I’m seeing more and more of the bullet point (or even primary sales pitch) for no code required or no code needed. Do it yourself (DIY) is a thing. A lot of us want the independence and freedom to do things without people involved or in software engineering – no code involved/required. I remember when Flash was the absolute top notch thing. It cause serious havoc and it also produced amazing movie teaser websites. Then, not unlike a finger snap, someone said, “no more Flash.” And, over a short period of time, that platform was abandoned.
What I’m alluding to is that technology has cycles. It changes and morphs to the needs of society or re-invents to amaze crowds of folks. It’s great sometimes and it can kill the mood in other times. I also remember when web development was profitable. You can probably make an argument that it still is, but way too many people are aware of the DIY solutions out there. I use (and promote) WordPress. And with that, if anyone learns that they can “WordPress” themselves, I’m rendered obsolete.
Ok, “obsolete” is a bit dramatic. Sorry!
What did I do to counter this? I actually didn’t “counter” it at all – I adapted and incorporated it into my site building and project processing.
Outside of WordPress though, there are other instances that provide obstacles (or hurdles) that we either see coming or they knock us off our high horses.
This is where I stop talking about code, logic, ingenuity, complex problem solving, languages, classes, markup, and switch over to you and me. Apart from building, creating, and doing awesome stuff, we also need to eat and provide for ourselves. One consideration that will keep us on track is to stay ahead of the curve. Can you adapt to new technology or are you “set in your ways?” The “no code” route is one of the ways we need to adapt. While some pop-up business is offering a “no code” solution, they may leave off customer service. Or maybe there’s little to no customization for the customer to adjust. These issues actually aren’t issues at all – they’re opportunities. If you can provide a better customer experience than a start up, you could have something.
Am I frustrated about investing a massive amount of time to learn and training so that I can say “I program?” A bit, yes. But I can’t focus or spend much time trying to figure something out while it’s being overlapped by the competition. I have to adapt and overcome and so I do just that. I also have to do what EVERY other programmer is good at, and that’s finding a solution to a (complex or dynamic) problem.
