What exactly is low code
In recent years, since the market value of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) manufacturer Salesforce has been rising, and its large business acquisition case has gradually attracted the attention of the Domestic Internet industry, the Internet circle used to conduct domestic and foreign products to target a wave of SaaS. In the post-mobile Internet era, some people also expect SaaS to become a new growth point of the Domestic Internet.
With different user demands, some systems derive new forms, different from the established form of SaaS products, users can quickly customize a complete application through visual drag interface, form configuration and other ways, and this kind of system basically need not write too much code, that is, can achieve customized applications. As this type of system becomes more and more common, it is often referred to as “low-code” or “aPaaS”, i.e. application platform-as-service. .
The concept of low code really caught on when Outsystems closed several $100 million rounds of funding in the last two years and became a unicorn at an early $1 billion valuation. Given the lack of comparable players in the domestic market, it is natural to wonder which one will grow into China’s Outsystems. At the same time, the domestic low code track players have gradually entered the field of vision, such as Dingdingyi, jiji Application, tritium cloud, jiandaoyun and so on.
(Material from iRearch)
What does a low code system look like
Although there are many forms of low code platform, the core of which is still inseparable from the thought of programming, basically have the following functional modules: page building, data logic, data model, online deployment and management system. According to different business scenarios, specific platform forms can be divided into forms/data model driven, interface driven, etc.
Form/data model driven
Form/data model driven revolves around data structure to define the application forms and processes, which form driving refers to the user through the configuration form interface, elements are mostly text input, the drop-down selector, date selector components, such as the configuration form interface automatically generated after data model, and based on the form to do data and process management, the data model driven is more complicated, Users are required to model data and define model relationships. This operation is similar to SQL database construction, configuring primary keys, indexes, types, and so on, and then building the upper management system based on the data form. This mode is mostly used in building CRM, ERP and other management systems.
(Wig table configuration interface)
Interface driver
Interface driver is easier to understand, that is, users can visually build the interface by dragging components, and then configure the interaction logic of the page, such as page jump, data acquisition and so on. This form is mostly used to build low-code platforms for general-purpose applications
(iVx configuration page)
This pattern is basically the same as side application development, except that code editing is changed to drag and drop and form configuration. Here is a simple example, in the interface button set a click event, the event logic is to pull data. This process is to extract programming concepts into interactive form operations, which will still appear in and out parameter fields, callbacks and other concepts, following the idea of programming.
Once the application is built, users can publish it directly on the platform, and then access the application via the given link (most low-code platforms are Web applications).
The concept of low code is new, but low code platforms have been around for a long time (Outsystems was founded in 2001, and Domestic Daoyiyun in 2004). Generally speaking, after years of development and exploration, the form of low-code platform tends to be stable, and the innovation of each family is also micro-innovation based on the user scene, and does not jump out of the programming thought in essence.
Low code how to do personalized customization
How can a low code platform meet personalization needs? Of course, limited by the components and logical configuration forms provided by the low-code platform, it can only solve some common scenarios, when the user needs to go beyond the circle, isn’t it? Businesses are certainly not so naive. Here are a few ways to personalize your business:
- Users can enter components under platform-specific rules
- Provides API access to the database
- Generate source code for secondary development (low code changed code…)
- Fill in feedback and other platform updates
In addition to these fixed rules, low-code manufacturers also have engineer groups. When users log in to the low-code platform, there will be specially-assigned personnel to follow up immediately, ask for demands and so on, and then appropriate configuration schemes can be provided according to users’ demands, or even customized personalized scenes. There’s a whiff of outsourcing here, but it’s definitely a revenue-generating scenario.
Is low code useful?
“Does low code really help?”
The question surfaced in various forums. This problem can be understood as the low code sound volume and its ability does not match, users lack confidence in low code. There are both subjective and objective factors to the current problem of low code platforms.
First of all, many low code platform capabilities are not mature enough, which is a core factor. For many first-time users, there are many concepts and complicated logic. After some experience, there is a gap between expectation and reality. Use up the overall time with the source development is almost the same, the tool is more chicken ribs. Objectively, the human resources in China are still cheaper than those in Europe and the United States. Many customers with customized applications will first think of outsourcing or recruiting development positions, rather than finding low-code tools to do it themselves. In addition, people’s awareness of low code is also insufficient, which is difficult to become an alternative.
When we think about this question, we ask a simple question, “Is there any use for a tool that can lower barriers and improve efficiency?” And the answer is clearly yes. The purpose of a low code platform is to “lower the threshold”, “reduce costs and increase efficiency”.
Personally, these problems are probably a matter of time. As far as the low-code tools on the market are concerned, from the perspective of actual needs, after in-depth experience, you can actually deeply feel the dividends brought by the tools. In a few days, one person can implement the front and back end applications, as well as the operations and maintenance monitoring, and have a working program.
With the improvement of industry attention and the investment of resources, most of the problems mentioned above can be solved. The evolution of low code from “usable” to “usable” also needs to be practiced in real scenarios.
Current low code development status
As mentioned earlier, the popularity of low code continues to rise, and the most obvious move is capital investment.
There was another clever move. Nail released a low code aggregation platform, appropriate to take, tritium cloud, Jian Dao Cloud, easy whale cloud and other head low code manufacturers entered. Dingding has the largest group of business users in China, and the relatively successful landing scenario of low code in China is to customize the enterprise management system (such as CRM), and the low code platform is on the basis of huge peer traffic, which fits the operation quite a bit like wechat connected to wechat payment.
Although the current development momentum is good, but the iron needs to be hard, to avoid the sharing economy as a chicken feather. Low code only effectively reduce the threshold, cost reduction and efficiency targets fall on the product, can survive for a long time.
Our exploration attempts
Ling-deco.jd.com is a new initiative that we are trying To put our capabilities from Design To Code through AI. And then improve the efficiency of production and research.
In a daily requirements development process, for the front-end engineer, the input source is visual draft + PRD, and the output is live page code. In Deco’s development mode, the design is directly transformed into a front-end page, and then the logic of the page is configured through visual canvas and form configuration, and finally the output of executable multi-terminal code. For more information, you can visit ling-deco.jd.com
