DEV Community: Sojy SN

How to Build a React Progressive Web Application?

Sojy SN — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 17:59:53 +0000

Classify the users and the most compatible user operations when determining if the succeeding application should be a mainstream web app, a website, or a native mobile device. A progressive web app runs in all browsers and enhances the user interface once the user's browser is updated with new and enhanced functionality and APIs. As a consequence, there is no inconsistency in the user interface between a modern mobile app and a conventional website; nevertheless, you will require to recognise what features to promote offline, and you may require to help navigation.

A progressive web app, by design, would run on any platform and constantly update, getting advantage of any functionality existing on the user's device and browser. Suppose such features are necessitated for significant user activities but are not yet available due to a deficiency of cross-browser compatibility. In that case, a native mobile application could be the most suitable choice, ensuring a consistent experience for all users.

Progressive Web Apps are generated employing a modern technology recognised as service workers. Service operators are scripts that are event-oriented and have access to domain-wide events. These are programmable proxies that remain between the user's browser tab and the rest of the Internet. They prevent network requests and rewrite or fabricate them to contribute very granular caching and offline service.

Characteristics of React

Currently, ReactJS obtaining quite agile fame as the most reliable JavaScript framework among web developers. It is making a significant role in the front-end ecosystem. Now, we are continuing to provide you with the essential features of ReactJS in the following section. Let us take a more familiar look at some significant features of React.

Lightweight DOM For Better Performance
Natural Learning Curve
Components Support And Little Dependencies
The desired interface can be created in a relatively simple manner.
Error boundaries

Knowing the Progressive Web App

While browsing something on the Internet, have you ever noticed an “Add To Home Screen”banner, as shown below images.
Have a look:

Note: Image istaken from Google REF: https://gfycat.com/gifs/search/progressive+web+apps

When you hit the button, the “application” installs itself in the backdrop. When you start this application that now continues in your app drawer, you can comfortably browse the likewise experience you were doing on your browser, but now directly in your mobile phone.

You know what, installing the application was so simple. But that's not even the great part. Because, when you open the app, you will be capable to browse the content even when you do not have internet access. You have offline access to that appropriate app. Now just think, how reliable is that?

After the process of connecting the multiple applications in a front home screen is PWA that blends new technologies with installed best practices for creating reliable, accessible, and appealing experiences. They provide users with a native-like experience with a user-friendly opt-in installation process.

Progressive Web App isn’t a distinctive frame or technology. Preferably, it is a combination of best practices to make a web application function more comparable to a desktop or mobile application. Here, the purpose is to have an experience where the user is unable to tell the variation between a Progressive Web App and a native mobile app. Now that you understand a little more about the progressive web apps, So let's delve into the overview of understanding how to create PWA. PWAs can support businesses to take their development backlog and the resources to get originated with such applications.

How to create aReact.js Progressive Web App

We suggest using create-react-app, which is an officially supported way of creating React apps.It gives a modern setup with no configuration necessitated.You can build an app by running npx create-react-app my-app

After app production, you can use React the identical way you’d use it normally. You don’t need to install any supplementary dependencies or libraries.

You don’t even have to create your service worker –create-react-app gives you their boilerplate one, although it is unregistered. We'd suggest having it that way until you’re finished with your app and required to test it as a PWA since sometimes, it makes debugging harder.

Building a PWA with create-react-app

To perform our PWA, we’re proceeding to work on create-react-app. This remarkable project has had inbuilt support for making PWAs. In modern days, that support has matured to a very satisfying level. To create ourselves a TypeScript React app using create-react-app, enter this npx command in the console:

/npx create-react-app pwa-react-typescript--template typescript/

This creates you aReact web app built with TypeScript. It can be tested locally with:

cd pwa-react-typescriptyarn start

Making your React app a PWA

The two foremost elements of a PWA are a Service Worker and a Web Manifest. While it's feasible to combine both of these to an app manually, a base project from Create ReactApp (CRA) and the Ionic CLI gives this already.

In the index.ts for your app, there is a request to a serviceWorker.unregister()function. The base CRA provides has service workers as an opt-in feature, so it must be approved. To enabled,callserviceWorker.register().

import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import App from './App';
import * as serviceWorker from './serviceWorker';

ReactDOM.render(, document.getElementById('root'));
// If you want your app to work offline and load faster, you can change
// unregister() to register() below. Note this comes with some pitfalls.
// Learn more about service workers: https://bit.ly/CRA-PWA // serviceWorker.unregister();

serviceWorker.register();

A comparison: Responsive Web apps and Native apps

Native App

A native app is designed to run on a precise mobile operating system.A native mobile app is immediately installed on the smartphone and can work, in most instances, without internet connectivity depending on the quality of the app. The native apps can operate much quicker by checking the endowment of the processor. Native apps receive the permission of the app store they are intended for, which indicates in most of the scenarios the user can be assured of the communication, and the native app responds the way its user expects.

