Should developers be worried about no-code stealing their jobs?

As an Upstack partner on 404Partners, Anima helps teams to create interactive prototypes using Figma, XD, & Sketch and allows developers to get responsive, clean, and reusable codes. Here’s what the CEO and co-founder of Anima has to say about the future of no-code and what that means for developers.

We convert designs into code (i.e Figma to React) automatically and spare engineers the grunt work of pushing pixels.

Anima is a low-code solution. It allows front-end engineers to do more with their time, and deliver faster. We’re obsessed with the future of coding on a daily basis, and I’ll share some thoughts and insights here.

There’s quite a buzz these days about no-code. If you’re a developer, you’re probably wondering if the future of no-code means a future of no-engineers.

Allow me to start by answering my own question — No. It will not replace developers.

Here’s why:

No-code vs Low-code 💻

I wrote an article that really dives into the differences between the two. TL;DR:

“Both no-code and low-code approaches have been designed with one thing in mind: to develop products faster. However, they serve different use-cases”.

What is no-code, and what is it good for❓

No-code is exactly how it sounds: No need to see the code = No need for coding.

However, complex apps still require the human touch to customize logic and architecture, unique UX, and don’t get me started on controlling your data warehouse.

No-code is great for landing pages, e-commerce sites, and with the evolution of tools like Webflow — also for basic apps. As an engineer, I’m super excited to see how software makes our lives easier. When creating new software is made easier by software, I’m happy².

This being said, I’m even more excited about low-code.

Have you heard of low-code front-end? 💭

Unlike no-code, low-code means that developers are part of the flow, but work less.

Low-code isn’t new to backend and DevOps — managed clouds like AWS, Heroku, mongoCloud, RedisLabs, and others like these. These platforms have revolutionary changed the way we manage our servers.

And now, the low-code revolution is coming to the front-end.

“I know because we’re a leading player in this exciting new field and it’s fascinating to see where it is going”.

The future is shaping up to be one where front-end engineers will need to do less grunt work and have more time for creative & innovative tasks. Freeing developers to work on the core of the product and innovate more.

So, will no-code replace developers?

For simple DIY apps, yes. When you’re looking to build anything a little more complex, you need developers. And with time, developers could rely on low-code tools to deliver better products, faster.

What are we working on today?

As a low-code tool meant for developers’ use, code quality is our top priority. We are developers serving developers.

Anima is not perfect (yet 😉), but the code quality is improving weekly. That is thanks to our great users and your continuous feedback.

We are channeling our efforts in Anima generating the best React code out there. We have and will continue to add more frameworks, but our focus is rooted in the React trend because it’s clear that this is what developers want. We are all working on GitHub connection and pull requests, and we have a lot more in the pipeline.

This is all just around the corner, and you can already try Anima.

Avishay Cohen | Co-founder & CEO

A software engineer with a fascination for all things code. He has taken it upon himself and his team to improve the lives of product teams and in particular of front-end developers.