In business, synergy between different departments is a valuable asset that can be leveraged to improve efficiency. A disconnect between business professionals and software development teams can delay project delivery and negatively impact budgets.
In traditional software development processes, the knowledge gap between technical and non-technical professionals is such that it might take years of dedication for the latter to gain enough understanding to enable efficient collaboration. While Mendix offers several technical advantages, an often-overlooked benefit is its ability to bring together minds from diverse backgrounds.
Although Mendix can improve development, as much as 41% of technical professionals say that their non-technical colleagues lack the knowledge to understand the benefits Mendix can bring to their organizations.
Be Part of the Transformation
Transitioning from legacy systems or transforming physical business processes into digital formats can be challenging. Using off-the-shelf products is one possible solution, but there’s a catch: businesses often have unique needs and requirements. Who will you turn to if you need to add a specific feature to a standardized product?
By learning the basics of the Mendix development ecosystem, you will better understand what is feasible to implement, how to translate your requests into clear requirements, and how much effort your development team will need to put into a project. This will save you precious time that might otherwise be wasted in unproductive meetings, which often end up back where they started. Besides gaining valuable new skills, you’ll also become part of the solution!
Visual Approach (Model-Driven Development)
Mendix is considered the most complete low-code platform, and this extends to the training available, which you can access for free, at your own pace, and independently. By completing the initial learning paths, you can go from having no software development knowledge to designing, developing, and deploying your own application with ease. If you’re already familiar with app development, more advanced learning paths will help you get up to speed with the platform in no time. There are also other topic-specific learning paths available for free in the Mendix Academy, as well as other ways to learn. Give it a try!
Challenge
To wrap it up, I’d like to propose a challenge. After completing the Rapid Development learning path, think of a repetitive task in your life that involves calculations and would benefit from being automatized. For example, I used to track my utility expenses using a spreadsheet. Over time, it became cumbersome and used to take me 30 minutes to register new expenses and do the calculations. After earning the Rapid Developer Certificate, I decided to turn it into an app. Now, I can run it locally on my computer and finish the task in two minutes. The best part is that the app provides insights about my expenses that would have been impossible to spot using a spreadsheet. Is there a better way to learn than by making boring tasks easier?
Here are some examples for inspiration:
- Recipe App/Note-Taking App: If this seems too complicated, it’s one of the easiest to create. Simply build an app that lets you take notes and organise them with labels.
- App for Tracking Your Car’s Fuel or Electricity Costs: You can log each time you refuel or recharge, recording the amount, price, and mileage. Then, calculate metrics like price per mile, track gas price variations over time, and monitor how much you drive monthly. You can even visualise the data using charts.
- Pet Care App: Use this app to track how much food/water you give your pet, how often you take them for walks, grooming activities, vet visit notes, and more.
The key is to think of something useful!
If you decide to take on this challenge, share what you’ve created on social media using the hashtag #BuiltWithLowCode. I’ll be the first to share my Expenses Tracker on LinkedIn. If I could do it without prior programming or low-code knowledge, you can too!
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