Low code app development to rule

With the fast-paced growth of the app economy, the urgency to build applications has also risen. The opportunities are massive, and hence, to encash these opportunities, companies are building applications with more considerable momentum. 

This has created a massive need for a skilled workforce in the technological departments. This poses a problem for the thriving industry as there is a massive shortage of skilled workforce. 

According to the LinkedIn workforce report, there is a shortage of 2,12,838 professionals in software development. This is because programmers have higher command over a single language rather than being proficient in developing end-to-end applications as programming languages like Java and C do not have a smooth learning curve. 

This creates a gap between the increasing demand for rapidly developed applications and the shortage of skilled professionals. Low code application development is the solution to bridge this gap. 

A report by Gartner predicts that by 2024, about two-thirds of the application development will be done by using low code app development. Low code app development is fast and solves the problems that most of the enterprises face during the development process of the applications. 

This is why more and more companies are shifting their focus towards this methodology. Let us take a look at what are the key factors that make low code app development such a hot topic among the developers.

What is a low code app development?

Low code application development is the visual approach to the development process of the apps. This replaces the old method of writing code and then testing the results. Although codes are still being written in the app development process, the density of written code is far less than what it used to be. Low code app development works on the drag and drops formula. It lets the developers integrate components using a graphic user interface. This interface uses model-driven logic. 

Low code platforms are best for developers as they help developers with limited technical knowledge by eliminating the need to write tedious codes for every component that needs to be integrated into the application. The low code platforms support professional developers, too, by saving their time and efforts. 

Low code development also acts as a bridge between the IT and business sectors as it reduces the time taken to develop and release the applications to almost half. This low code platform helps the developers to produce different applications that are disbursed in various industries. The applications range from legacy applications to IoT enabled smart applications. 

Low code development is gaining traction in its application because of its simple framework, time efficiency, and its adaptiveness to different types of apps. It can be said without a fraction of doubt that low code app development can be applied to different types of environments of application development.

Components of low code platform:

• Openness and extensibility

Openness is the critical component of a low code app development platform. Most low code development platforms are model-driven platforms. This allows businesses and developers to come together to build multi-channel applications at record speed. Low code development platforms publish all their applications in an open model specification. The application model can be a UI model, domain model, or logic model. Irrespective of the type of application model, the application models are fully open, accessible, and shareable. You can access the core application artifacts from any third-party tools.

The other feature of low code development platforms is its extensibility. The APIs of your application can be integrated into many third-party applications. This can also be used for testing purposes. The APIs can be deployed to perform CI/CD pipeline.

• Less risky

Low code development platforms eliminate the risk of developing hazardous applications by optimizing the application development lifecycle. In most of the application development lifecycle methods, the defects are removed in the retrospecting stage, whereas the low code development platforms support built-in automated testing, proactive quality monitoring, and real-time performance management. Thus low code platforms are less risky.

• Continuous integration

Today’s IT infrastructure needs the best DevOps practices to resolve the state of urgency created by the uprising number of apps. This can be done by low code development platforms as they allocate built-in DevOps functionalities, thus providing support for the continuous integration of the apps.  

These apps can be deployed with a single click, have better version management, and wide scope for automated testing. Also, the acceptance and production stages of the DTAP cycle of the app are automated. 

• Reusability 

Well, the problem with entirely code based apps is that they have to be built from scratch, every time. But with low code platforms, multiple applications can be used in a component-based architecture. Any app that you are building can expose and consume services from other apps using microflows. This is done through simple visual tooling. Also, low code development platforms can help you to build distributed microservices architecture without the need for complex integration.

• Smart and connected technology that delivers guaranteed performance

The low code development platforms are capable of merging with AI and other intelligent technologies that are used to create smart apps. With the changing times, the demographics of smart apps have also increased in the marketplace. Today the apps are more personalized than they used to be. Hence low code development platforms have room for the developers to produce smart apps based on users data. This guarantees seamless performance in the app market.

Conclusion

With its quick app development and delivery, low code app development is the answer to today’s problems faced by application developers. It is a less risky method, and developers do not need any expert-level knowledge to work on these platforms. The platforms also ensure that the apps developed are defect-free by leveraging continuous integration. The fusion of AI and machine learning with these platforms is the stepping stone for future technologies because going by the recent trends, and AI is going to hold a lot of significance in the future technological landscape. The developers must anchor this low code development to the best of their use. This not only saves time but also increases the workflow efficiency of app developing organizations.