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Posted on • Updated on • Originally published at blog.function12.io

No-code, Low-code, and Coding

FUNCTION12, the design to code tool producing great performance with accurate codes.

Since COVID-19, the global pandemic has taught many businesses the importance of a digital transition with the evidence of a rising number of businesses investing millions of dollars into such transformation. Also to meet the need of customers fast, the low-code and no-code platforms are receiving the spotlight more than ever.

Today, we will be going over the low-code, no-code technology and the very basis of development, and coding to understand more about each technology’s difference.

Has hand-coding become useless with the evolution of low-code and no-code?

Gartner, a research firm for technology, has announced that “by 2024, 65% of all mobile development will be replaced by no coding.” This may seem like the age of ‘any can become a developer has finally started.

Moreover, the recent no-code and low-code tool and platform has not only helped individuals or organizations with no coding skills but also programmers and developers as a “time-saving tool”. However, such evolution does have its downside to it.

Secrets Behind Low Coding

On 2019 August 16th, ‘Info World, an IT media, published an article called ‘Why developers hate low-code with 9 reasons for pinpointing the issues with low-code development. Despite low-code and no-code platforms being presented as a tool to save the developer’s time, it turned out that most developers hate such tools. Here are the nine reasons explaining why they hate it so much.

  1. Difficulty in maintenance: A product built on a low-code platform may seem like it’s well-functioning in the beginning, but once feedback is received from the users to alter or add features to the product, the frustration begins. Unlike how features were able to be built with some source codes, it can no longer be done for low-code development since it doesn’t allow writing source codes, making developers extremely frustrated.
  2. Lacks originality: Even though it’s easy and fast to build standardized features in a low-code platform, the users may feel that it’s not original, but mundane since similar features and interfaces will also be used by many other businesses.
  3. The ‘one-size fits all’ paradox: When users and clients want a tailored ‘perfect fit to their size’ service, low-code tools are similar to ‘one-size fits all’ clothes created in the factory. It’s simple. To maximize cost efficiency, producing in a single size is the only choice.
  4. Coding is sometimes easier than configuration: Even if extracting data from a combination of different data set isn’t necessarily considering ‘coding’, it’s sometimes more complicated than writing codes. It’s only a matter of time before someone realized the complexity.
  5. Low-code is like running with your eyes closed: When there are problems or issues in source codes, developers can find and solve the issue themselves. But with low code, it’s almost impossible to see where the problem is caused since it’s technically built by someone else.
  6. Issues when wrong data exists: Every developer has to manage the accumulating data and constantly check codes to prevent issues. This is because any wrong data, even trivial, can cause an error and harm the service's reputation. So, allowing a different platform to take such responsibility wouldn’t be the best idea.
  7. The inefficiency of low-code: Low-code is a tool built for builders with low or no coding knowledge. Therefore, an extensive amount of user guides are provided where the user can’t even find the feature or solution they are not looking for. Furthermore, even if the build was successful, it would be difficult to expect a speedy update and result in falling behind the competition with other products.
  8. Inducing lack of experience: Many schools these days use low-code platforms when teaching students about programming. It may be easy and convenient to learn programming through this method, but this will lead to not being able to produce a professional programmer. Even in the age of low-code, we still need someone to build that low-code platform from scratch.
  9. Being trapped: What would happen when the low-code platform that you’ve built on doesn’t make any updates or even worse, suddenly closes down its business? Your service’s future may depend on the decisions made by the low-code platform.

The Future of Coding

No-code and low-code platforms aren’t useless, rather, the importance of writing and understanding the source code is also rising together. Although it’s inevitable to think of the cost and time when building an application or website, it’s even more important to regard how the structure of your product will affect monetization and customer satisfaction in the long run. Furthermore, if the gap between low-code platforms and coding can’t be narrowed, more problems will occur over time eventually.

The low-code, no-code market is rapidly rising, but there’s still a limit when it comes to creating a service without any technological knowledge. Without a doubt, both a business and a customer would want a reliable website based on creative ideas and well-functioning technology.

Digital transformation is being rapidly adopted by numerous businesses and more services will be released based on this new wave. Although no-code, low-code platforms can help businesses start digital transformation fast, they will not be able to maintain a sturdy service. IT services will require coding skills based on software knowledge and programming background not less, but more.

Looking for Figma-to-code? Check out FUNCTION12 today.

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This article was created with the help of AI.

Top comments (1)

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mattferrin profile image
Insight Lighthouse

I do like a lot of the trade-offs Hasura made. I think it allows a lot of actual coding. I also like that it allows you to lock down permissions and open them just enough to have a functioning app.

A near perfect world might allow you to generate low level code, but eject like Create React App when you want to take over.