What is Low Code Development?

By 2021, the market demand for app development will grow at least 5 times faster than IT capacity to delivery it, predicts Gartner.

Amid cut-throat competition and skill-set crunch, it is difficult for traditional development approaches to keep up with the fast pace of business requirements. This is where low code development approach has become the pole star of the night sky.

“Low-code development is a modular approach to app development that curbs the development time to a fraction. It uses a reusable, component-based architecture for development that boosts app development and delivery cycle.”

When building an app with reusable components, the developers have an opportunity to use existing assets (called components) in different applications, and not just for the application it was originally developed for.

The component here is a reusable object. It turns a piece of code (with a certain use case such as accessing a device’s hardware like camera, GPS etc.) into a module. These components can be used in different applications having similar use cases. By adding these modules to the new application, developers can save themselves from repetitive coding for similar, common functionalities. Such flexibility significantly reduces the effort and time of testing & development.

These components are generally dedicated to specific application layers- either the user interface or the backend. For example: If there is a library of javascript components, it can be used for seamless front-end creation.

Benefits of Low Code Development:

1. Making Bug Fixing and Mainatainence Easy

With components, the lines of code for a specific function are centralized. Since the code is in one place, developers have more control over it. Every time there is a fix or update in the reusable component, all of its implementations will be updated. This makes updating and maintaining the application simpler.

2. Write Once Use the Code Anywhere

This application of low code development facilitates developers to write code for functionality and then use it again in as many applications (as or wherever required).

3. Faster Time-to-Market with Code Reusability

• Since a piece of code can be reused, the number of developers and days involved in app development and its launch in the market can be reduced significantly.

• Because the components are already tested for security, performance, scalability, and reliability, it reduces the testing time as well.  

4. Make the most of Versatile Tech-Stacks Available

• There is a broad set of tools, technologies, and frameworks available to make app development simplified and scalable. Reusable components ensure that a development team can utilize most of them.

• Reusable components can be integrated within an application built using different programming language. A reusable component built with React (JS Library) can be integrated within a Native app built using Java or Swift.

• Reusable component allows developers to integrate functionalities in the app that’s out of their skill scope.

Getting Started with Low Code Development:

There are two options to get started:

a. Choose a low code development platform wherein you can find a number of reusable components-plugins, templates, connectors, UI/UX modules etc. On these platforms, you can find a set of reusable components that can be integrated within the app.

While these platforms provide building blocks for app development and work best for developers with less proficiency, they have a few limitations, such as:

• Third party tool integration

• No app-specific APIs

• Less security assurance

Since the app, in this case, is developed using a third party platform, boundations with third-party integrations, APIs may affect functionality scope and scalability of the app.

b. Another way to reduce your app’s time-to-market is by combining the traditional development approach with reusable components. This way of mobile app development overcomes the limitations of low code development platforms and ensure that a scalable app in minimum time-frame is built.

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