With the rapid development of low-code platforms in the past two years, some radical views such as everyone can program, programmers will lose their jobs, etc. have followed. But software is an industry that is built on deep business and technology accumulation and requires a high degree of abstraction and precipitation. New technologies will bring about new changes, but real industrial changes still require the promotion and innovation of generations of programmers. However, in the face of these new technological changes, how to better integrate existing business accumulation and technology accumulation with new technologies to further enhance product competitiveness is an unavoidable topic. However, it is uneconomical and unrealistic to overthrow and start over every technological innovation. However, the key to innovation is the proper introduction or integration of new technologies in the existing business and technical framework.
I. Introduction
The innovation of low-code is more reflected in the support of visual programming and a large number of universal templates. These new features have greatly lowered the threshold for software entrants, and will greatly reduce the work for most industries that do not require too complicated design. quantity. But how do the programs generated by these templates and dragging work like traditional programs? How can our traditional business platform better introduce it? To answer this question, we need to first understand the technical implementation of mainstream low-code platforms.
2. Implementation methods of mainstream low-code platform technologies
(1) Engine mode
The engine mode mode is the most common low-code platform implementation method. It is relatively popular in China, such as Ali's "Yidai" that is rooted in the Internet, Tencent's "WeiTai" Baidu's "Ai Speed", and a large number of platforms in China. Most of the low-code platforms driven by workflow engines (apaas, bpm) use engines. In terms of its technical method, users can use the provided visual interface tools to draw the user interface and draw the business flow process. Then assist with simple control scripts to complete personalized business logic. Through this user process, some dynamic user templates and programs will be formed. These templates and scripts are then "deployed" to run on each platform's own "engine".
(2) Code generation mode
The code generation mode is a relatively lightweight solution. After generating the response template and business logic through visualization, it is combined with the user's own technology stack through the configuration template, and a large amount of repetitive manual code is passed through this method. Modules that are processed into semi-finished products. Then further development and integration will be carried out by the programmer.
Third, how to choose integration, where is the focus of integration?
For traditional enterprises, the Internet platform model is mostly in a state of passive integration, so I won’t describe it here. The engine platform model with apaas or workflow as the core also needs to be carefully selected. After all, its model is relatively heavy, the requirements for the technology stack are too high, and the cost of implementing transformation is too high. Its users mainly provide basic technical services for deep integration of large customers.
For the second code generation mode, the phase mode is relatively light. Commercial products are mainly small companies, and each manufacturer has its own strengths in technology due to its different development history and business background. Such vendors have some advantages for specific industries. However, as a solution for the entire industry, most manufacturers are still integrated products based on open source technology. When choosing these manufacturers, more research and analysis are still needed. In addition to their basic demonstration use, it is also necessary to focus on whether they have deep-rooted independent core technologies. If it is a solution based on open source technology, more attention needs to be paid to avoid technical support problems in the later stage.
However, as an emerging technology market, there is another type of professional low-code engine manufacturers that deserve everyone's attention.
Due to the space factor, we will select a more excellent plan to share with you later.