Low Code Development:
A Key Driver to Sustainability in Software
There’s no denying the role, responsibility, and potential contribution of the software industry in functioning with sustainability at the forefront of its plans and operations.
The entire lifecycle of software development holds keys to reducing environmental impact through sustainability. From the planning and design stages to the entire deployment journey, and then, even the decommissioning phase, there are plenty of solutions that can be put to work to increase the sustainability quotient.
The advent of Low-Code Development Platforms (LCDPs), considering how they’re more adjusted to the challenges of the times, has greatly enhanced the industry’s potential to build software development cycles hinged on sustainability.
First, let’s understand the aspects that lead to sustainable software development.
Key Requirements of Sustainable Software Development
While there are several small yet consequential requirements to help achieve sustainability in software development, here are the most impactful ones.
Energy Efficiency: Reducing power and energy consumption while developing applications so that their development, as well as intended deployment and use (both server and user-side), leads to sustainability.
Optimizing Resources: Ensuring that every computing resource in the development cycle in terms of servers, data centers, or the cloud, is used efficiently.
Increasing Hardware Life: Developing software solutions that do not require frequent upgrades to user hardware, thus minimizing the spending of resources on new hardware and subsequently, reducing the impact on the environment.
Solid Commitment to Sustainability: The formal adoption and monitoring of sustainability principles so that all coding practices strictly adhere to these principles with practical repercussions for any resource wastage occurring due to the negligence of these principles.
Promoting Ethical and Social Impact: Recognizing the role of the software development industry in promoting environment-friendly practices, thus promoting by example ethical and social impact.
The Connection Between Low-Code and Sustainability
Optimal Resource Alignment: Features such as auto-scaling enable LCDPs to create an optimal plan for the utilization of resources. This way, the provision of resources such as servers in a cloud-friendly LDCP environment does not require to be planned or allocated in advance. With on-the-go scaling, developers can now plan resources to match an application’s existing needs only, leading to optimal resource management at all times.
Equipping the Environment-Conscious with Sustainable Tools: The community of citizen developers and entrepreneurial users is always on the hunt for the next tool to enhance their contributions and reduce damage to the environment. LCDPs, since they offer lower barriers to entry, are the first to deliver cost-effective yet highly impactful solutions.
Process Digitization Initiatives: Traditional coding and paper trails have always gone together, with forms, applications, and manual workflows forming this mix. This not only led to resource wastage but also resulted in reduced process speed and associated inefficiencies. Low-code environments are all about digitized processes, thus adding efficiency while saving valuable environmental resources.
The Optimal Development Blueprint and Waste Reduction: The use of visual tools, automated solutions, and re-deployable components in low-code development environments lowers development time. This directly contributes to a reduction in costs and resources used for coding, testing, and iterating.
Energy Saving with Rapid Improvements: In traditional coding processes, identifying the gaps in an inefficient idea and optimizing it for use resulted in spending high amounts of energy and resources. LCDPs offer the advantage of rapid prototyping, enabling development teams to put their ideas through the testing and improvement phases swiftly. Shorter feedback loops mean less energy spent en route.
Resource-Friendly Yet Highly Efficient Code: The “low” in low code is quite the turn-off, considering how the first impression (to those unaware) is that such development platforms can only generate low-performing applications. The reality is quite the opposite. Efficient LDCPs can produce highly optimized code for common use cases, and even for unique scenarios, can create flexible and highly customized code. Add proactive performance monitoring to the mix and LCDPs can lead to a highly efficient development environment alongside optimal resource management.
Knowledge-Sharing to Promote Sustainability: Existing component libraries are a great way to encourage the reuse of code and the sharing of solutions that have already been worked upon. This means development teams no longer have to spend their resources on problems that have already been resolved. This helps teams steer clear of spending resources, thanks to ready solutions at hand that have been promoted through the knowledge-sharing abilities of LCDPs.
Easy Maintenance for Long-Term Savings: Major overhauls and rewrites or comprehensive replacements are now a thing of the past. Visual representation and cautious coding mechanisms make LCDP-devised applications easier to maintain. This entire approach results in easy maintenance and energy and resource savings in the long haul.
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Parallel Minds’ List of Best Practices for Sustainable Low-Code
Consciously Avoid Resource Wastage: Even where sustainable and energy-conscious LCDPs exist, it is important to ensure that even the minimal resources they use aren’t wasted. There should be no development of solutions that have no value or hold no importance in the application development process. There should always be a clear blueprint to avoid resource wastage even in small quantities.
Adopt Sustained Improvement: Consistently track every metric that leads to optimal energy conservation and resource management. These practices shouldn’t be a cyclic occurrence in the process. They should be integral to every development process in every cycle.
Develop All-Access Solutions: Your solutions must provide answers to every aspect and functionality of the problem without leaving any room for unanswered questions even for special categories. Widespread accessibility coupled with seamless inclusivity will fuel the diversification of your applications and ensure that no extra resources are spent on devising specific solutions for minorities.
Establish Clear Governance Guidelines: Clear governance leads to transparency in accountability. Adopt principles that lay down clear and practical guidelines so that sustainability features in every practice of your low code development environment.
Constantly Boost the Human Efficiency Factor: No matter how evolved your LCDP platform may be, it can never deliver on sustainability unless your development team realizes its potential and ability to deliver energy-saving solutions. It is, therefore, crucial to train your teams and ensure that they remain committed and engaged with every nuance of the platform’s strengths to consistently improve the sustainability quotient of your business. Without your team’s support, even the most common platform efficiencies will not be reflected in the development process.
Choose the Right Cloud Platforms: Your chosen LCDP must have a proven and tangible blueprint of being optimally aligned with cloud architectures and principles that adopt and promote sustainability. Their business practices must boast of their commitment to renewable energy and their entire process should be founded on energy-efficient data center norms.
Choose the Right Vendors: Your LCDP vendor must match or even surpass your sustainable and environment-friendly expectations. They should be willing to offer proof of their practices and demonstrate their ability to deliver services that are ethical and optimized at every step. At the same time, they must also stay committed to these principles irrespective of whether their clients are aware of or committed to them or not.
Sensitivity Training to Manage LCDPs: Although inbuilt and constantly evolving, the eventual performance of an LCDP relies heavily on the capabilities of human developers. When the development team is conscious about their energy-saving goals, they will align the working of the LCDP accordingly. All developers must, therefore, understand these goals and also equip themselves with the skillsets they need to optimize the functioning of these platforms.
At Parallel Minds, we comprehend every essential factor related to sustainability in a low-code environment, making our every move a conscious one that aims at creating an empowered and optimized development roadmap for our clients. Driving positive environmental change is an integral part of our business architecture and we ensure we deliver the same values through our development services too.
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