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Discussion on: Will No-Code Replace developers?

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momander profile image
Martin Omander • Edited

When trying to predict the future, it's useful to look to the past. We have had at least two major waves of successful no-code tools before. Let's see what happened.

The first wave was spreadsheets in the 80s and 90s. These let business analysts automate number-crunching themselves, without asking developers to write code for them. Three things happened:

  1. More people started automating number-crunching. Before spreadsheets, not everyone had access to a developer who could write code for them. In other words, the market grew.

  2. Businesses started asking for things that spreadsheets couldn't do, like workflow automation. Developers moved on to those challenges.

  3. The demand for developers grew.

A few decades later website builders arrived. Now anyone could build a static website by pointing and clicking. What happened?

  1. Businesses that didn't have a website before created their own. The market grew.

  2. Businesses started asking for things that website builders couldn't do, like complex web apps or native mobile apps. Developers moved on to those challenges.

  3. The demand for developers grew.

We can't know for sure what impact the latest wave of no-code tools will have. But the past may help us make some educated guesses.

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uadson profile image
Uadson Feitosa

I agree completely

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heyvik profile image
Vik πŸ“ˆ

loved the whole reply, I do agree