What Is Low Code? A Guide to Low-Code Development

When you think about software for your business, what comes to mind are likely the big mission-critical applications—your website as well as your inventory, accounting, human resources, customer database, and financial management systems. They’re essential for your organization’s success, yes, but they’re only part of the story.

Your company may have hundreds or thousands of smaller pieces of software, written by your own staff, solving very specific problems or seizing very tactical opportunities. Think a custom report writer, a data capture system for a particular project, or even a fully functional demonstration for a larger future project. Once upon a time, those tactical applications were created by teams of professional software engineers, many with computer science degrees.

Now, that’s not necessarily the case.

For the past decade, so-called "low-code" platforms have allowed individual developers, or even technically inclined businesspeople, to design, build, test, and deploy those lighter weight yet still important applications. What’s more, compared with a formal software development process that may take weeks or months, low-code tools can turn ideas into completed software in a matter of days.

What Is Low Code?

Low code is a simplified approach to software development, where a developer or skilled business professional creates applications using a visual point-and-click interface. In many low-code approaches, the developer starts by designing the user interface for the app. Next, the functionality of the various buttons, fields, and displays for the app are “wired” up using an intuitive process. Even connections to external applications, such as databases, can be configured via a drag-and-drop interface. Then, with a push of a button, the application can be tested and reviewed by stakeholders. When everything looks good, another press of a button deploys the app, where it can be used by any authorized individual inside the company, or by partners or customers.

What Is Low-Code App Development?

Low-code app development is a software development approach that allows people to create applications with minimal coding, using platforms that offer visual user interfaces and prebuilt connectors and components. It’s popular because any novice who’s tried coding knows how complex the process can be. With low-code platforms, you don’t need a degree in computer science to build an application that truly benefits the business.

Because low-code app development technology uses drag-and-drop tools rather than complicated coding languages to facilitate the development and delivery of applications, not only is it an accessible alternative to traditional coding, it gets the job done faster.

What Is a Low-Code Platform?

A low-code platform is a user-friendly system with an intuitive interface that lets even rookie developers build functional, secure applications quickly. Rather than writing hundreds or thousands of lines of complex code that must conform to a rigid syntax, a low-code platform allows developers to build software that’s able to access corporate systems, including databases; perform calculations and analysis; and intake new information that can be stored for business purposes. The newest low-code platforms even leverage generative AI to provide a natural language interface—think about describing your desired app features via a chat window.

Low-code platforms often depend on the cloud and provide access to a wide range of cloud services via a drag-and-drop visual developer experience.

Another key to low code is customization. While complete and highly functional apps can be built using a purely visual designer, low-code platforms offer the ability to add custom code using languages such as JavaScript and HTML. This flexibility also allows app designers to integrate their software with most external software systems, including commercial packages, open source software, and APIs in homegrown software.

As you explore low code, we invite you to check out Oracle APEX. Trusted by more than 850,000 developers, and running inside the proven Oracle Database and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, it’s a platform you can rely on. Start at no cost today with a free Oracle APEX workspace.

Key Takeaways

• There are a variety of low-code platforms suitable for developers and technically adept end users.
• Every low-code platform has a license, so determine if you want to go open source or select a commercial software vendor.
• As with any app development platform, your low-code tool must support the types of security your organization requires.
• Use cases include creating a new mobile app to meet a business opportunity, building a browser-based front end to a critical application, and pulling together data for reports.

Is Low Code the Same As No Code?

While some people, and some vendors, use the terms “low code” and “no code” interchangeably, they’re not the same. The platforms and completed apps may look similar—all are highly visual, and apps are created with drag-and-drop interfaces. However, no code platforms are designed for simplicity. They don’t support complex logic; can’t be integrated with many external data sources; can’t scale to handle large volumes of transactions; and most importantly, can’t be customized using sophisticated techniques, external APIs, and languages such as JavaScript. Low-code platforms are suitable for building robust, reliable business apps that scale. No code platforms are more limited, with a lack of flexibility and customization options. They generally have predefined templates and limited functionality and security controls.

