How No-Code and AI Democratizes App Development

The No-Code Revolution is already here.

The pursuit for automating, simplifying and overall improving services and businesses is what brought us from the first industrial revolution back in early 19th century, through the Digital Revolution and Information Age all the way in the present day of what is called Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The global crisis following 2020 sped up the already fast-paced tech industry, bringing us closer to the Imagination Age.

With the rise of generative AI technology and OpenAI’s GPT, the no-code tools are becoming even more powerful and easier to use.

There are no-code tools that can create complete websites from a simple prompt. There are tools that can create full-fledged apps, again, from a simple prompt. 

This democratizes app development even more, empowering almost anyone with an idea to build something from scratch, without needing to invest years in learning how to code.

Without any programming skills required, No-Code tools empower individuals without a technical background to develop applications that automate processes, simplify workflows, and establish complete enterprises.

The ability to create custom apps that cater to specific business needs without any coding experience can give small businesses and startups an edge in the modern economy.

This is the No-Code Revolution.

Additionally, the No-Code revolution has empowered skilled developers to enhance work processes, minimize development schedules, and decrease the total expenses related to development.

Developers can use No-Code tools to create prototypes, test and iterate on concepts, and collaborate more effectively with non-technical colleagues.

The concept of No-Code has been around for a very long time, but most of the tools were limited in their capability of producing a fully functional and scalable app. 

However, with technological advancements, No-Code tools have evolved to match the capabilities of traditional coding practices.

Whilst these tools and platforms don’t require years of learning programming language, they still have a learning curve.

Out of necessity, this “gave birth” to a new kind of pioneer in the market.

The No-Coder

The No-Coder is someone who truly embodies the No-Code Revolution.

They are individuals who use no-code platforms and tools to build innovative applications and businesses without the need for conventional coding skills. 

They learnt the ins and outs of the no-code platforms and have the expertise and knowledge to build almost anything combining these tools.

They are the ones who are democratizing app development, making it accessible to everyone regardless of their technical background.

The rise of No-Coders has led to the emergence of a new kind of economy that operates on No-Code principles. 

These individuals are building businesses and generating revenue with no-code platforms, disrupting traditional business models. 

They are at the forefront of a movement that is changing the way we think about app development and the tech industry as a whole.

Low Code vs No Code

Oftentimes, no-code is confused with low-code, but these are two different concepts meant to help different types of users.

Low-Code platforms are more developer-oriented, enabling accelerated app delivery for more complex applications, processes and integrations, by minimising the development time of certain components from hours to minutes. 

These particular platforms, despite that they offer a user interface for configuration, a certain degree of coding skills is required.

The Future Of Coding

“The future of coding is no coding at all.” — Chris Wanstrat, CEO of GitHub.

In times when software is becoming a vital component of numerous businesses across all industries and everything must “go digital”, the demand for software developers far exceeds the supply of qualified developers which makes business innovation harder.

To overcome this software developer drought, but still migrate to software-driven businesses, many entrepreneurs are starting to look into no-code platforms to automate manual processes and increase business agility.

The main appeal that contributed to the market growth of these tools over the past years is the accelerated delivery of applications in a flexible and easy way, saving a lot of resources, especially for early stage businesses.

The modern no-code platforms offer extremely agile workflows and incredible user interfaces with pre-built components to build almost any sort of application, with rich functionality that can meet almost any business need.

Entrepreneurs and business users that do not possess technical skills can finally take innovation and development into their own hands and can be officially referred to as citizen developers.

Of course, it depends on the competitive advantage of each business. But in general, this allows anyone with an idea to materializes it into a software-driven business.

To name a few of the most popular no-code platforms (addressing a wide spectrum of needs):

• Shopify

• Webflow

• Bubble.io

• Softr

• Zapier

• Airtable

Becoming obsolete

This revolution powered by the advancements of AI can seem rather daunting for developers of all sorts, mainly because it feels like their skills and jobs are on the line, becoming obsolete.

