apps, and software as a service (SaaS).
Why No- code?
By 2021- 2022, there will be 1 million vacant programming-related jobs. No code platforms make building web apps and mobile apps possible without hiring expensive and in-demand developers. Even those in large organizations know how hard it is to get something changed, let alone added to a companies application. No code should enable organizations to build a myriad of internal and external facing tools without having to get IT involved at all. There is no maintenance burden, no extra overhead on IT, just pure productivity, and hopefully a bit of fun building it. Many developers use no-code and low-code tools to bootstrap projects or get a head start. Or once they see how powerful they can be, abandon writing code for that particular project altogether. A more common approach is somewhere in between where about 80% of the application can be built without code, and the unique value add of the app can be built with code and interface with the no-code application.
However, no-code isn't new. It has been around for more than a decade. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) might ring a bell. For the ones who don't know, WYSIWYG was a way to program 'visually'. As the full form so clearly suggests, the developer would get the outcome just as what he or she sees while developing. Building then becomes just moving text and images around. How simple!
Visual coding lacked support for large databases and more complex server-level programming. With the 21st Century technology rapidly steering towards both, visual coding's capabilities were limited to building only basic websites and apps. However, the advent of cloud technology and APIs stirred a revolution. These technologies provided a robust framework for building more intelligent or sophisticated software. By integrating external services, the functionality of 'simple' apps could be extended. In fact, in the last 2-3 years, no-code technology has evolved to the extent that makers can now build full-fledged apps that are as powerful as they are scalable. Apart from the above mentioned Dividend Finance and Airtable, Webflow - which raised $70 million - allows people to build powerful, responsive websites without writing a single line of code. Its ready-to-use templates perfectly meet the need for immediate solutions. Qoins, an application that automates your extra payments towards your debt and helps you save money, too runs on Bubble. So does Meetaway, often the go-to for collaborative video conversations.
Airtable - a nifty tool to create collaborative spreadsheets wherein you can easily drag around text, images, videos, URLs and other documents - is estimated to be used by more than 90,000 organizations. Another pioneer, Coda - who "built its model on speed and accessibility of visual programming" - has clients that span the globe. Apart from Bubble, Webflow and Airtable, there are Zapier, Coda, Glide, Adalo and Parabola who have revolutionized no-code. The seamless integrations with external apps Zapier enables and the power - to "build it" if you can "describe it in words" - the users of Parabola enjoy, have made the tools indispensable to millions of makers around the world. This year more such extensions and incredible tools will emerge, opening up a universe of possibilities. This is what's foremost this year: a widespread awareness and adoption of no-code.
Microsoft is now investing in no-code with its Power Apps. General Electric recently began to automate a share of its internal processes with the help of no-code. Now Google acquired AppSheet, a no-code enterprise app development platform.
"I can't code at all but built a thing anyway"
This would be many of this generation's entrpreuners who would have started developing their hobby into a ful time business.Ben Tossell is the Founder of Makerpad, a website with no-code tutorials and resources. He told in an interview this kind of code-free development is growing.
"It's about being creative," said Tossell. "Now the barriers are lower to actually go out and build the thing."
This is a change that could make the internet a very different place.
Programmers aren't any faster at scrolling through Instagram. It's possible that, with no-code tools, they also won't be any faster at building certain things. No-code is democratizing software development, and we agree: "democratize" is a heavy word. We hope we can live up to it, and make it easy for anyone on the web to create things.
