What is low code?
Low code is an approach to building software that combines visual design with small amounts of written code. The builder assembles screens, data models, and workflow steps from prebuilt components, then drops into a scripting language for the parts the components do not cover, such as an unusual calculation or a custom check on a model’s output. Low-code platforms generate a working application with a database, user interface, and permissions from this mix.
Compared with no code, low code trades some simplicity for reach. A business analyst can still build most of an application, and a developer can finish the hard parts without starting over in a different tool.
Low code in practice
A regional trucking company needs a carrier onboarding application. Partner carriers upload insurance certificates and authority documents, a model extracts coverage amounts and expiration dates, and a compliance clerk approves or rejects the record. The forms, the approval queue, and the carrier database are built visually in a few days. A developer adds one script that calls the company’s language model endpoint to extract the fields and another that checks insurance limits against contract thresholds. Both scripts run under the application’s service identity.
What to watch for
- Custom scripts are code and need source control, review, and testing like any other code.
- Check how the platform exports data and logic, because low-code applications are hard to move once a business depends on them.
- Confirm that the platform can call a private inference endpoint as well as the vendor’s bundled model.