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<p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"><strong>Could you tell us about your journey as a highly talented software engineer?&nbsp;</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">I initially wanted to be an astronaut, but discovered there were height requirements and it looked like I was going to exceed them. I got into computers through my stepfather, who tinkered with them outside of work and I decided a career working with computers wouldn’t be too bad.<strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">My first job was in 2016. I interned at a local place called Innovation Park, which is a business hub that leases office space to local companies and connects them with funding and training opportunities. They were managing all of their customer data in a big shared Excel spreadsheet on a networked hard drive, and my job was to migrate them to something a bit more modern.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">I worked through university doing freelance work and eventually secured a position as Founding Engineer at a SaaS startup called Kwotimation. I helped secure their seed capital raise and built an MVP product from 0 to 1. I wrote about the process of getting this done&nbsp;</span><a href="https://sophiabits.com/retro/kwotimation"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">on my website</span></a><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">This was the opportunity that really launched my career; being the first employee at a new company forces you to take on a lot of scope and upskill very rapidly. The biggest highlight for me was getting weekly mentoring sessions with Tana Isaac–a legend in the New Zealand technology industry, and the cousin of one of the founders! The CTO of Oxide Computers, Bryan Cantrill, has an interesting talk where he discusses&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PaWFYm0kEw&amp;themeRefresh=1"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">oral tradition in software engineering</span></a><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"> and this has really resonated with me because most of the skills I’ve built have been a result of talking with highly talented individuals like Tana.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">From there, I moved over to Crimson Education. Crimson is a big EdTech company, and I initially lead the engineering team responsible for building their online high school platform. I moved over to building and running the AI team at the start of 2023 following the mainstream release of GPT-3.5. I was involved in a lot of interesting projects there, including an AI essay review tool which was a bit of a throwback to an essay review tool I had tried to build during my university studies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">Today I’m the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://nz.linkedin.com/in/sophia-willows" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">head of engineering</span></a><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"> at Rye, which is an a16z-backed developer tools startup. We build an API that lets developers embed commerce into their applications. They reached out to me in January of this year to come work for them, and it’s a dream job for me. I write a lot about developer productivity and API design best practices&nbsp;</span><a href="https://sophiabits.com/blog"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">on my blog</span></a><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">, and at Rye we care a&nbsp;</span><em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">lot</span></em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"> about these topics.</span></p><h2><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"><strong>What is your vision for the evolution of low-code hybrid platforms?</strong></span></h2><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">I think they are increasingly important. Software engineering has always involved a lot of grunge work like setting up environments, managing dependencies, or writing boilerplate code. AI is now handling an increasing proportion of that tedious work, and automating away many repetitive tasks that engineers previously had to handle themselves. This is great, but it leaves a gap where we still need engineers to work on the more nuanced or complex parts of an engineering project.<strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">This, I think, is where low-code and hybrid platforms will shine. They offer a compelling middle ground compared to other options. You can use things like AI or a visual UI builder to get 85% of the way to completion, and then still have the flexibility to write code and cover the final 15%</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">In my experience, no code tools struggle to get the last 15% because they are too inflexible. The moment you need to do something that isn’t supported by the no-code platform, you are out of luck. On the other hand, writing all of the code by hand has high barriers to entry because folks need a lot more training to do this. Balancing ease of use with flexibility is important.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US">As low-code platforms evolve, I expect to see more hybrid approaches that combine the simplicity of low-code with the robustness of traditional development environments. These platforms will not only cater to professional engineers looking to accelerate delivery but also empower non-technical users to build useful tools for their organizations. The balance between flexibility and usability will make them increasingly integral to the future of software development, as AI helps us automate the grunt work, and low code allows us to more easily implement the creative, complex parts.