Hello everyone, I'm Sergei Chernobrovkin — managing partner of KTS, and I want to share my opinion about no-code development.

We have been creating digital products for businesses for many years and have developed our own no-code platform. In our experience, no-code tools do not always save you money and time. I will tell you when using them is justified and when it is more profitable to create an application from scratch.

What is no-code development in two words

No-code allows you to create IT-products without writing code using specialized platforms. Such tools work on a constructor principle — users drag and drop the blocks they want. There is also the low-code approach, where the central part of the product is created using ready-made blocks, but individual pieces of code must be written manually.

The low-code and no-code development market could grow from $16 billion to $65 billion by 2027. It is predicted that in three years, 65% of all applications in the world will be created using no-code and low-code platforms. It can be assumed that in Russia this figure will be lowered, as foreign no-code platforms have left the Russian market. It will take time to develop local services.

Despite lagging behind the West in the no-code market, Russia is also actively using such tools — Tilda, for example. We, too, have created our own no-code service: the bot builder Smartbot, which allows you to create a chatbot for VKontakte, Telegram and Viber in five minutes.

Why no-code won't work for you

The disadvantages of the approach: limited functionality, load shifting and complexity of scaling. Let's break it down in order.

• Limited functionality

  The constructability of no-code platforms is both a plus and a minus. It is a plus because it allows you to create program products quicker and with less knowledge. Still, it is a minus because it makes creating unique solutions for a particular project difficult or even impossible. When the functionality of a no-code platform does not allow for the creation of a required unit, developers find ways of solving the situation in ways which are not typical in the logic of a particular no-code service — for example, by modifying their modules. If customizing a no-code tool for your project takes too many resources, it is more profitable to develop your own application.

• Non-optimal solution

  Very often, products developed with the help of no-code tools are not intended for great efforts. For example, website builders host hundreds of thousands of other websites besides your own. This can create an unpredictable load on the system as a whole, affecting all projects within it. Of course, such platforms are developed by experienced engineers, but there are still risks.

• And no-code platforms also try to cover as many possible uses of the design as possible. Because of this, some solutions provided by no-code services are not always the best. The developer, on the other hand, can optimize the code for the specific purpose of their project.

• Difficulties of scaling a project

  When developing any software product, it is important to consider scalability and maintainability. As the functionality of the service being developed grows, you have to keep an eye on its architecture so that changes don't take too many resources and old functionality doesn't "fall off" when changes are made.

  The developer has a wider set of tools for this — for example, there are design patterns, testing utilities, module partitioning, and so on. No-code platforms have fewer tools — the product becomes more difficult to scale.

For what projects are no-code tools good

Here are the cases when development "without code" can be a reasonable solution:

• For testing hypotheses

  For startups and new directions in existing companies, no-code platforms are indispensable. They allow you to quickly create an MVP and test the necessity and relevance of the product you are launching. For example, with a no-code application, you can get the first applications, better understand the market and the target audience, and then create your own service from scratch.

• To solve a small business problem

  No-code tools are suitable, if you plan to use them to solve a business problem which will not be scalable further. For example, you need to collect a small number of applications and do not expect a large influx of customers. Then it is cheaper and quicker to build a bot on a builder than to develop an application for it from scratch.

• For services that you won't need to refine

  Regular development wins over no-code platforms when the service needs to be supplemented and optimized. If you're confident in the quality of the turnkey solution and know you won't have to modify it, no-code is a good choice for your project.

The future of no-code development

The transition to no-code development is another step in the evolution of development tools. Computer technology has evolved from dealing with numbers and bytes in processor registers to frameworks that simplify handling common high-level tasks. Now it is possible to automate entire business processes through "visual programming". These technologies will be increasingly developed.

In order to create a quality application using no-code tools, several different platforms must be involved at the same time. This complexity complicates no-code development — it becomes the same as programming and designing. The job of the IT professional shifts from creating monolithic solutions to connecting the different tools together so that everything works. It is likely that, over time, there will be no-code specialists for each area of development, as well as those who will put everything together.

Instead of a conclusion

I think no-code development will continue to evolve — the creation of systems and processes will be automated through these platforms. Over time, no-code specialists will become regular developers in terms of complexity of work and salary levels.

Creating a product with the help of no-code tools has its disadvantages: limited functionality, non-optimal operation of the software product and non-linear growth of the complexity of implementing changes and supporting the ready service. Because of these disadvantages, no-code solutions will not suit all projects, but they can improve company performance in three cases:

When testing a hypothesis, if you want to make sure that a product or service is needed by consumers;

When solving small business problems that do not require complex development;

When you know that the service will not need further development. For example, if you know that a ready-made no-code solution is quality and will fully solve your business problem.