The software development landscape has seen a major paradigm shift in recent years with the emergence of low code development platforms. These platforms allow business users and developers with little to no coding experience to build application software through a drag-and-drop interface. As organizations adopt digital transformation strategies to enhance productivity and customer experiences, low code is proving to be an efficient and cost-effective solution.

What is Low Code Development?
Low code Development refers to application development platforms that allow users to build applications by dragging and dropping pre-built components and connecting them together through a graphical user interface, rather than handcrafting code. These platforms provide visual, form-based tools that abstract programming logic and concepts into straightforward interfaces. Low code development dramatically accelerates application delivery by eliminating the need to write conventional code. Some key features of low code platforms include:

- Visual design interface: Users visually arrange UI elements, drag and drop components, and configure workflows and business rules through a point-and-click canvas.

- Component libraries: Pre-built UI elements, widgets, connectors, and logic components help users rapidly assemble applications without writing code.

- Integration capabilities: Platforms integrate with databases, APIs, existing systems, cloud services, and other technologies through connectors and integration points.

- Testing and deployment: Platforms enable users to test applications in real-time during development and easily deploy finished products.

- Rapid app delivery: By minimizing coding requirements, low code allows business users and citizen developers to build apps 10x faster than custom development.

The Emergence of Citizen Developers
One of the most significant impacts of low code is the democratization of application development. With its intuitive interfaces, low code enables a new class of "citizen developers" - business users who can build software solutions despite lacking extensive technical skills. Low code platforms empower knowledge workers across departments like marketing, HR, finance to build their own applications tailored to their specific needs. This realizes the ideal of "self-service" application development, taking pressure off already overburdened IT departments. By enabling citizen developers, low code is transforming how businesses innovate by putting the power of software into the hands of subject matter experts.

Use Cases for Low Code Platforms
Low code has found widespread adoption across industries thanks to viable solutions for common business challenges:

- Workflow automation: Building automated business processes and workflows to streamline repetitive office tasks.

- CRUD apps: Creating simple data entry and lookup applications for tasks like record keeping, data collection, and basic CRUD (create, read, update, delete) functions.

- Business process management: Modeling and optimizing end-to-end business processes and cases with builtin logic and integration.

- Portals and intranets: Developing internal and external web portals, collaboration sites, knowledge bases, and community platforms.

- Mobile apps: Building lightweight native and progressive web apps for functions like data collection in the field, inspections, surveys and customer support.

- Data integration: Connecting disparate systems, databases, APIs and services to share information across departments and applications.

- Custom software: Developing highly customized solutions for specialized vertical industry needs like healthcare, education,real estate, and more.

Growing Low Code Market
Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2024, low code application development will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity. And a recent Forrester survey found 53% of organizations already using low code platforms. Major factors driving this explosive growth include:

- IT bottlenecks: Low code helps alleviate pressure on overburdened IT teams struggling to meet business demand for new apps and features.

- Skills shortage: With scarce developer resources, low code allows non-technical users to fill the gap and accelerate delivery independently of IT.

- Agility & innovation: Low code lets companies rapidly experiment, deploy Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), and iterate on the fly to keep pace with changing market needs.

- Demand for custom apps: As digital transformation takes hold across sectors, the need for specialized, tailored solutions is outpacing what IT alone can deliver.

- Rapid feature updates: Low code makes it possible for business and operations teams to independently deploy updates, upgrades and innovations on an ongoing basis.

Challenges for Low Code
While low code clearly delivers significant benefits, there are also challenges IT must address as adoption increases:

- Governance & security: Ensuring proper protocols, access controls and security best practices are followed as more decentralized development takes place.

- Integration complexity: Managing sprawl of independently-built solutions and consolidating disparate tools, data models and custom code into an orchestrated architecture.

- Skills shortage persists: More advanced customization needs may still require traditional developers who remain in short supply.

- Vendor lock-in risks: Relying on proprietary platforms risks being tied to a single vendor for support and upgrades long-term.

- Shadow IT proliferation: Citizen developers operating independently could undermine enterprise architecture priorities if not reined in.

To mitigate such risks, firms must institute collaborative governance models that provide low code self-service while maintaining centralized oversight, standards and guardrails for security and quality. Overall, with both its benefits and challenges addressed properly, low code truly enables organizations to scale application delivery beyond what was previously possible.

As this 1000 word article Low code Development demonstrates, have emerged as a highly disruptive technology. By democratizing software development and empowering non-technical "citizen developers", low code is transforming how businesses innovate and develop applications at an unprecedented pace to drive digital transformation. While challenges remain around governance, integration and skills shortages, low code is poised to become the dominant model for application development in the years ahead. Leveraged properly, it offers immense opportunities to accelerate productivity, streamline business processes, and enhance customer experiences through customized solutions tailored to any industry or departmental needs.