Hey there fellow Apprentices,
This week’s co-authored piece is written alongside Max Haining, Founder of 100DaysOfNoCode who helps non-techies bring their ideas to life with no-code. Having been a start-up founder with the all the ideas who is constantly frustrated by his inability to execute them with a CTO in the past, learning no-code completely changed his life. And that’s no exaggeration.
So much so that he’s now made his mission to empower 1 million people with no-code skills. And guess what? I was one of them. I joined Max and his team for cohort 6 of their No-Code MVP Bootcamp throughout May and it was an absolute blast. Not only did I turn my (very random) idea of a gift tracker & recommender into a reality (see here), I also learnt a sh*t tonne about the power of No-code that I’m excited to be sharing with you today.
What is No-Code?
No-code is, put simply “an easier way to build software”. It’s a set of tools that give us the power of code without actually having to spend months learning complex programming languages like Java, C++ & Python. It’s a new way of creating digital solutions that enables us to build websites, apps, databases and automations visually rather than through lines of code.
Here are just a few of my favourite examples:
Zapier - for creating powerful automations
Airtable - for storing, manipulating and measuring data
Notion - for building personal & company workspaces
Softr - for designing website applications (it’s very cool)
Adalo - for building custom web & mobile apps
There are hundreds more solutions out there. Each with their own use cases that are totally worth checking out. But, it’s this page of Softr templates that really brings no-code, showing it’s infinite possibilities.
The True Power of Visual Creation
At the heart of No-code is accessibility.
It empowers the coding illiterate with the ability to bring to life the ideas in their mind with ever increasing levels of complexity. We’re not talking simple landing pages here. We mean whole learning platforms, client portals, team wikis and more. All built by a team of one with the power of ten. Isn’t that super exciting? We sure as hell think it is.
With only 0.3% of the world’s population able to code, equipping the other 99.7% with the tools to create digital solutions is massive. And it’s going to impact us in so many different ways. This coming wave of no-code will enable us to create powerful prototypes in work without the need for approval, become no-code freelancers with specialist skillsets or even build our own applications that we can launch and sell.
The possibilities are endless. And they’re only just getting started.
Why it’s a Multipotentialite Superpower
No-code is a true multipotentialite skill.
The fundamentals of the tools are easy to learn, but difficult to master, enabling us digital natives to pick up pretty much all the basics in less than an hour. This speed is crucial. Instead of wasting months wannapreneuring about a pipedream you can bring it life in a weekend, test it with some users and see if your assumptions actually hold true.
You’ll inevitably get stuck somewhere along the way (especially if you start actually building one of your many ideas), but that’s the whole point. A quick Google search, Twitter exchange or scroll through forums later and you’ll find answer. And each time you do you’ll learn a little more that deepens your expertise just a bit further. Not only does this trial and error empower you to learn by doing, it also becomes an expression for your creativity. No longer do you need a product team to interpret your many ideas. You can just build them yourself. And see what works.
What you do eventually create is also incredibly powerful. The automations, applications or databases will become sources of leverage that will save you hundreds of hours of repetitive tasks. Like an army of tiny robots, they’ll work while you focus your energy back on what matters - mastering your craft.
A.I. will 100x the Potential of No-code
If you can 10x your time with No-code, you’ll be able to 100x it with AI too.
AI will amplify the ease, inexpensiveness and flexibility of no-code infinitely. If you thought dragging and dropping to create a website was amazing, just imaging asking ChatGPT to create you a website with a simple word prompt. Or to build you a database. Or even to combine them together. It probably won’t get it completely accurate. But, it’ll skip the first 70-80% for you. Leaving you to tweak the remaining 20% to suit your specific needs.
And this isn’t something far off in the future. It’s here right now. On your favourite No-code tools like Softr where you can generate images, copy or dynamic blocks with a text prompt in-app. It’s already a time-saver. What’s left is for someone to build a website specification form + ChatGPT integration that outputs the 70-80% for you. Oh wait, they already have.
How to Start learning No-code
The landscape of No-code is always evolving. It’s toolkit is constantly developing, adding new software to master all the time. It’s exciting. But, you can quickly feel like you’re being left behind.
So, rather than this being a skill you slowly progress on the backburner for a few years, it’s something that’s best learnt by obsessing over for a weekend or a month at a time. Once the ball starts rolling you’ll quickly fall into a flow state, lose track of time and want to keep exploring the rabbit hole.
With this in mind, here’s the best ways to get started:
Login to any no-code tool and just start playing around.
Learn how to build an MVP, get stuck, find a solution, learn and go again.
Join Max’s 100DaysOfNoCode Challenge (it’s completely free)
Take part in Max’s 30 day No-code MVP Bootcamp to learn from experts (this one isn’t free, but I can attest is completely worth it).
Or go one step further and learn AI skills in 100 days with daily bitesized lessons launching from 1st October (& it’s totally free again).
Loved chatting with you on all things no-code Charlie! The future of software development is super exciting and in this piece you capture it super well!
I feel I should have gone the no-code way instead of learning JavaScript. This is definitely a skill I want to delve more deeply into!