Low code platforms (e.g. OutSystems) will gradually win over developers who will look back at all the time they've wasted and think "why the fuck didn't tell me about this sooner!!!"

Disclaimer: I work for OutSystems and can honestly say that I can create a production-ready app while you're still picking the best JS framework to get started with. Been there...

Actual rant: Time to move up the abstraction layer, get stuff done on time and on budget and go home (also on time) to enjoy life!

Sounds like aws lambda, I'm thinking will there be less of operators needed in the future?

It's already been a thing for a while though

@siliconchips not exactly. :)
Think about your dream IDE and how much time you'd take to build it if you started today...

OutSystems started working on its IDE and Platform in 2001, continually adding improvements that make development easier (and changes faster). It's hard to compare with the software stacks we're use to and read about every day because it's really one level of abstraction above all of that.
A awesome(!!) example is the platform debugger where, in the same tool and debug session, you can step through the visual code/logic matching both server-side (.NET) and mobile client-side (JavaScript) logic. I can't make this **** up. It's that good, across the board!

@beegC0de not mainstream though.

@lowcodemonkey WordPress, square space, GoDaddy website builder, anything that can generate code from UML, any kind of data flow software (ie Hadoop or spark)

Really there's not much new except for fancier gui

@beegC0de fair point! The examples you shared, WordPress specifically, made a *huge* impact on what developing for the web is about.
I personally started my freelancing years with Joomla, cashing in on just enough Linux, MySQL and PHP to be dangerous! :)

The challenge is when your company needs custom software to support its business. If the platform you're using uses "regular code" for the custom bits all the speed goes away (not to mention code rot) and you're back to "high code".
(hope this makes sense)

@lowcodemonkey if it *needs* custom software then there's no prepackaged solution in existence though

@beegC0de you're clearly speaking from experience. Thank you for your comments!

@lowcodemonkey I definitely agree that pre packaged solutions are becoming more popular, as software, containers, and platforms as services benefit greatly from the cloud computing war between Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc

So drag and drop tool? I think that it has its place, but I don't really see real software developers migrating over to that, since those products are usually not flexible enough.

Apple called, they want their website back

@arraysstartat1 they *usually* aren't flexible enough.

The migration isn't a sure thing. From the developer perspective I've seen it happen in different ways:
- reject it completely
- try it, understand how it fits their toolbox but don't actually use it
- try it, get it and start using it in specific projects
- try it, love it, diving into it and rethinking what it means to be a developer when the underlying platform does so much of what you used to

From the business perspective, the migration is both technical and political. I remember an edge case where *no one* wanted to work with low code, the business had already decided that was the way to go and those developers went on to be real developers somewhere else.

Note: note trying to convince anyone to jump ship and leave their craft behind. I personally took 2 months "dragging circles around" until I realized that I this wasn't just a toy thing.