</span></p><h2><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;" lang="EN-US"><strong>How was your experience as a jury member?</strong>&nbsp;</span></h2><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US">It was great! The folks at Qodly handled all of the logistics–Meriem was especially helpful–so I just had to show up and do my thing. I was excited to be involved because I think low-code platforms play a very important role in expanding the pool of folks able to build software.&nbsp;The world has an unlimited appetite for software, and we need more people to come in and help solve the world’s problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US">I was also able to come to Paris following the hackathon to meet the team behind Qodly, and this was a great experience. Everyone was friendly and extremely passionate about their work which I loved to see. I think that if you have passion for what you are doing then you will naturally end up producing a better output<o:p></o:p></span></p><h2><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;"><strong>What did you appreciate the most in the applications you evaluated?</strong>&nbsp;</span></h2><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US">I was impressed by the depth of functionality on display given how young the Qodly product is. The hackathon participants did a great job learning the platform quickly, and it’s also a testament to the platform’s ease of use generally.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US">Cyril’s project was particularly impressive. I loved the custom chart component that he’d included. I also learned after the fact that the app was inspired by a real-world problem that the 4D folks were running into–which I also really love. Developers often end up focusing a lot on technical details, but at the end of the day, our technical achievements are meaningless if we don’t build things that are valuable and solve problems for people.<strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;">The Sportly submission was also interesting. I liked how the author implemented a forum feature inside of Qodly. It was a great demonstration of what’s possible with the platform.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h2><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;"><strong>What advice would you give those who wish to enter the development world?&nbsp;</strong></span></h2><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">There’s a lot of doom and gloom right now, because we’re in an economic downturn and hiring is slow. There’s also a lot of fear about AI and how it will impact our industry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">I think it’s important to remain optimistic. There’s still opportunity out there, and eventually hiring will pick up again as the economy recovers. One of my recruiter friends in New Zealand just texted me the other week to say he’s had a few roles come in after a few quiet months. The world still needs a lot of software to be written, and I don't see this changing much over the long term. It’s important not to lose faith, and continue building your skills and technical depth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">Depth is important, because it’s true that AI&nbsp;</span><em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">is</span></em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;"> automating away a lot of grunt work in the industry. Depth can come in many forms–when we built the AI essay review tool, I needed to work with folks who had a deep understanding of college admission essays in order to ship something valuable. People who have a deep understanding of one or two domains will always be useful to the world, and if you can pair that with adaptability and an openness to learning then you will be OK.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">Net net I think it’s unlikely that AI will completely remove the need for developers or engineers over the mid-term. I don’t think anyone should be scared away from getting into this field because of advancements in AI. Rather than being something to fear, I see AI as an incredibly powerful tool that developers can harness to augment their skills, solve complex problems faster, and create more impactful solutions. These are all good things.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">The world needs more software engineers so we can solve hard problems in healthcare, climate change, education, and countless other sectors that shape our future. Technology is an incredibly broad and diverse field that truly has a place for everyone. One of my closest friends is a developer, and his background before this was in franchising a pizza store. There are so many people working in this field who never expected to end up in technology but have found their niche and are thriving. If you even&nbsp;</span><em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">possibly</span></em><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;"> think that technology might be something interesting to you, then I recommend giving it a go.</span></p><p style="line-height:150%;">&nbsp;</p><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-10/DevHack24%20Closing%20Webinar.png" data-entity-uuid="f97ed67d-046a-4df7-aa22-2c2537770e28" data-entity-type="file" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height:150%;"><span style="font-family:&quot;Arial&quot;,sans-serif;font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;" lang="EN-US"></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><p><em>“Qodly’s low-code capabilities acted as a bridge between creativity and functionality”</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p></blockquote><h2>Exploring Low-Code Innovation</h2><p>As a UX designer, I'm constantly on the lookout for tools that can streamline the design and development processes.