The term "low-code" or "no-code" did not really exist until a couple of years ago, but the concept is hardly a new one. For a while now, in enterprises as well as in small businesses, there has been the concept of a "power user" or a well-known "citizen developer," or just business users (who usually have little to no traditional developer experience) who take it on themselves to improve processes and even go as far as building whole applications. To do so, they often explore technologies such as Visual Basic for Applications, Microsoft's now legacy, event-driven programming language. Low-code tools such as Mendix expand on that philosophy, from the most tech-savvy of super developers to any average person who sees a business problem or process that a simple app could improve and solve and sets out to build it themselves.

Let's touch base more on the visual aspect of low-code development. The use of visual modeling allows you to build apps more rapidly by reducing the need for traditional code. In addition, the use of the interface to assemble and configure applications enables developers of various degrees of experience to create web and mobile applications using drag-and-drop components as well as model-driven logic. This allows developers to skip all the infrastructure and re-implementation of patterns that can and usually slow them down. The following screenshot shows the difference between visual code and traditional code:

Figure 1.1 – Visual code versus traditional code

Now that we have a clear understanding of what low-code is, as well as how visual modeling plays into it, let's take a look at the platform piece that connects everything together. The growth of low- and no-code platforms has mushroomed exponentially due to a lack of skilled developers and the need to improve the turnaround time for projects so business process problems can be solved quickly. So, generally, a low-code platform is a visual development environment that allows developers, with any degree of experience, to drag and drop application components, connect them together, and create a mobile or web app.

With a platform like this, you don't need to code an application line by line. You get to draw it out, a lot like a flow chart. This makes developing powerful new applications extremely fast. Using this modular approach allows professional developers to quickly build applications by significantly reducing, or even relieving, the need to write traditional line-by-line code.

These platforms have also enabled anyone, from a business analyst (BA) all the way to business owners, to develop and test applications. This is because they have unlocked application development from having to know anything about traditional programming languages. All developers see is a user-friendly interface that allows components and third-party APIs to be hooked together and tested. You can see some examples in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.2 – Platform examples from left to right: Mendix, OutSystems, Appian

You now should be seeing why would you take the low-code route, and that these platforms are extremely powerful. According to Gartner:

"By 2024, low-code application development will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity."

This is the reason why low-code and these platforms exist, and why there is always going to be the need to be able to rapidly develop low-code applications.

Now that we have established an understanding of what low-code is, let's learn what the Mendix platform is and how it relates to the use of low-code.

Now that you have learned what low-code is, as well as the different platforms there are, we will now go into more detail about the one we will be discussing in this book, Mendix. This is how the Mendix logo looks:

Figure 1.3 – Mendix logo

Mendix is a low-code platform, as well as being the leader in low-code development. It provides tools to build, test, and deploy applications.

A little background into Mendix's history: Founded in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2005, Mendix has been building out the platform so that businesses can go live sooner and attain success faster. In addition, on October 1, 2018, Mendix was acquired by Siemens, the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe. This allowed integrations and improvements to happen in a short period of time. You can see the entire Mendix team in the following photo:

Figure 1.4 – Original Mendix team members, 2007

I mentioned that Mendix is the leader of low-code. Here are some key points as to why it is used by so many companies:

• Cloud-native architecture
• Collaborative visual development
• Multi-channel user experiences
• Scale without redesign
• Able to deploy anywhere

This high-productivity platform allows the development of both mobile and web applications while keeping up the agile (like SCRUM) and DevOps best practices. Mendix even goes above and beyond, allowing business users to give direct feedback to the application, allowing important feedback to be directed to those developers who will be fixing or improving business processes.

While exploring the different low-code platforms and providers, there can be large, critical differences between collaboration and handling application life cycle management. The Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant beautifully displays how Mendix is leading the way:

Figure 1.5 – Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Multiexperience Development Platforms

Mendix states (https://www.mendix.com/resources/gartner-2020-mq-for-multiexperience-development-platforms/):

"Mendix is the only Leader that supports all four mobile architectures, and the only one that supports the complete suite of mobile deployment options—web, PWA, hybrid, and native mobile apps—which enables our customers to leverage appropriate architecture to deliver the best mobile app for each use case".

You might also be wondering who even uses Mendix. To name a few, ConocoPhillips, Ingersoll Rand, Chubb, Canada Post, New Balance, as well as eXp Realty. These businesses saw the need to transition to a low-code environment, as well as seeing how Mendix would help them achieve their goals – goals to modernize, to engage at an unprecedented level, to innovate, as well as to automate when possible.

In this chapter, we went into to what to expect from the book. We also then dived into what low-code is, how it differs from traditional programming, as well as low-code platforms. We then explained what Mendix is, the low-code platform that we will be using and discussing further in this book. We gave some details on the history, as well as what makes Mendix different from the other low-code platforms.

In the next chapter, we will further explore Mendix, and the many features it provides. We will take you through account creation and your account overview. We will then go into the Mendix Forum, the place where many developers go to get help or ask questions. Lastly, we will look at the Mendix App Store, where many developers, as well as Mendix itself, share free apps and widgets.

Test your understanding of the concepts that were discussed in this chapter. Answers will be provided at the end of the Knowledge check in the next chapter.

1. The use of which of the following allows you to build apps more rapidly.

a. Code

b. Visual modeling

c. Low-code

d. A calculator

2. True or false: with Mendix, you don't need to code an application line by line.

a. True

b. False

3. Mendix was founded where?

a. Austin, US

b. Tokyo, JP

c. Rotterdam, NL

d. San Diego, US

4. Which of the following is NOT a reason why Mendix is used.

a. Cloud-native architecture

b. Ability to deploy anywhere

c. Scale with redesign

d. Multi-channel user experiences

5. What is Mendix?

a. Mendix is a low-code platform.

b. Mendix is a traditional coding language.

c. Mendix is a code editor.

d. Mendix is a type of fruit.