The no code dilemma

by nblocks-news

There is a new movement brewing in the product development space, the no code movement. By its name you might think it has something to do with moving away from coding. I beg to differ. No code in its current form doesn’t fundamentally differ much at all from code as we know it. Let me explain further…

Code in its current form has been around since the 1950s. When referring to coding the common understanding is that it is typing keyboard characters following a certain syntax (rules and regulations) of a particular programming language. Coding is not something most people can understand through intuition, you need to learn coding… and it takes time.

Demand for coders is high and the way the world relies on IT and code to function this will most likely not change in the near future. We will always want more coders than what we have and something much talked about is the need to educate more coders to meet this demand. Education is a possible solution however it just takes too long a time. This presents us with the opportunity of building better tools for everyone so anyone can build applications — say hello “no code”.

The no code movement shares Nblocks’ vision of creating apps without coding and if you define coding as writing characters following a certain syntax that in turn becomes an app, then there are many tools out there delivering on that definition. However I would argue that creating apps with these available tools has just created another way to code — I call this the no code dilemma. Instead of writing characters following a syntax you use drop down menus, write labels in input fields and drag and drop logic components to string your app together. Still using the same definitions and terms you would if you were to write the lines in JavaScript or CSS. You don’t write any code, you code visually and you still have to put a lot of time and effort into learning programming concepts in a new visual coding language.

At Nblocks we want to change this. We envision a place where everyone should be able to create applications without all the knowledge of a savvy coder or designer. That’s why we’re making Nblocks smart, to make it just as easy for an 8 year old as for an experienced professional to build applications.

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