Low-code, no-code or visual-based coding is getting more attention these days.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) in June launched a beta of Honeycode. Google in January snapped up low-code outfit AppSheet[1] and killed off AppMaker for Workspace, formerly G Suite[2], also beefing up Google Cloud with the Business Application Platform in September[3].
Salesforce has its Lightning platform, while Oracle has Application Express (APEX), and there are more offerings from Appian, Zoho, ServiceNow and others vying for a slice of businesses' undergoing digital transformation.
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Enter low-code or no-code. The promise of low- and no-code platforms is that business users can create mobile and web apps by pulling data from spreadsheets or databases to help their colleagues access data where and when they need it – in a browser or a mobile device – almost without requiring professional developers.
Honeycode is a AWS's no-code answer to building mobile and web apps[5]. AWS nodded to VisiCalc, a 1970s predecessor to Excel for the Apple II distributed on a 5.25-inch disk, in its blogpost for Honeycode[6].
The spreadsheet concept is still relevant today but sharing needs and the volume of data have changed. Low-code promises a half-way point between either sticking with a complex spreadsheet or paying a developer, if you could find one, to turn it into an app.
The other big targets for low-code are business processes that might have depended on email or spreadsheets but didn't get the automation attention they needed. Smartphones, mobile apps and web apps have helped change that.
Microsoft has also been pushing hard with its Power Platform in low-code/no-code development. The platform today consists of Power Apps, Power