Bianca Visagie
7 September 2023
IT modernization and hyper-automation have become more popular in recent years, but companies have struggled to match these trends because of a lack of developer skills.
Companies have had to invest in recruitment and training initiatives to fill the gap. However, even with these efforts, the demand for developers continues to outstrip the supply of talent.
As a result, many companies are looking for alternative solutions to keep up with their enterprise application demands. You might instantly think of low-code or no-code platforms, but are they right for your company or project?
To help you determine which is the right fit for your needs, we’ll look at low-code, no-code, and high-code in this post!
The High-Code Approach
High-code, low-code, and no-code all offer different pros and cons. High-code is traditional software development, where a developer writes individual lines of code to create a program.
High-level coding requires more knowledge and experience than low and no-code, as it involves developing complex algorithms and debugging code. It also requires a greater amount of time and effort to create a program using high-level coding.
Advantages of high-code include:
- High flexibility and customisation
- Ability to handle complex tasks and processes
- Full control over performance optimisation and security measures
Disadvantages of high-code:
- Requires skilled developers
- Longer development cycle
- High costs in development and maintenance
The Low-Code Revolution
Low-code platforms are designed to automate processes and create apps with the greatest degree of flexibility. Instead of using complicated programming languages, you can use visual interfaces with simple logic and drag-and-drop features in a low-code development model.
Advantages of low-code
- Faster time-to-market
- Requires less technical expertise
- Facilitates prototyping and iterative development
Disadvantages of low-code
- Potential limitations in customization depending on the chosen platform
- May not be suited for highly complex applications
- Concerns regarding the viability of the platform in the long term (vendor lock-in, platform longevity)
The No-Code Movement
No-code software empowers individuals with no technical skills to build apps that work with an organisation’s current infrastructure and fit into existing workflows. Like low-code tools, no-code tools include features like drag-and-drop capabilities, process flows, visual tools, and more.
Advantages of no-code:
- Highly accessible, even to non-developers
- Breakneck development cycles
- Reduces costs, especially for MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) and prototypes
Disadvantages of no-code:
- Most limited in terms of customization
- Scalability concerns for large-scale apps
- Reliance on third-party platforms can raise security and data concerns
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Enterprise
Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons of code, low-code, and no-code, let’s talk about choosing the right platform for your needs. There are a few things to consider, such as:
- Cost: Will it be more cost-effective to build it yourself or to employ a low-code platform? If you have a large, complex application that requires a lot of customisation, it may be more cost-effective to build the application from scratch.
- Security: Which security standards does your product need to meet? High-code allows you to build your own security standards, whereas low-code platforms come with security standards already built in.
- Time: How quickly do you want to launch your product or software? Pre-written code takes longer to build and depending on the complexity could take months and sometimes more than a year to complete the project, but a product can be launched from a low-code platform in as little as a few days.
- Maintenance: How often/quickly will you need to update your product or adapt the code? Developers will need to update the code, which can take a lot of time, but it offers more flexibility.
- Integration: Do you have existing software or platforms that the product needs to integrate with? Knowing what other systems the product needs to be compatible with is essential in order to ensure that the product is able to function correctly. It also helps to identify any potential issues that may arise from integrating with these existing systems.
- Customisation: How much control do you need over the product? Are there certain features you want to implement that might not be possible to do with low-code/no-code?
Enterprise Application Development at Integrove
The key to being successful in your enterprise app development journey is finding the right platform and the right combination of code and low code to suit your business needs.
At Integrove, we connect the dots between code and low-code, offering you architecturally sound, configurable and low-maintenance solutions perfect for your unique needs.