preface
In today's world , Each business , internet , The competition among enterprises is extremely fierce , All small and medium-sized enterprises are facing the challenge of digital transformation , Why digital transformation , Because digital transformation can make enterprises more agile , Lower cost of innovation .
However, the road of digital transformation has certain complexity , Qualified developers are needed to quickly and accurately develop applications and processes in line with complex business . And developers from 0 reach 1 Development system of , There are certain risks , Because there will be a long delivery time , And the cost can be very high , And it is highly dependent on the professional level of developers .
Most organizations , Enterprises need to be skilled , Professional developers , And according to the 28 law , There is a shortage of really skilled senior developers .
And use inexperienced developers , For digital transformation , It often affects or hits productivity .
“ Low code ” Appearance of , Is a new alternative , This may be a new trend .
What is low code
Low code is a faster way , A more robust approach to software development .
It allows you to intuitively design and build a complete solution using an interactive graphical user interface , Little or no coding knowledge is required .
Low level code developers may need a degree of custom coding knowledge to customize components or their interactions .
Compared with traditional programming methods , The low code approach utilizes drag and drop elements , Preset connector , Configurable components , visualization IDE etc .
therefore , Low code development environments allow fewer technical users to develop applications based on their needs .
in addition , It can be done with minimal manual coding and minimal development environment settings , test , Deploy and maintain upfront investments for faster application delivery .
meanwhile , Low code can improve the level of abstraction , Let them delve into details only when necessary , So as to improve the work efficiency of skilled developers .
We can divide low code application development into two categories ： Low code application development platform These platforms help enterprises quickly translate their ideas into mobile or web applications .
They are visual programming throughout the application development life cycle , Automatic code generation and AI driven automation principles , Thus produced “ National Development ” Concept of .
Low code application integration platform These platforms are helping developers connect applications through visual development methods ;
They allow cloud to cloud or cloud to local application integration , And easily exchange data ;
in addition , These systems also provide a set of platform functions , Such as observability , analysis , Logging , Security , Identity management , High availability and disaster recovery .
When to use low code
Low code platforms can deliver applications faster than traditional development methods that require manual coding , however , How do we determine whether using low code development methods can bring the competitive advantage we are looking for ?
Some basic flags about when we can use low code are shown below ：
Due to the changing nature of today's digital business , The requirement for fast delivery is a key sign of this ; Faster turnaround time is critical to winning business opportunities , The low code platform helps to achieve this .
Lack of skilled software developers
Is another good reason to look for a low code platform . Most companies do not have experienced developers to solve complex business integration problems . however , Use low code method , Even ordinary developers can easily turn their ideas into effective software .
Due to major maintenance work , Lack of time to focus on Innovation
, This is another reason to start using low code platforms . By using a low code platform , It can significantly reduce the maintenance workload , Because they provide easy integration with many systems , One click deployment and observability and analysis supported by artificial intelligence .
If the company encounters " shadow IT"
, Different employees have no center IT In the case of an appropriate validation process, the company's data is used in a variety of applications and infrastructure , You can use a low code platform to solve this problem . Suppose you have a low code platform , The platform is owned by the company's central government IT Department approval and management . under these circumstances , It can be effectively used at all levels of the company without violating the company's regulations .
Benefits of low code
Rapid development is the main advantage of low code application development , But there are many other benefits .
improve work efficiency - Developing applications faster means improving the efficiency of the entire business , And bring faster innovation time . This provides a very high competitive advantage for digital services .
Visual modeling - Low code development realizes the visual representation of the whole application process , Enable ordinary developers to quickly , Easily understand design .
Better integration
- Integrating legacy applications and other systems is one of the key challenges facing the digital transformation process . It requires an in-depth understanding of external systems , Develop and connect applications from scratch . But use less code ( Just a few clicks and some customization ), These integrations can be done easily .
Limitations of low code
Although the method based on low code has many advantages , But there are also some limitations and tradeoffs .
One of the main disadvantages of most low code platforms is that they have only limited functional support
; When we need functions other than conventional visualization functions , Most low code platforms provide code based customization ; But these customizations are sometimes more complex than applications written from scratch , More difficult to understand .
In most cases , The ability to connect to external systems and services is critical . however , If the low code platform has only a limited set of connectors or connection points , Will hinder future business needs .
debugging
Is one of the most important aspects of normal programming , Because it allows developers to stop software execution at any point , And dig deeper to find the root cause of the problem . But in most cases , Low code platforms hide all this complexity from developers . When something doesn't work as expected , Identifying problems in low code platforms can be much more difficult , Unless they have complex observability functions .
For some low code platforms , Performance issues can also be a problem . Due to the generic nature of the generated code , Sometimes when the load is very high , The system may crash or fail to support operation .
Security and reliability are other key issues related to low code platforms . If the system is written from scratch , We know the system like the back of our hand . But we don't have complete control , It is difficult to identify all possible vulnerabilities .
in addition , Choosing a low code platform for an enterprise may lead to supplier lock-in , And create some restrictions in the future . Some platforms generate code , These codes cannot be maintained off the platform .
therefore , Before selecting a low code platform , Check customization function , The ability to integrate with external systems and its performance under extreme conditions is very important .
Is low code the future
stay 《Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms 2020》 in ,Gartner
forecast ：“ reach 2024 year , Low code application development will account for 20% of application development activities 65% above .”
Before the novel coronavirus pneumonia crisis , Predicted 2022 year , The total market for low code development platforms will exceed 40% The speed of growth , achieve 212 USD100mn .
Although low code is nothing new , But because of the influence of COVID-19. , Rekindled its value . Low code helps enterprises quickly build solutions that are critical to their digital transformation efforts , Proved its value .
Low code is not enough
Although low code brings many key advantages , But manual coding is not the most difficult part of developing an application . Managing the complexity of the entire development process is the most difficult thing to achieve .
therefore , What we really need is a platform that goes beyond low code functionality , These capabilities provide everything you need to develop complex business applications .
Such a modern application development platform provides visual development of applications , Extend the application through custom code , And process or automate the entire application lifecycle within the same platform .
Some key functions of such systems include ：
Artificial Intelligence Aided Development ：
This can include guiding developers through suggestions for the next step , Improve productivity through intelligent autocompletion and automatic data mapping , Prevent non functional defects by providing predictions of performance and security insight , wait .
Testing mechanism to avoid technical errors and consistency problems ：
Real time error detection , Automatic test generation using sample data sets supported by artificial intelligence , Built in test function, etc , Help developers easily verify the correctness of their applications , And provide high quality output , Without looking for other testing mechanisms .
One click cloud deployment ： The ability to deploy applications directly from the development platform itself to the production level cloud environment enables developers of any professional level to deliver their applications to target users .
Collaborative development ： This brings the creative potential of the organizational team , Applications can be delivered to users quickly , Without going back and forth .
Conclusion
I hope this article provides enough information to understand what low code is , And when to use it based on features and advantages and disadvantages .
It is not intended to replace traditional software development methods or skilled software developers .
It exists to fill the gap of traditional methods , Provide quick solutions , To meet the growing needs of the digital transformation process .
With the development of modern application development platform , Low code space is also improving , Many other functions have been added , Bring the best value to users .
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