Low Code brief introduction, and where Open Source is on the big picture

2. by Alejandro Moreno Lopez - alexmoreno.net
Low (NO) code
a brief introduction

3. - Open source > 20 years
- Software engineer > 16 years
- Drupal > 14 years
- Enterprise > 8 years
- Technical architect > 6 years
- Acquia > 3.5 years
Architect: Someone who knows the difference
between that which could be done and that
which should be done.
Who
Alejandro Moreno Lopez
Technical Architect / Acquia
drupal.org/u/alexmoreno
@morenodotnet

4. - Not a lot of code
- Maybe some examples
- What will future (may or may not) bring
- Lot of things to think about
- Disclaimer: not a low code expert, just an avid learner
What to expect from this session

5. "Low-code platforms typically require users to have some
rudimentary knowledge of programming, where no-code
platforms are 100% drag-and-drop with no programming
knowledge needed."
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/is-low-codeno-code-the-fut
ure-of-application-development/
- Some no code tools will allow users
to do some code
- Some low code will allow to work
in a “drag and drop” manner
Example: Acquia Site Studio is
low-code, but you can do
no-code
What is Low code / No Code

6. - A solution for everyone and every company -> The right tools for the right job
- A threat to the status quo (IMO)
What is not

7. History
- From Assembly to modern languages
and frameworks
- From Turing or Ada Lovelace
- To Drupal in 2001
(first release in January 15, 2001)
First websites were created in C language

8. History - First languages
● 1951 – Regional Assembly
Language
● 1952 – Autocode
● 1954 – IPL (forerunner to LISP)
● 1955 – FLOW-MATIC (led to COBOL)
● 1957 – FORTRAN (first compiler)
● 1957 – COMTRAN (precursor to
COBOL)
● 1958 – LISP
● 1958 – ALGOL 58
● 1959 – FACT (forerunner to COBOL)
● 1959 – COBOL
● 1959 – RPG
● 1962 – APL
● 1962 – Simula
● 1962 – SNOBOL
● 1963 – CPL (forerunner to C)
● 1964 – Speakeasy
● 1964 – BASIC
● 1964 – PL/I
● 1966 – JOSS
● 1966 - MUMPS
● 1967 – BCPL (forerunner to C)

10. History - First paradigms
● Object orientation (Simula 1962)
● Functional programming
● Logic programming - Prolog
● 1967 – BCPL (forerunner to B)
● 1968 – Logo
● 1969 – B (forerunner to C)
● 1970 – Pascal
● 1970 – Forth
● 1972 – C
● 1972 – Smalltalk
● 1972 – Prolog
● 1973 – ML
● 1975 – Scheme
● 1978 – SQL (a query language,
later extended)

12. History - Consolidation, performance
● C++ is a consolidation of ideas
● ADA
● RISC and compilers evolution
● 1980 – C++ (as C with classes, renamed in 1983)
● 1983 – Ada
● 1984 – Common Lisp
● 1984 – MATLAB
● 1984 – dBase III, dBase III Plus (Clipper and
FoxPro as FoxBASE, later developing into Visual
FoxPro)
● 1985 – Eiffel
● 1986 – Objective-C
● 1986 – LabVIEW (Visual Programming
Language)
● 1986 – Erlang
● 1987 – Perl
● 1988 – Tcl
● 1988 – Wolfram Language (as part of
Mathematica, only got a separate name in June
2013)
● 1989 – FL (Backus)

14. History - the internet age
● ● 1990 – Haskell
● 1990 – Python
● 1991 – Visual Basic
● 1993 – Lua
● 1993 – R
● 1994 – CLOS (part of ANSI Common Lisp)
● 1995 – Ruby
● 1995 – Ada 95
● 1995 – Java
● 1995 – Delphi (Object Pascal)
● 1995 – JavaScript
● 1995 – PHP
● 1997 – Rebol

16. Low code: a new concept… really?
- [...] In the future, software architects will create software
by drawing boxes and graphs which will result in code
at the other side of the process

