In our last blog, we talked about the increasingly commoditized world of application development, the surge in demand for apps to meet fast-changing business needs and the fact that making a good app still requires some serious craftsmanship. That’s the bundle of challenges that low-code platforms like Mendix solve in one magnificent swoop. It offers all the benefits of custom-built applications while resolving various issues found in traditional development methods.

In reality though, Mendix does a little more than that. The organisation covers the complete developer continuum, from the purely solution-focused approach of citizen developers (no code), to the tech-heavy world of the full-stack developer.

Mendix’s no-code platform, Studio, is aimed at business profiles. It enables simple, straight-forward automation functionality, for example of Excel-based workflows. It’s also perfect for prototyping new applications.

The next level up is in-depth app development, which takes place on a different platform, such as Mendix’s low-code tool, Studio Pro. This stage is completed by full-stack development using code extensions.

Agile development

One of the main benefits of working with Mendix low code is a simple set-up. Low-code projects don’t require the traditional application development project set-up to get going, saving time and energy for everyone. How to manage versioning? What about the front-end frameworks? Mendix has it all covered.

A key point of low-code is that the developer doesn’t have to spend time writing code. Instead, tools like Mendix provide a predominantly visual approach to development. As a Mendix low-code developer, that means you can dedicate your time to finding the right business solution and delivering it quickly and efficiently. The bottom line - Mendix saves you time and effort, allowing for a truly agile development cycle.

Focusing on business needs

So, if a Mendix developer doesn’t write code, what do they do? First and foremost, they figure out how to meet your business needs. Working in low code requires deep knowledge of business processes in order to understand specific pain points and challenges. This means asking the right questions, and finding the best solutions. Hence, the low-code developer also needs excellent communication skills. He or she speaks the language of the business, but is also up to speed with whatever is needed on the IT side and is familiar with the latest developments in UI, front-end widgets, and much more.

In short, you could say a low-code developer combines the best of both worlds. They have all the required IT knowledge as well as deep insights into business processes. Once again, the most important upside is that they don’t spend all day writing code. Thanks to the use and re-use of all types of components (UI widgets, JavaScript & Java extensions, themes, templates, integrations, etc.*) the low-code developer is often able to present a working piece of functionality in just one day - agile application development in the true sense of the word. Not only is that the perfect way to impress and motivate a business, but it also reduces the traditional software developer annoyance stemming from development cycles (that drag on forever).

Thinkers turned makers

As Mendix likes to put it: low code turns thinkers into makers, for the development of both simple office tools and enterprise-grade apps. Low-code application development offers a completely new level of flexibility to the business, while saving time and effort on the development side. That’s what makes low code such an attractive new way of working.

In our next blog, we take a closer look at how you can turn a Mendix low-code project into full-stack development using code extensions.


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