Programming without code

Question

Hi everybody.

What is the best way to implement business processes without writing code? I want to implement about 200 forms and workflows without writing a line of code because I want our customer to be able to extend the software without our help.

What is the best way to generate forms and then add business processes to them? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I really don't think it is possible to program something without some sort of code, whether it is graphical, textual, imperative, declarative, user friendly or arcane.

Windows Workflow is where I'd start looking.

The idea of end-users being able to extend their own system seems to be a holy grail for us programmers I've never seen it happen, as the vast majority end users seem to have different ideas about how they like to spend their time and energy..

Answer 2

What is the best way to implement business processes without writing code?

Hire someone else to write the code.

Seriously, if it was possible to create significant business processes without code, we'd all be out of a job.

ADDENDUM:

As a consultant, my initial reaction to the requirements would be what are you doing that is so complex it requires 200 forms? The "presenting problem" (the problem the customer thinks they have) here looks like a big red flag screaming "optimize me!" Remember, automating a messy archaic paper/legacy business process just results in an automated mess, i.e. the automation does not add any value to the process.

As a developer, my initial reaction to the requirements would be I wonder if I can soft-code the form elements to avoid maintaining 200 static form definitions.

Answer 3

It's a lot more realistic to build a system around a common language that both developers and users can speak, a "Domain Specific Language"

• http://www.martinfowler.com/bliki/DomainSpecificLanguage.html
• http://www.manning.com/rahien/

If you are really lucky, you will build the DSL so well that your customers won't have to speak to you again, but it's much more likely that you'll have to help them every now and then, either to remind them of the syntax (not an issue for graphical DSLs like WWF), help them express something complex (like exception handling), or add a new feature to the DSL.

Answer 4

Hiring a coder. :)

Answer 5

We recently did a project which used MetaStorm BPM.

Very simple to implement with a drag and drop UI to create the business flows with the capability to add more complex scripting in the background if needed.