Low Code Explained

Low code is an approach to building business apps that leverages a specialized platform, often running in the cloud. Low-code platforms are used by individuals, either developers or technically adept end users (aka citizen developers), who wish to create applications. Instead of using complex tools designed for teams of professional computer scientists, low-code platforms provide a visual drag-and-drop interface to create the application interface, and then add the needed functionality and interfaces to external systems, such as databases.

Keys to low-code development are reusable building blocks for common functionalities; prebuilt connectors to integrate with databases, APIs, and other systems; and the ability to deploy completed applications in the cloud or on an on-premises server.

Why Is Low Code Popular?

Low-code development is popular because it’s faster and easier than conventional software development methods. Low-code apps can be built in a matter of days by a single person—often a business user, sometimes by a professional developer—instead of in weeks or months by a team of software engineers. That not only reduces the time needed to make a new app available to employees or customers but also drastically reduces the cost.

By abstracting much of the underlying complexity, low-code platforms democratize application development and let organizations respond quickly to new or changing business needs.

How Does Low Code Work?

Low-code development works by combining two essential steps. First, an individual determines the business requirements and builds the app using an intuitive visual design tool. That building process includes designing the user interface for the app, specifying the functionality of the app, and adding connectors to data sources, including databases or other business applications. Second, when the application is complete and tested to ensure that it provides the desired business benefits, it’s distributed to everyone who might need it, whether in the cloud or on an owned infrastructure.

Security and Low Code

Most low-code platforms offer robust security to ensure that they can be used only by authorized individuals. These controls might be intrinsic to the low-code platform itself, or it might use a more robust access management system, such as that built into a database that hosts the low-code application. As to the security of the applications created by these tools, best practices include selecting a robust low-code platform from a vendor with a strong security track record, using input validation and adhering to secure coding practices, and educating people using the tool about the importance of security and data protection.

Low Code Benefits to Businesses

Low-code development offers many advantages over traditional application development, which can require an extensive, formal process with teams of software engineers. Here are some of the top reasons companies launch these programs.

• Accelerated development. Low code saves time and resources by letting you build applications in days, or even just hours. Because low-code platforms offer an intuitive, often browser-based, interface, there’s no need for people building apps to find, acquire, install, and learn traditional developer tools. Applications can even be deployed with a single click.
• Consistency and standardization. Business applications that are complex and nonintuitive tend not to get used, wasting money. And equally, when one software developer is asked to maintain or update another developer’s applications, nothing is scarier than finding out that the app’s source code doesn’t conform to an organization’s programming standards. Low code addresses both those problems by using a common development tool platform, which any developer can learn and work with, and by building apps that conform to conventional web standards. Easy to learn, easy to maintain, and based on standards—that’s all a win for low code.
• Cost efficiency. There are many ways to measure the costs of a software development project, and low-code succeeds in all of them. Employee time? It’s hours or days for one person rather than weeks or months for a team. Tool costs? Low-code platforms can be very inexpensive, even free when bundled with other enterprise software. And as discussed, the resulting applications are generally easy to use and thus enjoy wide adoption.
• Enhanced collaboration. Many low-code apps are created within a line-of-business department, where the people who best understand the need are the same people actually building the app. This lets them design the software and fine-tune its functionality, with immediate feedback from the group—much faster and more effective than communicating business needs to a separate team of software engineers who may not understand the nuances.

Plus, the latest generation of low-code platforms allow for collaboration among multiple app builders, so a group of colleagues who understand different parts of the business problem can work together. If that capability is of interest, look for the ability to easily track changes and lock sections of the code to minimize versioning problems.

