So, you want to learn no code development? There’s no doubt that no code has boomed in popularity in the past few years.
Tools like Bubble (a favorite of ours) have grown in popularity due in large part to the expense and complexity that comes with many developer-driven software projects.
The truth is that much of the software in the world does not need a developer and is relatively straightforward to create.
Even so, no code development does not mean that an application is simple or basic. Some very sophisticated no-code tools are out there, and many are driving the technology behind 7 and 8-figure businesses.
But the question is, how can you automate much of your business operations by harnessing the power of no-code development in your organization?
Let’s break the world of learning no code development down into Free and Paid options.
Free No Code Development Tutorials
For beginners, it’s great to start with free tutorials. As you may know, we’re big fans of YouTube here, and there are some absolute gems there that walk all the way from scratch through a fully functional web of mobile apps you can create.
With these resources, even those without any code skills can build apps that are interactive, can communicate with APIs, use dynamic templates, interact with database structures, allow users to register accounts and log in, and can even be deployed as mobile apps.
Best No Code Development Channels On YouTube
Echo Lake Technologies
The Echo Lake YouTube channel is focused solely on using Bubble to create high quality no code apps. They have tutorials on accepting payments, creating a membership platform, chatbots, and appointment setting.
Evan Little
Evan Little’s YouTube channel is also dedicated to building no-code or low-code apps with Bubble. He has tutorials on authentication with Facebook and Google among many other helpful lessons.
Coaching No Code Apps
This is probably one of the most popular Bubble-focused learning resources on YouTube. Coaching No Code Apps has tutorials on using APIs to connect software services, marketing your Bubble app after development is completed, how to build responsive design in Bubble, and tons more.
Jon Baxter
Jon’s YouTube channel currently tends towards beginners and those looking to build mobile apps with Bubble. Jon is heavily design focused, looking to create a great-looking UI and UX for the end users.
Pixelgeek
Pixelgeek’s YouTube channel is run by Nelson, a former WebFlow employee who is using WebFlow as the basis for many of his no-code applications. Using tools like Zapier and Integromat Nelson is able to create complex workflows and automations in his applications.
Glideapps
The Glide YouTube channel is (not surprisingly) focused solely on mobile app development. As Glide is a no-code builder for mobile apps, they focus where their strengths are. If you’re looking to build no-code mobile apps, this is a great place to start.
Building With Bubble
Building With Bubble is how we got started in No Code, and there Lachlan walks through complex applications that we all know and love like Medium, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp and builds clones of them. This is a great way to learn because they are not just abstract concepts, but real live applications that we’re all familiar with.
Paid No Code Development Courses
One of our favorite no-code courses out there is from Building With Bubble.
Other popular courses on no code development include:
Popular No-Code Platforms
One of the interesting things about the no-code movement is that there is no single platform, app, or tool that creators use to make no code apps.
Instead, the approach is more to pick the best tool for the job.
Here we list out some of the most popular tools that can help you in your no-code development initiatives:
- Webflow – a powerful CMS platform that caters nicely to No Code development and has many integrations with 3rd party tools
- Bubble – one of the leading no code development platforms. Bubble is a drag-and-drop builder where you can literally create anything you want without any technical know how.
- Zapier – maybe the OG of the no code movement. We like to think of Zapier as the duct tape of the internet. Relying heavily on webhooks to connect applications across our tech stacks.
- Carrd – a very simple, but also very powerful website builder
- MakerPad – one of our favorites. MakerPad pioneered much of the no-code movement and has provided thousands of resources for learning no code.
- AirTable – AirTable is like Google Sheets, but just a lot better. It’s much more of a visual database you can use to create complex relationships between sets of data. It’s also a fantastic database replacement for no-code solutions.
Should You Still Learn To Code?
Whether or not entrepreneurs should learn to code is an age-old question. And while there is no single best answer that fits all use cases it’s certain that the no-code movement has lowered the requirement to be a “technical founder” in order to run a successful software company.
Apps without code definitely are the tech behind very successful businesses, but as of the writing of this article, we do believe that knowing some software development is beneficial to no code specialists.
Which programming language should you learn?
This one is easy. If you’re going to be developing web applications it’s best to learn Ruby for the Ruby On Rails framework or learn Python for the Django framework. Both of these are best-in-class full-stack frameworks that will allow you to build any kind of complex application that you’ll need.
Of course, for web development and mobile apps there is some front-end development, and for that having a good working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript are essential. Javascript frameworks like React are beneficial for quickly building complex web frontends.
What’s great about no-code is that it allows you to build complex, interactive web apps without the cost and need for experience of a seasoned web developer.
Without minimizing no-code development, we continue to think that one of the best use cases for no code (or low-code) development is in creating MVP versions of a product, as is popular in many early stage startups.
In SaaS startups, where speed and learning are paramount it’s important to be able to get an early version of a software solution out to users quickly in order to iterate. Speeding up software development using no-code or low-code solutions is a great way to speed up that prototyping feedback loop.