The Sunday Mail
Allen Mukwenha
In the 1967 film “The Graduate”, an old man takes aside a recent graduate to give him advice on how he can succeed. His advice is strangely one word: “plastics!”. Seeing that scene today, its difficult to appreciate how good that advice was. Plastics were still a new material with few uses. The first plastic bottles only appeared in 1968. Since then the global plastics industry has grown to over US$500 billion annually. If anyone watching that movie had followed that advice and gone into plastics, they would be very wealthy today.
Like the old man in the movie, I am here with another piece of one word advice: “no-code!” To understand this, we have to appreciate what code is. Code is the software used to run technology. The instructions that tell our computers, phones and machines what to do. Actually, code or software, runs the world. Consider this: the world’s biggest retailer has no physical shops, the world’s biggest hotel has no physical location and the world’s biggest taxi company has no vehicles on the street. Amazon, Airbnb and Uber have used the power of software to create global businesses dominating traditional competitors. Software has offered unprecedented opportunities for creation of wealth.
What if one has no technical coding or software developing skills? In the past you would have to hire expensive developers to write the code for you. An expensive and time consuming task. No-code/low-code app development tools are software applications that allow non-programmers to build apps with little or no coding, using drag and drop components instead. The app building process is not complicated or difficult, making these types of tools especially useful for people that want to create mobile apps quickly and inexpensively.
No-code/low code frameworks offer a wide range of benefits for users of varying levels of technical sophistication. People with little programming experience are empowered to create innovative mobile apps without extensive training.
People that lack access to expensive developers and programmers can use no-code app development platforms. Because such platforms often result in faster, cheaper apps, they are a great solution for small businesses, youths and entrepreneurs that want to experiment with digital technology but don’t have the budget or staff required for more complicated development projects. For example, you can build an app without any coding knowledge in under an hour.
For years, disruptive technologies have been gaining steam and changing the way we live. With these new low code technologies, entrepreneurs have a chance to outrun their competitors and also the opportunity to emerge from developing countries. The gap between people who can code and those who don’t know how to do it has narrowed significantly. What this means for anyone choosing to get involved with low code platforms is that the world of entrepreneurship has become more accessible not only for developers, but also for business owners who would like to try something new and fresh.
It’s surprisingly easy to get started with no-code or low-code software development. The first thing you’ll want to do is download one of the many free tools that help you create no-code and low-code apps for platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows. There are also low-code software development platforms that you can use online.
Once the no code or low code app development platform is downloaded and installed, you’ll select a template to start your project and then customise it with pre-built widgets or by dragging components onto a work area. You’ll also add any necessary data sources so that your app can communicate with cloud services, like a database or social network. Then, you’ll save the app to your device and start using it right away.
The coding process is simplified, so you don’t have to worry about grammar or syntax errors either. For example, one of the most popular no-code and low-code app development tools is called AppSheet. With AppSheet, you can build a mobile app without any coding knowledge in about an hour. All you have to do is select a template and add data from existing cloud services.
Low code tools have been proven to be a successful way for developing countries to create their own software industry. These tools are also more affordable and easier to use than traditional coding languages, making them perfect for low-income populations. Our youth are naturally curious and love to experiment with new things.
They’re excited to learn about new things, and this includes learning to code. The problem of course is that most schools don’t have the resources or staff to teach computer science classes like they ought to. Low code tools therefore represent an area of great opportunity for our youths to get started as technology entrepreneurs.
Besides business applications, low code tools can also help accelerate community and national development. For example, Kantar Information is a low code application that was built to monitor the quality of life in South Sudan. It aggregates data and creates reports that can be analysed to predict where problems might occur. Using the app, officials can identify when conflict is most likely to happen within communities and address potential issues before they escalate into violence.
Low code tools are a powerful resource that can help the developing world create low-cost, high quality apps.
They democratise software development by making it easier and more affordable for entrepreneurs to launch mobile applications.
We can use low code tools to empower youth to solve problems and become involved in the technology entrepreneurship industry at an early age. Low code platforms represent the future of software development, so if you want to be a part of this exciting change then consider using low or no code app development tools today!
Change Catalyst, Zimbabwe Heritage Foundation