• Greater agility. In today’s hyperactive business world, organizations often need to move fast. When you have a new idea, or need to respond to a competitor’s actions, you can’t take months. With low code, simple applications can be built and deployed in hours, though most times, it’ll take several days to design, build, test, and deploy apps that address significant business needs. But that’s days, not months.
• Improved customer experience. End users often enjoy using low-code applications because they’re focused on a real-world business need or opportunity, have an intuitive graphical interface, and were built by people who understand their requirements. Because low-code apps can be integrated with corporate databases and external enterprise software, those apps deliver the right data to the right people. What’s more, innovations around GenAI in low-code platforms can allow end users to interact with their apps using natural language.
• Increased productivity. In less than the time that it takes to merely assemble a team of software engineers, a business user can have designed, built, tested, and deployed the new low-code app—and then employees, customers, and partners can start using the software. If the goal is to solve a business problem or seize a new opportunity, low code gives everyone the benefits right away.
• Innovation edge. Some low-code platforms are fairly static and simple, and that means their apps may lack modern functionality. One feature to look for is an AI assistant capability that provides, for example, natural language prompts to help design SQL database queries and speed debugging.
• Integration capabilities. Applications built with low-code platforms need to be able to talk to external sources, such as APIs, databases, and enterprise applications, such as inventory and customer account management, so check for these integration features along with support for JavaScript for additional customization.
• Long-term future-proofing. While some low-code apps are one and done—think of software for a short-term project—many are intended to be used for years. Look for low-code platforms that have been around and are seeing investment from the vendor so that apps can be easily updated to take advantage of new functionality or meet evolving needs.

Low-Code Challenges

While low code may be the best fit for creating many apps, it has trade-offs compared with traditional application development models, where teams of professional software engineers create large-scale enterprise applications. There will be some times when low code’s simpler, heavily standardized approach isn’t right for the task. Here are some factors to consider.

• Complex maintenance. Some applications, once written, barely change, or change only once a year or so. Others might need to change constantly, perhaps because the business logic keeps evolving, but other times because the external integrations are fluid and fragile. While low-code apps are easy to update using visual design tools, they may not be as flexible as traditional software, where you can have a dedicated team of software engineers making sure everything is working correctly. When maintenance requirements are high, low code is probably not the best approach.
• Governance and compliance. Low-code application platforms are designed for constructing relatively straightforward apps that solve business problems. That’s great—except when corporate governance rules or government compliance regulations mandate very specific requirements for recordkeeping, data sovereignty, limiting access to personally identifiable information (PII), confidential healthcare information, nonpublic financial information, export-controlled trade secrets, data required for audits, military information, and so on. In those cases, software must be written to very exacting standards and must be proven to comply with those standards. For such cases, the traditional software engineering process is probably the only way to go.
• Integration difficulties. Many business applications need to talk to other systems, such as identity servers for access control, inventory systems for running queries, and sales systems for handling customer transactions. Many low-code platforms have integrations for common systems, including industry-leading databases, and offer extensibility features for other systems using SQL, JavaScript, JSON, and open source APIs. However, the integration capabilities of low-code platforms may not extend to specialized or very complex systems, such as older legacy software, embedded systems, or highly proprietary software. Those integrations may require traditional software development techniques.
• Limited customization. Low-code applications are built using a visual design tool and run in a standardized runtime environment. There is some capability for customization beyond the visual designer; for example, Oracle APEX lets you add code in JavaScript or link to external APIs. That’s sufficient for many tasks. There will be some cases, however, where the low-code app’s interface model simply doesn’t meet specialized requirements.
• Performance limitations. Low-code apps are ideal for low- to medium-scale transaction volumes, perhaps with hundreds or a few thousand simultaneous users, depending on the complexity of the app. For many business needs, that’s more than sufficient. For others, low code isn’t the right answer. Imagine the applications driving a stock exchange’s trading floor, or a bank’s automated teller system, or a railroad’s real-time freight tracking system. That level of volume and performance require traditional software engineering. But note that low code can still be used for specialized tasks in those domains, such as creating an executive dashboard to the freight tracker, because that itself is a low-volume app.
• Quality assurance. How important is it that a particular piece of business software works flawlessly 24/7? For some applications, such as a report writer that’s used once a week, that’s perhaps less critical than for a public-facing app that customers use to check on their sales orders. Low-code apps are reliable, but they live in a single runtime environment that might get bogged down or break due to a problem with an external data source. If that’s unacceptable for the business, traditionally written and deployed software can be more resilient, with multiple execution paths if an external service becomes unavailable, and with failover to other copies of the software running on backup servers and even geographically separate data centers in case of natural disasters.
• Scalability issues. Low-code apps execute inside a standardized runtime container, which may be a standalone environment or a container inside another piece of software, such as an enterprise database. While that runtime may be able to scale to handle hundreds or even thousands of simultaneous transactions or users, it won’t be able to scale to the extent of custom-written cloud native software, which may be able to scale to run across millions of separate servers and cloud data centers.
• Security concerns. Are you worried that unauthorized people might have access to your low-code application or might be able to access its data? You should be—many low-code platforms are designed for personal productivity or casual use and lack the sophisticated security features, including user authentication, data encryption, and digital signatures, that business apps require. Companies should look for a low-code platform maintained by an enterprise software provider with a reputation for robust security and access controls. That’s more than sufficient for most use cases. However, in some specialized situations, you may need to build custom software to meet very strenuous or specific security requirements.
• Skill gaps. In some organizations, there’s a pool of business users who aren’t software developers, but who have the technical skills needed to use a low-code platform’s visual software design tools. In fact, many low-code platform providers offer online training and even professional certifications. In other cases, however, those individuals may not be available, which means either turning to traditional software development teams or to consultants who can build the low-code app for you.
• Vendor lock-in. Low-code platforms are designed to use a specific set of graphical app building tools, as well as a particular runtime environment. The benefit is that the low-code app runs excellently within that runtime. The trade-off is that it’s locked into that runtime environment; the app’s design and logic can’t be exported from one low-code platform and run on another.

