Introduction to Low Code
Published: 2020-07-28 01:29:35

Low code is an industry practice for software development that's taking the industry by storm.

The market for low-code platforms was 4.3 billion in 2017. It is [predicted to grow](https://www.csoonline.com/article/3404216/4-security-concerns-for-low-code-and-no-code-development.html) to more than$27 billion by 2022.

## What is Low Code?
Simply put, **Low Code is a software development methodology that focuses on UI first, relying on prebuilt frameworks and tools to reduce the amount of code written.** Companies like [Caspio](https://www.caspio.com/) are building tools that make it incredibly easy to turn data into a working application.

Low code has been in practice since 2011, and the market is maturing fast. Low code solves a few key problems:

### Time to Product
Low code can drastically reduce the time it takes to go from an idea to a working concept. This ties into the Agile development process, and makes it easier to iterate through ideas. This works great for non technical founders who want to illustrate to investors or Alpha users the value of a product.

### Easy to Pivot
The ability to make drastic shifts as you are proving out your business model is essential. Startups and new products experience massive swings during the ideation phase. For larger companies, this can also make it easier to A&B test larger applications, and see what really sticks for customers.

### Decreasing Technical Debt
Larger software applications can rely on the Low Code technique to outsource time intensive features that would be hard to build and maintain for smaller companies. For example, real time server communications and other generic software tasks can be accomplished using a pre built solution, saving time and money.

### Democratize Programming
Traditionally difficult and time consuming tasks that require a large team of developers can be done easier with Low Code. 

## Current Issues
As with all things, there are quite a few problems that the Low Code industry needs to solve. 

**Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning:** Low-code leverages AI currently by [assisting users with suggestions](https://www.zdnet.com/article/exclusive-industry-first-ai-low-code-platform-helps-you-build-apps-without-a-developer/), [Google AI capabilities](https://www.appian.com/platform/artificial-intelligence/), and [chatbots](https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/04/microsoft-launches-power-virtual-agents-its-no-code-bot-builder/). Any modern technology stack should be able to implement AI and ML. 

**Increased Functionality**: Currently, Low Code platforms have a limit to how complex applications can be made. In the future, making more functionality easier to use will further increase the value of "Low Code" companies.  

**Single Platform Lock In:** Once you've developed on a low code platform, it can be time consuming and difficult to transfer to a different company. Making it easier to migrate data between platforms will increase adoption for companies cautious of entrusting all their data with a single provider. 

**Security:** As with most new tech, security for Low Code platforms can be difficult to implement, leaving gaping security flaws for applications. Inexperienced users can easily create an application that leaks user information. 

**Community Support:** Having a larger support community of employees and other customers will make new developers more open to developing on these platforms. 


## Looking to the Future

By 2024, low-code application development [will be responsible](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3956079/magic-quadrant-for-enterprise-low-code-application-platf) for more than 65% of application development activity. As platforms simplify, more and more people will be empowered to solve problems around them with low-code solutions.

## Keep in Touch
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