Shulou(Shulou.com)06/03 Report--

This article mainly explains "what is a low-code database". The content in the article is simple and clear, and it is easy to learn and understand. Please follow the editor's train of thought to study and learn "what is a low-code database".

A low-code database is a tool that uses a simple user interface design that can be used successfully even by people without any programming background. Due to the boom in low code development, they are in great demand. More and more new products provide opportunities for non-programmers through well-designed and simplified interfaces.

The term "low code" means that it doesn't take much programming to get the job done. Sometimes, you just need to drag and drop some icons and do some work that you just need to click on or fill out some forms. The term is widely used in a variety of enterprise products, and database is just one of them. In fact, many products provide specialized services around core databases.

As labor and workflow become more automated, this is happening more and more frequently, driving companies to adopt low-code databases.

The term "low code" applies not only to first-line products. It also finds a home in every corner of the IT stack, such as a database. Endless command-line calls have been slowly and reliably replaced by the setup wizard and a more beautiful user interface.

There is a lot of debate about whether these products can meet the requirements, and although they can lead to more beautiful screens and graphical user interfaces, there are still some thorny technical issues hidden beneath the appearance. Sometimes a skilled coder is needed to understand the best way to store data so that it can be sorted and retrieved effectively.

Low code database use case

Both traditional developers and novices can create basic applications that connect users and databases. Some common use cases include:

Record Storage Office staff can create new database tables to track office functions without relying on comprehensive developers.

Customer interaction-companies that need to collect requests or send updates to customers can create externally oriented applications and fill out large amounts of data forms.

Partnership relationships are not just customer-oriented applications; low-code tools can accelerate the development of new business relationships by reducing the number of iterations required to support new contracts.

The experimental low-code database is used to build prototypes and test workflows. They do not need the investment of large teams to work for many months.

The main provider of low-code databases

Microsoft was one of the first companies to launch low-code databases. The original version of Access, first released in 1992, was aimed at ordinary computer users and was eventually bundled with Office products such as word processors. People can create and fill in a database almost as easily as writing a memo.

The latest set of tools, now available under the name "Power App", supports complex applications around databases. These tools are tightly integrated with basic Office applications and are sold to the same group of users. Users may not spend much time worrying about where the data is going, but many may use connections to Microsoft's high-end flagship SQL Server.

Oracle's database may have been one of the most difficult to install, but today the company has released some "automatic" versions, that is, the tool includes automated programs that handle many chores that would otherwise be done by humans. It is said to be "automatic adjustment", "automatic adjustment", "automatic repair" and "automatic supply" as well as "automatic backup" and "automatic failover".

Many of these features make the job of a database administrator easier and make it easier for other developers to handle these tasks part-time. Although there is a web interface for creating databases, they may still be too complex for the average user.

SAP calls its process "rapid application development" and provides several tools to access data in the cloud. For example, Ruum will string icons together to import data into the SAP process. Its robotic process automation tools include artificial intelligence features such as text recognition and conversion data are automatically stored in front of the database.

Emerging providers

It is difficult to draw a line between a low-code database and any general-purpose application, many of which are just thin front ends wrapped around the database, so users may store their information in a traditional database without realizing it. At least for general applications, the automation layer simplifies the process.

Some open source toolkits are designed to simplify this process. For example, Drupal and Joomla are content management systems for creating databases full of pages and articles. Drupal's Webform module adds the ability to create detailed surveys so that users can enter their own data. Other content management systems, such as WordPress, can do the same thing, but they are usually more focused on building blogs and other text documents.

Major cloud services are adding tools and providing a variety of ways to create an application to store data in cloud data services. Google's AppSheet provides a quick way to integrate an application closely with office products in g Suite. It is an alternative to App Maker, an early project that was recently shut down.

The suite also includes Google Forms, which is one of the easiest ways to collect user data into a spreadsheet. Google also supports AppEngine and AppScript, which simplify the process of creating applications, but use enough programming languages that even if they are very easy to use, they will not be considered "low code".

Amazon is also introducing new options. Its Honeycode provides pure drag-and-drop operations as a front end. Any data can be routed to various AWS storage services and databases using the Lambda function. It also provides AppFlow, a tool for connecting different AWS services and external services such as Salesforce.

Other cloud services are designed to bring computing close to users with distributed endpoints. Workers responds quickly from the nearest Cloudflare CDN node after executing fragments in traditional languages, such as JavaScript.

Airtable is working to improve the user interface, adding an elegant presentation layer to browsers and turning its cloud-hosted database into a prettier, more complex application. There are several main ways to represent data tables, from spreadsheet grids to calendars to Kanban. They also start with templates for general use cases.

To some extent, these products are no longer considered to be just databases, or sold only as databases. There are dozens of good examples packaged as "robotic process automation" or "hyperautomation" including Appian, Kissflow, or Outsystems. They all use many of the same techniques, enabling the average user to write code in a simple way. All of this eventually stores the data in the database. But to some extent, the database is buried deep in the code.

What low-code databases can't do.

The complexity and completeness of low-code tools are strong, and many simple tasks can be accomplished by developing an application that serves as the basic front end of the database. If the job involves creating, updating, or deleting rows in the database, it may be the fastest way to deliver the tool to the user.

Most of the time, low-code tools provide a back door for installing larger blocks of code to handle situations where standard features may not be possible. Skilled developers can take advantage of low code features to move quickly and then turn to more traditional code. For example, when triggered by Honeycode, the AWS Lambda function can execute a fairly large block of code. Some people are taking advantage of Lambda's low cost to write elaborate simulations and calculations.

But low-code solutions, especially low-code databases, are often affected by subtle but important warnings in the workflow. For example, background staff may be involved in explaining that when supply is insufficient, orders from better customers are processed first, and these details require programmers to write code.

Thank you for your reading, the above is the content of "what is a low-code database". After the study of this article, I believe you have a deeper understanding of what is a low-code database, and the specific use needs to be verified in practice. Here is, the editor will push for you more related knowledge points of the article, welcome to follow!

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.