DevOps.com

  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Features
    • Most Read
    • News
    • News Releases
  • Topics
    • AI
    • Continuous Delivery
    • Continuous Testing
    • Cloud
    • Culture
    • DataOps
    • DevSecOps
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • Leadership Suite
    • DevOps Practice
    • ROELBOB
    • DevOps Toolbox
    • IT as Code
  • Videos/Podcasts
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
    • DevOps Unbound
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming
    • Calendar View
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Library
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Calendar View
    • On-Demand Events
  • Sponsored Content
  • Related Sites
    • Techstrong Group
    • Cloud Native Now
    • Security Boulevard
    • Techstrong Research
    • DevOps Chat
    • DevOps Dozen
    • DevOps TV
    • Techstrong TV
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • Sponsor
  • AI
  • Cloud
  • CI/CD
  • Continuous Testing
  • DataOps
  • DevSecOps
  • DevOps Onramp
  • Platform Engineering
  • Sustainability
  • Low-Code/No-Code
  • IT as Code
  • More
    • Application Performance Management/Monitoring
    • Culture
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • ROELBOB
Hot Topics
  • Report Surfaces DevOps Challenges for Mobile Applications
  • Microsoft’s 9th Outage in 2023 ¦ RISE of RISC-V ¦ Meta Ends WFH
  • What’s Hot in DevOps | Predict 2023
  • Supercharging Ansible Automation With AI
  • Coming Soon: AutoOps

Home » Blogs » DevOps Practice » How Low-Code and No-Code Solutions Compare to RAD

How Low-Code and No-Code Solutions Compare to RAD

Avatar photoBy: Dmitry Binunsky on July 24, 2019 Leave a Comment

Low-code and no-code solutions help line-of-business workers to create applications more quickly and advance business needs. But how do low-code solutions compare to the rapid application development (RAD) tools of yesterday for non-developers? Let’s take a look at the drawbacks and advantages of the low-code solutions of today, who should use these solutions and which application types are best-suited for low-code/no-code.

Related Posts
  • How Low-Code and No-Code Solutions Compare to RAD
  • Should Citizen Developers be Welcome in DevOps?
  • How Low-Code Makes DevOps Stronger
    Related Categories
  • Blogs
  • DevOps Practice
  • Doin' DevOps
  • Enterprise DevOps
    Related Topics
  • Low Code
  • low-code solutions
  • Minimalistic Development Solutions
  • No Code
  • RAD
  • Rapid Application Development
Show more
Show less

RAD vs. Low-Code/No-Code

First off, let’s discuss some of the key differences between RAD and low-code/no-code solutions. RAD solutions are development tools that combine an integrated development environment (IDE) with some code generation features, primarily on the UI side.

Cloud Native NowSponsorships Available

No-code/low-code, on the other hand, refers to platforms on which codeless design time produces fully deployed applications, whether in the cloud or on-premises. This includes the entire application technology stack—back end, middle tier and UI. While it might not be accurate to say all low-code solutions are RAD solutions, it would be accurate to say low-code is an offshoot of RAD, though a far cry from the RAD solutions of the early ’90s.

Low-Code and No-Code Advantages 

Modern low-code and no-code platforms are advantageous to non-professional developers because of their shorter learning curves. These solutions cover the entire application stack and development, testing and deployment process. There is also no need to install multiple components to create a fully functional development environment, as most of the new tools run in a browser and deploy in the cloud.

Low-Code and No-Code Drawbacks 

The drawbacks of low-code/no-code platforms are similar to those experienced with RAD. You still need to deal with the code, since in many cases the developer has no control or knowledge of what files were generated or modified as a result of visual tool-related activities. This affects source control approaches and integrations of the code with third-party components. Furthermore, the quality of generated code can be questionable and proprietary in some implementations. This can lead to issues with code integrity across implementations if care is not taken.

One of the key factors of measuring the quality of the generated code is it should use the most popular and widely available (open source) frameworks instead of proprietary frameworks, so further maintenance of the code is straightforward and does not require an additional learning curve. The quality and complexity of the generated code also should be measured using traditional tools.

