Recently, low-code and zero-code are very popular. On the Internet, everyone advocates their own zero-code development platform. Indeed, the development of IT and the promotion of Internet products in the past ten years have made tools in many segments show a trend of simplicity and ease of use, less development and light weight.
The author has also done more than 10 years of development in the IT industry. I have developed office-like suites, data platforms, and Internet applications. I personally feel that the current zero-code development platforms are only suitable for small software with simple logic, such as some Simple data reporting and simple data statistics functions, such as small, logical, and temporary small programs for questionnaires and data submission. But for the complex business environment of the enterprise, such as common ERP, OA, data platform and banking, securities and other professional and logically complex software, it can only be regarded as low-code development at best. It is necessary to know that the degree of software development and the richness of functions are mutually exclusive, and the richness of satisfying business needs is also mutually exclusive.
As far as tools are concerned, whether it is low code or zero code, it is all about solving development efficiency problems. Many tools now abstract a set of visual languages and components based on existing advanced technologies. Some are for ERP, some are for OA, and some are for visual table processing. Basically, in certain scenarios, the efficiency of these low-code platforms is very impressive. For example, in the reporting and BI fields that I am familiar with, many companies have a series of data "interaction" requirements such as data collection, data processing, and data display, such as reporting, reporting, data flow, and data reading and display.
Regarding the requirement of report development, the previous operation or the current method of most small companies is: business data is in the database-when data is needed, IT uses sql to fetch-some will be further processed into finished data-export to Excel Business-then the business processes the data in Excel.
Some company development may automate some high-frequency report development, such as writing an automated script in java or Python. But this brings about the problem of code development, the code has bugs that need to be maintained, and the requirements need to change and the code needs to be changed. The report requirements are numerous and complicated, and every time a request comes, the code must be changed manually, which is quite manual. And such company report data exists in everyone's Excel, exists in the code, and there is no platform to support it, which is tantamount to streaking.
Therefore, in the past few years, various reporting platforms have been born, step by step visualization of operation, visualization of code, platformization and systemization of operation and maintenance, and development, and has basically developed into a stable low-code report development platform. . Take the industry leader FineReport.
Next, I will analyze this low-code report development platform from a functional perspective .
Development operations
1. Visual editing of SQL statements
One of the important operations for developing reports is to read and fill in data. In most cases, we write SQL directly. What about the mature report development platform?
When operating database data, FineReport has a Navicat-like database visualization operation interface, linking to the database, reading data tables... followed by a visual SQL editing page (as shown in the figure below), directly drag tables and fields to During editing, generate SQL statements directly. When you write a hundred and eighty lines of SQL, you can still save a lot of time.
2. Zero coding editing of report template
Then there is the design of reports. Most of the time for reports is spent on developing report styles, similar to Excel, which visually fills in data, processes data, and makes table styles. The logic of FineReport's report template is similar to Excel. Don't write code. Drag the corresponding fields into the table. The whole process is basically visual editing.
But the logic of data presentation is different. The object processed by Excel is data one by one, and the object processed by FineReport is the name of the data table field in the database. A data field is placed in a cell in the template. When displayed on the web, the data expands horizontally or vertically along with the field.
3. Visual configuration of parameter query
In many cases, the data display of the report requires data query and filtering based on conditions. Binding data fields and filtering controls (single selection boxes, checkboxes, etc.) by setting parameters, input query conditions through the interface to control the content and form of the report display, and then export. Regarding parameter settings, FineReport has a visual parameter interface for placing query-related controls, which can be laid out at will, and drag and drop to design the interface effect you want.
4. Visual dashboard construction
In terms of data visualization, FineReport uses decision-making reports to design and display. Operational reports, charts, and various controls are encapsulated into modules, and component reports can be quickly produced through component drag-and-drop operation, which is more beautiful than traditional grid reports and can adapt to the screen. The size and resolution of the camera, intelligent arrangement of component layout, better interaction effect, very suitable for building a decision-making cockpit.
In addition, with the visual parameter definition, FineReport can realize the visual multi-layer drill function setting, the same report can drill according to different field values.
After talking about development operations, let's talk about platform operation and maintenance.
Platform operation and maintenance
1. Timing scheduling
The timing scheduling of the report section, for example, some reports such as daily, monthly, and quarterly reports need to be generated and published regularly. In order to avoid regular repetition, FineReport has developed a ready-made timing task function on the platform. After setting, the server will be specified Automatically complete the set tasks, generate reports regularly, convert data regularly, send emails, short messages, and mobile client information regularly, specify the report generation directory, and view the report generation results in Web mode.
2. Authority management
Where there is a platform, there are users, and in terms of data security, authority management must be done. The platform policy FineReport is configured with visual permission settings fine to the permission granularity of the cell.
Through the hierarchical authority control function, different branch companies/departments can share the system. Each branch company/department has its own administrator and assigns permissions to its subordinate employees, that is, the super administrator controls all permissions, and the subordinate administrators can only manage Users and report templates within their own responsibilities.
Other functions that have been sealed, such as cluster configuration, backup and restoration, intelligent detection, cloud operation and maintenance, platform logs, resource migration, etc., are also platformized.
Development related
The biggest advantage of a low-code platform is that it allows programmers to focus on the core business logic. All peripheral things are preset for you on the platform and can be called directly.
As mentioned above, the degree of software development and the richness of functions are mutually exclusive. Most common functions have been modularized and integrated into the software, which can meet most business needs. However, the business environment is changeable, business needs are changeable, and the unsatisfied part of individuality must be realized by development.
Therefore, the part that FineReport can be developed is actually an open interface. Developers can use web script JS, API interfaces, etc. to develop and control FineReport in depth. For example, the front-end calls third-party visualization libraries. Docking mainstream business systems and databases, such as the need to develop company-specific platform interfaces, single sign-on integration, and so on.
At last
Back to the low-code platform!
For developers:
- Low-code development liberates the tedious and repetitive coding work in the development process, and can effectively reduce labor costs.
- Improve development efficiency: support cross-platform deployment, and can build applications for multiple platforms at the same time.
For business people:
- To reduce the communication cost between the business team and the IT department, IT personnel generally cannot experience the actual pain points of the business personnel firsthand. The business personnel can customize the demo through the low-code development platform and finally deliver the IT team technology implementation.
- Reduce the probability of errors, low-code development components, and drag-and-drop to reduce losses due to human error, and errors can be found in time to find the source of the error and improve it.
The core value of low-code development is to significantly reduce the technical threshold of software development, greatly improve development efficiency, and shorten project delivery cycles. Therefore, low code can be widely used in all aspects of enterprise informatization construction, including building enterprise core business systems, realizing workflow informatization, and customizing development of industry software. This is already an unstoppable trend in software application development!
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