What is “No-Code” Software and Why Should you Care?

“No-Code” is becoming buzzworthy. But why? And why define anything in negative terms? Usually, we think about a definition in terms of what something “is” rather than what it isn’t.

“No-Code” means what it says – no lines of code are needed to create a useful software application. Instead, it uses some type of visual environment (think drag and drop) to build the application. But it can mean different things depending on who uses the term. It might mean no code:

  • For the persons creating an application
  • For the persons deploying an application
  • For the persons using the application

When all three things are true, we have a “No-Code Solution.”

These three criteria begin to hint at why anyone would care. But to fully explain, we need to unpack all three of them (creating, deploying, using).

Why No-Code During Application Creation?

High-performance software designers are hard to find, hire and retain. Their time is better spent coding no-code solutions than coding directly. Designers/Coders usually don’t have the domain knowledge needed in an application. So, we need to bring in experts about the topic. But domain experts may not easily communicate their needs in ways others (like our developers) understand.

At that point, we have two expensive communities trapped in a frustrating, inefficient exchange. No code is a better way.

Another problem with direct code generation is that designers/coders may not have the math skills to choose the best algorithms for high-performance computing. So, we may need to add math boffins to the mix. This can lead to a complicated three-way collaboration between math, domain, and coders.

Add other collaborators (cloud computing, security, interface protocols…), and suddenly you have a crowd, an awfully expensive crowd.

The third issue during application creation is performance. The best no-code platforms will generate no-code solutions which perform better than all but the most elite hand coders. It is ridiculously hard to outperform an elegant, well-designed auto-code system.

Why No-Code in Deployment and Use?

Most modern analytics are multi-discipline applications. They require peer reviews and audits. Reviewing lines of code is hard. Hard-coded systems are notoriously difficult to audit.

No code (when done correctly) makes peer reviews and audits efficient and effective.  You can do no-code poorly, of course. Some no-code systems (e.g., Excel) also have well-deserved reputations for harboring entrenched errors, putting the burden on users to verify accuracy.

Lone Star’s no-code platforms are TruNavigator® and AnaltyicsOS®. They have built-in support for peer reviews and audits. They are true solution development environments with mature no-code features. These and other well-designed no-code platforms allow users to trust their results consistently and repeatedly. In short, users can focus more on the outcomes rather than the process.

After an application goes into production, support and modification are much easier with no code. Maintenance requires remembering why the solution was built in a certain way. High-quality no-code platforms embed design and domain knowledge, making performing upgrades and maintenance easy and efficient. Knowledge travels with the application.

In contrast, hard-coded systems usually hide the reasons for their configuration, no matter how good the documentation and comments are.

Summary

No-code is promising because “software is eating the world,” and we can’t get enough of it. No-code (or “auto-code”) leverages design teams like the developer community at Lone Star. They create code which generates code.

Lone Star’s platforms TruNavigator® and AnaltyicsOS® are true examples of no-code environments:

  • For the persons creating an application
  • For the persons deploying an application
  • For the persons using the application