Common Low-Code Development Platform Features

In the simplest case, there are two parts of a low-code platform: the visual design tool used by the application’s builder and the runtime environment for the application. Authorized users may access both of those via a web browser or locally.

Here are common features that you’ll find in many business-class low-code platforms. Not every system, of course, offers every feature, but the more that are included, the more you’ll future-proof your applications.

• A variety of app visual design templates and the ability to create your own
• Ability to access and publish web services using REST and APIs
• Ability to add and edit complex data in an intuitive way
• Ability to compare app changes made by multiple developers to resolve conflicts
• Ability to create graphics and reports that will print precisely as intended
• Ability to create native-looking progressive web apps
• Ability to execute SQL on remote databases over HTTP and REST
• Ability to group and format data in meaningful ways
• Ability to save and reuse data reports
• Ability to work with GitHub and other shared resource repositories
• Ability to work with numeric, text, images, and other complex data
• Access to the full SQL query language
• Activity monitoring for developers and users
• AI-assisted development for developers with natural language support
• Autocomplete and suggestions for search queries
• Construction of forms to view and modify database tables
• Data encryption across the application
• Detection of attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and parameter tampering
• Error reporting on the running application
• Extensibility of the app such as using JavaScript, SQL, and PL/SQL
• Functionality for multiple developers to work on the app simultaneously without versioning or overwriting issues
• Generative AI for user dialogs, such as chat windows
• Geolocation for mobile apps, which can be used for data sovereignty
• Globalization for supporting multiple languages in a single app
• Integration of mobile apps with other apps on phones or tablets
• Multiple layers of access control, such as fine-grained read-only and read/write fields
• Process workflows within the app for end users
• Real-time data searching within enterprise databases
• Real-time flexible and interactive charting
• Secure authentication with apps on a variety of browsers and mobile devices
• Shared components that can be copied and refreshed with a single action
• Sophisticated tools for debugging and application tracing
• Tasks lists and approvals workflow for developers
• User interface components that meet accessibility requirements
• Wide variety of embeddable fonts, graphics, and icons for your app

Low Code Vs. No Code Vs. High Code

In many ways, no-code and low-code platforms are similar: Both use highly visual development environments that leverage a drag-and-drop interface for designing the app. Both create a visual experience for end users, who may be able to access the app via a browser or mobile device.