When to Use Low-Code/No-Code 

Which applications work well with low-code/no-code development? Because low-code and no-code allow developers to concentrate on the business logic of building blocks, this strategy is well-suited for business-type applications. Low-code building blocks and components can be created by more technical people also by injecting some code into standard visual components, ending up with no-code required building blocks for businesspeople to construct applications. This approach also fits well into the “bimodal IT” approach popularized by Gartner.

Low-code/no-code and RAD were both built with the same end goal in mind: to speed development and deliver applications more quickly and more consistently. However, low-code solutions offer a more visual way of building apps more well-suited for less experienced developers. It also can empower team members who otherwise would not be able to do so to create applications more easily. Modern low-code solutions also give the developer a great deal of flexibility because typically you can incorporate both the low-code building blocks with custom code, meaning the application can be customized.

Whether you’re new to low-code or no-code or just getting started, this solution is a great choice to help accelerate part of (or even your entire) development pipeline. If you’ve tried RAD in the past, give no-code/low-code a try and see if it’s right for you.

— Dmitry Binunsky

Filed Under: Blogs, DevOps Practice, Doin' DevOps, Enterprise DevOps Tagged With: Low Code, low-code solutions, Minimalistic Development Solutions, No Code, RAD, Rapid Application Development

« Consider the Role of Programmers as Storytellers
Digital Transformations Fall Short, Survey Claims »

Techstrong TV – Live

Click full-screen to enable volume control
Watch latest episodes and shows

Upcoming Webinars

ActiveState Workshop: Building Secure and Reproducible Open Source Runtimes
Thursday, June 8, 2023 - 1:00 pm EDT
DevSecOps
Monday, June 12, 2023 - 1:00 pm EDT
Interactive Workshop: 2023 Kubernetes Troubleshooting Challenge
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - 9:00 am EDT

GET THE TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

Sponsored Content

PlatformCon 2023: This Year’s Hottest Platform Engineering Event

May 30, 2023 | Karolina Junčytė

The Google Cloud DevOps Awards: Apply Now!

January 10, 2023 | Brenna Washington

Codenotary Extends Dynamic SBOM Reach to Serverless Computing Platforms

December 9, 2022 | Mike Vizard

Why a Low-Code Platform Should Have Pro-Code Capabilities

March 24, 2021 | Andrew Manby

AWS Well-Architected Framework Elevates Agility

December 17, 2020 | JT Giri

Latest from DevOps.com

Report Surfaces DevOps Challenges for Mobile Applications
June 7, 2023 | Mike Vizard
Microsoft’s 9th Outage in 2023 ¦ RISE of RISC-V ¦ Meta Ends WFH
June 7, 2023 | Richi Jennings
Supercharging Ansible Automation With AI
June 7, 2023 | Saqib Jan
Coming Soon: AutoOps
June 7, 2023 | Don Macvittie
Atlassian Advances DevSecOps via Jira Integrations
June 6, 2023 | Mike Vizard

TSTV Podcast

On-Demand Webinars

DevOps.com Webinar ReplaysDevOps.com Webinar Replays

Most Read on DevOps.com

No, Dev Jobs Aren’t Dead: AI Means ‘Everyone’s a Programmer’? ¦ Interesting Intel VPUs
June 1, 2023 | Richi Jennings
Revolutionizing the Nine Pillars of DevOps With AI-Engineered Tools
June 2, 2023 | Marc Hornbeek
Friend or Foe? ChatGPT’s Impact on Open Source Software
June 2, 2023 | Javier Perez
Cloud Drift Detection With Policy-as-Code
June 1, 2023 | Joydip Kanjilal
Logz.io Taps AI to Surface Incident Response Recommendations
June 1, 2023 | Mike Vizard
  • Home
  • About DevOps.com
  • Meet our Authors
  • Write for DevOps.com
  • Media Kit
  • Sponsor Info
  • Copyright
  • TOS
  • Privacy Policy

Powered by Techstrong Group, Inc.

© 2023 ·Techstrong Group, Inc.All rights reserved.