SEHS4701 Advanced Information Systems

Development

LECTURE 2

LOW CODE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT (LCAD)

ALSO CALLED LOW CODE APPLICATION PLATFORM (LCAP)

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 The LCAD Trend
• More and more businesses and IT companies are adopting
process automation solutions that not only help them speed up
product development life cycles and achieve faster time to
market, but revamp internal processes in a cost and time-
efficient way. Market analysts forecast even higher rates of
low code implementation in the next two to five years.
• LCADs are closely related to Multiexperience Development
Platforms (MXDPs)
• Gartner highlights that "by 2025, the MXDP market will reach
$4.7 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
19.5% for the period 2020 through 2025, while the LCAD
market will reach $14.4 billion, with a CAGR of 26.4%."

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 Microsoft 365 as a LCAD Platform

• Search for the following keywords in JobsDB.com,

CTGoodJobs.hk
– SharePoint
– Microsoft 365
– Power Automate
• How many jobs do you find?
• Are the employers the companies you want to be part of?
• Note: Do not select "Information Technology" as an industry
unless there are too many search results.

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 Microsoft 365 as a LCAD Platform

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 Microsoft 365 as a LCAD Platform

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 Questions

• What are the full names of?

– LCADs
– MXDPs
• What is the meaning of the following words?
– revamp
– agile
– diverse

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 What is low-code?
• The term "low-code" or "no-code" did not really exist until a
couple of years ago, but the concept is hardly a new one.
• There has been the concept of a "power user", who are
business users usually have little to no traditional developer
experience.
• These power users often explore technologies such as Visual
Basic for Applications, Microsoft's now legacy, event-driven
programming language.

Source: Trio.dev Source: Pro-Ledger.com Source: dreamstime.com

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 What is low-code?
• Low-code tools expand on that philosophy, from the most
tech-savvy of super developers to any average person who
sees a business problem or process that a simple app could
improve and solve and sets out to build it themselves.
• The use of visual modeling allows you to build apps more
rapidly by reducing the need for traditional code.
• The use of the interface to assemble and configure applications
enables developers of various degrees of experience to create
web and mobile applications using drag-and-drop components
• The following screenshot shows the difference between visual
code and traditional code:

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 Comparing Visual Code and
Traditional Code

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 Why LCAD is beneficial?
• The growth of low- and no-code platforms has grown
exponentially due to a lack of skilled developers and the need
to improve the turnaround time for projects so business
process problems can be solved quickly.
• A low-code platform is a visual development environment that
allows developers, with any degree of experience, to drag and
drop application components, connect them together, and
create a mobile or web app.
• Using a low-code platform, you can create an application a lot
like creating a flow chart. This makes developing powerful
new applications extremely fast. Using this modular approach
allows professional developers to quickly build applications by
significantly reducing, or even relieving, the need to write
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traditional line-by-line code. SEHS4701
 Why LCAD is beneficial?
• Low-code platforms have also enabled anyone, from
a business analyst (BA) all the way to business
owners, to develop and test applications.
• This is because they have unlocked application
development from having to know anything about
traditional programming languages.
• All developers see is a user-friendly interface that
allows components and third-party APIs to be hooked
together and tested.

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 LCAD - Purpose, Focus and Use

• Purpose: to speed up all processes from design to code,

eliminating heavy and error-prone hand coding. Enable citizen
developers to participate in less complex tasks, while IT
engineers and more experienced programmers can focus on
business logic and strategic efforts.
• Main focus: Drag & drop functionality, code generation and
preview, streamlining workflows, eliminating designer-
developer handoffs, converting design files to code, supporting
citizen development.
• Who uses Low-Code Tools: Citizen developers, designers,
professional developers, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Types of apps: Any application that requires a beautiful UX,
data display & data entry, navigation flows and logic, that
typically runs in the browser.

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 Multiexperience Development
Platforms
• Multiexperience Development Platforms (MXDPs) serve to
centralize life cycle activities — designing, developing,
testing, distributing, managing and analyzing — for a portfolio
of multiexperience apps.
• Multiexperience refers to the various permutations of
modalities (e.g., touch, voice and gesture), devices and apps
that users interact with on their digital journey across the
various touchpoints.
• Multiexperience development involves creating fit-for-purpose
apps based on touchpoint-specific modalities, while at the
same time ensuring a consistent user experience across web,
mobile, wearable, conversational and immersive touchpoints.

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 MXDP - Purpose, Focus and Use

• Purpose: Deliver the necessary set of front-end and back-end

tools and services to developers that enable the development
and delivery of consistent experiences for end-users across
different devices, form-factors and digital mediums.
• Main focus: Building applications for end-users with a
cohesive digital UX and better interaction modalities
across creating multiple device targets for new digital
touchpoints and platforms.
• Who uses MXDPs: Experienced developers who want to use
code-centric tools to build different types of responsive apps in
support of user journeys across apps, devices, and interfaces.
• Types of apps: Mobile apps, progressive web apps, voice
assistants, chatbots, immersive apps, wearable tech, AI/VR
devices, and more.

