To date, software development is a major challenge for many companies. It is time-consuming, expensive and often lacks the necessary development capacity. Wouldn't it be greatif there were a possibility to develop software faster, more efficiently and more demand-oriented without programming knowledge? One answer to this requirement is low-code development. The Low-Code development makes it easy to create applications practically without programming, with a click on a prefabricated software module. The basic idea is "configure instead of program". This is used by the Low-Code-platforms offer. Low-Code means configuration, not programming. This means that creating apps is no longer reserved for programmers.

Rapid application development already existed in the early 1990s. These were programming environments that first created the graphical interface of a desktop application and only then implemented the corresponding business logic. This was followed by Model Driven Development (MDD) - sometimes also referred to as Model Driven Software Development (MDSD) -, Model Driven Architecture (MDA) and various modelling languages such as the Unified Modelling Language (UML), the System Modelling Language (SysML) or the Business Process Modelling and Notation (BPMN). In 2014, the market research company Forrester Research coined the term low code. So what is low code? Is it perhaps even a kind of "low-quality" code?

The answer to this question can be found via a small diversions: in addition to low-code development, there is also so-called no-code development. Low code does not refer to the quality of the code, but to the code creation. In low-code development, the majority of code is generated by configuration with the help of a low-code platform. The proportion of manual code development is small compared to the configured amount of code, i.e. "low". The promise with no-code development, on the other hand, is: all code is configured and manual code creation becomes unnecessary. Whether this actually works in reality and how high the quality of this code is then, is possibly a different matter.

Low-code development can offer the following advantages;

• The low-code platform is designed for use by internal teams. Low-code generation reduces costs by eliminating the need for an external development service provider.
• Most applications can be developed without explicit programming knowledge. This is made possible by the modular principle, also known as "Lego-style software development".
• Companies often lack the ability to develop software. Non-programmers can also use the platform for software development, which partially reduces the shortage of skilled workers.
• Many companies have independent development departments that do not have central IT software support. Former software-savvy developers and employees do not want to wait months for their own solutions. By using a low-code platform, a significant coexistence between central computing and shadow computing can be achieved.
• Applications can be run almost in parallel with requirements specifications, shortening development cycles.

If you want to develop low-code, you use a low-code platform. It is also called a low-code development platform or a low-code automation platform. There are many providers on the market. As the market leader in low-code development platforms, Microsoft offers advanced software for easy configuration of applications.

The Microsoft Power Platform offers, among other things:

• A presentation layer with visual editors for the arrangement of user interface elements.
• A business logic layer - usually with visual editors - for designing business entities and processes.
• A data layer for the generation of business entities
• as well as basic services such as authentication, authorisation, etc.

Our experts offer you professional advice and support, to develop your individual applications with the Microsoft Power Platform. We show you how you can increase productivity with the Microsoft Platform. You benefit from a comprehensive service portfolio. We respond to your individual needs so that you can achieve and even exceed your goals.