Responsive Web App

A responsive web can perform comparable functionality to an appropriate app, and with limited creativity, the variation can be decreased.The web app runs via a web browser on the smartphone but entails either a cell signal or wi-fi to operate. They are much more comfortable for users to identify since their pages can be simply represented in the search results and can be listed in common search engines such as Google or Bing. The web app has the chance of being accepted on multiple devices with the only stipulation being a web browser and an internet connection.

Signing Off

Progressive Web Apps are the major apps that operate on any browser or device, online and offline and can be installed on any device except for iOS devices. If you use create-react-app, you can change your app into a Progressive Web App in just mentioned easy ways.

How To Successfully Crack A Remote Tech Interview?

Sojy SN — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 07:08:13 +0000

With the current remote working trend here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future, remote interviews are also in full swing today. If you are contemplating a job change in IT, you must be prepared for an in-depth virtual tech interview after the preliminary telephonic round.

Even if you are a technically competent professional, a virtual interview can feel quite different if you are not adequately prepared. Here, your preparation includes not only brushing up on your technical skills, but checking on some other aspects too. Let us find out what all you need to ensure to successfully crack a remote technical interview.

Which remote interview application will you need?

The tool you currently use for your remote team meetings may not be the same as what the interviewer uses. So you need to ask them which tool they will use and download it to your computer.
Some of the most popular tools used today are
Google Meet
Zoom
Skype
You might like to keep another tool as a backup option, in case of technical glitches in the former.

What are the modules of the remote interview?

Today, virtual interviews follow a standard format. But it is always good to ask beforehand so that you can prepare accordingly. Usually, there are a few modules along which technical interviews are structured.

These include:

A virtual coding interview

For this, you have to Write code in a specified period
Work in a collaborative web-based IDE or share your screen with the interviewer
Practice coding beforehand in the same tool and know how to compile and execute it
Ensure greater precision while coding on your laptop in an IDE

A virtual system design interview

For system design interviews, Most interviewers prefer virtual whiteboards such as Google Jamboard or Lucidchart.
Focus on the level of concepts and abstraction that best fits the answer.
Ask your interviewer if they want more details.
If this is your first-ever remote technical interview, the best way to prepare yourself is by enrolling in a technical skill booster program.
For instance, you can sign up for test-prep courses conducted by trainig schools. They offers holistic job-oriented tech upskilling programs designed for professionals and beginners. Those organizations guides and grooms you to the right path to crack remote tech interviews to secure remote jobs in top IT product development companies.

How to deal with technical glitches during the interview?

If technical glitches pop up in the middle, you need to avoid chaos and deal with the situation with calm and composure.
Suppose there is extreme lag due to poor internet connection, resulting in a lack of understanding between you and your interviewer.
Minimize the bandwidth required for the interview
Turn off your video and convey the same to your interviewer
Be very clear in communicating the difficulties you are facing
Do not keep saying excuses, but fix the issues as soon as possible
You can suggest or ask them to call them on the phone for the remaining part of the interview. But make sure to keep your computer connected (even if your video is switched off), and share the screen if needed for smoother collaboration.

What else to keep in mind?

To ace your virtual tech interview, there are some more things to remember, like-
You should never use your smartphone for the interview; connect using your laptop or desktop.
Make sure to mute all notifications, including instant messaging, Slack, SMS, basically anything that might suddenly pop up onto your screen during the interview.
Choose a quiet and peaceful zone in your house that comes with minimum distractions.
Ensure ample lighting where you station yourself; avoid backlighting as it only makes your face dark. Your interviewers must be able to see your face properly.
Fix the angle of the camera so that your face is centrally placed in the frame. The aim is to focus on your face and your work, and not all that is present in the room around you.

Bottom Line:

In spite of being fully prepared, if some natural but awkward situations arise, don’t worry about them. Stay calm and handle it with grace.
Managing everything during a remote tech interview is not really overwhelming as you might be thinking now! All you need is practice for things to fall in place naturally.

How Dynamics 365 Business Central Accelerates Business Transformation?

Sojy SN — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:15:54 +0000

Click to Watch the video!

