In a highly changing market environment, enterprises urgently need to form a new data-driven production and operation mode, enhance value, innovate models, and reduce costs, so as to establish a new round of core competitive advantages. In this context, digital transformation has become the most deterministic wave of the times. Enterprises are embracing low-code development platforms to speed up the implementation of "smart digital transformation" and improve the ability to iterate and respond to the market with agility.
1. Necessary conditions for "high" development efficiency of low-code platforms
1. Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a way for low-code platforms to quickly create new applications. In the scaffolding, we will summarize the patterns and codes in the past experience, and integrate these patterns and codes into us. The feature is to combine various commonly used frameworks and combine them together, such as the back-end: Spring Boot + IDEA + Eclipse, etc., such as the front-end Node.js+Vue + TypeScript +Vite, etc.
2. Component library
A component library is an essential element of every web project. It is suitable for UI reuse for client development. The component library itself is divided into three levels: basic UI components, composite components, and business components.
- Basic UI components. Minimal components that do not depend on other components.
- Composite components. Components that consist of multiple base components that depend on existing components.
- business components. Lots of reusable components with business functionality.
3. Pattern library
The essence of the pattern library is still a code set, which extracts our commonly used codes into a public class library. According to the classification, the component library is also a kind of pattern library. In order to facilitate the difference between server-side and client-side development, I separate the component library.
The pattern library is extracted for the purpose of sharing. It behaves slightly differently in different projects:
- Git Submodule. That is to put the public function into a Git Submodule, so that multiple projects can use it at the same time.
- dependent packages. The dependencies are packaged into a library, and you only need to introduce the dependencies when using them.
4. Application template
Component libraries and templates are essentially part of the design system. A design system is a set of interrelated design patterns and common practices, organized in a coherent manner to achieve the purpose of a digital product. Application templates are further integrated on the basis of templates to help low-code developers quickly build a certain type of application. For other types of applications, it is necessary to judge whether similar applications will appear.
2. Exploration and practice of "high" efficient development of JNPF rapid development platform
Application Experience Center: https://www.jnpfsoft.com/?csdn
Under the pressure of intelligent transformation, enterprises must constantly think about how to release some repetitive, boring and high-cost human input from the perspective of low code. After several major refactorings and a large number of actual project verifications, I personally feel that this high-efficiency low-code development platform has high efficiency capabilities, and I will expand on this in detail.
( 1 ) Visual Components: Let the interface and business logic be freely arranged
JNPF's visual component model has accumulated a large number of ready-to-use business components and layout components. From the presentation, these business components can be freely dragged and combined according to business needs to complete differentiated attribute configurations. In terms of logical performance, dynamic binding of data and visual configuration of message events can be realized. Business personnel can develop and launch most applications without the intervention of R&D personnel.
( 2 ) Provide extension mechanisms and tools: allow business personnel and R&D personnel to perform their duties and collaborate efficiently
In visual development, components are first-class citizens. Both the built-in business components of the platform and the components developed by developers can be flexibly arranged. The development workflow in this development mode is as follows: the configuration developer performs component drag-and-drop configuration based on the designer, and when the function cannot meet the business requirements, the code developer is notified to develop the component. After the code developer completes the development, debugging, and release of the component locally, it is handed over to the configuration developer for acceptance and online. Of course, the platform provides automated scaffolding tools to assist developers in completing these link actions, and the smoothness of the operation link can be guaranteed.
Throughout the process, configuration developers assume the role of business experts, and code developers assume the role of technical experts. Both of them work together to complete the development and delivery of projects in their own professional fields. In this process, the inertia of role positioning and division of labor in the existing software open field has not been broken. Business experts don't need to be forced to write some code for a small amount of customization, and technical experts don't need to change their development habits and leave their editors to make some compromises that shouldn't be there.
( 3 ) One code and multiple terminals: one-time development and multi-terminal coverage and operation
While supporting the use of PC browsers and mobile h5, JNPF also supports the integration of platforms such as DingTalk and Enterprise WeChat. Customers choose to create and publish applications on the DingTalk and Enterprise WeChat open platforms independently or authorized platforms, and they can have all the core business capabilities of the mobile terminal. This form is easy to integrate, low development cost, one-time development, multi-terminal operation.
( 4 ) Support multiple databases: meet different data storage requirements
It supports a variety of databases, such as MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Dameng, Renda Jincang, etc., to meet your different data storage needs. Whether it is a relational database or a non-relational database, JNPF can easily handle it and make your project more scalable.
( 5 ) Support the source code cooperation of the entire platform: create a win-win situation
It adopts the SpringBoot framework, supports distributed deployment of microservices, attaches great importance to the common development with partners, and supports the source code cooperation of the entire platform. This means that you can obtain the complete source code of the platform, carry out secondary development, and create unique value.
In order to support application development with higher technical requirements, the enterprise-level low-code platform represented by JNPF has almost no difference from traditional software development from database modeling, Web API construction to page design. For the repetitive work of the "addition, deletion, modification and query" function, partners who have not yet learned about low-code can try to understand it.