What is Low-Code?What scenarios is low code suitable for?

对于“低代码”The propaganda has been very extensive for a long time,But the controversy never stopped.

Read some journals and articles,The system understands“低代码”这个东西,整理成文章,Hope to enlighten you all,At the same time, you are also welcome to correct and discuss in the comment area.

到2014年,ForresterLow-code was proposed for the first time/零代码概念：

 ForresterThe elaboration of low-code concepts is more biased其核心价值,The following points can be summarized from this：

（1）能够实现业务应用的快速交付,And it's subversive fast：

Forrester在2016A survey conducted in 2010 showed that,大部分公司反馈低代码平台帮助他们把开发效率提升了5-10倍,And this increase multiple can continue to rise.

（2）能够降低业务应用的开发成本,Mainly from two aspects：

• 代码编写更少、环境设置和部署成本也更简单
• 降低了开发人员的使用门槛

再来看看Wikipedia的定义

 WikipediaThen more attention is rightExplanation of low-code functionality,A few key points have also been drawn：

• 低代码开发平台本身也是一种软件,为开发者提供了一个Create a development environment for application software.
• 对于程序员而言,低代码开发平台的性质与IDEA、VS等代码IDE几乎一样,都是服务于开发者的生产力工具.
• 与传统代码IDE不同的是,低代码开发平台提供的是更高维和易用的可视化IDE.

基于上述的定义和分析,不难总结出如下这3条低代码开发平台的核心能力：

• 全栈可视化编程
• 全生命周期管理
• Low-code extensions

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Low-code definition distinction

A detailed distinction should be made on the definition of low code,Two other concepts are involved：高代码、零代码.Because low code is an intermediate concept relative to high code and zero code.

01 Low-code vs high-code

High code means that developers need coding ability,Implement products and functions through code.The relationship between low-code and high-code,It can be compared to video and graphics：

• 低代码——“视频”：The main content is intuitive and easy to understand、It is composed of pictures with strong expressive ability,Only need to be accompanied by a small amount of text for supplementary explanations,easier to understand and accept.
• 高代码——“图文”：That is, the traditional way of information dissemination,It is characterized by precise description,Expressed in depth.

当下,Video has become the mainstream way of obtaining information,Gartner的预测也表达了相同的观点：

到2024年,所There are application development activities in the middle65%将通过低代码的方式完成,同时75%的大型企业将使用至少四种低代码开发工具进行应用开发.

但同样,就像是视频永远无法取代文章一样,低代码也永远无法彻底取代纯代码开发方式.

So those that preach“Low-code will replace programmers”言论的人,Purely is stealing the concept.

02 Low code vs. zero code

Zero code is just thatAn application development platform that requires no coding at all,Equivalent to a subset of low code.

Zero code aimsLower the threshold for application development as much as possible,让人人都能成为开发者,包括完全不懂代码的业务分析师、用户运营,甚至是产品经理.

Here we need to correct a misunderstanding：“开发≠写代码”

Due to low code now&Zero-code products are highlighted in the promotion process“公民开发”这一概念,Let's just click on a related article,There must be a sentence：“人人都是开发者,It's easy to build a system without a code base......”.

因此,The layman will take it for granted and draw the following conclusions：

人人都是开发者=Anyone can write code=Programmers will be replaced by low-code products=搞噱头=胡扯.

但从专业角度出发,“Development is not the same as writing code”,It just builds collaborative processes based on business.

要知道,Even very professional developers,在Refinement of technical division of labor的趋势下（前端/后端/算法/运维）It is also difficult for businesses to do soIndependently develop and operate a complete set of complex applications.

而低代码/Zero code can reduce communication costs for business and technical staff by unifying the language,使得Various roles are closely assisted in a unified platform,这才是The root of the disruptive meaning of low-code.

而当前市面上很多通用的低代码开发平台,也都兼具一定程度的零代码能力;比如低代码领域领头羊Mendix,既提供了简单易用的零代码Web IDE - Mendix Studio,也包括一个功能更强大的低代码桌面IDE - Mendix Studio Pro.

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低代码行业发展

对于一个行业而言,判断它当前的表现是否够好,或者未来是否有潜力做到更好,可以从以下这三个方面进行衡量：

• 市场规模（蛋糕够不够大）
• 适用场景（是否可落地）
• 竞品状况（有没有被验证过）

01 市场规模

文章可以忽悠,但市场不会说谎：

• Forrester在2015年曾预测过,低代码的市场将从2015年的17亿美元增长至2020年的150亿美元.
• PS Inteligence在2018年的分析报告中预测,全球的低代码开发平台市场中,亚太地区将在今后五年（2019-2024年）中保持最高的增长速度.

 总结一下就是两点：

• 低代码的市场规模足够大,且一直都在高速增长.
• 作为亚太地区的经济大国与IT强国,中国的低代码市场将会引来一个爆发期,未来几年内的增速都会超过全球平均水平.

02 适用场景

理论上来说,低代码是完全对标传统纯代码的通用开发模式,应该有能力支撑所有可能的业务场景.但理论也只是理论,It is impossible to completely replace reality.

Relatively vertical software,低代码平台的行业属性相对较弱,但是由于各行业需求痛点和转型路径不同,Low-code penetration varies across industries,The applied scenarios are also different.

iResearch conducted a survey on the penetration status of the low-code industry,It is concluded that the manufacturing industry is focusing on the production process and the digital transformation of enterprises,渗透率最高,为20%左右.

 And from the general scene,The relatively successful scenarios that low-code can currently achieve are mainlyOA/进销存/CRM等等,Details can be found here：所有场景

03 竞品状况

 低代码虽然是一个新兴概念,但这个行业本身并不算很新（前文也有提到）,这些年以来早就积累了不少资深的荣耀王者.最典型的就是gartnerRepresentative manufacturers of the Magic Quadrant.

同时,低代码作为一个朝阳产业和资本热点,近几年也不断有更多的新玩家在加入这个刺激战场.比如阿里云栖大会、架构师峰会And so many tech summitsI have seen the low-code special session;nailed to the ground“低代码”应用等.

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Finally, I would like to share with you a piece of iResearch《生态聚合-中国低代码行业生态发展洞察报告》,有需要的自行领取.「 点我领取 」

参考资料：https://developer.aliyun.com/ask/385151