What are low-code and no-code, and why should you apply them in your company?

Do you know little or nothing about web programming? Do you think your company must have a great website or other digital services (applications, chatbots…), or that a large amount of code slows down the delivery of these? Do you think this is a stumbling block for your business? Don’t worry: in this post, we tell you what low-code and no-code are and their advantages for your company.

What are low-code and no-code?

Low-code

Low-code is a system for developing digital software solutions with a minimum amount of code, straightforward to program.

According to the consulting firm Gartner, the global market for low-code development technologies will grow by almost 20% in 2023. Specifically, it would be worth $26.9 billion, 19.6% more than in 2022. The drive for hyper-automation will help stimulate these tools through 2026. According to Varsha Mehta, Senior Market Research Specialist at Gartner, «organizations are increasingly turning to low-code development technologies to fulfill growing demands for speed application delivery and highly customized automation workflows.»

No-code

No-code is a programming system without code. Like low-code, it makes it possible to publish web pages, apps or chatbots more quickly. It is also easy to access and use for employees with no programming knowledge, known as citizen developers, although it can also be used and extended by professional developers.

Low-code platforms: features and advantages

Features

• Useful for both large and small companies.
• They reduce software development times.
• The software design process is very intuitive. For example, by dragging and dropping boxes, you can design the home page of a website or the question-and-answer path of a customer service chatbot.
• Many are online platforms. Therefore, there is no need to install or download anything to design.

Advantages

• Lower economic investment for development.
• Eliminate the possibility of syntax errors, although code can be added manually for further customization or personalization.
• Integration of other technologies, such as artificial intelligence and natural language processing in chatbots.
• Integration with most products commonly used in organizations.
• Faster updating as new market needs arise or the business changes.
• Software development goes beyond your company’s technology department and can involve other employees. This, in turn, helps the IT department because it focuses on other tasks.
• Ideal for addressing departmental operational needs to increase productivity.
• In the words of Varsha Mehta, it «enables organizations to reach the level of digital competency and speed of delivery required for the modern agile environment.»
• Maintenance is faster, as there is less code to change if needed.
• Process automation. For example, someone subscribes to a newsletter through a simple landing page and manages the email address in a database without human intervention.
• Ability to quickly create online-offline mobility solutions oriented to First Line Workers.

Low-code and no-code tools and examples

A key in developing no-code software is pre-designed templates, which allow you to have a landing page or a simple chatbot for your business in minutes. In this sense, platforms such as Blogger and WordPress have been helping non-technical users for decades to have their free blogs, thanks to templates to which elements such as widgets or plug-ins can be added intuitively.

This service and others can be extended with payment plans. On certain low-code and no-code platforms, widgets, plug-ins, or other customizations are accessible to all users through premium plans.

Why you should go for low-code and no-code

Developing no-code and low-code applications, websites or chatbots means launching essential products faster in a process that can involve more departments of the company beyond the technological one; for example, in automation created by marketing and customer service colleagues. With great agility, it is possible to have a simple minimum viable product to test new creations.

The possibilities of low-code and no-code are numerous if you want to speed up digitization or software development in your business. At Plain Concepts we recommend Microsoft Power Platform as a low-code platform. You are just an email away from taking advantage of all its benefits.