</p><p>Let's be honest: Juggling design elements and coding can feel like trying to walk a tightrope while carrying a stack of books! So, when I participated in the <a href="https://youtu.be/0rkPLh-be5Q" target="_blank">Devhack24</a> contest, it was the perfect opportunity to explore <a href="https://qodly.com/" target="_blank">Qodly</a>, a hybrid low-code development platform.&nbsp;</p><p>The challenge was simple yet ambitious: create a sports-related web app within a limited timeframe.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Design Thinking in Action: From Baby Foot to Tournament Management</h2><p>My approach was grounded in Design Thinking principles, starting with user-centered exploration. I focused on understanding potential users’ needs, which led me to reflect on a familiar experience—our work break-time games of baby foot (table football). During these casual matches, my colleagues and I often discussed how difficult it was to organize mini-tournaments. This sparked the idea for my app: a platform that could manage and visualize football tournaments.<br>From this inspiration, I expanded the concept into something broader—a tool for organizing and displaying tournaments for national and club football teams. This was how the Football Chart App was born.</p><img src="/sites/default/files/blog-30-pz-min-min.png" data-entity-uuid="31aeae8b-655b-46a6-9ed4-ae2c11a0fbb6" data-entity-type="file" alt="" width="1020" height="415"><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Teamwork in Action: Fadwa’s Role in Bringing the App to Life</h2><p>I began by designing the app in Figma and creating a clear visual plan. After reviewing it with my teammate, Fadwa, we decided to move to Qodly. What stood out about Qodly was how easily it transformed my Figma designs into a functional app with minimal coding.</p><p>Fadwa focused on staying true to the design, ensuring the app's layout matched the original vision. She utilized most of Qodly’s components—matrices- to organize data and input elements for smooth user interaction. Fadwa implemented custom logic to generate teams, calculate match scores, and randomly divide groups. She also integrated a custom component to create more dynamic interactions. By applying CSS and conditional rendering, Fadwa refined the design, enhancing the interface and delivering a seamless user experience, even with limited time. Fadwa focused on staying true to the design, ensuring the app's layout matched the original vision.</p><h2><br>A Seamless Workflow: Design, Develop, Deliver</h2><p>Using Qodly enabled me to translate visual ideas into a working web application in a very short time. The platform’s flexibility allowed me to iterate quickly, refining the user interface and interactions without extensive coding knowledge. It reinforced how powerful low-code platforms can be, especially for designers who prioritize user experience but may not have extensive coding backgrounds.<br>Ultimately, this experience demonstrated the potential for low-code innovation to empower designers like me. By streamlining the development process, tools like Qodly allow for faster prototyping and a more seamless transition from design to functionality, which is a game-changer in UX/UI work.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>The Devhack24 contest pushed me to explore Qodly’s potential and highlighted the future of design and development collaboration. Low-code platforms like Qodly make it possible to focus on what truly matters: creating meaningful, user-centered applications that marry excellent design with functionality—without needing to dive too deeply into code. So, if anyone needs me, I’ll be at my desk, basking in the glow of my completed app, possibly with a trophy in one hand and a coffee in the other—because that’s how we celebrate around here!<br><em><span style="color:#595959;" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p>

<p><span lang="EN-US">Let's explore together a captivating journey that, in addition to its creativity, forward-thinking, and a pronounced taste for new challenges, was crowned with the first prize of the Hackathon DevHack24. </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyril-limpalaer/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US"><strong>Cyril Limpalaer</strong></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> shared with us his passion for technology and presented his application dedicated to sports.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>How would you introduce yourself?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">I have a master's degree in computer science, which I applied to business management.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Since my childhood, I have been passionate about computer science. Video games allowed me to discover this interest, and I developed a real passion for web development from my first classes.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">I wish to ride the wave of new technologies, such as Qodly, to be at the forefront and offer users practical applications.&nbsp;</span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></h4><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What was your motivation for participating in the hackathon?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">I wanted to prove my development skills and not just remain a simple graduate. I wanted, to stand out, and deepen this facet of myself.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What's the name of your application?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><a href="https://youtu.be/s3j-wP0QLc0" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US">Billards Blizz</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>How would you describe your application?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">It allows users to create billiard tournaments with the desired number of participants, manage them, and track their progress.