Decrypting "Codeless Architecture"?
Thanks to Joshua Woroniecki @joshua_j_woroniecki for making this photo available on Unsplash ?? https://unsplash.com/photos/lzh3hPtJz9c

Decrypting "Codeless Architecture"

Decrypting the topic that was itching me for the past few weeks "#CodelessArchitecture" - couple of hours well spent!

Enterprises embarking on the digital transformation journey with siloed bespoked hand-coding elements help them achieve what we call "Require-to-Release Cycles in loop" but chains them to build at scale. This is one of the reasons that gave scope to the surge of #lowcode #nocode development by creating multiple abstraction layers and enabling the users/developers/appmakers to focus on the business functionality and the problem statement than getting distracted by multitude set of dimensions related to infra, app setup, interface development, use experience, code maintenance, upgrade, migration etc.

If we go a decade back, this is what the state of Infra was precisely - heavy-duty infra task list (availability, TCO, scalability, security, reliability, etc. etc.). Then came the moment of #Cloud & #ServerlessArchitecture which created a segway for enterprises to move to a scalable, resilient architecture landscape leaving aside the baggage or infra-tech-debt of the on-prem systems (no to miss the apprehensions in adopting or evaluating these new cloud landscape by gazing though an infra/ technology/ security/ operations/ governance/ regulatory/ compliance lens)

Similar is the story with the Application Evolution and adaption from code heavy setups like Java, .NET, Angular, React, etc...to a packaged block/module in a Codeless Architecture premise advocating abstraction & composable business process with the mantra of reusability. And the very question that comes to mind is - Why so much buzz right now? Why not earlier?

Indeed, a valid edginess. But what paved the path right now is because of two critical trends

  • Cloud Ubiquity: Cloud becoming the status-quo in terms of next level of abstraction and breaking the barrier of adoption. And Serverless Architecture dismantling the entire thought process of VMs, Containers etc. and giving the extra mileage/cushion to the customers/adopters that "be rest assured, your infrastructure availability/scalability and resilience is taken care-of. please focus on the app-development"
  • Strandardization: The movement to standardize and make the web-protocols common around APIs, security, front end frameworks etc. - which kind of took almost a decade. Simply put the movement from a spaghetti architecture with numerous interlocks to a more flexible plug-&-play model with as-a-service mindset (plumbing applications made easy, secure, reliable and seamless)

With the above pointers in mind, if we now give a thought to the Codeless Architecture or the Codeless-as-a-Service model, it does NOT look "unthinkable". It gives a new dimension to app-development in a more abstracted, composable and scalable fashion. Simply put, "focus on your business functionality, irrespective of the coding languages, products and tools currently existing or inherited. A generic interpreter and an abstraction layer are what we need to tap on the go, making business applications more mobile, flexible and adaptable than making it brittle/fragile by fueling numerous lines of code and heavy-duty upkeep to reach a tipping point"

…just as Serverless Architecture doesn’t actually eliminate servers, Codeless Architecture doesn’t eliminate code. Codeless Architecture masks the complexity of code by abstracting it into reusable, simplified elements

Similar to the CSP or cloud-service-providers AWS/Azure/GCP, if the trade economics are set right for business & enterprise adoption, we will also see a similar rise in the application-space i.e., something like no-code-provider (NCP) or reusable-code provider wherein the applications look-&-feel, and behavior can be driven by declarative assertions.

Just like CSPs with its availability benchmarks and resilience statistics outlined, it provides a good-night sleep to the infra/operations team with limited or no surprises related to server outage, scalable infrastructure etc. Similar is the expectation from the NCPs, that will be make, upgrades, maintenance, portability done at ease. This model will help enterprises adopt the cutting-edge technology without having to worry about the baggage of migration or porting to a new platform (e.g., if customer wants to move from Angular to React based UI based on enterprise adoptions, performance, new features etc. it should not be a humungous task precisely). Leave the heavy-lifting work to someone else like NCPs (a raw analogy can be, if you want to move to a new locality or a new apartment, hire a packer-&-mover who will do that job quickly, than the individual figuring out the movement of every possible item/furniture to the new destination)

Defining Codeless Architecture: A new open standard that empowers organizations to build complex software?without writing, managing, or seeing a line of code

No-code completely removes the need to interact with a codebase, period—this is the entire premise CA is built on and a key differentiator.