Both no-code and low-code tools can be used by either professional developers or by fairly technical business users, no computer science degree required. And both can integrate with a variety of external data sources, though interoperability can vary tremendously depending on the platform.

The biggest difference is in customizations. A no-code environment, almost by definition, doesn’t permit the app builder to handwrite code, such as in a standard language like JavaScript or HTML, or go beyond the built-in functionality provided by the tool’s developer interface. Low-code platforms, on the other hand, offer all those capabilities, which give the developer more flexibility in coding logic, creating the desired user experience, and tailoring integrations for specific needs.

Contrasting to both of those are traditional software development and software engineering approaches to building applications, also called high-code development. While most software engineers also use visual tools, called an integrated development environment, or IDE, the process requires writing significant amounts of source code in JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, or another complex programming language. Traditional development also uses more formal processes and often requires a high degree of education and experience. While some business applications will always require a large-scale software engineering approach, many projects can be addressed with a low-code platform with greater agility, faster speed, and lower cost.

Key Differences

What Can Businesses Build with Low Code?

Although they have some commonalities, no two low-code platforms are the same. Not only do they vary in purpose, but they also have different levels of functionality. Your final product is dependent on your platform and the expertise of your developer. In general, here are some of the applications you can create using low code.

• Business process apps. Companies with multiple departments rely on technology to assist with the organizational elements of their work. These types of applications help you oversee, automate, and optimize your productivity and workflow.
• Customer-facing apps. Customer-facing applications forge a direct connection between consumers and a brand. Examples include applications that let insurance company clients manage their policies and students access information from their universities. The ultimate goal is a more personalized customer experience.
• Data processing apps. Low-code platforms let you incorporate artificial intelligence, which helps efficiently and thoroughly process data. Not only does better data access encourage productivity, it also preserves time and resources by automating functions that would otherwise be conducted manually.
• Operational efficiency apps. As the name suggests, operational efficiency applications promote your operations and workplace efficiency through technology. Common functions include employee training capabilities, heightened customer service, and the enforcement of high-quality standards on products.
• User interface apps. Your customers’ experience with your website or mobile application is essential to their overall experience with your brand. Low code lets you plan and configure your user interface, assuring a positive customer experience that translates to a better brand reputation.

Low-Code Use Cases

The number of use cases for low-code platforms is virtually limitless. Oracle alone has more than 850,000 developers who have created more than 21 million applications on its APEX platform. Here are a few examples.

• Trailcon 360 is a low-code app that provides shippers with real-time information on the location, telematics, and maintenance status of more than 30,000 commercial semitruck trailers. The app processes more than 3,000 invoices each month for Trailcon, a fleet management company.
• A low-code app from Natcorp provides human resources management for more than 600,000 end users in Brazil. The latest version of the app includes GenAI, letting users ask questions and receive data-driven answers in plain text.
• Savantage Solutions, an American provider of software for federal, state, and local governments, upgraded its asset management software to low-code apps. Among the benefits: an intuitive user experience, improved data visualization and reporting, browser independence, and enhanced security.

How to Pick a Low-Code Platform

There are several low-code platforms available, offering a range of features and functions. Some are geared at individuals writing software for personal use; others are more business-centric. Costs also vary depending on the functionality and use of the platform, as well as the level of technical support desired. There are also open source platforms that you can choose, some with free community support, others with paid professional support licenses.

Here are steps to take when selecting a platform.

