As low code becomes the norm for increasingly complex applications, let’s look at its origin, its evolution, and where the technology is headed.
Visual Basic Classic
In 1991, Microsoft releases Visual Basic, a tool that helps people create computer programs more easily. Instead of writing code, users can drag and drop items like buttons and text boxes onto the screen.
It enables novices to create software, especially for Windows computers. Visual Basic serves as a gateway for people without coding skills to get into software development. Its ease of use accelerates software development in the ’90s.
Though Visual Basic predates the term “low code” by over 20 years, it embodies its principles by simplifying programming with visual tools. As one of the most popular tools for creating Windows applications, Visual Basic inspires a plethora of visual development tools for generations to come.
Early Web Editors
As Internet adoption gains steam in the mid-’90s, a slew of tools emerges, enabling anyone with a connected computer to build websites. With HTML editors like Microsoft FrontPage and Dreamweaver, users could create and manage web presences with little or no coding abilities.
Web-based platforms like GeoCities, AngelFire, and America Online’s Web publishing feature become popular for their visual tools, templates, and simple interfaces.
Business Applications
As Y2K approaches, businesses adopt new tools to swiftly adapt and manage software with minimal coding.
With tools like Microsoft Access and FileMaker, users can easily create basic to fairly complex database applications to manage tasks, automate data entry, and generate reports.
Lotus Notes, developed by IBM, surges in popularity for its ability to automate business workflows like document routing and approval processes with minimal coding. The tools replace old business processes and data management that rely on paper or manual digital systems.
SFDC
At the turn of the century, Salesforce.com makes waves with its web-based platform for managing customer relationships with relatively little upfront cost.
With Salesforce, users build tailored solutions for businesses with point-and-click interfaces that require minimal coding. It unlocks new possibilities for integrating customer data and managing relationships across business units.
Throughout the aughts, new platforms emerge that similarly offer web-based solutions for various enterprise systems that require minimal coding experience.
Mobile App Development
In 2014, Forrester Research officially coins the term “low code” to describe platforms that enable rapid application development with minimal hand-coding. Throughout the decade, low-code platforms gain serious traction across industries.
Mobile app development platforms like OutSystems and Mendix help fuel a new economy based on app stores. Businesses and entrepreneurs use the tools to develop and deploy mobile apps as smartphone adoption reaches critical mass.
Using the tools, developers can build iOS and Android apps without knowing platform-specific languages like Objective-C and Java.
Enterprise Applications
For complex enterprise applications, low-code platforms like Appian and Microsoft Power Apps replace the traditional need for extensive custom coding and specialized development teams.
Heading into the 2020s, the low-code platforms handle massive data sets across myriad systems and automate complex business processes like multi-level approvals, onboarding, inventory management, and compliance reporting.
Hyperautomation and AI
In the early 2020s, low-code platforms facilitate hyperautomation and AI-powered applications.
Tools like UiPath and Automation Anywhere use AI and robotic process automation to automate workflows across systems. No-code platforms like Google AutoML, Microsoft Power Automate, and AppSheet build powerful apps incorporating machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
The technology normalizes the rapid development of intelligent apps previously out of reach for non-experts for tasks like predictive maintenance, advanced data analysis, personalized customer experiences, and automated decision-making. “I’m going to say something, and it’s going to sound completely opposite of what people feel.
Digital Twins and IoT
Heading into the mid-2020s, emerging low-code and no-code platforms enable users to create digital twins of physical assets for real-time monitoring, simulation, and predictive maintenance without deep technical expertise.
The technology facilitates more efficient, reliable, and customizable products with faster time to market. IoT solutions also become more accessible, with platforms offering pre-built modules for device integrations, data processing, and real-time analytics. Low-code platforms are just the beginning.
The power to create groundbreaking technology will only grow stronger, putting even more innovation in the hands of everyone.
Future Speculations
Low-Code Ubiquity
By 2035, low-code platforms reach ubiquity as the standard for almost all application development. Low-code solutions are now differentiated by their AI capabilities.
At this point, AI not only assists but drives development processes. The most advanced tools automatically create applications from simple user instructions and natural language. The tech turns anyone into a potential full-stack developer.
Low-code tools emerge enabling companies to rapidly create almost everything they need to operate on the fly. For example, a small business owner can describe what they need in simple words, and the tools automatically create an e-commerce site, a database for orders and inventory, and tools to process transactions.
With easy drag-and-drop tools and one-click setup, business owners can focus more on being creative.
Autonomous Systems
By 2045, “low-code” is no longer used to describe technology; it’s considered a given. Though coding languages like HTML, JavaScript, and Python resurge in popularity, it’s just a hipster thing.
The platforms offer unprecedented levels of customization, tailoring applications to unique user needs and preferences. Enterprise tools predict and deploy updates without user intervention. They build autonomous systems like drones, humanoid robots, and self-driving vehicles.
Toward the end of the decade, use cases emerge in synthetic biology and biotechnology. The tech enables the creation of gene editing tools, automated lab workflows, personalized medicine, and even synthetic organisms.
Brain-Computer Interfaces
In 2055, no-code platforms interface directly with brain-computer interfaces.
With the tech, users can:
- Create and customize home automation systems that adjust lighting, security, and entertainment settings to user preferences
- Adaptive learning platforms that are designed on the fly to match a student’s learning style, pace, and interest
- Data analysis tools that sift through vast amounts of information and generate insights tailored to specific requirements
- Thought-driven virtual reality apps where users build and modify immersive worlds as they go
As AI nears sentience, users can embed autonomous learning and decision-making, enabling self-replicating systems.
Low-Code Gods
By the late 2060s, advancements in no-code platforms and bioengineering effectively elevate humans to god-like status. Platforms give people unmatched control to create and shape entire worlds.
The tools enable the design, creation, and management of living ecosystems, intelligent organisms, and environments. Users can design and nurture ecosystems from the ground up, deciding which species thrive, how they interact, and how the environments evolve over time.
The tools bioengineer organisms with specific traits, abilities, and functions. Potential use cases include creating sustainable cities, terraforming space habitats, developing custom organisms for specific tasks, and living art.
In 2071, a team of scientists uses advanced no-code platforms to create a virtual miniature world modeled after Earth. They design intricate ecosystems, weather patterns, and even tiny intelligent life forms to observe the evolution of a simulated civilization.
One day, they notice a satellite orbiting their tiny world. It transmits a message that they can easily decode. It’s simple but profound, including basic info about their world and symbols representing their technology, much like NASA did with its Arecibo message.
It ends with a question: “Are we alone?”