Navigating low-code security

To greater or lesser extents, low-code platforms make it possible to enforce security policies and guardrail compliance. This week, Michael Bargury argued that no-code approaches to software development make it possible to reimagine — or even eliminate — traditional SDLC. This is an excellent vision and aspiration. However, industry consensus is that low-code cannot eliminate security concerns. Instead, risk vectors simply move around. Yes, risk related to poorly-formed code can be largely eliminated, but things like permissions and data access still require governance low-code tools can — and will continue to — reduce the time and effort required for things like testing, but robust and flexible governance practices will always be required to identify and mitigate risks involved in software development more generally.

News

• PMI urges accelerated digital adoption by tertiary education ( Vanguard ) - universities remain the pinnacle of academic achievement, but alternatives are fast emerging in credentialing and certifications. Leadership skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and tech savviness are emerging as par for the course, but universities have been apathetic toward them.

Ideas

• Where There's No Code, There's No SDLC ( Michael Bargury , Dark Reading ) - Business users are building and will continue to build more applications than we’ve ever seen before. To bring them under the security umbrella, we must meet them where they are and speak their language.
• Boosting Data Confidence with No-Code/Code-Friendly Platforms ( Jay Henderson , Datanami) - The new revolution of no code/code friendly is designed to add value to enterprises as it enables inexperienced coders with its no-code design, while supporting those with seasoned coding experience without having to switch back and forth between multiple tools.
• The Security and Productivity Implications of Low Code/No Code Development ( Kevin Townsend ) - “the problems are all still there, but they move around in terms of who is responsible for what. At a minimum, you should thoroughly investigate the security characteristics, tools and practices that are recommended by the provider of your low-code tooling.”
• Why generative AI will turbocharge low-code and no-code development ( Anirban Ghoshal , InfoWorld ) - The evolution of generative AI models will further lower barriers to using low-code and no-code development tools, and potentially lead to the birth of a whole new class of intelligent developer technology.
• How have enterprise applications changed over the past 40 years? ( Matt Healy , Pegasystems ) - How does a technology organization like Pega approach architectural evolution? What’s changed over the years? And more importantly, what’s stayed the same?

Tips & Tricks

• Quickly building dynamic form field behavior with Constellation and App Studio: Cascading dropdowns ( Sam A. , Pega Community Blog)