I've been looking for my first developer job, and one of my options is to take an entry level low-code developer position. The platform to be used is either Appian or Outsystems.
However, I'm concerned about how this could affect my career in the future, as I won't be able to practice a lot of coding in this path
What are your thoughts about low-code? And would you rather stick to actual coding in web/software development?
Top comments (8)
Hi Jerome,
I'm in what you call a "low-code" developer role currently.
I started as a "systems analyst" for a company that utilizes low-code platforms to implement automation/integration solutions. We would be "systems consultants" to the big financial players and banks usually to automate their day to day systems and migrate paper processes to paperless.
I came from a developer background in school, however I studied more in the system design and analytic space than the CS space in varsity, however programming was a major part and I've always coded on the side with little projects.
I was facing the exact the issue that you are, am I locked in this? Will I only be able to use my skills with this platform? Was there a point in me learning development?
Well..yes and no.
From my experience, being able to work with a robust low-code platform enables you to focus and implementing the ideas and use cases while not worrying about the technical details 'under the hood'. I've found that by not worrying about the things like syntax, memory management etc, you are able to more easily and quickly build solutions for clients without being distracted. I get more of a kick out of getting a function to achieve its goal rather than slaving away at lines and lines of code.
You can learn a lot more about actual systems and the people this way. Don't forget, you can always investigate the technicals and create your own side projects in your own time. However this also depends on where you want to go? For me, I've been exposed to lots of great clients and systems that have taught me lots, and this is the direction I think is the most promising - getting people's true ideas and systems migrated into a digital world.
On the other hand, it may "lock" you in to a certain tech, that is the way it happened to me however I am now working for the development team of the actual low-code tool. Even though I'm using the tool, due to all the integrations and projects involved, you are constantly learning and being exposed to other tech and how to use it. Like I said earlier you can always keep up to date with the latest tech in your free time.
I would say those are the two main gripes with the role, I am glad I made the decision? Very much so. Do I regret being "locked in" - sometimes, however its up to you to teach yourself new skills. Do I believe this is the direction its all going - Yes - tools nowadays are becoming more and more free flow and dynamic, by hiding away the "scary" back end stuff, lots of people who have good ideas but may not be technical, will be able to implement them at a much less effort opening up lots of new opportunities.
Hope that helped if you're still considering the role.
As a low-code advocate I'd say you should take the interview and understand the scope of the role. Why are they using low-code tools - to create simple apps with drag drop, or to create more complex apps but at faster pace by removing a lot of the low-value tasks out of the picture which is something we do at DronaHQ.
A No Code tool can make it easy to update a simple data capture app or a marketing website or to connect two common tools together. But a Low Code tool promotes code, lets you reuse existing systems, databases, and create something unexpected, giving you the room to use the power of code when you need that added flexibility and control.
If you have the freedom to wait a bit longer, rather than needing to pay bills immediately, then you're going to do yourself a massive disservice to your career to pigeonhole yourself into a really outdated software that nobody cares about but a company can't afford to immigrate away from.
I've worked with developers of whom their first job was working in Sharepoint. They could code fine but a lot of his knowledge didn't work outside of that software, so it was a case of moving sideways to get away from Sharepoint, which means to move jobs without getting any substantial pay bump or increase in responsibility/seniorship.
If you're at an entry level and it's your first job for your resume, then seriously find anywhere that does what you want to learn and avoid anything you don't as much as possible. Even if the pay is borderline slavery, you will make it back a year or two from now once this company has taught you everything you need.
Thanks for sharing this Kyle!
"They could code fine but a lot of his knowledge didn't work outside of that software" -- This is exactly what I was worried about.
I'm leaning towards not going into low-code development, and this makes me even more confident to take that decision. Definitely going to look for opportunities that works better for my goals and interests.
Take the interview, sometimes these low coding dev jobs hide a great deal of actual coding. Not familiar with Appian but some of these platforms can satisfy your coding needs and are a great starting point.
I know that it was some time ago, but I would surely take the low code developer position.
I was for more than 10 years working as a senior QA Engineer and I was introduced to development with Outsystems. Currently that is my main job and I'm getting more used to work with other languages like Javascript and C#.
Don't know what lowcode is but my thought is, if it's not advancing the career I want I wouldn't take the job.
Lowcode is visual development of apps using a graphical user interface, where you use drag and drop components to build. There's really not a lot of coding involved.
And yeah, I'm thinking it's best to just walk away from that.