1. Identify business needs. What precisely are you planning to build? Which employees will build the app, and what’s their experience? Will the users be within your company, or include partners and suppliers? What do you require for scalability, such as number of simultaneous users, as well as for reliability and access controls/security?
2. Evaluate technical requirements. What do you need in terms of integrations with other software that your company uses, and are those read-only or read/write integrations? Will the end user platforms be browser-based, mobile device, or both? Are there specific APIs, such as REST-based web services, that the app must talk to?
3. Consider user experience. Who will use the app, and how technically sophisticated are they? Does the app’s user interface include all the features they need, such as real-time data retrieval and graphics? Do you need multiple languages for globalization? Does the interface conform to common usability standards, such as for browser-based apps, or for a mobile experience that’s intuitive for Apple iOS and Android phones and tablets? Does the app use the relevant device’s native user authentication system or require different security processes?
4. Assess customization and flexibility. Low-code app platforms offer a set of features right out of the box. If you need to extend those features, how accessible are customizations, and do they use languages that your team is familiar with? Can you access common cloud services and other applications using standards such as JavaScript, HTML, SQL, and REST-based APIs?
5. Review vendor reputation and support. What’s the likelihood that the platform vendor will go out of business during the anticipated lifespan of your low-code app? How worried should you be that the platform will be discontinued? Is it likely that the vendor will continue to enhance and upgrade the platform with new technologies and offer bug fixes and security updates? Does the provider offer robust technical support to your app builders?
6. Analyze cost and licensing. Every low-code platform has a license, whether it’s an open source license or a license from a commercial software vendor. Do the terms of those licenses meet your requirements? Does the cost model cover all your anticipated uses, such as for licensing development tools, per-user or per-usage payments for the completed app, and for technical support? If you build additional apps using that platform, are they included in a one-price license, or are you paying per app? Is the cost of the low-code platform included as part of other software you already license from that vendor?
7. Pilot testing. How difficult is it to build a proof of concept or pilot of your low-code app to determine if the tool will meet your requirements? Can you build and test the pilot, including database integrations, without incurring costs or license fees? Is there a pilot license that doesn’t lock you into a long-term commitment?
8. Gather feedback. Can you allow both your developers and some potential end users to access the platform without making a long-term commitment? Does the low-code platform itself have facilities for gathering feedback about the app’s user interface and underlying functionality? Is it easy to flag areas where an app is buggy, or where the coding has logic errors?
9. Make an informed decision. What are your must-have features, including the factors listed above, that a potential low-code platform must have in order to be suitable? What are the factors that are nice to have, but not essential? What is the expected cost of the project, including developer time, once the app is deployed, factoring in the number of anticipated users and transactions?
10. Plan for implementation. Once the decision has been made to adopt a low-code platform for your next project, what are the steps needed to bring the app from concept to fruition? You’ll see more about this in the next section.

How to Get Started with Low-Code Adoption

Low-code app development is far, far faster than conventional software engineering, but it’s still a business process that should be taken seriously. If your organization is considering low-code app development, adapting to those processes and low-code design principles may take some time, as well as buy-in from stakeholders who may not be used to custom app development—or seeing software written by anyone except a software engineer or without a formal process by a development team. Here are a few factors worth considering.

