C H 1 – B A S I C L O W - C O D E Q U E S T I O N S A N D A N S W E R S THE LOW-CODE HANDBOOK Jordi Cabot - https://jordicabot.com/ The low-code handbook - https://lowcode-book.com/ 1st edition – October 2024 1 

C O N T E N T S • What is NOT low-code? • So, what is low-code then? • Can I trust low-code has a bright future? • Is low-code for me? The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ 

W H A T I S N O T L O W - C O D E ? The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ Not a development method Low-code does not prescribe any set of specific steps Not a language You can use any language you like in a low-code approach Not a notation It’s not a specific graphical or textual notation to follow Not a tool Many tools support the low- code movement Low-code is NOT 

There is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order of magnitude improvement within a decade in productivity, in reliability and simplicity. The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ I T I S N O S I L V E R B U L L E T 

Low-code accelerates app delivery by dramatically reducing the amount of hand-coding required - Forrester Report (2014) The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ W H A T I S L O W - C O D E ? Productivity by writing less code there is still code 

• Grady Booch – history of softwre engineering The entire history of software engineering is that of the rise in levels of abstraction - Grady Booch 

S A M E A S A N Y O T H E R E N G . All other engineering disciplines start with models that can be analyzed and tested before building “the real thing” Low-code proposes the same but for software Data models / UI models / Behavioural models… The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ 

8 Automatic? F R O M A B S T R A C T I O N S T O T H E R U N N I N G A P P L I C A T I O N 

The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ B U T F O R S O F T W A R E W E C A N A C T U A L L Y D O I T Original model 1st refinement nth refinement Model-to-model Transformation Model-to-text Transformation ... Low-code 

Given the final model, the complete computerized information system can be automatically generated A L I T T L E B I T O F H I S T O R Y The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ We arrive at a specification from which executable code can be automatically generated 1991!!! 

L A T E S T R E I N C A R N A T I O N O F A L O N G T R A D I T I O N Model-Driven Architecture (PIM vs PSM) MDA 2000s Computer aided software engineering tools CASE tools 80s The Unified modeling language UML 90s DSLs and all other types of model-based and model- driven (MDE, MDD, MDSE, …) combinations. MDE 2010 The latest trend Low-code Now The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ 

( I F I N T E R E S T E D I N M D E ) FULL MDE COVERAGE Including DSLs, model transformations, model evolution,… FREE SLIDES SUMMARIZING THE BOOK Go to https://mdse-book.com/ The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ 

R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H T H E S E O T H E R C O N C E P T S MDD Low-code MDE PRAMATIC Low-code is a specific style of MDD: fixed set of models, limited chains,… MARKETING The term low-code doesn’t sound like the “enemy” to developers TRADE-OFF Simplicity enlarges the user-base The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ 

The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ F U T U R E O F L O W - C O D E - > G R O W I N G P O P U L A R I T Y 

A L S O I N T H E M A R K E T Market size Offering CAGR 13-25B Big five 20% Offering Magnificent Seven The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ GREAT BUSINESS MODEL FOR THEM Attracting more customers by generating code for their own commercial services and infrastructure DELEGATING GAINS To the deployment and running -> the more people I help build software the more people will pay me to run their software “FREE” TOOLING Thanks to the delegation, they can offer a competitive pricing 

P L E N T Y O F O P E N S O U R C E T O O L S T O O ! DASHBOARD OF OPEN SOURCE TOOLS Clear selection method, filtering options… TRY IT OUT Go to https://oss-lowcode- tools.streamlit.app/ Code available on GH too: https://github.com/jcabot/oss-lowcode-tools The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ Including our own!!! -> BESSER 

The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ E V E N A M O N G T H E S C I E N T I F I C C O M M U N I T Y 

L O W - C O D E I S F O R Y O U • If you’re building data-intensive applications • Relational database + API backends • CRUD-like web-based front-ends • Always, unless you are sure it’s not for you (e.g. critical infrastructure) The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ Even when it’s not for you it can help with parts of the system. And always worth learning given its popularity 

N E X T - C H 2 . H O W T O C R E A T E M Y F I R S T L O W - C O D E A P P L I C A T I O N Thank you! The low-code handbook https://lowcode-book.com/ Jordi Cabot - https://jordicabot.com/ The low-code handbook - https://lowcode-book.com/ 1st edition – October 2024