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">The application provides a dashboard to visualize the different participants, follow trends, and view the tournaments' overall ranking.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;It highlights the winners by displaying the top 3 and congratulating them.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">It also includes schedule management to organize matches and the possibility of associating photos with the tournaments, thus enhancing team spirit and collective joy.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What's the idea behind the application?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">Organizing billiard tournaments is fun, and what struck me was the difficulty creators face in establishing a simple game from several different sites. My goal is to simplify this task. The application should be simple, efficient, and accessible to everyone.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What did you learn from the platform?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">I have improved my web formatting skills, deepened my knowledge of conditional CSS, and gained better mastery of low-code platforms.&nbsp;</span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What did you like most about the platform?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">The speed of creating interfaces. Generally, I used to spend 3 to 4 hours on a primary interface, whereas with Qodly, I can make it in an hour.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang="EN-US">This allows me to dedicate more time to development.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><span lang="EN-US"><strong>What advice would you give to those who are not familiar with low-code:</strong>&nbsp;</span></h4><p><span lang="EN-US">In addition to developers, low-code represents an excellent entry point into development. It's a way to get involved, and it will likely become the successor to development as we know it today.</span></p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="/sites/default/files/Cyril%26Meriem.png" data-entity-uuid="f29a55b8-6b96-4feb-a7cc-3d1441fe247a" data-entity-type="file" alt="" width="300" height="206"><p><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="align:center;">As we wrapped up our conversation, Cyril’s enthusiasm and drive to push the development boundaries were palpable. His innovative application, <strong>Billards Blizz</strong>, showcases his technical prowess and his vision to create meaningful, user-friendly solutions.&nbsp;</p><p>The hackathon was an incredible opportunity to see these ideas come to life, and his win at DevHack24 is a testament to his dedication and talent. The event concluded with a memorable closing ceremony, celebrating creativity and collaboration.&nbsp;</p><p>By watching the video below, you can relive the ceremony's highlights, including the moment Cyril’s project was crowned the winner!<span lang="EN-US"></span></p><p class="text-align-center"><iframe width="855" height="481" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0rkPLh-be5Q" title="DevHack24: Closing Ceremony" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>

<p>Creating bespoke applications that will specifically meet your needs can be a long, highly technical, and expensive task. However, with the rise of low and no-code platforms, that doesn’t have to be the case.&nbsp;</p><p>Instead of writing every line of code from scratch, these solutions offer pre-built components that let anyone, from citizens to expert developers, create custom applications quickly, easily, and affordably.</p><p>That said, before discussing all the benefits of drag-and-drop development solutions, it’s best to get a better idea of what these solutions offer.</p><h2>What Are Low-Code Platforms?</h2><p>A low-code platform offers visual programming methods to help speed up development. Often, these platforms have a simple drag-and-drop feature and templates that users can choose from to develop a working application quickly. Some even offer AI assistance in automating workflows, analyzing data, language processing, and more. Ultimately, low-code platforms are designed to be user-friendly so that even those with little to no coding experience can build a custom application.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Benefits of Bespoke Application Development with Low-Code Platforms&nbsp;</h2><p>On that note, here are the seven main advantages of low-code platforms in bespoke application development.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>1. Productivity</h3><p>Normally, the development process is long and involves coming up with all the features the app will have, its design, and the actual development and then testing of the app. The problem is that this is not only a long and complex process, but developers are often backed up as is with an endless number of requests.&nbsp;</p><p>However, a low-code platform allows even those with no coding experience to create an application. As such, non-technical staff can create the app or at least a rough draft of it, freeing up the development team to focus on other projects.&nbsp;</p><p>Considering that the bottleneck in the typical development process is often the few and overworked developers on staff, low-code has the potential to drastically increase productivity.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>2. Development Speed&nbsp;</h3><p>Even if developers have the time to start creating a custom application immediately, it will still take some time before they finish building and testing the mobile or web application if traditional development methods are used.&nbsp;</p><p>With low-code, however, developers can use the pre-programmed building blocks to create an app quickly. This will eliminate much of the “grunt work” involved and allow the developers to focus on fine-tuning the application.