Insight: SaaS (17) Low Code or No Code is not the future

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We discussed PaaS in the last post ‘Insight: SaaS (16) PaaS’; tonight, we’ll talk about the popular Low Code and No Code.

Low Code and No Code platforms are where applications can be built with little or no code. Users can rapidly create a bespoke App by dragging and dropping. The interface or business process generated by the user will be converted into a fixed code combination in these Low Code and No Code platforms, which will have a predetermined conversion algorithm. This will surely lengthen development time, but it has a number of difficult problems to overcome, so I’m not optimistic that Low Code or No Code will be a viable alternative to programming.

1. Low Code or No Code has a clear restriction, namely, a lack of strong expression capabilities.

If you wish to entirely replace computer languages as a means of writing programs, you’ll need an equivalent level of expressive capacity, which is unachievable for those dragging graphics. I’d want to use a very simple scenario as an example. The application contains two components: a switch and a button. The button is blue and clickable when the switch is turned on. When the switch is turned off, the button turns gray and is unable to be pressed.

A boolean variable must be set in the coding. The bool value can be changed by the switch. The Button becomes blue and clickable when the bool variable is true. It is turned to gray and not clickable when it is false. In the Low Code / No Code platform, it is difficult for you to complete the entry of this critical info by dragging and dropping. You can easily drag and drop the blue button and the gray button, but you cannot hook the switch to the button. The Low Code / No Code platform hides the information that they don’t want you to enter. The details in the programming are not absent; rather, it is automatically replaced. Low Code / No Code is convenient to use, however, flexibility is severely limited.

Alexander Ilg writes:

With low-code, you are a prisoner of the framework or tool you use.

Low Code and No Code can address the problem in some scenarios. Extending the game to indefinitely complex situations is doomed to fail. Low Code / No Code can also solve customer problems in a flexible manner, but it is constrained by the boundaries set by itself. It is unable to meet the rigorous customization requirements.

2. Black Box

All Low Code / No Code programs are similar to black boxes. You have no influence over its internal quality. When you employ some platforms’ conversion code snippet feature, you’ll discover that these scripts can’t be simply transplanted into your project. Essentially, all of the codes for the Low Code / No Code platform’s visualization components are converted directly from the drawing. Engineers should not use this directly either.

Using low code to produce code that does not adhere to established best practices could violate an organization’s compliance measures.

And this kind of black box is still in its infancy. Adding some useful open source libraries to your Project is practically impossible. In order to accomplish rapid drag-and-drop customization, Low Code / No Code will muck with the internal code implementation, making it hard to connect other libraries. This is due to the Black box’s closed nature. You have no choice but to accept; you cannot participate in changing its output.

As a result, the company with the core positioning of Low Code / No Code is not very good. It has a few flaws:

1. You can’t respond to the question of which specific problem you can address, while it may appear that all problems can be solved, no problem can be entirely solved. You could provide certain form-like apps or industry templates intelligently. For example, you may easily create an app for enterprise process management, inventory management, and e-commerce templates. Once a SaaS company focuses on improving product capabilities, it can also launch Low Code / No Code products, and your ability to acquire customers must not be able to compete with professional SaaS.
2. It can only satisfy the superficial needs of long-tail small clients. The willingness of these customers to pay cannot be guaranteed. Long-tail consumers’ in-depth requirements cannot be met. You can only assist them with the demo, not the real products because Low Code / No Code is not expressive. It will become a project-based business if the consumer requests and insists on receiving code. Enterprise service companies must grasp the deep-seated needs of customers and solve key problems that customers cannot solve.
3. There is no moat. There are a lot of Low Code / No Code competitors, not because the market is big, but because the entry hurdles are too low. Open-source libraries for drag and drop, process management, and graphical programming, such as Scratch, are currently available. A Low Code / No Code platform can be quickly built by anyone. In most cases, the general number of lines of code for a No Code platform is 100,000 lines (all libraries are included).
4. Low Code / No Code platform will be impossible to accomplish ‘Product Standardization’ if it is positioned in data and internal systems. It will be impossible to rely only on Low Code / No Code products if they are focused on tackling information non-circulation and inefficiency inside the organization. To overcome this challenge, you’ll need personnel development and customer participation. Because Low Code / No Code cannot fully solve the customization problem, it can only rely on manual participation in the system’s development, which entails the acquisition of customer data permissions and deep customer participation. The fraction of Low Code / No Code in the overall value of the project decreases as the project grows larger. It’s pitiful and can only be described as a drainage tool. Standard products cannot accomplish the same effect as customized products. SaaS firms will increase the number of customized projects in order to acquire orders. Changing from a SaaS to a typical software development firm.

Low Code / No Code is still valuable as long as the problem is solved in a predetermined situation. So, what kind of company requires Low Code / No Code development?

Low Code / No Code is frequently used in SaaS firms’ PaaS platforms. The positioning of the SaaS company is clear: it aims to answer a certain sort of client problem. These PaaS are natural extensions of the same scenario, with No Code and Low Code being particularly appropriate.

Is it possible that Low Code will solve the problem of expressiveness in the future without being as sophisticated as computer languages appear to be? To achieve this with the same degree of info, you must develop a new mode of expression that is distinct from human language.

Friends, be wary if you wish to develop the Low Code / No Code platform.

Merry Christmas! The next article ‘Insight: SaaS (18) Common pricing model for SaaS (part 1)’ is published. Simply send me some claps and feedback if you enjoyed my article.