Key features of low-code software development
What is low code development?
Is low-code a stage in IT evolution or a contemporary global trend that is doomed to lose popularity after some time? Low code platforms allow modifying the system while using it, with minimal hand-coding. Thanks to this, the path from a business demand to a finished solution gets shorter. With low-code development, solutions are modeled using a visual interface instead of programming, and standard tasks are carried out using ready-made scripts. An analyst or a business user has enough skills and knowledge to do the job, and this significantly reduces expenses for the company’s resources. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? Any business strives for fast development and advantageous implementation.
What is meant by low code development?
Flexible low-code development platforms are indeed attractive. The main advantage is that low-code tools help you develop a solution in a shorter time while offering more agility when you configure processes.
1. Shorter path from an idea to a solution. It is undeniable that a low code application platform makes development faster, as it minimizes coding. Moreover, you can learn to use low code software much more quickly than to code using traditional programming languages. Using ready-made components allows businesses to get all the basic functions they need; scripts and coding help to expand on them and integrate the low-code platform with other systems. An analyst does not have to bother themselves composing an SOW for the IT department and waiting for the developer to execute it. ELMA365 empowers the analyst with a means to create functioning applications in a visual editor. This approach is a real game changer. You can switch from the legacy cycle of “Analysis—SOW—Development—Improvements—Launch—SOW Rework—Improvements—Implementing Improvements” to a faster and more efficient cycle: “Analysis—Creating a Solution—Stage-by-Stage Launching—Continuous Improvement”. It’s much faster than creating a program from scratch. So, as the speed of digital transformation grows, IT teams get a functional tool to improve performance and shorten the software development cycle.
Gartner says that by 2024, 65% of created apps will be low-code. Low-code platforms make software development easy and user-friendly.
2. Integration with other systems. Low-code provides opportunities for integration that help to automate the mundane task of moving data between systems and provide easy and unified access to other systems for the employees. So, automatic transfer of data between IT systems makes business digitalization significantly easier.
3. Speeding up app development cycles. Low-code solutions allow you to eliminate stages like app architecture planning, choosing the development environment, creating prototypes, analyzing UX, and others. All of this is offered by the low-code platform.
4. Built-in development environment. It is possible to improve the system’s capabilities using the ELMA365 built-in development environment. The features you create can be saved and used in another low-code app, interface element, or business process. Code completion, prompts, and built-in syntax checking make the development process much faster.
5. Less need for programmers. You don’t need profound technical knowledge or development experience to work with Low-code development platforms. This helps to handle the lack of skilled IT specialists that many companies face.
6. Strong security. Using low-code is more secure for other apps and the platform itself than hand coding. The result has less bugs and enables the system to work smoothly, no matter how many processes are running.
7. Quick adaptation to new market demands. The agility of low-code application development helps to adapt to fast-changing market demands and customer needs. The latest IT solutions can be implemented fast, and the existing software can be continuously updated.
8. On-the-fly modifications. However paradoxical it may sound, each and every project gets to a point where the initial requirements need to change or some new requirements arise. There are many factors at work here. Some of them are local, others are global (for example, the organizational structure of the company may change, and all business processes need to change accordingly). When something needs to be modified, IT specialists can create the necessary low-code app themselves, as this approach allows you to make on-the-fly modifications. It’s a great benefit for IT specialists as is makes the development process clearer and easier: meeting with the customer, making adjustments to the project, approval of the final draft, instant feedback. Low-code tools empower skilled developers to work more efficiently by eliminating mundane tasks.
Choosing a BPMS, make sure it has low-code tools. They will allow you to quickly adapt the product to your situation and your business needs without having to apply to external providers.
Low-code benefits
Agility and adaptability of low-code platforms allow businesses units to use them for various purposes. Low-code is one of the most advanced and promising trends in software development, as it helps both to speed up app development and to adapt and implement innovation more rapidly. Surely, a low-code app builder won’t replace professional programmers, but it will make software development several times faster and allow adding new features to the products you create.