&nbsp;</p><p>Additionally, citizen developers can also be utilized to create a “rough draft” of the app and then hand it over to experienced developers to write any additional code that is needed that doesn’t come pre-packaged.&nbsp;</p><p>This will significantly increase the development speed and allow businesses to create and deploy bespoke applications quickly.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>3. Compatibility and Updates</h3><p>One of the major benefits of low-code platforms is that all the pre-programmed building blocks have already been extensively tested and are designed to work together.</p><p>As such, compatibility issues, which are often a major headache to deal with whenever new code is introduced to an application, are not a problem. This allows for apps to be regularly and seamlessly updated to keep up with the needs of the business.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>4. Citizen Developers&nbsp;</h3><p>Considering that citizen developers with little or no coding experience can play a major role in the development process if low-code platforms are used, businesses can save not only time but resources when creating new apps.&nbsp;</p><p>Experienced developers are difficult to find and command a high wage, so it’s important to use them as efficiently as possible.</p><p>By introducing citizen developers into the development process, businesses can free up the time of experienced developers to focus on more important work and save money in the process.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>5. Prototyping&nbsp;</h3><p>Prototyping is an essential part of the development process, and with the introduction of low-code solutions, it can be done much quicker and by those with no coding experience.&nbsp;</p><p>As such, businesses will have more flexibility when trying out new ideas and creating working prototypes.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>6. Maintenance</h3><p>Maintenance is a tedious and time-consuming process that low-code solutions can significantly reduce. Since low-code platforms are designed to provide a seamless working set of pre-programmed building blocks, there are fewer bugs to deal with.&nbsp;</p><p>Additionally, new features can be added to the application without fully reworking or adjusting the existing code.<br>&nbsp;</p><h3>7. Democratization&nbsp;</h3><p>Traditionally, only larger businesses with the budget to afford experienced developers could use bespoke application development.&nbsp;</p><p>However, with the introduction of low-code platforms, businesses of all sizes can create custom applications without worrying about large development costs.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;</p><h2>Summary&nbsp;</h2><p>Overall, low-code platforms offer businesses the flexibility, speed, and cost savings needed to create bespoke applications. These platforms significantly speed up the development process at all stages, from the initial design phase to testing and deployment.&nbsp;</p><p>One of the major benefits of low-code solutions is that those with little to no coding experience can play a significant role in the development process. This not only frees up experienced developers’ time from tedious tasks but also boosts productivity and lowers development costs.</p>

<h2>Who was the hackathon aimed at, and what was the theme?</h2><p>The very first Qodly Hackathon on the sports theme concluded on August 28th. This event, the first of its kind organized by Qodly, aimed to unite developers worldwide on a current, unifying, and boundary-crossing subject: sports.&nbsp;</p><p>The low-code platform was open and accessible to all who wished to unleash their creativity, and the developers responded eagerly.&nbsp;</p><h3>How did the competition unfold?</h3><p>DevHack24 started on May 27th, and participants had until August 21st to submit their creations. In addition to the joy of creating, developers showed curiosity and a thirst for learning and developed innovative concepts that gave us a glimpse of future needs.&nbsp;</p><p>The DevHack24 community engaged with the future and took us through applications that competed in novelty, progress, and avant-gardism. Starting from real needs, some created value in record time to materialize their vision into a deployable and shareable application.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>And what about the jury?</h3><p>The jury also included members from New Zealand, the United States, Germany, and France. Their specializations were varied and complementary.&nbsp;</p><p>Sophia Willows, representing New Zealand, specializes in software engineering and is deeply involved in the field. She readily shares her expertise.&nbsp;</p><p>Hassan Ould, an engineer by training who is passionate about low-code/no-code and an expert in growth marketing, was based in France. His sharp expertise in low-code and precision in application functionalities were highly appreciated. His high-level sports background also motivated him to join the DevHack24 jury.&nbsp;</p><p>Ricardo Mello, based in Canada, connected early in the morning to participate in the closing webinar and provided valuable feedback to the finalists.&nbsp;</p><p>Stephan Klein, from Germany, joined the jury upon discovering the Hackathon, complementing everyone's contributions.&nbsp;</p><p>The diversity of the jury members enriched the deliberations and allowed the winners to receive high-quality feedback.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3>Who are the winners?</h3><p>The three winners shone with their innovation, creativity, and imagination, transporting us into a world as incredible as it is futuristic. These winners, whose stories will be detailed in upcoming blogs, come from Canada, Morocco, and France.&nbsp;</p><p>Congratulations to Cyril Limpalaer, Neyl Nasr, and Saadia Aboutarouc for their work's excellence and perseverance.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p class="text-align-center"><iframe width="855" height="481" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0rkPLh-be5Q" title="DevHack24: Closing Ceremony" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p><h4>Conclusion</h4><p>A big thank you to all the participants who amazed us and confirmed that innovation knows no bounds and that, thanks to platforms like Qodly, imagination can become reality without being a coding expert.</p>

