The Onset of a New Revolution: The No-Code Movement

In the year 1820 Europe, where there is no electricity or running water. The time is not looked at as hours and minutes but with respect to solar cycles. The living standards are similar to previous centuries with no major changes. Now imagine closing your eyes in 1820 and waking up in 1920. The scenario has transmogrified into people working in mines and transport sectors. There’s a presence of machines making work immensely easy for humankind.

What happened in the short span of 100 years that transformed the world for the better? It is called the Industrial Revolution. Many great scientists worked for the advancement of many fields and the end results were transportable electricity, steam engines, radio, refrigerator, and many more appliances.

But did it see a bright future from the beginning? Well no. When the industrial revolution started it seemed like a cunning conspiracy of the rich to exploit the poverty-stricken people. The people who couldn’t foresee the promising future assumed that developing machines had some evil intention behind it. But eventually, the Industrial revolution became one of the most prominent successes for humanity.

Similarly, a new trend in the market is ‘no code development’. It is a movement that holds the capability to become a revolution.

Also Read : No Code Movement: A Rising Trend or Future of No Code?

What is no-code development platform (NCDP)?

A low-code/no-code development platform is a visual software development platform that helps people to create mobile or web applications using the drag and drop method with no or minimal use of code. This form of application building is recently becoming popular with more people accepting and using it.

It is vastly gaining popularity due to its low cost and easy accessibility. According to research by Markets and Markets, the low-code development platform market is expected to grow from $4.3 billion in 2017 to more than $27 billion by 2022. In fact, 84% of enterprises have adopted a low-code development platform or tool.

The beginning of the journey

In the 1940s, the first programmable digital computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer came under development. It could be imagined as a bigger cousin of the computers we see today, being about 30 tons in weight. This is the time when the concept or job of a programmer became more defined.

Next entered Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) in 1960. Programs made using COBOL could run on multiple computers which were designed by different manufactures. It is worthy to notice that computer programming languages were initially developed for non-technical business folks. But eventually, as coding languages evolved they became more technical. The gap between application developers and users became wider with time.

2014 was the first time that the term- ‘Low-code’ was coined. The original definition stated, “Low code platforms enable rapid delivery of business applications with a minimum of hand-coding and minimal upfront investment in setup, training, and deployment”. Popular names like WordPress and Squarespace allow anyone to build websites without any knowledge of coding.

The next expected step is no-code machine learning. We’re yet to explore all the possibilities no-code brings in for us.

What criticism it encountered

It was not a smooth road for no-code or low code development. If we look at the recent trend NCDP are still getting a lot of appreciation and acceptance, but this wasn’t the case five years ago.

No-code faced grave doubts related to the security of the data shared with it. These applications are more vulnerable to hacking and data theft. This drawback can be taken care of, by choosing the right providers. But in the early days, it was troublesome to choose whom to give your confidence to.

Professionals questioned the sustainability and limitation of the applications made using NCDP. It was irresolute to imagine a technical novice to competently run a technical system. But many successful entrepreneurs already acknowledged how no-code was a blessing to their venture.

Even with many flaws no-code is flourishing at an exceptional rate. How did it face these challenges?

How it kept its feet firm

People gave it a shot with a little confusion and hesitation towards No-code. With the opportunity of proving itself, No-code made up for its late appearance in the market.

• It is budget-friendly by reducing the number of people needed for web development.
• As the process is so simple, it consumes less time. The whole process of web development can be over within a few days.
• No-code is empowering non-technical founders by making them more capable and less dependent on the software team.
• NCDP is making IT accessible to all regardless of their technological skills.

When you update your software through an NCDP, the additional process of writing, debugging, and applying the code is eliminated. Now you can focus on the main issue like changing to which layout will make your website more user-friendly.

Hence you only need to concentrate on the business aspect of your app. The advantages of no code could not be left unnoticed. No-code and Low-code were able to fill the gaps which were left neglected by the traditional web development process.

The rise of No-code and Low-code platforms

Just like the industrial revolution the journey of no-code was not easy but worth it. It was a holistic development involving many factors. In November 2019, Webflow hosted a No Code Conference after its $72M Series A funding round. The motto being “people creating the future of the web, design, and software,” the event showed interest in the no-code movement which is growing rapidly. Furthermore, the pressure to go digital is growing every day. With an incursion of requests, it important that developers learn to adapt to the ever-changing, fast-paced industry.

Also Read : Growth Factors of No-Code and Low-Code Market

Conclusion

The IT industry was facing a lot of drawbacks for the past few decades due to its lack of innovation. Silicon Valley has bred a generation of founders who employed coders, made them do the same thing repeatedly, and made millions of dollars out of it. Wealth was getting concentrated in the hands of a few privileged, who were equipped in creating websites, maneuvering applications, and manipulating code. The next billion programmers won’t need a degree in computer science or expertise in English. Low-code and no-code development is a means of empowering businesses and organizations to take control of their websites, software, and processes. Perhaps it is the demand for the democratization of tech that has catapulted the no-code movement into the present.