It is not surprising that all the vendors in the business of developing custom applications are jockeying for the numero uno position in the market. If your company promises high productivity and accelerated development, it will become the one-stop-shop for custom application development in no time.
Traditional application development tools can no longer fulfill the requirements of modern enterprise applications, given the fast-paced and dynamic nature of the requirements. The focus of enterprises has shifted towards highly flexible, no coding involved, stable and productive methodologies for building applications.
This is where no-code platforms built on the rapid application development (RAD) framework come in. While RAD has been around since the 1980s, it is still, a force to be reckoned with in today’s competitive marketplace. According to Research and Markets’ prediction, “The RAD market is expected to grow from USD 7,760.0 million in 2018 to USD 46,164.4 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 42.9% during the forecast period.”
Common Challenges faced by Developers
Web application development is in itself a complex set of tasks. Add time constraints and other such challenges and it becomes an almost impossible task to do. Here are some common blockers that hinder modern web application development and drive home the fact that no-code development needs to be given the attention it deserves!
1. Deliver solutions in extremely limited time
One major thorn in the side of the development is time constraints. With tight deadlines, it becomes difficult to build, test, and deploy a workable solution from scratch. Taking into consideration, factors like scalability, risk mitigation, and manual labor involved, many projects are migrating to no-code platforms to address such challenges.
2. Decreased productivity
With traditional app development being a manual labor-intensive process, frequent overloading occurs. This hampers the actual work getting done. If developers have to field requests and updates from every other department, more time is lost on planning. No-code tools or platforms facilitate the development of apps in record time, leaving room for improvement.
3. Integrating and building applications on the go
Quick fixes and last-minute changes are not feasible when the entire code is manually taken care of. Deciding on the right approach to build and test, and following the protocols of deployment is a lengthy process, which can be avoided with no-code tools. They allow developers to modify code at the drop of a hat and with the testing already being automated, it is just a matter of hours in which the entire process is completed.
And most importantly, finding and retaining talented developers is a big ask. It proves to be very expensive for the organization to constantly hire developers who have the most updated skill set that is required for modern application development. No-code platforms reduce human intervention by a large margin and significantly bring down all the overhead costs of maintaining a team of skilled developers.
RAD and No-code platforms
RAD was designed with speed and easy flexibility in mind. Its main characteristics are to minimize the planning and to intensify prototyping. RAD is best suited for an iterative process with the customer giving feedback at every stage.
This way any errors are caught very early on, the prototype is continually tweaked and any divergence of developer and customer conceptions are taken care of. Accelerated product delivery is achieved, which is also test-ready due to continuous testing in each iteration.
No-code platforms enable users to visually assemble an application via drag and drop tools. These platforms work on the RAD framework, with the quick building of apps at reduced costs. While the idea of not requiring expert coders to build apps for you seems too good to be true, it is being put to use in the current software development market as we speak!
RAD tools being integrated with no-code platforms is one power couple that promises a win-win situation for your customers, your organization, and your employees.
Rapid Application Development Models vs Traditional Development Models
In the current software development market, RAD fares better than most traditional development models due to its ability to adapt quickly to the ever-changing requirements of any organization.
The features of prototyping and iteration prove an attractive advantage to the clients as well as the developers. Envisioning the final product and predicting its behaviour becomes simple and effective with RAD.
Traditional development models cannot run a flexible, continuous, and iterative strategy. Conventional models like the waterfall model are linear and rigid in their approach. Customer interaction is kept to the minimum with their inputs being taken in the requirements stage and then again in the user acceptance stage.
RAD platforms are better equipped to tackle the modern-day challenges of the current software development market. Being the customer-centric industry that it is, RAD platforms facilitate communication and collaboration among all the stakeholders involved. As much as 75% of the development process can be cut short when compared to a normal development method.
RAD, Agile and Waterfall Models
The waterfall model is like the oldest model to be designed in software development history. Although newer models have come up to address its many shortcomings, the waterfall model was revered in its day. Maintaining the sequential flow of processes, this model has strictly defined goals and can only deliver the app once it’s fully functional.
RAD and agile models were designed as alternatives for the waterfall model. Though similar in the iterative and accelerated application delivery, RAD models focus on prototyping and agile models are more concerned with breaking down the entire project into sprints.
Choosing the correct model for your organization depends on the nature of your project and your team, with each having its own set of benefits and disadvantages.
Advantages of RAD
RAD models are best suited to projects that have short deadlines and small teams. Where the development window is not too long and the application requires instant modifications, the RAD methodology fits perfectly. Some use cases that portray the importance of RAD models are as follows.
RAD in the healthcare industry
One crucial aspect of the healthcare industry is the accuracy and integrity of patient information. Keeping all the doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel in the loop is of the utmost importance for providing the best healthcare. Frequently updating healthcare applications to stay in sync with the ever-evolving medical procedures and medications can be taken care of with the help of RAD models.
RAD aiding HR teams
The HR teams always face several challenges when handling employee onboarding or resignations. Going by the several steps involved in both cases, the HR team needs to coordinate with management, payroll, IT, and other departments.
This proves to be a very complex workflow with continuous tweaks to be handled manually and is a perfect example of harnessing the power of rapid application development. Quickly adding steps to this workflow and testing simultaneously is what RAD does best, thereby cutting down on costs and manual labour.
RAD is the way to go! Take the custom application development game to the next level with rapid application development tools. If you have an application to develop in a very short time and an experienced, close-knit, and small set of team members spearheading the project, then RAD is the way to go!
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