Discover Top 15 Mendix Low-Code Platform Features (Updated)
While the competition is getting fiercer, providing more and more web development solutions with minimal coding, there are certainly some tools that stand out – and Mendix is one of them.
The Mendix platform has been recognized as a Leader for Fourth Consecutive Time in "2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms". Why is that?
Discover the key features of Mendix and learn how businesses can benefit from this particular low-code solution.
What is the Mendix low-code app development platform?
The Mendix platform is a comprehensive high-productivity app development tool that enables businesses to design, launch, maintain, and update web and mobile apps with little to no custom code needed which drastically accelerates the whole process of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The platform provides the tools to fast-track the full design lifecycle – from planning the development work to deployment and maintenance.
The main components of Mendix
The Mendix software development platform offers both low- and no-code tooling.
Its no-code web visual studio for modeling apps is designed for business field experts without any prior technical knowledge.
Their low-code tooling, on the other hand, is a comprehensive desktop visual modeling platform true potential of which can be harnessed with the help of professional developers.
Thanks to applying ready-to-use components, the platform allows businesses to lower the overall costs of the development and maintenance of the app. By minimizing the number of tedious tasks involving skilled experts from the technical field, Mendix also helps us increase the availability of the team.
Mendix Studio
The Studio is an intuitive, highly accessible no-code environment designed to include and engage all team members in the development process. Having no prior programming experience, these users can actively take part in the process of bringing apps to life.
With Mendix Studio, business owners and other specialists can visually map their vision, jumpstarting the process of software development.
Mendix Studio Pro
Mendix Studio Pro is a robust low-code environment that allows professional software development experts to create complex applications without having to go through most of the tedious coding tasks.
Thanks to Studio Pro, developers can easily build, iterate, integrate, test, and deploy the apps – all in one place. By streamlining the most wearying tasks, the solution allows them to gain more time to focus on higher-level software engineering.
If developers feel like they need to extend the project with custom code, they can easily do it using built-in editors.
Mendix Assist
The Mendix Assist component is a part of Mendix Studio Pro. It’s a feature that acts as a second pair of eyes for the developers. It follows the expert’s steps, double-checks their work, anticipates their next moves, and looks for potential errors.
Its recommendations are as much as 95% accurate and can help developers additionally increase their efficiency while decreasing the time needed for specific tasks and significantly lowering the risk of errors.
Mendix Cloud
Mendix Cloud is a fully managed cloud-native app platform as a service (aPaaS) designed with Mendix applications in mind. It allows Mendix-powered software to be easily and safely deployed into the market.
Top features of the Mendix app development platform
The Mendix platform offers a vast amount of possibilities to both business and IT departments. Below, I’ve listed some of what I believe to be the most important features of this solution.
Web and (native) mobile app development
First and foremost, the key feature and purpose of the platform is the development of web and native mobile applications. With Mendix, you can build progressive and fully responsive web apps and develop truly native mobile software based on React Native.
Custom code capabilities
Apart from offering its users ready-to-apply components, Mendix software allows you to add custom code when needed. For instance, you can create a plugin for the backend in Java/Kotlin, build a widget for the frontend in React.js (JavaScript), or freely modify a mobile application in Swift/Java/React Native. This means that you can achieve any needed functionality using extensions running on the backend or the frontend.
Scalability
The platform was designed to cater to businesses of different sizes and scalability plans. If you’re thinking about scaling in the future, you’ll be glad to hear that Mendix is ready to handle tens of thousands of concurrent connections thanks to both vertical and horizontal scalability options.
Full lifecycle management support
The Mendix platform is designed to support you through the whole software development lifecycle, including idea mapping, app design, deployment, product launch, software maintenance, and improvement processes.
AI-assisted development
Mendix utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions that enable programmers to model and deliver software even faster. Its Mendix Assist acts as an AI co-developer that helps you speed up the design process and avoid errors, notably streamlining the work.
Cloud-native and on-premise
While developing your applications with Mendix you can choose between cloud-native and on-premise infrastructures. The platform is created to streamline both approaches, depending on the user's choice.
Automation capabilities
Mendix applies a process-first approach, which means it supports its users with automation possibilities. Thanks to extensive process automation, you can easily bypass the workflow roadblocks, improve business outcomes, have more visibility into your processes, implement new solutions more swiftly, and gain full control over your IT landscape.
Application governance
Mendix provides its users with the most trusted governance tools and controls that ensure effective, secure, and compliant use of the platform. This is important because, as the number of non-technical experts involved in a project grows, so does the risk of losing control.
Easy-to-use tools for citizen developers
The citizen developers are experts that can bring value to building software but don’t necessarily know how to code. The list may include i.e. product managers, product designers, customer service, or marketers.
These specialists not only reduce the IT backlog and address the shortage of tech-skilled experts but can also be incredibly valuable to the creative process by providing the team with business insights that influence the design. That’s why Mendix decided to empower them with an intuitive Studio where they can fully realize their potential in the process of app development.
Reusable components marketplace
Using the Mendix platform, you can also take advantage of the integrated Mendix Marketplace – a repository of reusable components created by Mendix and the members of the platform’s community. These components include the following:
- Connectors
Connectors are items that accommodate microflow activities used to connect your software logic with any external systems. - Widgets
Widgets are the elements of the software’s UI that are responsible for the site’s functionality and page interactions. - Modules
Modules are self-contained app elements that involve microflows, domain models, and user interfaces.
Mendix Data Hub
One of the additional features of Mendix is Mendix Data Hub, which enables organizations to connect, manage, and make sense of their data coming from various sources and systems – both internal and external – by combining a scalable data bus with a best-in-class app builder.
The platform offers tools for data governance and data quality management and provides a centralized repository for metadata and documentation related to datasets. Last but not least, it helps users with powerful data visualization capabilities. Mendix Data Hub is an additional paid feature. Read this article, if you'd like to explore Mendix pricing in more detail.
How can your business benefit from using Mendix?
The Mendix platform revolutionizes the way businesses build web and mobile software. This tool can help you with such issues as:
- Accelerating your time-to-market
- Raising development team productivity
- Building and improving apps at scale
- Streamlining the feedback process
- Decreasing development costs
- Increasing business agility
- Improving communication between various teams within the organization
Additional functionalities of Mendix 10
In June, Mendix released the newest version of the platform – Mendix 10. Among the various features released in the new version of the platform, the most useful ones seem to be the Mendix Portfolio Management feature, which enables the management of the application portfolio; robust AI and machine learning capabilities; and broader multi-cloud capabilities.
Mendix 10 also premieres a Bring-Your-Own-Identity-Provider (BYOIDP) feature, which enables organizations to create a comprehensive Single Sign-On (SSO) experience by bridging their corporate Identity Provider (IdP) with the Mendix Platform. Read this article if you’d like to explore the features of Mendix 10 in more detail.
Mendix in action
Businesses all over the world are already using Mendix to develop their apps. Among the ones that applied their solutions with great success, we can see a great list of respected industry leaders. Companies such as Dubai or Rolls Royce are using the Mendix platform to modernize their software development ecosystem, accelerate application development, and speed up their digital transformation process.
Step into the Mendix-powered low-code future with Netguru
The Mendix platform is an excellent choice for businesses looking to leverage low- and no-code tooling. If you want to learn more about Mendix and how it can support your organization, contact our team.
