In order to prove your worth as part of the software development community next year, you need to stay informed about all the latest industry trends. For your convenience, we have come up with a list of software-related topics which, starting next year, are expected to be “the next big thing”.
Increasing Focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
With the unbelievable advancements in the field of technology, ML and AI-powered tools are gaining traction at an accelerated pace. Every business, no matter how big or small wants to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning into their business activities. Therefore, it is important that you focus your development activity towards these two rising technologies.
One feature that many businesses are now adding to their websites is the chatbot. It is an artificially intelligent being which your website visitors can talk to. It interacts with visitors and addresses their queries and concerns just like a human customer representative would. If you have ever interacted with a chatbot, you would know that it is very hard to tell whether you are talking to a real human being or a programmed impersonator.
Prescriptive Analytics is another great example where ML comes in to assist businesses with their day-to-day affairs. As its name suggests, prescriptive analysis involves “prescribing” solutions to businesses (that is, what decisions they should make in the future) based on the huge amounts of data collected from them. This work is impossible for humans to do. However, machines are programmed and taught how to conduct this process. Hence, it is quick, highly accurate, and less prone to errors.
Rising Demand for IoT (Internet of Things)
Internet of Things is one of the fastest-growing areas in the field of computers and networking. After smartphones, we have moved onto other smart devices such as Smart TVs, Smart Homes, and Smart Cars. It brings these everyday things to the internet. That means you can now connect to the devices you use on a regular basis via your Wi-Fi. With one voice command, you can make your lights become dimmer or ask your music player to turn the volume up.
The number of IoT devices is expected to rise up to 21 billion within the next 5 years. Since demand for IoT software is growing quickly, it is a great area that you can explore in the near future. Developing IoT systems requires some specialised skills such as cloud computing concepts, automation, and data analytics. But if you start working on your skills now, you will be prepared for the next few years.
Blockchain Bounces Back!
In the last couple of years, we observed the sudden rise of cryptocurrency implemented using blockchain technology. However, the cryptocurrency did not last very long. The technology itself, however, is predicted to go a long way.
Recently, we have seen the use of blockchain to implement extremely secure communication over the network. In the future, it is expected to be utilised in many more ways, such as in the fields of cloud storage and supply chain. Therefore, it is important that you keep an eye out for further developments.
Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) Are the New Cool
There must have been rare occasions where you opened up a website on your smartphone browser but it felt like you were using a native mobile application. This type of website is called a progressive web app (PWA), and it is the new cool.
One special feature of PWAs is that they load up the content much faster than regular websites do. So you can rest assured that it will completely capture your visitors’ attention and they will not leave midway. While a PWA acts like an app, it operates on proper web security protocols. Hence, it is secure as well.
Businesses need their online presence felt in the lives of their customers. They want their customers to be active and engage with their content. With a PWA, they can 100 per cent capture the attention of their customers. A high-quality PWA will lead to customers wanting to keep these businesses on their home screens.
You can help your clients achieve these goals. There are now several tools and resources to understand and develop PWAs. You should make good use of them in order to master this technology.
Post-delivery Customer Service is Important!
This is only partially related to the development process but is nevertheless an important part of conducting business.
In order to develop a good relationship with your clients, you, as a software developer or software house, need to show your clients that you care about them. The best way to do that is to make sure that your software works fine after you have implemented it on your client’s system. Make sure to keep checking on your customers from time to time, and provide proper assistance in case they run into any problems.
Here is an example of a software house that has won the hearts of its clients by developing high-quality bespoke software and provided great after-sales services as well. It is currently ranked 5 stars at Clutch.co.
Some Popular Development Practices
When it comes to software development practices, a lot of changes have taken place regarding developers’ preferences. Stack Overflow conducts a survey every year to find out what is trending in the development community. This year’s survey revealed some noteworthy as well as astonishing findings.
A new coding language called Rust has emerged as the winner in terms of popularity. It defeated some old-time favourites such as JavaScript and Python. React.js won first place in the most-loved framework category, while MySQL and Postgres were at the top of the database list. The most popular IDE among developers was VSCode.
Another finding worth mentioning is the growing demand for DevOps engineers. They are quickly becoming one of the highest-paid professionals in the dev community. So if you are looking into bringing a change into your career, you know what way to go!
Given the rate at which these technologies and practices are gaining fame, businesses all over the world will feel the need to adopt them in order to stay ahead of competing businesses. For that, they will need to hire the best software development professionals. So this is your chance to become an expert at some up-and-coming software development trends!
Top comments (6)
Great article..!!!
Just one small question. React is a library, but was winner as most loved framework?
Probably because the line between libraries and frameworks is rather fuzzy, people often talk about React.js as a framework and the survey makers weren't overly concerned with such technicalities.
Indeed Vue is a progressive JavaScript framework but not React.
Even on react's website it says that it is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces (reactjs.org/)
Then how can it be a framework, let alone the most love one?🤔
I am not a fan of PWAs
Just mentioning again, as I always do, that these trends come and go, but if you want to do magic you need to learn C and ASM. They still rule, and will for all forseeable future.
I agreed, but developers are working on React Native or Flutter to develop custom apps or Softwares.