1. Assessment. The first steps are to determine if low code is the right approach for your project and to determine which low-code platform is best. This means assessing the requirements for the project, identifying the app builder or builders, if it’s a small team, along with likely end users and other key stakeholders. You should also be clear about the project’s budget, timeline, and metrics for success.
2. Training. Low-code platforms are intuitive and easy to use, with a drag-and-drop interface and tools that can be accessed from a browser. That doesn’t mean, though, that an app builder should simply jump right into building a business app without some training on the best ways to create apps that are functional, secure, scalable, easy to use, reliable, and compliant with your company’s standards. Be sure to leave time for your app builders to be trained, online or otherwise, on the new platform.
3. Pilot projects. Though it’s tempting to dive right into building that all-important app, don’t start there. Let your app builders tackle small problems first, to build confidence and experience and also to learn how the low-code platform works with your other important software. For example, before you build a sophisticated data analysis app for senior executives, how about making a simple app that retrieves a few records from a database?
4. Integration. Integration can be the trickiest part of any app development project, low code or traditional. Your business probably has many data sources, including databases, legacy applications, cloud applications, and external web services. Your low-code app builders may need help in finding those data sources and learning how to access them reliably and securely.
5. Collaboration. Developers can’t work in a vacuum, and that’s also true for low-code app builders, even though they often have an excellent grasp of the business requirements. Make sure they have access to—and cooperation from—subject matter experts, including technical staff, as well as a good cross-section of end users who can help determine the best user interface design. Some low-code platforms also allow developers to work together in teams, so make sure that they know how to use those capabilities.
6. Iterative development. Modern-day software development often works best with an interactive methodology, where programmers build a small bit of functionality, get feedback, incorporate that feedback, add a bit more functionality, and repeat, repeat, repeat. That approach is ideal for low-code development, especially when the people building the apps have other job responsibilities because they aren’t full-time software engineers.
7. Scalability. A low-code app might start off with one user, then ten users…and before you know it, there’s a thousand. Or ten thousand. Unfortunately, a poorly designed app—even on a fantastic low-code platform—might break when usage begins to scale. Be sure to plan and test around scalability, especially in terms of connection to external data sources, because that’s where an app works great during a pilot, but can fail when pushed out to a large group of employees, partners, or customers. A best practice: Roll it out slowly.
8. Governance and compliance. Every organization has its own requirements for software and data, whether it’s low code or traditional. That may involve how to handle PII on employees or customers, financial data, trade secrets, healthcare records, and so on. Some of those governance requirements are imposed by industries, financial standards, litigation, or by governments. Be sure that the people building your low-code applications are in touch with those who know those requirements and follow an approved process for ensuring compliance.
9. Feedback and improvement. As mentioned above, the best software is written iteratively. But software solutions, even low-code apps, are almost never finished. There are always ways that things can be done better, new features to add, usability to improve, technology to incorporate, and of course, bugs to fix. Make sure there are robust processes in place to get feedback to the app builders—who may or may not be the app maintainers—and that egos don’t get in the way of making the app better.
10. Culture shift. Low code isn’t new—it’s been around for years—but it may be new for your organization. There may be pushback from those who prefer that all applications be created by traditional software engineering teams. Or people may want to be involved in a project but lack the time, knowledge, or experience. And finally, by app builders who don’t appreciate that even though it’s low code, they still need to adhere to corporate standards and compliance rules. Be sure to consider the human factors, not only the technology, in your new low-code project.

Security and Compliance in Low-Code Development

Every software development project in a company must be secure. It doesn’t matter if the software is intended only for employees, there still needs to be access controls. It doesn’t matter if the app is written using low-code or traditional software engineering techniques, if the app can read corporate data, such as an inventory system or customer database, then there must be encryption and authorization. It’s important to make sure that your app development platform supports the types of security your organization requires—and it’s equally important that your app builders use those security features properly. The last thing you, or anyone, needs is to have data leaked because someone writes a plain-text file somewhere accessible across the internet.

Related to security, compliance is equally as important and has many facets. Not only are there corporate guidelines about confidential information, but there may also be government regulations; industry regulations, such as around quiet periods for publicly traded companies; or rules around data sovereignty, trade secrets, pricing, contract terms, legal settlements, and intellectual property. This is one area where low code is no different than conventional software engineering: When it comes to security and compliance, you have to do it all correctly, the first time.

Still, app builders within a line-of-business department may not be familiar with security and compliance rules, but frankly, that’s not an excuse. Anyone building an app, no matter how low-profile that app may seem to be, should consult with IT and legal, as well as any compliance and governance departments, to make sure the correct processes are in place, that there’s a clear chain for approvals, and that everything is documented. It may seem like a nuisance, but app security will protect your reputation and your business.

Examples of Low Code

There are many millions of low-code applications out in the world. Oracle says more than 21 million have been built in Oracle APEX alone. Some may be tiny—an app that collects registrations for a department’s annual holiday party, making note of which employees are bringing homemade desserts and which are bringing beverages. Some may be huge, presenting real-time locations and operational status for a fleet of tractor trailers.

