Who are Citizen Developers?

In the past, to become a programmer, you had to complete a relevant computer science degree or programming course. Nowadays, people who know little about computers are increasingly creating applications. This is possible thanks to the increasingly rapidly developing low-code platforms, among which we can distinguish low-code and no-code platforms.

Low-code platforms are a technology that can be used not only by programmers, but also by people who are not familiar with the coding method. They allow you to build applications from ready-made components in a visual way, using the "drag and drop" method. Although both low-code and no-code platforms allow you to create applications without having to code, there are some differences between them.

Low-code platform

A low-code platform is a programming environment in which, instead of traditional, hand-coding, applications are created mainly using a graphical user interface. In this way, you can create fully functional software that can be supplemented with standard code if necessary.

No-code platform

In turn, a no-code platform is a software design system that allows even non-technical people to create software without writing code. These tools usually have an easy-to-use interface and "drag and drop" functions, which allows you to easily graphically present the process of implementing the solution and describe the general business logic. By definition, no-code platforms have limited functionality.

Speeding up work

The idea behind the creation of low-code platforms was to help developers quickly prepare business applications by shortening the time needed for traditional programming. The advantage of using such platforms is that a wider group of people can participate in the application creation process, not only those who have formal programming skills. They can be future users of the business application being created.

An example of a Polish low-code platform is the nAxiom Platform. Some of the more well-known global solutions include OutSystems, Microsoft's Power Platform, and Mendix.

Citizen programmer

The assembly of applications from ready-made blocks means that people who are completely outside the developer environment are increasingly taking on software development - primarily future users. In the United States, the concept of "Citizen Developer" was even created, which means that each employee can independently create the applications they need.

"Most organizations face the challenge of streamlining their systems. However, many of them do not have sufficient resources to optimize them. The answer to the lack of IT specialists may be a reduction in the demand for their services. Low-code platforms come to the rescue, which enable people with no coding experience to build applications,” says Bartłomiej Zydroń from LLCD Sp. z o.o.

Citizen Developers in action

An example of “Citizen programming” is an application prepared by employees of the New York City Office. Officials employed in the city office, in cooperation with an external company Unqork, used a low-code platform to create and launch a crisis management system for the COVID-19 pandemic within 72 hours. The system they prepared identified pandemic hotspots, highlighting areas of the city with a large number of infected people, provided information on how to get help, and warned people to avoid risky places in New York.

Summary

To sum up, it should be emphasized that low-code platforms allow for the free creation of individually tailored applications, and their implementation does not require advanced programming work. Individual business ideas submitted by various departments in the company can be quickly implemented directly by employees of those departments, who know best how a given application should work and what functionalities could be helpful in carrying out everyday tasks.