Low code and no code still require thinking

One of the latest fads in tech is the "low code" (sometimes called "no code") approach to application development. This approach lets one construct an application without programming. The implication is that anyone can do it, and that one does not need to study programming or hire a programmer.

In a sense, all of this is true. And yet, it is not quite true.

Nor is it new.

Let's look at the "low code is really old" idea.

We have seen "low code" development for decades. It comes and goes, a cycle almost in sync with cicadas (which emerge from the ground every seventeen years).

It has been called different things in the past: "Report Program Generator", "Powerbase", "Fourth Generation Languages", and possibly even "COBOL" (which was hawked as a way for managers and non-programmers to read -- although not write -- code).

Each incarnation of low-code solutions uses contemporary technology, and always uses mid-grade, generally available hardware. The idea is to make these solutions available to everyone, or at least a large portion of the population, and not require expensive or specialized equipment. The 2020 version of "low code development" includes cloud-based, web-based, multiuser applications that run on servers and are accessed by a web browser.

There are multiple vendors offering different solutions. Some solutions are little more than multi-user spreadsheets with templates for data entry and charts. Others are more sophisticated. But all share a common trait, one that has been in all low-code solutions over time: they build what they build, with little room for expansion or customization. Low-code solutions offer a room with walls, and you can move anywhere in that room -- until you reach a wall.

(Tech-savvy folks will observe that *all* programming solutions, including the high-end hardware and sophisticated programming languages, are "rooms with constraining walls". Computers are not infinite, nor are compilers, processors, and databases. You can do only so much, and then you must stop. All programming methods, high-code and low-code, have limits. But the low-code methods have more restrictive limits.)

My complaint is not about the limits, though. My complaint is about the unstated assumption that anyone can quickly build an application.

Any programming solution, high-code or low-code, requires more than programming. It requires an understanding of the data, and that data is used within the organization. It requires that the person building the application know the range of data values, the properties of individual data elements, and the ways in which those elements can be combined.

In other words, you still have to know what you want to do, you have to understand your data, and you have to think. Even for a low-code solution. Building a solution without the proper analysis and thought can lead to the wrong solution.

Low-code solutions are good for simple tasks, when those tasks are well-defined, have few (or no) exceptions, and do not have high performance requirements.

The high-code solutions require more planning and more coding (of course!), but offer greater expansion capabilities and more customization. You can detect specific conditions and add special processing for unusual cases. High-code languages also offer support for performance analysis such as profiling. 

Another unstated assumption is that once you have built your solution (low-code or otherwise), you are done. Experienced programmers know that programs and systems are not static, that they grow over time as people think of new uses for them. Low-code solutions tend to have little headroom, little upward potential. (They do what they do, and no more.) High-code solutions can be built in ways that let them expand easily, but such expansion is not guaranteed. I have seen any number of custom, high-code solutions that could not expand to meet the growing demands of the business.

Low-code generating systems have a place in the world. One can argue that spreadsheets are the extreme in low-code solutions (if we omit the macros written in VBA). Yet even spreadsheets require us to understand the data.

Selecting a low-code solution over a high-code solution is about trade-offs: ease-of-use (for the low-code solutions) against expansion and tuning (in the high-code solution). Which is better for you will depend on the task at hand, the people you have and their skills, and the future uses of the data and the developed system.

I favor simplicity, and consider solutions in terms of their complexity. I try to use the simplest technology for the solution,

First, consider using a spreadsheet. If a spreadsheet will handle the data and do what you need, use it.

Second, consider a low-code solution. If a low-code app will handle the data and do what you need, use it.

Finally, consider a high-code solution. If the simpler solutions don't do what you need, use the high-code solution.

But think about what you need, about your data, and about the limits on different solutions.

Then decide.