No-Code Application

What is No-Code Application?

No-code is the development of a software product without the use of code. No-code technology has become a popular alternative to traditional development. It allows you to create websites as well as iOS and Android apps without needing to write any code. Using No-Code tools, the user can construct a product from ready-made modules using a graphical user interface.

Types of No-Code Applications

  • App and Website Builders
  • Voice Assistants
  • Project Management Tools
  • Task Automation
  • Analytics
  • Marketing Tools for Managing Emails

Who Uses No-Code Tools?

Developers

Developers can quickly implement ideas without needing to manually write interfaces, styles, and so on. They can combine visual and traditional programming through Low-Code extensions

Startups

Ideas for new products can be tested quickly and at minimal cost.

Designers

No-Code can turn designers into full-stack developers who can see projects through from start to finish.

Large Companies

Large companies can easily create productivity apps for employees that automate certain routine tasks.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs can produce a minimum viable product that can be shown to potential customers in order to start receiving feedback. Plus, they can test the potential effectiveness of moving their existing business online.

Marketers and Product Managers

Marketers and product managers can have tools to implement their own ideas and small projects for which there usually isn’t enough time or money.

The Advantages of No-Code

  1. Affordable

    No need to hire and maintain a development team or outsource to a specialist.

  2. Low Barrier to Entry

    You don't need to learn programming to create a complete application. You just have to master the functionality of whichever platform you choose.

  3. High-Speed Development

    By using ready-made modules, it’s easy to design a simple app.

  4. Flexibility

    You don’t need to know someone else’s code to make changes to the app, maintain a development team, or cooperate on corrections, which means that new features can be created in a matter of hours and published daily.

  5. An Excellent Way to Test Ideas

    No-Code allows you to quickly turn an idea into a working prototype to test the concept and viability of a new product.

  6. Cross-Platform

    Many No-Code tools allow you to release a product for multiple platforms at once.

  7. Optimizable for a Variety of Devices and Screens

    App interfaces built with No-Code tools have already been optimized for mobile devices with varying screen sizes.

The Disadvantages of No-Code

  1. Limited Functionality

    Not every app-building tool has enough functionality to implement every idea. This isn’t critical for small apps, but as a project grows, its existing capabilities may not be enough. So it’s important to carefully read the description of a platform’s functionality during the selection process.

  2. Dependence

    You cannot transfer apps between platforms. You would have to start from scratch. However, due to increased competition as of late, platforms are beginning to abandon their attempts to keep users “tied” to them alone.

  3. Safety

    It is widely believed that No-Code apps are more susceptible to all kinds of security threats because they are made by ordinary users. The truth is that custom code can often be less reliable than platform code that has been tested multiple times on dozens of apps.

  4. Instability

    Platforms can experience a drop in their quality of service, technical support, or even close at any time.

  5. It’s More Expensive Than You Thought

    Developing apps without code is always fast, but not always as cheap as you'd expect. The payment plans for many builder platforms depend on the functionality and number of users you want for your app. As your audience grows, you’ll have to pay higher and higher rates.

  6. There is Still a Learning Curve

    It’s important to understand that even with No-Code, you have to put some time into learning. Despite the low barrier to entry, creating a high-quality app requires an understanding of UI/UX design, backend development, principles of modern applications, and the functionality of the builder tool itself.

What Can Be Created with No-Code Applications?

  • Mobile apps. No-Code tools are fully capable of not only making working prototypes, but full-fledged, monetizable products.
  • Chat Bots
  • Databases
  • Websites like blogs, landing pages, business cards, company websites, and online stores.
  • Automated Newsletters
  • Web services, from marketplaces to social media
  • API integrations between services

The Differences Between Low-Code and No-Code

Another approach to creating, configuring and modifying apps that is similar to No-Code is Low-Code. It’s a common misconception that Low-Code and No-Code are interchangeable concepts, but they aren’t.

Low-Code is an approach to app development that requires virtually no code. Just as with No-Code, the core of the product can be created using a user-friendly visual interface, a set of templates, and drag-and-drop functionality. For advanced additional functionality not included in the No-Code platform by its creators, you need to write some code.

Low-Code makes development more flexible. It compensates for the limitations of a preset library. If it turns out during development that a particular function is missing from the No-Code platform, you can always make it yourself.

If we compare speeds between project implementation for No-Code and Low-code, then the latter certainly takes more time. Nevertheless, it is still many times faster and cheaper than classic programming.

Prospects for No-Code

The basic IT-budgets of many companies go towards servicing outdated systems. Consequently, there aren’t many resources left for developing new apps, automating workflows, or implementing technological innovations.

According to the analytics company, Gartner, the demand for No-Code and Low-Code applications will grow by 30% in 2021.

As the No-Code platform market grows, so grows the demand for No-Code development. The realm of No-Design is experiencing a similar situation. More and more entrepreneurs are wanting to create their own simple designs and logos using a convenient service without having to turn to a specialist.


Learn more about No-Code vs Low-Code.

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