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Hello! It's been a while, so let me write another installment of the "words you hear a lot lately" series. Something you hear and see a lot lately is "no-code" — surely you've come across it too? I've been seeing it a lot myself recently. But I'd never actually used it, so I wasn't familiar with what tools are out there. This time I'll write briefly about what no-code is and what kinds of tools exist!
What Is No-Code?
As the name suggests, no-code refers to services that let you develop web services, apps, and the like without writing any source code. It's drawing attention because it lets even non-engineers — those without the IT skills like programming languages that were once considered essential for developing web services — do development. One feature is that it's easy to develop the web service you envision. Because you develop by dragging and dropping ready-made parts and templates, discrepancies with your mental image are less likely to occur. And because most no-code services come with an environment for operating the service as well, you can get a service up and running quickly. On top of all this convenience, the fact that some tools are free is another reason for the attention. Impressive stuff.
The Difference from Low-Code
No-code involves writing no source code at all. Low-code, by contrast, is a service designed to write "as little source code as possible." Because you do need to write some source code, low-code has higher extensibility and allows development of higher-performance web services. It's also designed for a broader range of development than no-code, such as being able to integrate with other sites and systems.
Pros and Cons of No-Code
The pros of no-code, as noted above, include the following.
- No knowledge of programming languages needed - Reduced cost of web-service development - Fast development
The pros above come from not needing specialized knowledge, not needing engineer hours, and so on. By contrast, the cons are as follows.
- Can only do standard, templated things - Dependence on the platform - Providers are almost all overseas companies
Since you choose from set templates, there isn't much extensibility. And because you develop using a service, your dependence on the platform becomes high. Price hikes would be unwelcome. As it stands, providers are almost all overseas companies, so inquiries end up being in English. I need to restart my TOEIC studies too...
No-Code Services / Tools
Let me introduce a few representative no-code tools.
Bubble
A no-code tool that lets you develop web apps and smartphone apps. It's a highly flexible service that allows detailed settings, such as arranging parts and configuring event actions. It's a popular service that surpassed 250,000 users back in 2017. Because it has so many users, there are also plenty of sites sharing know-how.
Shopify
You've probably seen Shopify around. Information about the EC space has been flowing during the pandemic, after all. As you know, it's an EC site-building service boasting the world's No. 1 share among EC platforms. Compared to Japan-born services like BASE, it offers a rich variety of designs and payment methods. It has over 100 free themes. Very generous. On top of that, you can do SEO, and building is super easy — just enter the necessary fields.
Zapier
Zapier is a no-code tool that lets you build task-automation tools. It's used for things like streamlining operations. To quote from a site that introduces it:
Link over 1,500 web applications to create your own custom workflows. You can automate tasks under specific conditions. For example, "link Gmail and Dropbox to share emails."
So handy...! For app integration, you register the apps that will serve as the "Trigger" (start point) and the "Action" (end point), and once the integration is confirmed with no issues, the linkup is complete and automation runs.
Other well-known ones include "WordPress" and "note," which I'm using to write this article. There's also Amazon's "Amazon Honeycode." And Google acquired a no-code app-development tool called "AppSheet." Worth keeping an eye on going forward.
In Closing
This time I wrote about no-code! It's already all around us. I realized for the first time myself that things already familiar to me — Shopify, WordPress, note — count as no-code tools. But when you think about it, of course they do. Of everything I looked into this time, the one I felt was the most recommended and the one I most want to use is Zapier. I'm going to try it out right away! Thank you again for reading!