No code movement: a technological revolution
The rise of the codeless development platform (NCDP) is changing the technological landscape, allowing people who don’t know how to program can also create mobile and web applications. The movement has been strong in recent years, and even well-known companies like Lambda School have used codeless tools to build their platforms.
The advantages of no code: efficiency and convenience
No code tools have many advantages, such as saving costs and time, and improving accessibility to non-technical users. They support rapid prototyping, testing, and deployment of applications, reducing reliance on traditional programming skills. This democratization of technology allows anyone with ideas to launch a product without relying on engineers or substantial funds.
Limitations of no code: scope of application and potential risks
Although there are many advantages of code-free development, it also has limitations. While it is suitable for early verification and small businesses, large projects may still require custom builds and traditional programming skills. In addition, when building on third-party platforms, there may be security issues and platform stability issues. However, supporters believe that no code does not replace programmers, but instead increases the need for programmers, and platform code is often less susceptible to security threats than custom code.
The rise of codeless: the background of the times and market demand
For a long time, technological innovation has been driven mainly by the community of software engineers, web developers and hardware hackers. Until recently, Y Combinator, the famous startup accelerator, only accepted founding teams with technical backgrounds. Furthermore, today's most valuable companies are technology-driven, so people have been paying attention to technical talents to deal with future economic development. Programming education provider Lambda School has raised nearly $50 million to bridge this skill gap, and there are many other courses teaching the next generation of programming.
But what if programming is no longer crucial to the success of the tech industry? This is the world of No Code Development Platform (NCDP).
In the past few years, the rise of the codeless movement has begun to change the landscape of the technology field. Ironically, Lambda School itself is the product of codeless movement, using a combination of tools like Typeform, Airtable and Retool to build its smallest viable product (which has served 3,000 students). Codeless movement is also known as low-code or visual development. Manufacturers of no-code platforms are still discussing the best labels for the movement, but for now, I will stick with "no-code".
John Everhard summarized codeless software as a visual integrated development environment (IDE) on Forbes. “In this environment, users (i.e., citizen developers) can drag and drop application components, connect them together, and create a mobile or web application. With this software, employees can design and build what can be extended for any organization Powerful apps without writing any code. "All in all, users can create apps without understanding the code, and that's how powerful it is.
The benefits of no code: efficiency and cost
I remember how frustrated our developers (and myself!) were when it was time to update their marketing pages or channels. While I can happily edit HTML, having a custom built platform means that the deployment of changes is limited to developers. Prioritizing feature development as well as bug fixes and tweaks is a challenge. The progress is very slow. We tried many A/B testing tools and moved some pages to popular CMS, but the user experience started to decline. While tools like Webflow already existed at the time, they were not touted as mainstream solutions, so we lacked the awareness to implement them.
Since then, the rise of codeless tools has forever changed the game—not only for tasks like marketing pages, but for full-stack applications, people can now build them end-to-end. In 2014, if you want to create a marketplace, you have to develop it from scratch. After that, products like Sharetribe emerged, which offers a standard “out-of-the-box” market software with a sustained price tag. Now you can build any market settings you like with codeless tools.
Obviously, saving time and money are two key advantages of no code. Andrew Wilkinson, co-founder of Tiny Product Studio and Independent Investment Fund, recently tweeted: "I used to spend $25,000 to $100,000 to build an app in 3 to 6 months. It's frustrating and expensive. And slow. Then I started using codeless tools like Webflow, Bubble, Zapier, and Airtable. Suddenly, I was able to build my application ideas at extremely low cost in a few days rather than months. The craziest thing is , I can tweak and maintain it myself without hiring expensive developers. "He likens "native code" to bulldozers: it's very useful when you need to build large and commercial-grade products. He likens "no code" to a pickup truck: powerful enough to help you with most simple and intermediate projects.
Time without code: Technology democratization
The tech industry has been increasingly criticized for its lack of diversity and inclusion over the past decade. Silicon Valley has nurtured a generation of founders who look similar, talk similarly, and solve similar problems—and this cycle of similarity repeats itself as these people accumulate more wealth through exit and investment. Teaching people programming and funding different founders is slowly bringing change, but the codeless movement has the potential to change the face of technology exponentially. If you no longer need access to engineers or funds to launch a product, anyone can try their ideas. Perhaps it is the need for democratization of technology that has pushed the codeless movement to the present.
In November 2019, Webflow held a codeless conference after Accel's $72 million Series A financing led by it. This campaign for the “people who create the future of web, design and software” shows that interest in codeless movements is growing rapidly. Like many codeless platforms, Webflow was founded in 2012-213 and nearly went bankrupt before its breakthrough in recent years. I believe that one of the reasons why the codeless movement is resonating with the times is that the target users are constantly evolving. Initially, visual development was very helpful for designers and front-end developers to speed up their work. However, the market quickly showed that it was larger and actually suitable for everyone.
Another popular codeless tool, Bubble, was also founded in 2012, leveraging the popularity of the codeless movement, raising $6.25 million in 2019. Bubble is a click-through programming tool for both the web and mobile terminals without any programming experience. Bubble is used by single-person businesses and large organizations such as McKinsey - which shows that code-free tools are widely used.