Here are a few use cases for low-code applications:

• Creating a new mobile app to meet an immediate business opportunity
• Replacing a spreadsheet used for critical business functions with a forms-based web app
• Building a browser-based front end to a legacy client/server application
• Creating an employee-accessible directory that pulls data from the HR system
• Giving partners access to essential data using a secure REST-based app that reads from a database
• Summarizing information for management that pulls from several internal data sources
• Drafting custom interactive reports from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system

The Future of Low Code

What’s the future of low code? If the past few years are any guide, low-code platforms will advance in several directions—all at the same time.

More integrations. Low-code platforms will come with even more tools for integrating with other data sources in the cloud, as well as legacy client/server systems.

More wizards. Modern low-code platforms already offer features that help app builders understand APIs and databases, such as by simplifying the process of selecting tables and fields. These tools will continue to grow, increasingly leveraging AI so that developers can say what they want to accomplish—and the app builder will create functionality based on those prompts.

More collaboration. Low-code platforms were traditionally designed for a single app builder. Today, many platforms contain collaboration tools, such as shared workplaces and GitHub integration. Expect low code to expand to embrace more of the collaboration tools found in traditional software engineering.

More scalability. Low-code apps can be fast and responsive, and they can handle hundreds or thousands of simultaneous users or transactions. You can expect low-code platforms to continue to evolve to support multiple server instances to offer even greater scalability.

More usability. The user interfaces in low-code apps already offer a wonderful and intuitive experience for end users, with colorful icons, graphics styles, interactive charts and tables, and even GenAI chat windows. Whether in a browser, or on a mobile device, such as a phone or tablet, it’s an easy bet that the user experience will get better and better.

Build Apps Faster with Oracle APEX

The best way to build software for your business is often with a low-code platform, and with more than 850,000 developers using the system, Oracle APEX is the way to go. Don’t take our word for it: There are over 21 million applications built for businesses around the world that take advantage of Oracle APEX’s industry-hardened security, availability, and scalability.

What’s more, Oracle APEX is a fully supported, no-cost feature of Oracle Database, including Oracle Autonomous Database, that can run both on-premises or in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. So, if you already have Oracle Database, you already have access to Oracle APEX. If you don’t, there’s an always free version of Oracle APEX available.

Take two minutes to learn how to get started with a free Oracle APEX workspace. You’ll see how to build enterprise apps 20 times faster with 100 times less code.

If You Can, Build It with Low Code

Low code represents a better, faster way to build enterprise software. As we have explored, not every task is suitable for the low-code approach; sometimes the technical requirements for a particular project require a conventional software engineering approach. However, when you can use low code, you can dramatically cut the development effort, using fewer people and fewer resources to build the app and slashing development time from months to days.

Modern low-code platforms offer tremendous benefits, such as a highly intuitive developer experience and tools that can improve productivity and reduce defects compared with earlier low-code systems. What’s more, with lower costs to build and easier maintenance, low code might be the answer to clearing out your organization’s software development backlog, helping you solve problems and seize opportunities more quickly. It’s worth a close look.

Low-Code FAQs

What is low-code development?

Low code is a simplified approach to software development, where a developer—who might be a business professional, not a computer engineer—can design, build, test, and deploy apps using visual point-and-click tools. Depending on the low-code platform, apps can run in a browser or on a mobile device.

How is low code different from no code?

A no code platform uses a purely visual interface for building simple apps. A low-code platform goes beyond no code by offering developers the ability to customize the app using code written in JavaScript or HTML to better solve the business problem.

Who can use low code?

Any fairly technically proficient business professional can learn how to build apps using a low-code approach after taking some online training. Experienced software developers can also use these tools, of course, and often find low code an ideal approach.

Is low code a good idea?

Low code is an excellent idea! Many business requirements can be addressed through low-code apps, and the benefit is that those apps can be written and deployed much faster than with traditional software engineering approaches. We're talking about building apps in a few days, rather than in a few months—or even longer.

Is low code difficult?

Low code is much simpler than conventional software engineering, and many modern low-code platforms include excellent online training as well as helpful wizards and tools that assist the app builder.