You have a program, WordPress, to create more software, namely your specific website. It is more than a bunch of options to select, but it doesn’t really require coding for most things.
So… is it just software that has a plugin architecture?
I don’t see what these things have in common other than just being software tools, generally for managing content. And I really don’t understand the term “no-code software”. It’s all built with code. If I use an operating system to run a program, that doesn’t mean I’ve invented some sort of new software system, that’s just what they’re designed to do. Using a tool in a way that it’s designed to be used isn’t really novel.
On the off chance you aren’t being intentionally obtuse to troll:
No-code is a term that refers to the perspective of the end user. Of course it is built using code, that’s not the point. The person ultimately using it doesn’t need to use any code to construct whatever the tool is enabling (automatons, websites, etc), which massively increases the target demographic who can use the tool.
Yes, I get the intention of the term. I don’t understand why it exists. It’s unnecessary. Most software is designed to not require you to write code to use it.
Hmm okay, that’s true. I guess there’s another aspect missing from my description above then: no-code is for doing tasks in ways that resemble how you’d do them with code, but without directly using code.
Think about the nodes in Blender or Node-RED, or the blocks in visual scripting for kids to learn. It’s using the same concepts of code, but with varying amounts of abstraction depending on which example we look at.
WordPress is a CMS, that’s true, and is usually how it’s described. Specifically, though, the block editor is what I assume the OP was referring to as no-code. That part of WordPress is abstracted more than a tree of nodes in Blender, but they’re both examples of an effort by those softwares to make doing those tasks more approachable to users.
Inkscape could probably also be described as no-code if you squinted hard enough, since it’s letting you manipulate SVG tags directly without needing to open a text editor and know the SVG spec.
It is classic CMS software. Wordpress is listed. That’s an CMS. And what you listed doesn’t fit all the things called no-code in the article.
Maybe this would be easier. Can you name some software that isn’t no-code software and tell me why? (I mean, obviously other than software you use to write code.)
“no-code” software is a very specific category of software that aims to enable users to build something that usually is built by a dev, without needing one.
And while “no-code” can be a weird name, it makes sense when you read the definition I just gave. Just like “serverless” does not mean there is no server involved (obviously), but simply means you don’t even need to think about the server part.
Yes, so it’s software with logic abstractions. Why do we need a name like that? That covers almost all software, and you can just say extensible and configurable software. That name actually makes sense.
No, it definitely does not cover almost all software. Most software does not aim to allow a random user to build something that usually requires a dev.
When you use an OS, you build nothing.
When you use a browser, you build nothing.
When you use a game, you build nothing.
When you use a graphics editor, you build something, but it’s not something that a dev could do.
I could go on with a list of almost all software like this, but that’s not a good use of my time, and I hope it is not necessary.
I am a dev, and nothing I’ve built (by writing code) is something any of this software could do. Why would someone hire me to build something that’s already available? The reason I write things is because they can’t be done with existing software.
I build things with an OS all the time. I built a media center PC by installing Bazzite on a mini pc. Doesn’t that make Bazzite no-code software? I also built a living room gaming console with Bazzite. And I built an automatic sorting system in my Minecraft world. Minecraft is no-code software. I built some bookmarklets in Firefox, so Firefox is no-code software. (Ok, to be fair, I wrote code to do that, so I guess Firefox is code software.) I built a parametric font with Inkscape. Isn’t that no-code software? Oh, I built a 3D printed wood joiner bracket with FreeCAD, so that’s no-code software too.
Does none of this count? What is the exact specifications of the things you can build with a piece of software that make it no-code software vs not no-code software?
I am a dev as well, and to build a website you traditionally need a dev. Well, nowadays, you can build a website with a “no code” website builder. That’s the most common “no-code” use.
Not that it’s relevant to this conversation, but that doesn’t stop people from hiring me to build their website, because “no code” also means “limited customization” and/or “low quality”.
The OS isn’t the software building anything for you.
You didn’t build a media center, you installed software that makes a media center. A “no-code” software that would build a media center would not make much sense, as there isn’t a need for any sort of customisation that would not fit into “configuration”.
Your point with Minecraft does make sense, but as it does not have any use outside of Minecraft, I wouldn’t call Minecraft a no-code system. However, the system itself that you used inside Minecraft to build your automatic sorter would fit the definition, imo. Redstone is a no-code system, for sure.
Firefox didn’t build it, you did.
A parametric font isn’t something that would require any code to make, so it doesn’t fit the definition. What makes a parametric font useful is its support, which requires dev work, and is not no-code.
A 3D print isn’t something that would require a dev to do. Of course you can always model something with lines of code, but that’s not how you’d sensibly do it.
“Building something” and “Building something that traditionally requires dev work” are not the same thing.
The software you use always needed code to make, but it doesn’t aim to skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project. If it does, it is “no code”.
And for the sake of argument, let’s say that Blender doesn’t exist and no other software fulfilling the same purpose exists. Then you’d have to commission a dev (team) to create that software so that you can train people to create 3D models. But the dev building your 3D modeling software doesn’t typically have the skills to use the software afterwards, so it does not fit the “no-code” definition.