How different it is from the current implementation?

From a reusability &composable architectural concept perspective, it is not something new. But with the lowcode and other reusable component-based approaches, we were advocating reusable/composable architecture as the foundation, but we were also introducing customization exceptions (through the window of change) to make the functionality work and deliver it. There are no strict control gates to restrict the developers to code in the platform. Simply put, the requirement delivery took precedence over the maintenance or technical debt injected/introduced. Is it not true?

If we go back to the Cloud-Service-Provider analogy, it is like using complete serverless approach and cloud native functionalities to amplify automation. But it also gives you an opportunity to even use it as an IaaS/PaaS model leveraging VMs/Containers/own software setup etc. and being considerate to customization.

How does the runway for Codeless Architecture look-like?

  • Moving from a Procedural to Declarative model
  • Cutting down on repetitive development with Bespoke to Reusable approach
  • Transition from an Endless unkeep (KTLO - Keeping The Lights On model) to a future-proof model helping apps to take-off
  • Codeless definitions in an open standard promoting democratic or liberated development approach with limited or no fear of vendor locked-in
  • Going codeless opens innumerable possibilities for the developer community to innovate and develop business functionality

How does Codeless Architecture help enterprises who have been rattling in this arena for multiple decades?

It definitely helps enterprises who are embarking on digital transformation journey to create a roadmap and adopt an architecture that is scalable, flexible and adaptable with the current legacy/heritage systems inhouse and segway into the new disruptive technologies that are yet to be unfolded. Enterprises have been advocating and doing reusability and process abstraction with defined guidelines, but with limited or no control, governance the restrictions are tough to be imposed in action at the ground level (some code customization creeps in and ends up creating a technical debt and yet another transformation becomes inevitable). For green-field implementation a great opportunity to build and scale by focusing on business and innovation than getting chained by code governance, migration, transition etc.

As it is an evolving architecture - lot of features and offerings are under construction and will definitely shape-up for good for enterprises with a perfect cohort of customers, product partners, SI implementers. It will be tough and too early to comment right or wrong for this approach. It definitely gives a breather for organizations to identify some low hanging fruits to start with, that have high business value and low technology complexity to experiment, explore new use cases and create a larger appetite for enterprises! and BuildApps@Scale & DeliverApps@Speed

What looks a bit blurry at this point in time (or some apprehensions) is:

  • Can it address all usecases and industries (including the state-of-art type complex implementations)
  • How will the marketplace of reusable components evolve & help in catalyzing the app-development (with open standards and seamless adoption)
  • What will be the pace of interpreter or accelerator development interlocking with multiple product suites (in a diversified investment landscape i.e. Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow etc..) in the enterprise and new technology advancement/disruption
  • How will the governance model work - ensuring every party adheres to the standards of component/model development (that promotes democratization and adoption of modules/components developed by various stakeholders)
  • What will happen if there is a component/module/connector not available as an offering or in the marketplace - potentially impacting the progress (considering the caged premise of no-code strategy) [by the way, not discounting the advantages and extra mileage businesses get with reusable components/processes driven by app-makers]

It's a bookmark to revisit this architecture as it evolves into the future! and new features gets baked into it making it more nimble, robust and resilient

Please do share your thoughts, comments and feedback on the same.

Reference Links:

ImageCredits : Thanks to Joshua Woroniecki @joshua_j_woroniecki for making this photo available on Unsplash ?? https://unsplash.com/photos/lzh3hPtJz9c

Pramod Nandy

Senior Design Engineer at ASML

2 年

May be earlier it is present with no or less requirement but now onwards it will be more useful wrt scale, complexity, time 2 market and infrastructure.

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