By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
“Low-code” application building, according to one definition from IBM, uses visual components like menus and drag-and-drop icons to initiate automated code deployments. No-code options, conversely, rely solely on visual tools, to make products like standalone apps and simple user interfaces.
Consultancy Forrester, which claims to have coined the phrase “low code” in 2014, defines the method as “visual, declarative tools to deliver custom software,” not traditional lines of programming.
No-code platform features may have preconfigured components like buttons and databases; any coding occurs behind the scenes, so to speak, and away from the programmer’s view. Unlike traditional software creation, a no-code developer, such as a business user with little tech background, can quickly create tools.
Get with the program
Many familiar, software-as-a-service tools—from Excel in 1985 to WordPress in 2003 to Google Sheets in 2006—have enabled functions like data processing, visualization, and website creation, without the user having to write a line of code.
Who’s in?
A Forrester study, published in September 2024, found that half of North American developers used “low-code for the majority of their development work.”
Market intelligence firm Gartner, in May 2024, predicted the low-code app market to reach $16.5 billion by 2027, along with a compound annual growth rate of 16.3% from 2022 to 2027.
Some see AI as amplifying the already democratizing impact that no-code platforms have had on software creation. AI capabilities, via text-to-code platforms, now allow coding with natural language.
“As AI converges with low-code and no-code, we’ll see an entirely new paradigm emerge that will change how apps are built, who can build them, and how fast it can happen,” Jason Beres, SVP of developer tools at Infragistics, told IT Pro in April 2025.
