Low code platforms: Promises, concepts and prospects. A comparative study of ten systems

In recent years, the catchword "low-code" has evolved into what can be seen as a major trend in software development platforms. A growing number of vendors respond to this trend by offering software development platforms that promise limited need for coding only and a tre- mendous boost in productivity. Both aspects have been the subject of intensive research over many years in areas such as domain-specific modeling languages, model-driven software de- velopment, or generative programming. Therefore, the obvious question is how ”low code” platforms differ from such approaches and what specific performance features they offer. Since there is no unified definition of "low-code", the only way to develop an elaborate un- derstanding of what it is - and might be - is to analyze the actual use of the term. For obvious reasons, it is not promising in this respect to rely on marketing announcements made by ven- dors. Instead, it seems more appropriate to examine "low-code" platforms. This research re- port presents a study of 10 relevant platforms, capturing and assessing common characteristics as well as specific features of individual tools. The study is guided by a method that consists of a conceptual framework, which provides a uniform structure to describe and compare "low- code" platforms, and a process model that describes the sequence of steps.