Low-Code vs Traditional development

Low-Code vs Traditional development

Overview

When is it sensible to use low-code solutions? And when should you use traditional approaches to software development?

Let’s compare the pluses and minuses of low-code and traditional development methods in order to detect which of them will be more appropriate for your apps.

In this article, we will tell you what low-code is, how it is related to traditional app development methods and how to integrate it into a wider business growth strategy.

What is Low-Code?

Low-code is an approach to the creation and modification of apps when a developer adds some elements by using pre-coded modules that are often chosen with the help of a drag-and-drop interface for building the necessary functionality.

What is traditional development?

Traditional development (it is also known as custom software development) presupposes coding from scratch (from the beginning to the end). It requires strong professional skills and deep knowledge of technologies and frameworks.

Low-Code vs traditional development

Property	Traditional development	Low Code development
Development	Development with manual coding	Development with a graphical user interface (visual modeling)
Tools	Frameworks and programming languages	App development frameworks
Development speed	Traditional development requires complex coding and can take 2-8 months.	It is possible to create a working app within 1-3 weeks.
Customization	With traditional coding, an app can be customized for particular requirements.	The possibility to add new settings to an app is rather limited.
Flexibility	Changes can be introduced rather slowly. But following the practice of flexible development, apps can become flexible.	Low-code apps are more flexible as there is a possibility to introduce changes quickly. All bugs can be detected and immediately fixed.
Deployment	It is possible to freely deploy an app on any platform.	The deployment doesn’t take long. But you have access only to a restricted range of platforms. Depending on the used tools for working with low code, it is possible to deploy apps only on supported platforms.
Technical maintenance	It is difficult to regularly update and support apps. You need to have a special team that will be responsible for updating the code.	It is simple to maintain the app. When a company is updating a low-code platform, apps are updated automatically. As a result, for regular maintenance, minimum resources are required.

Which development method should you opt for?

In this section, we will enumerate the cases when it will be better to choose low-code development and when it will be more sensible to invest in traditional web development.

When should you opt for low-code development?

• When you need to quickly build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). If you want to create prototypes or introduce a working app to attract investors, we don’t recommend you pay thousands of dollars for creating an MVP. Using low-code development, you can create an MVP that will be associated with low costs and low risks. Low-code MVP development is faster, cheaper, and easier than traditional development.
• When you are building static websites and web apps. When you are building a static website, there is no need to write HTML and CSS codes. You need just 5-10 hours to launch a static website or web app.
• When you want to test new ideas. If you have an innovative app idea that can be valuable for your company but you do not want to spend time and effort of your team for making sure that you really need to transform it into a real product, you can use low-code web tools to create your app just within 1-3 weeks.

Benefits of low-code development:

• Speed. Developers can create an app faster, using the low-code approach as it doesn’t include some parts of manual programming work.
• Re-use. Low-code modules can be easily re-used and  transferred between apps, though these actions can be restricted by the requirements to use the same low-code platform.
• Cost. As the development that is based on the low-code methods takes less time, it can help to reduce general expenses for your business.

When should you prefer traditional development?

• When you need to create highly customized solutions. If you need to have features and possibilities that are not offered by standard solutions, you need to create your apps using a traditional approach.
• When high performance is required. With traditional development, you can optimize every code line for reaching the highest performance.
• When you need to integrate external services. If you want to integrate your app with other systems or already existing databases, the low-code method won’t suit you.

Benefits of traditional development:

• Control. Developers have a higher level of control over the way their code is written and their apps are structured.
• Flexibility. In traditional development, you can use any programming language and development platform.
• Deployment. Apps that were developed with a traditional method can be deployed on every platform that developers will choose to support.

Combine low-code and traditional development methods

Low-code platforms can’t fully exclude the necessity to have traditional development skills. It’s better to say that these platforms are intended for providing all team members, including developers and non-developers, with the necessary tools and resources that they can use.

The majority of developers use low-code methods in some parts of their working process. It lets them optimize their work thanks to ready-made app templates and convenient interfaces. They can faster create and scale their apps and integrate them with external applications and services.

The best way to benefit from the advantages of low-code development is to stop choosing between low-code and traditional methods. Instead of that, you should find the right balance between these strategies. 

Enhance traditional development with low-code principles. Let your in-house team focus on creating a unique app while repeated coding tasks will become a responsibility of a low-code platform.