I used a low code framework in my previous job and the development experience was horrible.
- It’s easy to build MVC, but it is a lot harder to go beyond that. If a feature wasn’t supported by the framework, we could add it via JavaScript in theory, but it was hell doing so.
- It isn’t scalable. Low code becomes code the form of visual boxes in lieu of written texts. As more features were added, it became harder to read and refactor.
- Vendor lock-in.
- There is no way to export apps to normal code and transition to another framework. The only way out is to develop from scratch.
- No 3rd party performance profiler. Had to ask vendor to come in person, so they can run their propriety profiler in the office. The app was running slow, but we couldn’t figure why without the help of vendor.
- Vendor version control or the lack of version control. It was difficult for multiple devs to work on the same file. Changes were overwritten, and the merging/diff tools were inadequate.
- Lack of community. The forum was inactive, there was no Stack Overflow for the framework.
- Low supply of developers who want to work in low code, which I can hardly blame them for. The low code is code, so we needed developers. Non programmers couldn’t improve or fix the app due to the complexity of business and programming logic; if they could, they became software engineers and got a better job else where.