These days, you don’t need to be brilliant to produce great stuff. Whether that’s genius or disheartening is entirely up to you.
Take this, for example: according to this GitHub find, ReporterMate allows “a whole bunch of helper functions to automate the generation of text reports from data.” In other words, this bot is proof that it’s now possible to churn out news stories without needing to be a writer—or even human for that matter.
It turns out the same thing can be said with software development.
Through the celebrated powers of automation, a new kind of platform allows non-coders to create applications on a whim. Solely by clicking and dragging a few buttons, users can assemble components into place. And because no-code tools are completely visual, anyone can be a developer.
WHAT’S A DEVELOPER, ANYWAY?
Here’s a story for you: Chris is a journalist, and Elle is a marketing leader at a no-code company. Within minutes of their video call, Elle was able to spin up an application that allows Chris to track his interviews, log his stories, monitor relevant research, and even send appreciation messages to sources when his news bits are published.
No, this isn’t a meet-cute of some Netflix rom-com.
The twist is that Elle is fresh out of college with an advertising background. She carries no ounce of coding knowledge, yet, by the end of their conversation, she taught Chris how to whip up a story-monitoring application that could rival the most competent programs for media practitioners.
Does that mean Elle—and, by extension, Chris—are developers now?
To conventional programmers, probably not, but to everyone else… maybe?
No-code development is 100% abstracted; this means that the commands a computer would comprehend are buried behind layers of more graphic and friendlier components.
This innovation affords leaders two main advantages—firstly, businesses can now gain access to user-ready applications quicker. And secondly, developing software becomes much more feasible for the non-programmer.
At its core, what matters is that people can now build applications faster and much more affordably—with or without traditional software developers.
SHOULD TRADITIONAL PROGRAMMING SNOBS BE THREATENED? YES.
This is the era of non-coders. Visual programming supplies users with a galaxy of possibilities, so traditional programming snobs can suck it.
What was exclusive work for traditional programmers is now a shared project among learning no-code supporters and conventional coders alike. The demand for more software to be built is growing, but the responsibility to develop them is no longer shouldered solely by software engineers and their contemporaries.
To make things even more disruptive, users who build applications with no-code tools reduce commercial software development costs by up to 80%! Whereas traditional custom-built applications demand teams of coding experts to get the job done, the new breed of app-building platforms empowers users to take on tech projects into their own hands—quite literally even!
Say goodbye to hefty IT agency price tags, and say a prayer for the traditional software development process—it’s dead now.
Not only do those who turn to no-code save more money in the long run, but they’re also able to get their apps live roughly ten times faster, too.
Because app development as we know it relied on an ocean of manually written code, it would take about six months to a year to finish a dynamic and well-curated digital product. On the other hand, apps built on platforms like bubble.io can quickly be published in days or weeks!
In that respect, programming snobs should definitely feel threatened.
ON THE OTHER HAND, MAYBE NOT?
The novelty of employing a team of coders once belonged to the level of difficulty it took to assemble a profitable app. But what happens when the exclusivity of that workload is taken away?
The no-code movement is expanding the tech industry’s players, allowing more people to enjoy a slice of their own cake. With tools that enable visionaries to act on their virtual ideas in a snap, it’s only a matter of time before the application industry is anyone’s game.
Although it’s fair to say that more people are now qualified to lead tech projects and build customized software, it’s equally fair to say traditional programmers aren’t losing their jobs; at least not in the foreseeable future.
While it’s empowering to muster the ability to realize applications without needing to write code, we’ll still need coders and technical experts to maintain and build these platforms. The advent of visual programming only helps more users take part in the development process, but it doesn’t take away the core of the job.
KEEP UP OR WATCH YOUR BUSINESS DIE.
As we continue to rapidly move toward digitization, it becomes nearly impossible to keep practicing old business strategies. The more entrepreneurs refuse to embrace change, the harder it will be for leaders to thrive.
No-code is here to dominate, and until you learn to keep up, you can watch your business die.
Interested in making sure your brand is one with the times? Give us a call, and we’ll help you out!
