The platform has different developer roles that allow for different levels of expertise in application development. In this article, we will explore the three developer roles in the Betty Blocks platform, their responsibilities, and how they work together to create applications.

The citizen developer is the entry-level development role in the Betty Blocks platform. They are responsible for configuring and doing small updates to an application. This person usually is a business user, working on the platform every now and then. By default, permissions are disabled for this role, but they can be changed if necessary.

The citizen developer works with templates provided by either the platform or by fellow development colleagues. They configure the last settings in the application such as assigning application admins, picking the right color scheme, setting the correct mail addresses, and adding front-end pages where necessary. They mainly work with small front-end changes.

The citizen development path is characterized by light-touch governance and is the path a citizen development team would take when a project is considered low risk and low technical complexity. Emphasis is on iterative ideation, design, build, and deployment with continuous business feedback loops.

The business technologist is a more experienced builder who can build more complex applications. This persona also has a business background, making them the ideal practitioner to build business applications. By default, permissions are disabled for this role, but they can be changed if necessary.

The business technologist is more aware of the layers of application development and knows that there are certain rules in development that you have to listen to. They have a full understanding of the no-code features the Betty Blocks platform has to offer and therefore can create more functionalities in their applications.

The business technologist path is followed if, after the initial assessment, the initiative is deemed medium technical complexity and low risk. The citizen developer can ask for the support of the business technologists and their skills. This allows the citizen developer to progress quickly without extensive IT engagement. It could be that the citizen development team is able to build an MVP, at which point they engage with business technologists or low-coders to finish the application and ready it for the live environment.

The low-code developer is the most advanced developer role in the Betty Blocks platform. They have the highest level of expertise and are responsible for customizing and supporting other builders. By default, all permissions are enabled for this user, and this option can't be adjusted.

The low-code developer has experience with coding and can read and write a few coding languages. They know how object-oriented programming works and can utilize the Betty Blocks platform to its fullest potential because they don't have to deal with as much debugging as traditional coding would normally bring.

The low-code developer is responsible for creating custom requirements necessary to turn an application into a successful one. As an example, there are standardized action steps in the platform, but a low-code developer can use their React knowledge to create custom action steps that exactly fit the application's scope.

If a citizen developer wants to grow into the low-code developer role, they will have to follow business technologists' learning path and learn one of the platform's supported programming languages (React or Typescript). With that, they will have full knowledge of the platform and its extending capabilities.

It's important to note that it's recommended to create business development teams combined out of each role. This way, business, and IT will stand closer to each other and be able to create business solutions even faster.

The Betty Blocks platform has three different developer roles, each with its own responsibilities and expertise level. By working together, these roles can create awesome applications that meet business needs and take innovation to the next level.