Yes, there will be a definite impact. Businesses like web agencies offering simple websites and landing pages will probably need to change their approach and adopt these platforms in their toolset.

I must admit, I was also sceptical until recently. My 12+ years worth of development experience and knowledge suddenly felt endangered.

What’s the point of learning a plethora of frameworks, languages, patterns, and concepts all the time, when anyone can use AI and No-Code to build almost anything?

But then again, this happened throughout history. 

People thought the tractor will replace farmers, but it actually created more jobs for people in related industries. 

If you think you’ll be replaced by AI, you will be. If you think you won’t replaced by AI, you won’t be.

A lot of developers spend over 50% of their time on non-coding, under-challenged and repetitive tasks, another 20% of the time in boring meetings and the rest, doing the actual work that matters.

Those time-consuming repetitive tasks, setting up projects, pipelines, doing the same process over and over, which by all means, can be automated to some degree without over-complicating things.

That’s one of the reasons I quit my 9-5 corporate job.

These tools are meant to help us do better work, speed up development and focus on what really matters - delivering better outcomes. 

Even technical entrepreneurs who do code, but have hundreds of other things on their plate, can push out prototypes and MVPs faster to validate product and market which is critical for a startup.

One of the main traits offered by no-code solutions is probably the cost reduction when building an app. Cost of both time and money.

Normally, custom-built MVPs can take from 3 to 6 months with costs that can stretch up to 80K $, depending on the required design & functionality.

These tools enable entrepreneurs to push out MVPs and prototypes at a fraction of traditional costs with a faster time-to-market.

No-code tools consist of prebuilt components that help you lay the foundation of your app much easier compared to the traditional way of building applications.

The visual drag&drop interfaces make the UI designing much more appealing to the developer and citizen developer.

Even the integration with 3rd party vendors is much more intuitive and usually in a point-click approach.

Not to mention the changes you can make almost instantly.

The other side of the coin

Of course, there’s risk involved with any approach.

Those prebuilt components and templates that help you lay the foundation, can also become your nail in the coffin. 

You could get to an edge case where the out-of-the-box components are not enough to implement what could be your competitive advantage.

Soon, you realize that a custom solution well designed around your business needs is more suited than making workarounds on no-code platforms that can be rigid and become more costly over time.

Should you decide to switch from a no-code platform to another, or completely move away from no-code, your application, in many cases the main driver of your business, is locked on that specific vendor.

Some vendors give you access to the source code, but you’ll be surprised to discover what’s going on under the hood. You’ll be given a tangled piece of application that it‘s just that…a piece of application.

Most often you’ll lose core functionalities if should you choose to exit a no-code platform.

Another thing to consider is the dependency your business would have on another business strategic choices.

If someday that no-code vendor chooses to exit or pull the plug, your business could significantly suffer.

There’s always platform risk.

It’s clear how no-code empowers and simplifies digital transformation across industries and businesses.

As it brings application development to people with no technical skills, it’s hard to beat that value proposition, especially these days when it went from simple website builders to end-to-end application-building tools.

For worried developers out there, embrace no-code. With the time these platforms save you can be well invested in developing other skills in the new emerging technical fields, like AI, Blockchain, VR and IoT.

Conclusion

That being said, no-code isn’t always a viable solution as an alternative to custom software development. The associated trade-offs that come with these platforms can ultimately cost your business.

It all comes down to the business needs.

Personally, I think it’s perfect for building quick MVPs and prototypes to validate markets if the business’s competitive advantage is not strictly bound to the implementation of complex processes.

In the long run, a custom solution over a prebuilt one is always a better choice, but what matters, in the end, is the value your product provides to your customer.

I’ve seen the positive usage of no-code and will continue to embrace and use it if a project sees fit.

I hope you’ve got value out of this article.

If you’re looking to incorporate no-code into your business or need more insights about these tools, get in touch. I’ll be happy to help.

Thank you for your time.