Of course, you can also ask why platforms like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace are not hailed as leaders in the code-free movement, because they have allowed anyone to build a website for years. For me, the reason is the custom flexibility they offer: Of course, you can build a content website or even add an e-commerce plugin, but can you create a mobile app with unique features? They belong to the WYSIWYG era—a system that focuses on editing content—rather than visualizing the features of the IDE environment era.
Makerpad's Story: No-code Education
In 2019, Product Hunt created the Golden Cat Award for the No-code Product of the Year, and the first winner was Makerpad, an educational platform and community that makes it easier for people to build and operate businesses without code. Yes, Makerpad is doing it, and builds it with codeless tools such as Webflow, Airtable, Zapier and Memberstack. Its founder Ben Tossell even hosted online tutorials showing how he built Makerpad. I recently asked Ben about his journey and sports.
Accord. I'm working very hard to come up with my "great ideas" but I don't know how to program, so I'm using codeless tools to create versions of these ideas and connect them to feel like "real" software. I tried to start a lot, but none of them succeeded. What’s successful is that every time I build them, people ask me how I did it. It wasn't until then that I realized that no one cared about my "great creativity", but I've done an idea that people do care about.
There are many reasons! It removes the barriers to all those who want to build something but are told that they need to learn programming or find a CTO. About 1/300 people can program. So now the rest of us can start our ideas and the creativity unlocked is huge.
I recently heard of a case that handled $1 billion through its platform, which was built on Bubble. No code is not a new concept, but it is now receiving increasing attention: Why now? Its technical capabilities are now much stronger. You can actually use Glide and Google Sheet to build something that looks and functions like Airbnb. Now, building in browsers has become more common.
It enables anyone to build a project. Whether it's a small home app, a side job or a bigger goal. Now the build part is no longer a barrier.
The limitations of no code: When to switch to traditional development
As Andrew mentioned earlier, if the codeless tool is a pickup truck used to build software, then when should we turn to bulldozers? How long can a business "no code" last? What does this mean for technical talents? Ben from Makerpad suggests changing the way we think about this debate and first understand what kind of company you are building. If you are trying to create the next Uber or Airbnb, the codeless tool is perfect for the early verification phase—and then, when revenues stabilize and grow, you can continue to build custom and raise funds. He believes that 90% of independent businesses (small teams with annual turnover below $10 million) can be built and operated entirely on no code.
If anyone can build a technical product in the future, where will programmers go? First, the technical team still needs to build codeless tools. In addition, Webflow co-founder and CEO Vlad Magdalin believes that the code-free movement does not replace programmers, but will instead increase the demand for excellent programmers.
He suggested: "The codeless movement unlocks software creation capabilities to people at least 10 times the number of people who write code today. This is the fastest way to make this valuable skill easier to obtain and will mean more Many people make a living by creating software.”
Webflow's customers include large companies such as Adobe, design agency IDEO and even NASA. Obviously, these companies have not fired the entire engineering department with the advent of code: they just have more options when building digital products.
What about security issues or platform stability issues? If companies are handing over their data and building it on third-party platforms, how secure are they? In the era of GDPR and the recent California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), it is becoming increasingly difficult to customize the management of user data and comply with global regulations. "A common assumption is that NCDP is more susceptible to security threats, as these applications are often built by non-technical business users. In fact, custom code is often more than platform code (which has consistency already The risk is greater by validating the use in multiple applications. "
Currently, most codeless software providers are fairly stable emerging entities that will continue to offer their products for many years. This means that people can use them with relative confidence to build. However, there are always risks to build on another platform, and if that platform is closed, your business may go out of business. The same is true for startups built on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and more—the booming business today could be destroyed overnight by algorithm or API changes.
Can you take the risk of taking a desperate bet? We saw one of the biggest beauty product launches of all time last year: YouTubers Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson launched a collaboration to millions of potential buyers, but their website was paralyzed for hours due to problems with Shopify.
The codeless future: sustainable development and opportunities
So, what's next? We are still in the early stages of the no-code movement and will continue to see a large number of products and services emerging in the field. I'm personally excited to develop Atto.VC, a female founder accelerator, into a codeless school. Much of the startup ecosystem has been too focused on financing, investment and connections—and the codeless movement helps bring it back to the sheer joy of creating things again.
No code FAQ
What is codeless development? Codeless development refers to the process of creating a software application without writing traditional code. It enables individuals with little programming experience to build functional applications through visual interfaces and drag-and-drop tools.Who can benefit from codeless development? Codeless development is designed for a wide audience, including business users, entrepreneurs, designers, and individuals who want to create applications without having to learn programming languages.
What are the advantages of using a codeless platform? The codeless platform provides faster development speeds, lower costs and higher accessibility to non-technical users. They enable users to prototype, test, and deploy applications without relying on traditional programming skills.
Do I need programming skills to use codeless tools? No, you don't need programming skills to use codeless tools. These platforms are designed to be very easy to use, allowing individuals to create applications through intuitive interfaces and pre-built components.
What types of applications can be built using a codeless platform? The codeless platform supports a variety of applications, including websites, mobile applications, business process automation and simple database-driven applications.
What are the challenges of using codeless development? While code-free development has its advantages, challenges may include limitations in customization, potential platform locking, and the constraints that need to adapt to visual development.
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