Expectations of a decline in the role of professional programmers in building applications and programs

"Low code and codec" will change the scene in the software industry

"Low code and coded" limits the professional programmers' role to building large applications and development tools.

From the source

By the year 2024, the scene in the software industry will change significantly, as the role of professional programmers in building small and medium-level applications and final programs will diminish, so that entrepreneurs and business owners build this type of software themselves in a shorter time, and at a lower cost, without the need for programmers.

The reason for this profound change is a new and emerging trend in the field of programming, called "low code and the code", which makes building programs and applications a verifiable process by writing very few code, or no code at all.

These expectations were mentioned in the context of a report recently published by zdnet.com about the future of low-code programming and code-less programming, in which it relied on two studies issued by Gartner and Forrester for information technology market research.

Low code

The term "low code and black code" is used for programming platforms, which provide a large number of pre-set modular programming components, which are necessary to build various programs and applications, such as libraries of software models for the structure of programs and applications and databases, the information security component, the work cycle component, and the business process component , The front-end component, the back-end component, the data analysis and presentation tools component, and others.

All these components are provided in a complete form, which can be dealt with through tools for developing and building software through easy graphical interfaces. You only need to understand some operating orders and link with other components, through predetermined sequential steps, which reduces the needs of the existing one. Development to writing code to the maximum degree, or completely cancel it.

Hence, it is called the "low code or the no-code", whereby the person who builds the application or program is required to have a clear vision about the nature of the application and its objectives, and the method of its operation in the existing work environment, then use the components and tools available to him for implementation.

market share

The Forrester study predicted that the market for “low-code and black-code” applications and software would grow by 40% annually to reach $ 21 billion by 2022, while the Gartner Foundation expected that low-code and black-coded application platforms would capture 65% of all development processes. Applications by 2024. These expectations are based on the great benefits provided by this type of programming platform for small and medium-sized companies, and part of the business of large companies, represented in the short development period, its low cost, and its dependence on employees who have high experience in their field of work, and basic expertise Or very limited in the field of programming, which speeds up the period of product access to the market.

Competing platforms

There are currently many application development platforms in the concept of "low code and black code", and their number is constantly increasing, and competition between them is intensifying, according to Gartner, the most prominent of which is the "Evoque" platform for developing "low-code" applications in the field of business and commercial and industrial applications. It is produced by a software company called "Blue Infinity", which says that its "platform is designed to help companies easily deploy applications across different devices without the need for code. Instead of writing every line of code for a specific application, users of the low-code platform can" Or without code, create their project using pointing and keystroke interfaces, allowing non-programmers, in theory, to assemble pre-defined code blocks, to create a custom program, quickly and at a much lower cost than hiring a professional programmer. ”

There is also the DSP Concepts platform that specializes in building "low-coded" audio applications.

There is also a platform "Studio Graphene", which specializes in serving startups in various fields in order to help them build fast digital products and services that serve their businesses.

The disappearance of the programmers

The owners of the platforms emphasized that the "low code and coded" approach will not lead to the disappearance of professional programmers, but rather will change the scene, so that professional programmers are responsible for developing pre-set software tools and components, leaving business professionals and those with low programming skills to use these tools and components in building programs and applications .