Exploring No Code

SQRD explores the No Code paradigm in order to increase its speed of delivery of solutions to customers.

No Code increase development speed by letting anyone draw application as one creates a slideshow presentation.

That new way of creating an application relies on the availability of parts (or components) that can be assembled.

There is a debate about the term No Code and the term Low Code. The later supposing that some programming language is going to be used. We believe the debate to be nonsensical. No Code is a graphical programming, and code is a textual programming. In the end, both are different ways of expressing a systemic description of a process.

Some history

One root of No Code programming is the Hypercard software that was released in 1987. Hypercard was the first successful hypermedia environment before the introduction of the world wide web.

To some extent FileMaker, another mac software, was the first low-code software for record or database management.

FileMaker allowed to share records within a network of computers, but it never adapted fully to the requirements of the web.

Caracteristics a No Code service

The purpose of a No Code service can vary. Some services help you to build a website, some other just a landing page, some are just a database and some are are about gluing two service together (think Zappier) and some are about automations.

When building an application we look for User Interface design with drag and drop components, persistence of the data, integration of other services such a email, calendar, etc. and automation i.e., when a record is updated send an email

Summary: UI + data + integrations + automations

About portability

A lot of No Code services try to gain customer and to retain them by providing an environment that is not portable. Portability was coined with the [local number portability][lnp]. When not portable, an environement is locked-in to its vendor.

The problem with a lock-in is that a vendor can decide to raise its price, change their quotas, or stop serving you. Without portability what you spent time building will be useless.

What we could dream about

The World Wide Web has boomed while being a messy thing. A web page is, after all, an open canvas.

At that time business models were not so sharp. Nowadays anything you do is not an experience it is a market take.

Dropping components on a page