<p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">The </span><a href="https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/web-development-market-109039" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">web development market</span></a><span lang="EN"> was worth USD 56 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8.03%, reaching USD 130,971.3 million by 2032.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">That being said, the demand for web developers to create custom web applications will continue to increase over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">It should also be noted that the </span><a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/low-code-development-platform-market-102972" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">low-code development market size</span></a><span lang="EN"> was projected to grow from USD 22.25 billion in 2023 to USD 28.75 billion in 2024—with a CAGR of 32% from 2024 to 2032.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">Furthermore, by 2025, </span><a href="https://quixy.com/blog/no-code-low-code-citizen-development-statistics-facts/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">Gartner estimates</span></a><span lang="EN"> that 70% of new applications will be developed using no-code or low-code solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">All that being said, the future of web development will not be solely relegated to those with high expertise in the field; instead, citizen developers using low-code platforms will have a greater footprint in the future of the industry.</span></p><h3><span lang="EN">Web Development Job Growth Over the Next 3 Years<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/web-developers.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</span></a><span lang="EN">, web developers and designers see a significantly higher growth rate than average—with estimates suggesting that the field will grow by 16% from 2022 to 2032.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">Considering that there are around 19,000 openings a year, over the next three years there will be around 57,000 new jobs for web developers and designers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><a name="_7x9anaoe3g8m"></a><span lang="EN">Low-Code Adoption<o:p></o:p></span></h4><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><a href="https://quixy.com/blog/no-code-low-code-citizen-development-statistics-facts/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">Gartner estimates</span></a><span lang="EN"> that over 50% of medium to large enterprises will use low-code or no-code solutions for app development.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">Furthermore, half of all buyers for these solutions will come from outside of IT organizations by 2025. As such, a larger number of industries such as BFSI, Education, and healthcare, will need a greater number of web developers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">The rapid adoption of low-code solutions is good news for those with little to no coding experience. It is estimated that </span><a href="https://colorlib.com/wp/web-development-statistics/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">63.8% of web developers</span></a><span lang="EN"> are self-taught, which is in large part due to low-code and no-code solutions, in an industry that was once highly technical.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h4><a name="_wd8nuy2wr87o"></a><span lang="EN">The Rise of Citizen Developers<o:p></o:p></span></h4><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><a href="https://quixy.com/blog/no-code-low-code-citizen-development-statistics-facts/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">Microsoft estimates</span></a><span lang="EN"> that of the 500 million apps it will create over the next five years, 450 million will be designed using low-code and no-code solutions.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">Originally, the development of these apps would be left to highly skilled individuals, but due to the use of low and no-code solutions, citizen developers with little to no coding experience will be able to create these apps for Microsoft.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><a href="https://kissflow.com/low-code/low-code-stats/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">In 2023 alone</span></a><span lang="EN">, it was estimated that citizen developers would outnumber experienced developers by 4 to 1. By 2024, </span><a href="https://kissflow.com/low-code/low-code-stats/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1155CC;" lang="EN">80% of web development services</span></a><span lang="EN"> were estimated to be built by citizen developers.</span></p><h3><span lang="EN">Summary<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">The benefits of being able to rapidly create and deploy custom business applications have led to a demand for low-code solutions and developers that can utilize them. Due to the simplicity of low-code solutions, the rise of citizen developers with little to no coding experience continues to grow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;"><span lang="EN">All in all, the future of the industry is promising and has a low barrier to entry, allowing businesses of all sizes to take advantage of the numerous automation and efficiency benefits that developers can create.<o:p></o:p></span></p>