No-code apps, will they leave software engineers jobless?
At Valoreo we have to write a lot of integrations. Latam has tons of e-commerce marketplaces and each one needs a new integration. Low code looked like a great way of dealing with this high number of integrations. Here we put some thoughts about no-code software development.
A bit of history
But before diving deep into no-code Apps, let’s rewind history a bit to the 1950s, 60s and 70s. During these decades some very important “high level languages” were developed. Specifically Fortran, Cobol, BASIC and C were created mainly to serve specific challenges.
Fortran, from FORmula TRANslation, was created to help solve mathematical problems.
COBOL, from COmmon Business-Oriented Language, was created to help program business applications.
BASIC, from Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, was developed to allow beginners to write code and create software.
Back then it was thought that these higher level languages would never replace programs built in Assembler but could work for niche problems. C was the first programming language developed as a generic solution for multiple problems. It was adopted together with UNIX and has been evolving since then to being used even today in 2022.
This goes to show that through the years we have seen that higher level programming languages have quickly gained adoption, however these have not entirely replaced existing languages and paradigms. A lot of the most common use software today such as OSs, databases and hardware drivers are still written in C, a language many people now think of as a low-level language. How the tables have turned…
So what does this have to do with no-code Apps? First let’s make sure we are on the same page about what no-code is. Henceforth low-code and no-code will be used interchangeably.
What are these Low Code Application Platforms?
Low-code is a visual integration approach that allows people (with or without programming knowledge) to build applications quickly, using a graphical interface without the need of writing code, or if you are a more experienced user, it allows you to customize or configure the application with the minimum code necessary.
This paradigm began recently to take hold in 2016 when the Low-code concept as such was first coined, however it is not a new idea. Between the decades of the 70s to the 90s, this concept was maturing, with the idea that the development environment was put in the hands of a wider population, allowing non-programmers to create applications themselves, using 3GL languages in their early days.
Have you heard about RAD technologies? These technological proposals of Rapid Application Development, emerged in the 90s automated most of the coding, assembling previously modeled desktop applications in a very short time since the user focused mainly on the graphical interface, letting the business logic be added step by step.
In the 2000s, software factories emerged with a model-driven architecture (MDA) that allowed business rules to be modeled and transformed by generators and interpreters into executable code. Also, the development of mobile applications and responsive design for web applications, which allow to generate extremely easily the front layers of the applications, using elements such as drag and drop interface, visual modeling, instant mobility, declarative tools and ready to use templates.
That is why the technical skills required to develop systems are no longer as demanding as in ancient times: knowing how to use the mouse, keyboard, familiarizing yourself with the chosen tool, the use of its components, dragging and pasting is enough. Now the main focus of skills that are expected are directed to the deep knowledge of the process and its business rules, because the greater the knowledge and experience in that layer, the application will be more aligned to meet the needs of end users.
Finally no no-code article can be complete without mentioning Excel. Excel is probably the most well known low-code app out there. Many problems which could be solved using scripts are easily solvable by using Excel. It is also interesting to note that how even if we have Excel, a lot of folks have recently turned to Jupyter and iPython notebooks to work with data. Excel does have a limitation on the volume of data which can be handled, but even for small datasets, Jupyter still presents some benefits vs Excel.
Is it then the end of the programmers?
So coming to a conclusion, low-code app development surely sounds like the next big thing. Will it be as big as C was in its time? Or as Java? No one can know for certain. There are however some facts we can ascertain:
- Even if a lot of people do eventually move to low-code development, existing languages and paradigms will not disappear completely. And certainly not overnight.
- Low code development has been around now for three decades. And in such a long time it has remained relatively on the fringes of software development. There is no big differentiator now which tells us this will shift in any big way.
- Low-code development has lacked and/or obviated crucial code development pieces which makes it unreliable such as unit testing and SOLID principles. Any efforts in trying to make this type of development mainstream will need to address coding best practices first.
Having said all of this, it is estimated that the logic of any application you want to develop has already been programmed by someone else at least 90%, which implies that more than working hard, it requires working intelligently, reusing code, and taking advantage of components that already exist, which minimizes the work of programmers and allows them to invest their creativity and talent in producing more innovative code and building the tools of the future.
As any good professional in the IT field knows, we can never stop learning. Might be a good time to start using and learning no-code development!
PS: As a bonus for reading all the way, I leave here the Gartner magic quadrant for no-code platforms.
