Love 'em or hate 'em - Visual App Development Tools are here to stay. Can they shake the stigmas of their past? These solutions have made strides in recent years. Is a low code tool right for your next UI project? Hopefully this article will help you in your quest.
Low code development platforms are the most exciting turn in the area of front-end development technologies. These visual app-building tools focus on the most critical aspects— front-end design and logic while taking care of boilerplate code. Building an app takes time and manual effort, from analyzing the issue, conceptualizing, and designing to coding. Low-code platforms help reduce the front-end as well as the back-end economic effort; it allows more customization in both aspects. These tools provide an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to create frontend using out-of-the-box UI components that can easily connect to databases and 3rd party apps to fetch data and take an action on. They enable the focus on the business logic and the ultimate goal—user experience.
Low code/no code app development platforms are visual software development environments where front-end engineers and developers drag and drop UI components, connect them and create enterprise-ready mobile or web apps.
Some advantages of using visual app development tools are
- Designed to accelerate software delivery by quickly developing apps for specific cases
- Allow the developers to design, test, deploy, and manage apps much quicker than the traditional approach.
- Creation of apps with a minimum of hand-coding and minimal upfront investment
- IT leaders can use their current skill sets and resources while integrating existing systems to build internal tools for their companies
- Using GUIs and configuration rather than traditional programming to either create new apps or further develop existing ones helps answer the market demands rapidly.
- Easily integrate the internal tools or apps with existing databases and APIs
Many companies like Wipro, Mondelez, Endy, LTI, Pfizer, Colgate, McKinsey & Company, and many more have been using visual development tools to build enterprise apps.
Low-Code Platform Roundup
- Studio Creatio — Best for scalable architecture
- Appian — Best case management features
- Nintex — Best workflow management features
- Mendix — Best for Agile
- Caspio — Best customer service
- WaveMaker — Best for aPaaS management
- Salesforce Lightning — Best for Salesforce CRM integration
- Power Apps — Best for enterprise applications
- Jotform Apps — Best user input collection features
- Apps Script — Best for beginners
I've clocked thousands of hours of dev time. One nugget of advice - you don't necessarily need to write every line of code. For developers with limited time or non-techies with a vision, low code platforms can be a game changer. Picking the right one can be tricky. Remember, these solutions almost always have limitations! How fast you will run up against these walls will entirely depend on which you choose and your needs. Hopefully the curated list above will help you choose which one is right for you, good luck fellow internet builders!