Want To Build an App? Don’t Learn To Code, Learn No Code
The No-Code Movement Revolutinising Software Development
No code is a technology that has developed into a movement over the past few years. No code is a set of tools that enable people to make fully functioning apps without code. Instead, users use a graphical interface to click and drag their apps’ components to life and connect them to one another and data through custom logic and other 3rd party tools.
The beauty of no code is that it makes app development orders of magnitude more accessible to people who do not know how to code and enables no-code developers to release products in days instead of months.
Examples
No code has gone from a tool that would let people build small hobby projects and blogs to a viable and accessible way to make large scale companies. Here are some examples
As you can see from the above, these aren’t simple websites with limited functionality. They are full-fledged web apps with complex data, beautiful designs and custom features.
Not only useful for people who do not know how to code
No code is a powerful tool for people who do not know how to code. It is an even more powerful one for those who do. This technology enables developers to quickly develop custom products in a matter of hours instead of weeks or months.
When you know how to code, these platforms’ real power get unlocked because you know how to build upon the existing framework. You can connect your no code landing page to a service that lets you accept payments and connect that to another service that allows users to register for exclusive content. It is possible for someone who does not know how to code to learn how to do this, but someone who knows how to code will achieve more and do it faster.
For new startups or apps, this means spending less time worrying about complex technical infrastructure and spending more time on their actual product and testing if people want it.
You still need to learn.
There is still a lot you need to learn to develop a no-code app. The difference between learning no-code versus how to actually code is the amount of time you need to learn before you can actually build something. Learning to code can be challenging, and it will take months if you are starting from scratch before you know enough to make something useful.
However, it will take a weekend or two with no-code to know what you need to make an app. No code is technically just another type of programming language; it is just highly abstracted and has everything you need out the box. But this means you will still need to learn about databases, how to think about the flow of users and the logic behind that; you will still need to know what is right and wrong design. Learning no-code may be a phenomenal way to learn how to code because it gives a gentle introduction to the same concepts and problems developers need to solve when building something.
Limitations
You, of course, can not achieve the same level of functionality and customisability with no-code as opposed to code. This is why many startups will start with a no-code site and move to their own technical infrastructure down the line.
If you want to do advanced things with user location, the phone camera or accept custom payment methods or doing anything highly custom, no-code is currently insufficient. However, the no-code movement is incredibly young. It will only get better and more robust over the next few years. With that, it will make more and more advanced functionality accessible to complete beginners.
How to get started
If you are interested in getting started in no-code, I would recommend the following resources.
This post is part of a 30-day writing challenge I am doing. Every day for 30 days, I am posting an article of at least 500 words. If you notice that I miss a day, I will buy you lunch.
