Both low-code and no-code development platforms enable the creation of software applications without the need to write code.

Low code/ no-code platforms are a type of visual software that enable businesses and developers to drag and drop applications, connecting them to great apps. Low code/no-code approaches allow developers to quickly build applications and alleviate the need to write codes line by line. This helps small business owners, office administrators, business analysts and others who are not well versed with software development to develop test applications. These people have little or no knowledge of programming, development work or machine code.

How do they work?

Programmers write lines of code to generate the capabilities and features requested in a computer programme or application in traditional software development. This method necessitates that the programmer is well-versed in computer languages, as well as development environments, deployment processes, and testing standards.

Platforms with low and no code contain all of the work done behind the scenes. Users visually pick and connect reusable components that represent certain phases or capabilities (and include the real code), and then link them together to construct the desired automated process. Instead of writing line-by-line scripts for each required function and capability, users may construct applications as if they were creating a flowchart. These platforms also often include capabilities that enable experimentation, prototyping, testing, and deployment.

This form of app development work is also known as point-and-click or just click development.

Will low-code applications become more popular? The verdict on how far this will all go is yet out. According to some experts, low and no coding may even assist business users to construct AI-driven apps.

"Low and no-code platforms enable firms to use artificial intelligence without hiring an army of expensive engineers and data scientists," argues Jonathan Reilly in Harvard Business Review. Reducing adoption barriers will aid in unleashing the power of AI across all industries and allowing non-specialists to forecast the future. No-code AI platforms will become as commonplace as word-processing and spreadsheet tools are now.

Make it easy to utilise AI services by using solutions like Amazon AWS. They provide pay-as-you-go options, so you can start utilising them right now without worrying about long-term obligations. The pricing structure of AWS is consistent across industries; so, firms in various industries will benefit from comparable costs when utilising Amazon Web Services (AWS). "The user should not have to be familiar with regression or k-nearest neighbour methods." At the moment, low-code and no-code platforms are not commonly regarded as a road to high-end software development.

"I don't believe the ordinary business user can design and deploy sophisticated apps," says Kevin Harbauer of Ephesoft. "To be successful, most of these low-code/no-code solutions need a reasonably technical power user." Although the principles of developing a successful application of any complexity have essentially stayed unaltered, developers in today's environment must pay greater attention to user experience design, prioritise critical features, and understand procedures and algorithms. Creating an amazing application in today's industry is no longer easy enough for just anyone. "It's simply the implementation that has shifted to drag-and-drop interfaces that do not necessitate writing code."

Low-level automation is a common application use case, according to Harbauer, and "appears to be where the majority of these sorts of apps are employed outside of IT." "These technologies enable power users to automate routine processes, connect data between systems, and construct simple.

But it's about more than just saving time. "The goal of low-code or no-code software is not to have citizen developers construct complex or mission-critical software systems," says Harel Tayeb, CEO of Kryon Systems. It is instead intended to allow citizen developers to "rapidly construct an app that will assist them to address an issue and then go on with their day." More complicated systems would still need the maintenance of IT or engineers." According to Tayeb, "robot process automation is still too sophisticated for the common user."

According to Jonathon Reilly, writing in Harvard Business Review, low and no-code platforms enable "the deployment of artificial intelligence without recruiting an army of pricey engineers and data scientists." "Reducing adoption barriers will aid in unleashing the power of AI across all industries and allowing non-specialists to forecast the future. No-code AI platforms will become as commonplace as word-processing and spreadsheet tools are now."

"There is still a lot of work to be done for vendors." To genuinely take off, citizen developer-based RPA must be truly user-friendly, which means no coding skills or technical background is required. The tools must be simple to use and provide the user with the capabilities required to create and deploy a software bot." In contrast, the resident developer "knows how to fully automate the process since they've been doing it manually." That is where the citizen developer provides value: they know how to accomplish a task from start to finish since they have done it personally."

According to Forrester, the top categories for low-code utilisation are now business process or workflow applications, online and mobile front ends, and customer-facing apps. However, as proven by responding to COVID-19 pandemic-related circumstances such as employee contract tracing applications, low-code has swiftly become a regular norm for speedy application development. Low-code, according to experts, will ultimately transcend into larger domains such as reengineering technology stacks and ecosystems.