The Pros and Cons of Low-Code Development

It seems like every business nowadays is having custom websites, mobile apps and software developed for them, and for many good reasons! Custom applications and software can seriously benefit your company and your client base. Convenient digital assets make buying, selling and working with others far easier than it’s ever been. Because of this need for fast, quality software, low-code development technology has been created to aid businesses and aspiring software developers.

When most people think about creating software, they imagine long lines of difficult code and complicated processes that seem impossible to understand. Does everyone have to deal with that when creating software? This thought can immediately intimidate you, but with low-code technology, you may not have to deal with those challenging situations.

What Is Low-Code Technology?

A low-code platform is designed to provide users with a development environment that allows them to create quality applications through a user interface. Simply put, it will enable users to develop software through a relatively easy-to-use interface rather than by writing code themselves – hence the name ‘low-code development.’

This development style may require users to write some code, but overall the development platform will handle the process. Users can typically create software by selecting options that the platform provides for them.

There are also no-code platforms, which are similar to low-code platforms, except they require absolutely no coding on the user’s part.

The need for low-code technology has grown due to the fact that more people all around the world are using digital software to take care of tasks. Custom development applications allow businesses to create software that is specifically tailored to their personal needs. They allow people and companies to create software very quickly.

The Good Side Of Low-Code Tech

You can probably immediately think of some great benefits of low-code development. This technology has allowed people with low levels of coding experience to create software using these types of platforms.

Some notable benefits of this tech are:

Faster Software Creation. Of course, the most immediate benefit of low-code technology is that it’s much quicker. Users can create software for their businesses in a relatively short time when compared to working with advanced software developers.

This means that companies can have software created, tested and deployed to their teams or their audiences quickly. Although, it should also be noted that while fast production is great, fast production doesn’t always lead to the best results. It’s extremely important for companies to value quality over production speed.

Accessibility. Before low-code development, software development was majorly handled by experienced people who knew how to create code and applications from scratch. This required lots of practice, training and learning.

However, low-code technology allows people with far less experience to take a shot at software development. People with very little coding technology can handle low-code tech with less trouble than they would with development technology that requires them to write code themselves.

Hands-On Control For Businesses. Another perk of this type of development is that it allows businesses to create software themselves. This means that they will be able to make and implement all of their ideas themselves without going through a third party.

A notable issue with this benefit is that it can be difficult for people to realise what works and what doesn’t – just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Inexperienced individuals may have a challenging time fully understanding the ins and outs of smart software development when they first start.

The Bad Side Of Low-Code Tech

So, what are the cons of low-code development? This technology may sound amazing at easy at first, but a few flaws are:

Customisation Is Extremely Limited. Creating software from scratch means that you can add in all of the custom coding and innovative design features you like – if you know how to code it, you can do it! Your possibilities are essentially limitless.

But this isn’t the case with low-code technology. These development platforms offer you plenty of options and drag-and-drop interfaces, but you’re limited to what they offer you. You won’t be able to customise your new software as much as you may want to. This can end up with low-code-created software that’s not as unique as you’d like.

There Can Be Security Risks. Low-code development platforms aren’t inherently dangerous because they are simply tools that can be used by smart developers. The problem with this lies in the fact that any kind of tool can be dangerous if used by the wrong people. Inexperienced developers may not understand how to fully protect their important private data, and they may accidentally create software that’s vulnerable to malicious people.

This is a massive concern for businesses because one leak can ruin your reputation and seriously harm your company.

It May Not Be As Easy To Use As You Think. Unfortunately, just because you have the tools doesn’t mean you know how to use them like a professional. There are many intricacies of software design regarding everything from what colours you choose to where you place interactables. People who aren’t trained or who don’t have hands-on experience may struggle with selecting the right options on their low-code platforms.

Low-code development is essentially designed to be the much easier option, as opposed to creating fully-functional software without these types of platforms. Although it might be easier, that doesn’t mean that the end products produced by low-code technology are on par with fully-customised software created by professional developers.

Much like many other aspects of design and development, it depends on the effort and skill of the developers themselves, not the tools they’re using.

What Should You Do For Your New Zealand Business?

If you want gorgeous custom software that perfectly fits your needs and looks absolutely incredible, we encourage you to speak to our Kiwi Website Design team. We specialise in creating amazing custom solutions for our clients, including top-notch software.

We’ve helped countless Auckland businesses by creating software, websites, apps and more, and we’d love to help you as well! You won’t need to use low-code development platforms yourself because we’ll give you exactly what you need.

Ready to talk? Call us at 0800 932 669, or reach us through our website.

We at KWD will do our best to help your business succeed!