TL;DR: It is a “no-code” software when you can skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project and use said software instead.
A CMS is a specific type of no-code software. N8N or Appsmith are definitely not a CMS
Can you define no-code software?
From the article:
So… is it just software that has a plugin architecture?
You’re focusing too much on the WordPress example. There are a dozen tools mentioned in the article that will clarify what’s possible.
I don’t see what these things have in common other than just being software tools, generally for managing content. And I really don’t understand the term “no-code software”. It’s all built with code. If I use an operating system to run a program, that doesn’t mean I’ve invented some sort of new software system, that’s just what they’re designed to do. Using a tool in a way that it’s designed to be used isn’t really novel.
On the off chance you aren’t being intentionally obtuse to troll:
No-code is a term that refers to the perspective of the end user. Of course it is built using code, that’s not the point. The person ultimately using it doesn’t need to use any code to construct whatever the tool is enabling (automatons, websites, etc), which massively increases the target demographic who can use the tool.
Yes, I get the intention of the term. I don’t understand why it exists. It’s unnecessary. Most software is designed to not require you to write code to use it.
Hmm okay, that’s true. I guess there’s another aspect missing from my description above then: no-code is for doing tasks in ways that resemble how you’d do them with code, but without directly using code.
Think about the nodes in Blender or Node-RED, or the blocks in visual scripting for kids to learn. It’s using the same concepts of code, but with varying amounts of abstraction depending on which example we look at.
WordPress is a CMS, that’s true, and is usually how it’s described. Specifically, though, the block editor is what I assume the OP was referring to as no-code. That part of WordPress is abstracted more than a tree of nodes in Blender, but they’re both examples of an effort by those softwares to make doing those tasks more approachable to users.
Inkscape could probably also be described as no-code if you squinted hard enough, since it’s letting you manipulate SVG tags directly without needing to open a text editor and know the SVG spec.
Naming things is hard. But if you have a better category name to distinguish from classic cms software I am all ears.
And yes no-code software itself is written with code.
But I dont mind having a name for software in which
It is classic CMS software. Wordpress is listed. That’s an CMS. And what you listed doesn’t fit all the things called no-code in the article.
Maybe this would be easier. Can you name some software that isn’t no-code software and tell me why? (I mean, obviously other than software you use to write code.)
“no-code” software is a very specific category of software that aims to enable users to build something that usually is built by a dev, without needing one.
And while “no-code” can be a weird name, it makes sense when you read the definition I just gave. Just like “serverless” does not mean there is no server involved (obviously), but simply means you don’t even need to think about the server part.
Yes, so it’s software with logic abstractions. Why do we need a name like that? That covers almost all software, and you can just say extensible and configurable software. That name actually makes sense.
No, it definitely does not cover almost all software. Most software does not aim to allow a random user to build something that usually requires a dev.
When you use an OS, you build nothing. When you use a browser, you build nothing. When you use a game, you build nothing. When you use a graphics editor, you build something, but it’s not something that a dev could do.
I could go on with a list of almost all software like this, but that’s not a good use of my time, and I hope it is not necessary.
What do you mean “usually requires a dev”?
I am a dev, and nothing I’ve built (by writing code) is something any of this software could do. Why would someone hire me to build something that’s already available? The reason I write things is because they can’t be done with existing software.
I build things with an OS all the time. I built a media center PC by installing Bazzite on a mini pc. Doesn’t that make Bazzite no-code software? I also built a living room gaming console with Bazzite. And I built an automatic sorting system in my Minecraft world. Minecraft is no-code software. I built some bookmarklets in Firefox, so Firefox is no-code software. (Ok, to be fair, I wrote code to do that, so I guess Firefox is code software.) I built a parametric font with Inkscape. Isn’t that no-code software? Oh, I built a 3D printed wood joiner bracket with FreeCAD, so that’s no-code software too.
Does none of this count? What is the exact specifications of the things you can build with a piece of software that make it no-code software vs not no-code software?
I am a dev as well, and to build a website you traditionally need a dev. Well, nowadays, you can build a website with a “no code” website builder. That’s the most common “no-code” use.
Not that it’s relevant to this conversation, but that doesn’t stop people from hiring me to build their website, because “no code” also means “limited customization” and/or “low quality”.
“Building something” and “Building something that traditionally requires dev work” are not the same thing.
The software you use always needed code to make, but it doesn’t aim to skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project. If it does, it is “no code”.
And for the sake of argument, let’s say that Blender doesn’t exist and no other software fulfilling the same purpose exists. Then you’d have to commission a dev (team) to create that software so that you can train people to create 3D models. But the dev building your 3D modeling software doesn’t typically have the skills to use the software afterwards, so it does not fit the “no-code” definition.
TL;DR: It is a “no-code” software when you can skip the “hire a dev” phase of your project and use said software instead.
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So basically anything that’s extensible or customizable?
No-code goes further then the “configuration” level and its features are very generic, to make endless use cases possible.
It’s a meaningless term then. Is Apache “no-code software”? What about Windows?
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