No-Code web development tools have become powerful secret weapons for both technical and nontechnical creators. They assist companies and single creators in building efficient and inexpensive web-based or mobile applications from scratch.
No-Code tools reduce the amount of time and coding expertise required to translate an idea into something usable. You no longer need to be a programmer or a developer to bring your ideas to life.
The fast adoption of No-Code technologies allows a more accessible way for everyone, no matter their educational background, to build sites. It’s a task that once seemed daunting, and intimidated creators, barring them from taking a site or product idea to the next level.
Now, the ball is in anyone’s court.
Many have been introduced to code in a pretty comical way; for Gen Xers and Millennials, it was coding a unique one of a kind theme for MySpace with help from coder forums. For younger Millennials and Gen Z kids, we got our start coding our intricate one-of-a-kind themes on Tumblr. With that knowledge, a lot of people understood the basics of coding. But when it comes to eCommerce storefront coding, things aren’t as cut and dry.
And if you’re trying to sell a product starting from scratch, hiring developers gets very expensive.
This is where companies like Webflow, Shopify, Bubble, Canva, and Airtable come in. They’ve all created tools that allow users to achieve professional, impressive results without a lick of backend chaos.
There are also No-Code resources like Zeroqode, NoCode, and MakerPad, dedicated to guiding users through the process of building.
Besides the costs and accessibility, the main draw of using No-Code programs is speed. It allows single users and companies alike to get new ideas into the market with a viable product that quickly serves consumers. No-Code can get you leaps and bounds past simple viability and all the way to the golden ticket of profitability.
For starters, figure out what your goals are. More specifically, what features does your site need? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a seller, a builder, or a company as a whole?
If your app needs native mobile features, for example, integration with the mobile device itself, there are a few options. Flutter from Google blends real code and no-code into a single program, allowing users to learn as they go. Also, there's a newer offering called Branded App by Wix, which lets you build native mobile apps using No-Code. Wix is already pretty familiar to a lot of site builders, so the functions are easier to adopt.
But in even simpler terms, No-Code tools are as ubiquitous as MailChimp and Canva. These are programs that anyone from companies’ marketing departments to college students use these tools. But when you think about it, when users use these tools, they’re building with No-Code without even giving it a second thought.
These types of third-party programs are the definition of fake it ‘til you make it. Business owners can make top developer quality emails, graphics, and whole websites in just a few hours instead of a few weeks.
According to research firm Forrester, the combo of low-code and typical innovation is projected to be adopted by 75% of businesses. And by 2030, the global low-code development platform market is expected to produce $187 billion (with a B) in revenue. It will account for more than 65% of application development activity by 2024.
Not to mention, about 60% of all custom apps are now developed outside of the IT department. The majority of these users (40%) work in a professional, corporate setting.
But like any new movement, there are always critics who doubt such a seemingly simple process that further perpetuates the myth that No-Code means coding is dead.
But, the fact of the matter is that all of these platforms exist because of brilliant developers — and brilliant developers will always be in high demand. Without developers, the innovation necessary to spearhead these platforms wouldn’t even exist in the first place.
To put this in a contemporary perspective, today anyone can upload a track to music platforms like SoundCloud. But, musical engineers and record producers weren’t automatically replaced. In fact, if anything, more opportunity was created for collaboration, and small creators and large engineering companies actually learn from each other. Larger developers can learn from the simplicity of small devs, and smaller ones can learn at a larger scale from their experienced peers.
Vlad Magdalin, co-founder and CEO of Webflow, a no-code platform for building websites said, “What’s happening is we’re trying to automate the things that are most prone for automation — so for developers they’re elated because they get to work on the hard stuff on the really interesting problems now.”
It will be interesting to see where No-Code platforms are utilized, and just how fast they gain traction in the near future. The accessibility of the platforms allows for inexperienced site developers, or even small sellers, to democratize the space, therefore allowing for opportunities for a new educational ecosystem.
If you’d like to learn more about SUMO Heavy, drop us a line, give us a call or contact us on social media.
