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0 pointsWorldMaker5y ago0 comments

No, that's what "RAD" means. "Low Code" means systems like Excel where "formulas" aren't exactly seen as "code" and nearly everything can be wired up visually. Power Apps and Power BI are "Low Code". Access and Excel are "Low Code". VB was never "Low Code", it was "RAD".

(And yes, today's WinForms and XAML editors in Visual Studio are quite "RAD", and exactly as "RAD" as VB <= 6 was, if not more so. VB.NET was never less "RAD" than VB <= 6 from the standpoint of visual tools. It just shifted component/plugin ecosystems and left an impression that it was less "rapid" to develop with because of sharp new learning curve, but the "rapid" never meant "no learning curves", it meant WYSIWYG designers, which VB.NET still had in spades.)

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mgummelt5y ago

None of these terms have widely accepted precise definitions, but there are plenty of platforms considered "low-code" that still require quite a bit of traditional programming. Outsystems, for example.

Those that only offer formulas with no escape route to traditional programming, as you describe, are more commonly considered "no-code".

This distinction from wikipedia is pretty accurate:

"No-code platforms are accessible to any end-business user while low-code platforms require professional developers who can work within the platform's constraints."

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