Development Tools

Low-Code Development Company Launches Academic Program

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 12/11/17

A company that has earned a reputation for producing "low-code" development tools for creating mobile and web applications without a great deal of programming knowledge and a robust app store has opened up an academic program, allowing colleges and universities to use the software in their courses. Mendix announced that 26 institutions have already adopted its development platform in their curriculum.

The Mendix University Program lets instructors access the software and provides open curriculum, including a textbook, presentations, a syllabus, case studies, projects and assignments and sample data sets. Professional development is also available to educators using Mendix in the classroom. Students can access online videos and documentation and earn company certifications.

One academic who has adopted the curriculum is George Wyner, an associate professor in information systems at Boston College. "The Mendix platform enables every one of my systems analysis and design students, including those with limited coding skills, to get hands-on experience quickly to build and deploy working applications to solve real business problems," he said in a press release. "Mendix allows all students to focus more on innovation and less on overcoming coding hurdles; this is the kind of learning I want to emphasize in my class and the kind of skill set businesses urgently need today, which is why Mendix is a natural fit for my classroom."

Another instructor, Mark Frydenberg, lecturer and director of a technology playground at Bentley University, said the platform enables his first-year students to gain experience in agile development. "My students are gaining an appreciation for the latest software development approaches they otherwise might not see until later in their studies."

Information about the academic program is available on the Mendix website.