Low-Code and No-Code.

No-code platforms are aimed at specialists without programming skills. Databases are created like spreadsheets, interfaces designed by drag and drop, and workflows connected as a chain of building blocks such as 'when a new form arrives, send an email'. Low-code platforms work similarly but allow your own code in certain places, for calculations, custom interfaces or special displays. The line between them is fluid. Website builders and page builders also follow the no-code principle.

The strength of such platforms is speed at the start. An internal form, a simple database for enquiries or an automation between two services is up in hours rather than weeks. For validating an idea, for processes within a single department or as a stopgap they are often exactly right. They relieve IT because business departments can solve small problems themselves.

The limits show with growth. Costs often rise with the number of users, records or executions, so the solution that was cheap at first becomes expensive later. Complex business logic quickly becomes confusing in visual blocks and is hard to test. Data and workflows sit on the provider's platform, and moving usually means rebuilding; that is classic vendor lock-in. Then there are questions about data location, permissions and traceability, which for customer data fall under the Data Protection Act.

Since AI assistants generate code from descriptions, the picture has shifted. With vibe coding a first version is also created quickly, but as real code that can be versioned, tested and run freely. The question today is therefore less often 'low-code or programming?' and more: how central is the application to the business, how long should it live, and how much dependency is acceptable? For core processes, custom software is often the cheaper option over the whole lifetime, see total cost of ownership.