17. Low code: “finish the small details”

18. Developer market is thriving (even during Covid)
[...] Industry analyst and blogger James Governor ... says the world will need
around 100 million developers in 10 years. (we’re at just one quarter of that
today)
Why is this important

19. Why is this important

20. Why is this important

21. Job listings for entry-level PHP developer roles have increased a massive 834% since
January 2020, making it the fastest-growing tech skill across the industry
Source:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/2020s-fastest-rising-tech-jobs-programming-language-ph
p-leads-the-way/
Why is this important

22. Why is this important (for businesses)
* Via Forrester

23. The solution IS NOT to teach everyone to code
It can be useful and time saver as well for developers
Solutions

24. Enter Low Code No Code

25. ❖ Forrester classification or segments:
➢ database,
➢ request handling,
➢ mobile,
➢ process,
➢ general purpose
See
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-code_development_platform
- https://informationsecurity.report/Resources/Whitepapers/0eb07c59-b01c-4399-9022-dfc297487
060_Forrester%20Vendor%20Landscape%20The%20Fractured,%20Fertile%20Terrain.pdf
Low code applications

26. ● APIs
● Ads
● Animation
● Apps (Native)
● Automation (Workflows)
● Blockchain
● Browser Extensions
● Business Apps
● CRM
● Calculators
● Charts
● Chatbots
via https://nocodelist.co/
Low code applications
● Communities
● Customer Support
● Cybersecurity
● Dashboards /
Analytics
● Data Modeling
● Data and Databases
● Design Systems
● Digital Downloads
● Ecommerce
● Email
● Feeds
● Code
● Comments
● Forms
● Games
● Integrations
● Internet of Things
● Knowledge Graphs
● Landing Pages
● Machine Learning /
AI
● Maps
● Marketing
● Marketplaces
● Memberships
● Messaging
● Payments
● Podcasting
● Portals
● Portfolios
● Publishing
● Referral Programs
● Scraping
● Subscriptions
● Tests
● Translation
● VR / AR / 3D
● Voice
● Web Apps
● Websites

27. Show me some
Examples

28. ● Flow Based Programming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow-based_progr
amming
● https://automate.io
● https://www.integrify.com
● https://zapier.com
● https://twitter.com/tray
● https://ifttt.com
● …
Open source
● Node Red
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGeUD26Mw
0&list=PLyNBB9VCLmo1hyO-4fIZ08gqFcXBkHy-6
&index=1
Low code applications: automation

29. Node-Red

30. Low code applications: automation
Useful for:
● Bots,
● Trigger tasks between apps
○ Email to spreadsheets,
○
● Home automation
● IOT
● ads (google, facebook, …)
○ https://zapier.com/apps/google-ads/
integrations/mailchimp
● Transactional emails
● ...

31. ● https://landbot.io
● https://www.teneo.ai/
● Microsoft power apps chatbots
● https://www.ibm.com/watson
Open Source
● https://botpress.com/
● vs custom
Low code applications: bots

32. ● Google sheets evolution
● https://airtable.com/
● dashdash.com (https://rows.com/)
● http://appsheet.com
● ...
Low code applications: databases

33. ● https://www.voiceflow.com
● https://otter.ai/
Low code applications: voice apps
● Shopify
● Integromat
● Webflow
● https://www.kaddra.com/
● https://carrd.co/
Low code applications: commerce
● https://trypico.com/
● https://stripe.com
● https://checkoutpage.co/
Low code applications: subscriptions
● https://skaffolder.com/home (Multiple languages,
nodejs, React, Angular, ...) (Video)
● https://builderx.io/ (React native) -> Video
● https://uibakery.io/ (Angular code) -> Video
●
Low code applications: code

34. - https://www.glideapps.com/
- Webflow
- https://thunkable.com/home2/
- https://www.adalo.com/ -> https://twitter.com/AdaloHQ
- https://bubble.io/ -> https://twitter.com/bubble
- https://www.bildr.com/
- https://www.airsquare.com/
- https://www.mendix.com/
- Pineapple
- https://www.softr.io/
- https://spreadsimple.com/ = @SpreadSimpleHQ
- https://www.adalo.com/
- https://tadabase.io/ = @tadabaseio
- https://create.editorx.com/
Low code applications: webdev

