The team at Unqork has pioneered codeless development, but even we were surprised how quickly codeless is catching fire. In a new Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Unqork, 70% of companies said codeless architecture is important, even critical, to digital transformation.
However, there’s still a lot of confusion out there about codeless. In fact, more than 80% of respondents to a recent survey were unclear about what codeless development means, Forbes reports. That’s why we decided to clear away the cobwebs and shed some much needed light on a field that is evolving rapidly.
There’s plenty of reasons people are confused. Analysts and commentators often lump low-code, no-code and codeless together as if they were the same thing, which they definitely aren’t. The vast majority are designed to handle a relatively narrow set of use cases. If you want to go beyond these, you end up having to write lots of code.
Meanwhile, the advent of Codeless as a Service (CaaS) is quickly changing the equation. By enabling an entirely codeless architecture, CaaS transcends the limits of other low-code/no-code platforms. In fact, many of the world’s largest organizations are using it to build highly complex solutions in an entirely visual, composable way.
To understand the revolutionary nature of codeless development, experts and practitioners are comparing it to the serverless architecture revolution that has transformed cloud computing. “Codeless is enabling our clients to build complex, innovative enterprise applications at the speed of business—without a single line of code,” write Harvinder Bhatia and Raj Konduru, Partners at KPMG.
You can check out this white paper on codeless architecture if you want to dig deeper into CaaS. Meanwhile, let’s dig into some of the most common myths about codeless development.
Myth #1: I’ll have to rip-and-replace a bunch of stuff I already have
With a truly enterprise-grade CaaS platform, you can digitally transform your organization without having to rip or replace any of your existing technologies, and that includes legacy apps, third-party services, and virtually any data source.
Why? Because codeless has the power to turn any existing code set—systems, process, data set—into reusable components. Developers can then turn those components into the building blocks for sophisticated apps.
So rather than ripping and replacing, codeless enables you to put your entire ecosystem behind a single pane of glass. Keep your best-in-class solutions in place—and quickly integrate new solutions into your codeless apps when that makes sense for the business.
Myth #2: I won’t be able to build complex apps
Yes, you can. In fact, organizations in some of the world’s most complex and heavily regulated sectors—insurance leaders like Chubb, financial services leaders like BlackRock, and government agencies like the City of New York—are already doing it.
“The ability to represent complex problems visually and let the platform translate it into executable code is one of the big advantages of Unqork’s platform,” says Max Gelfer, North America CIO, Chubb.
Myth #3: I will have to learn a proprietary coding language
Not true. With a truly enterprise-grade codeless platform, you don’t have to understand, write, or even see a single line of code. The confusion arises because most low-code platforms (and many that call themselves no-code) require you to learn their proprietary coding language. And because they are built to handle a limited set of use cases, organizations that require truly custom solutions must resort to custom code.
But that is not the case with a CaaS platform like Unqork’s. Why? Again, because it can transform any and all underlying code into reusable elements, making new code completely unnecessary.
Myth #4: I won’t need developers anymore
It’s true that CaaS gets rid of a whole lot of the repetitive, monotonous tasks that weigh developers down. In the process, it unleashes developer productivity and creativity. “You can build a PoC in far less time than with any other platforms and at a far lower cost,” says Arvind Balakrishnan, Associate Consultant at KPMG. “That gives you the luxury to try out new things.”
However, it still requires a deep understanding of the elements that make for truly enterprise-grade applications like security, governance, and business logic. So you still need skilled developers for many tasks. However, they are able to be far more productive, and they get to concentrate on the fun stuff.
Myth #5: I won’t be able to integrate with legacy and third-party systems
Actually, you can, and with unprecedented ease. Unqork’s CaaS platform enables you to create real-time APIs and services within an entirely visual interface. “The ease of third-party integrations is the most beautiful aspect of the Unqork platform for me,” says Shivangi Pathak, Associate Consultant at KPMG.
In fact, you can do all of the following, without any code:
- Authenticate integrations to a centralized platform
- Manage API access and credentials across your organization
- Reuse integrations across the platform
- Streamline ingestion and integrations with batch import & export
- Support high-performance API connectivity
- Support rich APIs with filtering and sorting by any field, even with complex nesting
Myth #6: Codeless apps don’t provide the security I need
The truth is, they can. For years, organizations had similar doubts about moving workloads involving sensitive data to the cloud, thinking they were losing control. However, that hesitation is quickly disappearing, with cloud security now rivaling (and often exceeding) that of traditional, on-premise security systems.
The same principle applies to codeless development. In fact, the right codeless platform can simplify the job of ensuring security. That is why organizations that require the highest level of security are adopting codeless platforms, from financial services leaders to government agencies.
For example, Unqork’s RBAC makes it “easy to isolate access,” says Rajdeep Guha, Senior Engineering Leader at Cognizant. “Security is a huge priority for a lot of our clients—they’re dealing with really sensitive customer information. They really like how we can control access at such a granular level using Unqork.”
Want to learn more about codeless application development?
- Take a guided tour of Unqork’s codeless platform
- Read the Definitive Codeless Guidebook
You Might Also Be Interested in