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 Multiexperience Development
Platforms

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 MXDP Examples:
Mendix, OutSystems, Appian

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 Mendix

• Mendix has been a leader in the Gartner quadrant for

Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms and
Multi-experience development platforms since 2017.
• Mendix excels in integration, workflows, and AI-
driven development, catering to organisations'
evolving needs. Notably, it offers advanced LCAP
capabilities, enabling customisable mobile apps,
chatbots, and IoT solutions.
• Mendix emerges as a versatile and potent solution for
modern enterprises, propelling them towards digital
excellence.
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 OutSystems

• OutSystems gives you everything you need to

build, deploy, manage and change your
enterprise mobile and web apps, incredibly
fast.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gx3hMM
DOZI&list=PLGZK5lgjWaJ1rNX21okXaQe4
VRQLbPrQa

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 Appian

• Appian is a Leader in the Gartner® Magic

Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code
Application Platforms and #1 for the Business
Workflow Automation with Integration.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxyUk7R
EWVQ

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 Class Ex Questions
• Based on the teacher's explanation, The following is a _____
device. (Hint: not mobile)
• (wearable)

• Multiexperience development involves creating fit-for-purpose

apps based on ____-specific modalities, while at the same time
ensuring a ______user experience across web, mobile,
wearable, conversational and __________ touchpoints
• (touchpoint, consistent, immersive)

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 Multiexperience Development Platforms:
Are They the Same as Low-Code Tools?
• An MXDP is a set of front-end development tools and
"backend for frontend" (BFF) capabilities that allows
developers to craft devices, apps, and digital journeys across
several touchpoints.
• Low-code app development (LCAD) platforms help digital
product teams create apps with visual modeling tools and
simple drag and drop UI builders.
• There’s little to no up-front coding involved to start building
and then deploy a production-ready application. The low-code
approach to software development eliminates the need for
heavy hand-coding in areas like screen design, UX flows,
theming, branding, data binding, deployment, and even
GitHub integration.
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 Multiexperience Development Platforms:
Are They the Same as Low-Code Tools?
• Using LCAD, teams can eliminate the need for
manual HTML & CSS tweaking which, according to
Gartner, can take up to 60% of the application
development time.
• MXDP and low-code tools may seem to be one and
the same thing, however, they differ in terms of the
problems they solve, the purpose they have in a
team/company, and the outcomes they deliver.

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 Class Exercise

• Visit the following site and answer these questions.

• https://algoteque.com/the-rise-of-low-code-and-no-code-
platforms-for-rapid-application-development/
• Is "Apple Pie" a low-code or no-code development platform?
– (No, but Appy Pie is.)
• Is Salesforce’s Force.com platform included in the list?
– (No)
• What are the the 1st & 2nd low-code and no-code platforms for
rapid application development
– SureDatum
– OutSystems

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 Class Exercise

• View the following document and answer the

following questions.
• https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/multiexperi
ence-development-platforms
• What is the company that received the highest
number of ratings? What is its rating?
• What are the number of ratings received by Power
Apps? What is its rating?
• What is the platform used in the WIE submission
platform?
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 Class Exercise
• Watch the following video and answer these questions.
– OutSystems 2-Minute Overview - YouTube
– What are the first and last stages of an application?
• (Development, Production) 0:18 and other places
– What are the four major pieces you need to define?
• Data Model, Business Logic, Workflow processes, User interface (0:24 - 36)
– You can use what languages to create your own custom code for use in
Outsystem? (0:48-0:54)
• C#, Java, HTML, SQL, CSS, Javascript,
– Which mobile application platforms are available for Outsystems applications?
(1:13)
• Apple, Android
– What are the domain names of the four environments provided by OutSystems?
(1:26)
• dev.public.outsystems.com, qa.public.outsystems.com,
preprod.public.outsystems.com, prod.public.outsystems.com

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 References

1. https://appinventiv.com/blog/is-low-code-no-code-app-
development-future/

2. https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/low-code-development-
platforms/

3. What Is No Code Development? | Low Code/No Code Development

Revolution
< Self-Learning : Simplilearn https://www.simplilearn.com >

e.g. https://www.simplilearn.com/low-code-and-no-code-development-
guide-pdf?tag=No%20Code%20Development

4. Gartner IT latest research and Market updates.

https://www.gartner.com/

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 Readings for this week

• ebook Building Low-Code Applications with

Mendix: Discover best practices and expert
techniques to simplify enterprise web
development
– Bryan Kenneweg, Imran Kasam, Micah McMullen
– Birmingham: Packt Publishing; 2022
– Chapter 1 (Do the following Knowledge Check after
reading)

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 Knowledge check
Test your understanding of the concepts that were discussed
in this chapter. Answers will be provided at the end of
the Knowledge check in the next chapter.

1.The use of which of the following allows you to build

apps more rapidly.
a. Code
b. Visual modeling
c. Low-code
d. A calculator

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 Knowledge Check

2. True or false: with Mendix, you don't need to code

an application line by line.
a. True
b. False

3. Mendix was founded where?

a. Austin, US
b. Tokyo, JP
c. Rotterdam, NL
d. San Diego, US

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 Knowledge Check
3. Which of the following is NOT a reason why Mendix is used.
a. Cloud-native architecture
b. Ability to deploy anywhere
c. Scale with redesign
d. Multi-channel user experiences

4. What is Mendix?
a. Mendix is a low-code platform.
b. Mendix is a traditional coding language.
c. Mendix is a code editor.
d. Mendix is a type of fruit.

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 SEHS4701 Advanced Information Systems
Development

The End

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