Low-code development platforms are dedicated platforms that let developers make the software easily with pre-built components, tools, and visual approaches with minimal coding requirements. Lately, low-coding application development has gained popularity due to the advancements of these platforms and it has been adopted by many businesses and developers to fasten their development process, increase productivity and improve agility.
This increased popularity of low-code platforms has induced many questions in the minds of the developers “Is this Low-code development platform really helpful to developers in different ways, what are the opportunities it has for developers? does it possess any challenges to tackle?” This blog explained answers to all these questions in upcoming sections.
What exactly is Low-code development?
Low code is a visual technique that allows developers to do mobile app development or web app development with an easy drag-and-drop intuitive GUI interface. So, the time and cost incurred for this development will be less than the traditional end-to-end coding approach. A few perfect examples of this are WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.
Benefits of Low-code Development Platforms
Low-code development platforms have extensive benefits that open many opportunities for the business. Some of those important opportunities are listed below
Faster and Efficient Development
This is the major benefit of a low-code development platform where web applications can be developed and deployed ten times faster than the traditional approach. With in-built templates, drag-and-drop processes, and tools, developers can create enterprise-grade apps in 2 to 3 days. So, the developers can focus more on adding creative features and functionality to the apps than spending time on coding activities.
Inexpensive Development
Since the time to develop an app on low-code platforms is lesser, the resources needed for the development will also be required less, and eventually, it will also cost less. So, the developers can develop efficient software quickly with less effort with the in-built templates and tools of the low-code platforms.
Increased Productivity
Low-code application development increases the productivity of the development with less development time and eliminates long coding. So that the developers can focus on building a more unique application that will reduce burnout and increase developer satisfaction.
It gives time and space to do productive discussions and feedback cycles between the developers and businesses. Also, it reduces the dependency of the developers on the IT team as it needs only the basic knowledge to do that.
Ensured results with Low Coding
Low-code application development requires less coding which saves time and prevents the arrival of unexpected errors. Also, with the pre-built components and ready-to-use tools, developers can make an efficient platform and save the time of rewriting the code.
Easy Maintenance
In traditional coding, there will be tons of issues every day that the developers have to listen to and resolve. But in Low-code development applications, web designing, web application development, mobile application development, and any other software can be developed easily with the in-built tools. And there will be only a few issues with testing and integration. So that the developer can focus more on new projects and increases company value by spending less time on maintenance.
Besides the benefits, there are also many challenges in the low-code development platforms and they are listed in the next section.
Challenges in Low-code Development Platforms
Inflexible Templates:
Low-code platforms have in-build templates that will be suitable only for certain projects and has limitations with the application that needs extensive customization
Extensive Training:
It is difficult to train non-technical users to use the low-code platforms that is time –consuming and incurs high-cost
Less customization:
There is no need to develop detailed code in low-code platforms but it has limitations in customization and it will not be suitable for applications that need extensive customization. Sometimes, the developers have to write separate code and add it to them
Hard to resolve issues:
The low-code platforms help developers to build the application and deploy it without encountering any regular or unexpected issues. So, they will find it hard to resolve certain issues that will be discovered after releasing new versions of a particular low-code platform.
Locked with Vendor platform:
Companies who use the low-code platforms are locked under the vendor platform. This decreases the flexibility and increases the cost of hosting the software over time. So, the companies have to choose the right platform that aligns with the long development goals.
Security concerns:
Low-code platforms are best in key features of the software but have limitations in security concerns. Because they are in-built, they will be highly vulnerable to threats. So, the companies have to ensure that they selected the secured low-code platforms for the secured low-code development application.
These challenges can be managed only if the businesses choose the right Low-code platforms that ensure the best productivity, unique functions, and strong security features.
In conclusion
Low-code app development platforms are excellent applications that can be used for efficient Mobile app development, Web app developmentThe Benefits Of Custom Software Development For Businesses, iOS app development, Mobile app design, and many more use-cases that reduce time and cost, increased productivity, improved agility, and best security features. It is just that the company needs to choose the right low-code platforms that satisfy the above conditions to stay ahead of the learning curve in the pool of competition.