No-code tools vs. code-based tools

Introduction

No-code tools, also known as “zero-code” or “codeless,” have undoubtedly revolutionized software creation, allowing users with no programming experience to develop complex applications through visual interfaces.

In contrast, traditional code-based tools require highly specialized technical knowledge.

This article compares both approaches, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages, and specific use cases, especially in Latin America.

Context

It is well-known that developing software solutions has been crucial for many years, and the pandemic accelerated the shift towards the digital world.

As a result, we witnessed a substantial rise in the digital transformation of companies, which led to the adoption of no-code tools as a response to the shift in how technology solutions are developed.

The main reasons that drove the change have been:

• The gap between supply and demand for talent in the IT sector.
• The speed with which the market demands that applications be developed.

As a result, these two realities have accelerated the need to integrate zero-code tools, making it one of the best alternatives for companies.

What is Codeless or Zero Code?

These are technological platforms that reduce or eliminate the need for programming by using visual interfaces that facilitate the construction of applications in an intuitive and simple way.

According to an article from Harvard Business Review, When Low-Code/No-Code Development Works — and When It Doesn’t   delves into the new alternative companies have to create new software.

Also the article Low Code Analysis, collects very relevant data from the study conducted by Barcelona Digital Talent,  which brings us the most outstanding benefits of this way of producing software:

• Significantly improves the deadline and response time.
• 10 times faster to create an application for customers.
• 74% reduction in costs.

 Furthermore, no-code, codeless or zero code technology supports any type of development, and therefore prototyping solutions to programming strategic systems to building software test bots have become more easily achievable.

This study also puts us in context about the barriers that Codeless, No Code or Zero Code technology has to face.

The main reasons are:

• Resistance to change  by engineers
• Doubts about its applicability.

These are barriers that are preventing low code from reaching its full potential.

Despite these preconceived limitations, the reality, according to Gartner, is that by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by organizations will use Codeless, No Code or Zero Code technologies.

A look at our market.

Analyzing the reality of Latin American countries like Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, there are other reasons for the adoption of codeless, no code or zero code technologies.

In addition to the lack of human talent trained in programming and the growing demand of increasingly demanding customers, in our region there is also the emergence of new generations of workers.

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1993) and Generation Z (born between 1994 and 2010) are all digital natives.Additionally, they are accustomed to a high-quality digital experience and expect instantaneous responses.

Consequently, these workers require agile tools to perform their jobs that are very easy to learn and very different from those available in traditional environments.

This aspect is not minor, as it urges us to consider solutions with a short learning curve that facilitate the transfer of knowledge in multidisciplinary teams, which usually rotate in very high percentages.

Thus, we can evidence two additional reasons for the adoption of No-code or Zero Code technology:

• Generational ages and expectations of current human resources.
• The learning time of the new tools.

The trend of zero-code technologies in QA and its future perspective.

Unquestionably, QA has become an essential, more holistic, integral and indispensable activity.

As a result, it is becoming more and more important, requiring a higher hierarchy and an increased level of investment.

This investment extends beyond human resources to include equipping them with no-code or zero-code automation tools.

These tools enable functional roles to conduct tests at earlier stages, prioritizing automation to prevent errors for business success rather than merely detecting them and  must be conceived as part of a DevOps process and must be easy to use and scalable.

Therefore, companies have not yet reaped the full benefits of automation because, it has been difficult to implement and very costly to maintain.

Since it has mostly been developed based on code by specialized automators, with low availability on the market, expensive, and with response times that do not match the needs of production output.

Therefore, the trend of using people who know the business and not just the technology is very important. These are the best people to adopt no-code or zero-code technologies.

Conclusion

Nowadays, with the fast pace of the world, the speed and efficiency provided by no-code or zero-code technology, it is clearly demonstrated that it is better to use differential technologies and give the opportunity to change old paradigms.

Considering all the above, insisting on the recipe of code-based software development and testing is a mistake, because it does not take into account the participation of no-code or zero-code solutions. It would be like going back to wagons after having cars.

In the case of testing, STELA, a software automation tool based on the no-code or zero-code paradigm, is the easiest RPA tool to use in addition to test automation.

STELA brings tremendous benefits to teams by allowing functional profiles, without any technical knowledge, to agilely build digital robots to automate software testing or business processes (RPA).