35. ● Solutions are getting more and more
sophisticated
● (glide)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nb
Y2LA3wNM&feature=emb_logo
● Editorx -> https://create.editorx.com/
Low code applications: webdev

36. Resources

37. Learning
● https://www.makerpad.co
https://lab.zeroqode.com/courses
● https://sincodigo.io/ (Spanish)
● https://www.nocodehackers.es/ (Spanish)
● https://nocodery.com/
● https://twitter.com/nocodecamp
Books
● https://twitter.com/MakerMinions
- https://twitter.com/MakerMinions
Podcasts
● https://www.nocodepodcast.co/podcast
● https://visualdev.fm/

38. Conferences
● https://webflow.com/nocodeconf
● https://zeroqode.com/zerocodeconf
● https://lowcode-workshop.github.io
Communities
● https://www.nocodedevs.com/
● https://www.dronahq.com/no-code-communities
● https://twitter.com/BuildNucode
● https://www.lowcodeplaza.com/community/ (not very
active)

39. Agencies and marketplace
● https://experts.makerpad.co/
● https://zeroqode.com/
● https://minimum.studio/
● https://www.n0c0de.com
● https://twitter.com/bonsagency
● List of agencies - https://nocodelist.co/agencies
● Recruitment agency: https://twitter.com/NoCodeJac
● These agencies in the past would use OSS as the
cheap alternative

40. What about Drupal

41. ● Drupal: low code since 2000
○ History of Drupal: https://www.drupal.org/about/history
● Site builders == Low Code
● Layout Builder
● Paragraphs
● Gutenberg
● Missing link: make Drupal entry easier
○ Community is already working on that
○ More?
■ ie: Automate installing modules ~> Drupal marketplace
Low code applications: Drupal

42. ● Web development: Acquia Site Studio
● Marketing automation: Mautic
Low code applications: Acquia

43. Low code applications: Acquia Mautic

44. - Request a demo
https://www.acquia.com/about-us/contact/req
uest-a-demo
- See it in action:
- https://hs-alejandro-moreno-lopez-a
cquia-469419-inspace.pressure.co
hesiondx8.com/user
Low code applications: Acquia Site Studio

45. Wrapping up

46. What Low Coce is perfect for: Entrepreneurship
- Starting a business is hard
- Ideas are worth nothing. Sweat and blood makes business, not ideas
- Entrepreneurs and startups are using low code to start ideas
- Those ideas would have not started without lowcode. It is extremely expensive
for a startup to create an idea, so lots of them would never even spark

47. What is not good for
● Complex, custom solutions
● Enterprise
● Right tool for the right job

48. Problems
● Big scale and growing projects mess
● Testing anyone?
● Price
● Your data belongs to up
● Vendor lock
● Security
● Flexibility and customisation

49. Future
● It won’t threat the job development market
● All new tools will help a lot of people to get on the market
○ More tools will appear = more dev jobs to create those tools
○ More technical jobs and opportunities for more people

50. ● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_programming_languages
● https://nocodelist.co/
● https://github.com/alex-moreno/lowcodenocode
● https://www.alexmoreno.net/will-low-code-kill-developer-jobs/
References and links

51. ● Visit Acquia booth for free shirts
○ Raise funds for the DA
○ 5$ donation to black girls code for every visit
○ https://shop.spreadshirt.com/drupalcon-europe-2020/
● Drupal England and Wales association
Drupal shop & DEW

52. Thank you

53. Join us for
contribution opportunities
Friday, December 11, 2020
Mentored
Contribution
First Time
Contributor Workshop
General
Contribution
#DrupalContributions

54. What did you think?
Locate this session at the DrupalCon Europe website:
https://events.drupal.org/europe2020/preliminary-program/