Has anybody used codeless software development system? [closed]

Question

I have found a software development system which is currently free to use and develop with.

This system is completely codeless and one can develop business oriented applications effortlessly using its GUI and a bit of MDA. The site is : http://www.codeless.com/

But unfortunately it is in Dutch language.

I would like to know if anyone has ever used this product ?

How efficient is this approach and product?

Can one develop codeless applications?

Answer 1

I have looked at the site but the story is extremely vague.

For majority of non-Dutch speakers, I have translated the following text:

Klaar voor de toekomst!

Stel dat u over 20 jaar nog steeds dezelfde software zou kunnen gebruiken als nu. Toekomstmuziek? Nou, welkom in uw toekomst dan. Want Codeless Technology ontwikkelt software zonder code die simpelweg niet veroudert.

Door ´reverse enginering´ kunnen wij u laten zien hoe uw software-pakket er in Codeless uit komt te zien. En door gebruik te maken van interfaces, kunnen we bepaalde delen van uw systeem vervangen zonder dat er een Big Bang implementatie noodzakelijk is.

Wij hebben een manier gevonden om onze software voor altijd mee te laten gaan. Omdat we het simpelweg zonde van uw tijd vinden om telkens opnieuw uw bedrijfsprocessen te moeten uitleggen aan een nieuwe ICT-leverancier.

Uw systeem is perfect aangesloten op uw bedrijfsprocessen. En dat terwijl u de nieuwste technologieën snel en voordelig in kunt zetten om zo concurrentievoordeel te behalen. Natuurlijk moet u updaten. Maar met de software die u nu door ons laat bouwen, bent u gegarandeerd klaar voor de toekomst!

That translates to:

Ready for the future!

Imagine you are using the same software in 20 years. Impossible? No, welcome to your future. Because Codeless Technology creates software without code that does not age.

By 'reverse enginering' we show you your software in Codeless. By using interfaces, we can replace certain pieces of your system without the need for a Big Bang implementation.

We have found a way to let our software last for ever because we think it is a waste of your time to explain your business processes to your ICT supplier again and again.

Your system is perfectly connected to your business processes. And still you are able to use the newest technologies quick and easy so you have an advantage on your competitors. Of course, you still have the need for updates. But with our software, you are guaranteed future ready.

It looks like they have developed a product that uses an existing system and creates a new one using the old system as guide. Without the need to write code. This looks great, but I have serious doubts.

My first question: if they are so excellent, why is their site not in English?

Answer 2

I'm not familiar with this specific product, but I have some familiarity with the "theory" (such as it is) of codeless development.

The primitives of programming languages are there for a reason. So there is a tendency for "codeless" or "mouse-based" development systems to gradually accumulate features that correspond to the primitives of programming languages: something similar to function calls (for reuse of pieces of a design), references to parameters within functions, things that loop, conditional branching, things that aggregate several actions into a single action, things that do arithmetic or string operations, etc. By which point they end up with the same issues as all development systems, which all derive from the tendency of users to push the envelope in looking for ever more complex problems to solve. So then they need refactoring and other nice IDE-style features to help them manage the complexity - by which time the "codeless" distinction is more to do with marketing than actual user experience.

We even see this tendency in many attempts to "start again" with a new set of primitives in a text-source programming language. Haskell does not truly eliminate procedural, stateful coding. It has a way of mimicking such capabilities that tastes pretty authentic - because if it didn't, users would try to simulate it themselves and get it wrong.