What is low-code development?

Low-code development is an increasingly popular software development approach. It enables users to quickly create simple applications and complex solutions with minimal hand-coding.

Sounds great? That’s exactly what other developers think! According to statistics, by the end of 2025 low-code development tools will be responsible for over 70% of new business app development.

The growing importance of accessible, low-code development solutions

As technology continues to advance, the growing importance of accessible low-code development solutions becomes increasingly evident, democratising software development and empowering individuals, professional developers and organisations to create robust applications efficiently, regardless of their coding expertise.

With a low-code development platform, you don’t need to be an expert in every tool you are using and you don’t need to possess all coding skills.

The principles of low-code development platforms

The principles of low-code development platforms encompass several key aspects such as visual development, abstraction of technical details, reusable components, declarative programming, rapid iteration and prototyping, cross-platform compatibility, scalability and performance, and integration capabilities.

By adhering to these principles, low-code development platforms empower organisations to streamline the application development lifecycle, accelerate time-to-market, and adapt to changing business requirements more effectively.

The benefits of adopting low-code development in your organisation

Adopting low-code development in your organisation offers several significant benefits, such as:

• accelerated time-to-market: low-code platforms enable rapid application development through visual interfaces and pre-built components, reducing development time and allowing organisations to bring new solutions to market faster;
• cost efficiency: by minimising the need for extensive hand-coding and reducing development time, low-code platforms help lower development costs. Additionally, the streamlined development process often requires fewer resources, further contributing to cost savings;
• increased productivity: with low-code development, developers can focus on high-level design and business logic rather than getting bogged down in technical implementation details. This results in increased productivity and allows developers to tackle more projects in less time;
• flexibility and adaptability: low-code platforms facilitate agile development methodologies, enabling organisations to quickly iterate on their applications and adapt to changing business requirements and market conditions;
• empowerment of developers: low-code platforms empower individuals with varying levels of technical expertise, including citizen developers and business users, to participate in the application development process. This democratisation of development fosters innovation and allows for more efficient use of resources;
• improved collaboration: low-code development encourages collaboration between developers, designers, and stakeholders by providing a common visual interface for designing and building applications. This collaborative approach leads to better alignment between development efforts and business goals;
• enhanced scalability and maintenance: low-code platforms often include built-in features for scalability, performance optimisation, and maintenance, reducing the burden on IT teams and ensuring that applications can grow and evolve alongside the organisation’s needs;
• integration capabilities: low-code platforms facilitate seamless integration with existing systems, databases, and third-party services, allowing organisations to leverage their existing investments and infrastructure while building new applications.

What are the weaknesses and limitations of low-code?

Although low-code app development sounds almost perfect, we all know there is no such thing as a perfect solution. And low-code development is no different.

Low-code platforms may struggle with highly complex or specialised requirements that demand intricate custom logic or performance optimisations. Organisations that heavily invest in a specific low-code platform may become locked into that vendor’s ecosystem, limiting their ability to switch to alternative solutions or integrate with other technologies seamlessly.

While low-code platforms offer pre-built components and templates, customisation options may be limited. Organisations requiring highly tailored user experiences or specific functionalities may find it challenging to achieve their desired outcomes within the constraints of low-code tools.

There are also some concerns regarding scalability, security and limited control over infrastructure.

How to pick a low-code platform?

Choosing the right low-code platform for your organisation involves careful consideration of several key factors.

Before you make your decision:

• assess your needs and requirements,
• evaluate ease of use of the solutions you are after,
• assess the platform’s scalability, performance and integration capabilities,
• check the platforms customisation capabilities,
• check out its security: data encryption, access controls, audit logging, and compliance with industry standards,
• evaluate the total cost of ownership, including subscription fees, licensing costs, implementation expenses, ongoing maintenance, and potential hidden costs.

The future trends in low-code development

The future of low-code development is expected to see several trends shaping the landscape. Low-code platforms will increasingly incorporate AI and machine learning capabilities to automate repetitive tasks, provide intelligent suggestions, and optimise application performance.

Organisations will adopt hybrid development approaches that combine low-code, no-code and traditional coding methods to leverage the strengths of each approach. This hybrid model will offer flexibility, allowing developers to use low-code tools for rapid prototyping and traditional coding for complex customisations.

In the years to come, low-code platforms will continue to empower non-technical users to participate in the application development process.

They will also evolve to better support the development of mobile applications and applications for the Internet of Things (IoT).

They will emphasise collaboration and DevOps practices, enabling seamless integration with version control systems, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and collaboration tools.

They will offer industry-specific templates, modules, and vertical solutions tailored to the needs of specific industries, such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail. These templates will accelerate application development in specialised domains and address industry-specific challenges.

What’s more, low-code platforms are likely to leverage serverless architectures to abstract infrastructure management and simplify application deployment. This approach will enable developers to focus on building and scaling applications without worrying about server provisioning, maintenance, or scalability.

The low-code market will see consolidation as larger technology companies acquire or partner with smaller low-code vendors to expand their offerings and compete more effectively. This consolidation will lead to greater standardisation, interoperability, and maturity in the low-code ecosystem.

In the field of security, low-code platforms will place a greater emphasis on compliance features to address growing concerns around data privacy, regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity threats. This includes built-in security controls, encryption mechanisms, and compliance certifications.

Embrace low-code as a catalyst for change

Are you ready to embrace low-code application platforms? Are you keen to be innovative and thrive in an increasingly digital world? Well, it’s all available – waiting for you to take advantage. Contact us now to check it out and to enhance agility, drive digital transformation, and deliver exceptional experiences to customers and employees alike.