I make no-code ETL software for non-technical users (https://easymorph.com) and I don't think the article is correct.
A general-purpose low/no-code tool may be an utopia. But task-specific low/no-code software can be very effective and successful. And yes, it does remove/reduce dependency on developers for non-technical people. For corporate users dealing with internal IT departments is frequently a big hassle. Which is by the way one of the reasons why cloud apps are becoming so popular - because they reduce dependency on in-house IT departments.
Although, for low/no-code software it's important to have a decent and reliable API to be able to integrate and interoperate with external apps and systems. With such API it doesn't really matter if the app was developed using a written code, or visual tool.
Second, have good logging/auditing capabilities.
Third, play nicely with security/administration - support LDAP, SSL, etc.
I agree, TFA's author doesn't seem to grasp that some tasks, with constrained inputs and outputs, might be better served with a well-designed visual tool. ETL (like Yahoo Pipes and your project) seems well-fitted.
Decades ago I built children's literacy software. I built the building blocks (sometimes visual sprites, sometimes behavior blocks), and the artists and educators took those building blocks and built a series of products. It worked nicely.
A general-purpose low/no-code tool may be an utopia. But task-specific low/no-code software can be very effective and successful. And yes, it does remove/reduce dependency on developers for non-technical people. For corporate users dealing with internal IT departments is frequently a big hassle. Which is by the way one of the reasons why cloud apps are becoming so popular - because they reduce dependency on in-house IT departments.
Although, for low/no-code software it's important to have a decent and reliable API to be able to integrate and interoperate with external apps and systems. With such API it doesn't really matter if the app was developed using a written code, or visual tool.
Second, have good logging/auditing capabilities.
Third, play nicely with security/administration - support LDAP, SSL, etc.