Microsoft PowerApps and Its Applications

Sojy SN — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 05:07:50 +0000

Automation of operational tasks frees the workforce to strategize and innovate in their respective quarters and develop new mechanisms to accelerate an organization’s overall performance. That paved way for low code platforms to become a new reality in the realm of app development. Microsoft’s Powerapps is one such platform whose usage has flared up in recent years as a solution that enables app building with zero knowledge of codes and programming. Powerapps makes it possible for employees with basic technical prowess, to create apps for task automation.

By definition, Microsoft Powerapps is a low-code, drag and drop, app-building environment that aims to reform app development from being a professional skill to a basic aptitude for citizen developers.

Here are a few use cases to demonstrate how Microsoft Powerapps can be employed by organizations to boost operational excellence and task responsiveness.

Use Case 1 – Workflow App

Let’s say a company runs a program with multiple projects. Each project team provides daily or weekly status in an excel file. Let’s presume they share the files through email or over SharePoint library. One person is put in-charge of consolidating all this data in a single file and send it to the supervisor as a final report. The person in charge of this task needs to constantly go and check if the files of progress have been shared by members of each group. If this process can be automated, it easily frees him to focus on something more productive and creative.

Using the component of automated cloud flow in Powerapps a user can automate the entire process of maintaining the progress tracker. It enables them to create and customize the table as per the dynamics of the task down to what information needs to be written and how in specific columns of a specific worksheet.

Once the flow has been set and deployed, it will be automatically triggered when an excel sheet is uploaded to the SharePoint space. This not only frees the manual workforce for other more important tasks but also creates an avenue for streamlining and systematically recording everyday team progress with minimal errors.

Use case 2- Automate Onboarding

Being a Microsoft brainchild, Microsoft Powerapps can seamlessly tap into data from other Microsoft apps like outlook, 365, tasks, and calendars. A common application of Powerapps that can benefit businesses at large is creating an employee onboarding app that automates routine onboarding procedures. Powerapps hosts a free template that can be customized with onboarding tasks specific to your company. This comes as a colossal relief to the HR department of any enterprise. It eases the job for both the staff in charge and the new employee to share information and access documents with rudimentary effort.

Use case 3 – Automate Sales

Microsoft Dynamic 365 has proven very resourceful in sales where it allows sales reps to strategically engage with potential customers. It intuitively guides a salesperson to find new buyers and even highlights customers who need attention.

Considering Dynamics mechanic accomplishes this using the data gathered and recorded by the sales reps on various field visits, it is only relevant to alleviate this task of data accumulation. Instead of filling out comprehensive forms in Dynamic 365, a federal system with easy-to-use forms can be created for sales reps to summarily record client information.

Employees from different levels in the sales hierarchy can easily use this app to generate a goldmine of customer databases. This will enable efficient analytics and report generation to inform the top brass on sales figures and target completions at large.

Use case 4 – Expense Approval

In the remote working scenario, helping employees ease into a new space and work without hindrances required companies to invest in tools and assets that needed procurement on the employee’s behalf. Such investments need clear records to ensure unambiguous, transparent transactions on both ends. However, achieving this feat through a complex exchange of physical receipts and clarification calls is far more taxing on the time management front.

In addition, one uninformed decision from either party may lead to company capital taking a significant hit. To avoid the mishaps of complex and exhausting methods, augmenting this process by creating an app for the exchange of proof of payment and acknowledgments bodes well for the organization.

A well-rounded Expense Approval app can be built using Powerapps for both web and mobile interface, enabling employees to claim, and the company to reimburse expenses with zero hassle. Throwing in an additional notification feature will allow both, the requester and the reviewer to seamlessly complete tasks in a favorable time span.

Use case 5 – Service request application

System disruption is a universal crisis that mitigates operations on numerous occasions. Engaging with the help desk staff on a conventional level may not be capable of summoning instant aid. However, an app that creates a ticket for service requests may prove highly efficient and impactful.

An interactive app with basic request submission functionalities can be easily put together using the Microsoft Powerapps platform. Departments across an organization can benefit from such an application since service requests are commonplace proceedings in multiple divisions like IT, HR, purchasing, and facility management.

Conclusion

Powerapps is an ingenious solution that lets you get creative with app building. As a citizen developer, with no knowledge in coding beginners training with the platform, is an inescapable phase. But once you’ve learned the ropes, you can work around the concept; employ your own ideas, and create an app with maximum efficiency.

The beauty of Microsoft Powerapps is that there is no hardcoded way to build an app meant for a specific task. It allows you to experiment and innovate to drive efficiency. There are ample components, actions, and triggers you can choose from. This expands the scope of use cases for which apps can be created. The components can be used and placed in any order that you feel is optimal to accomplish the task you intend to mechanize.

In general, there are two types of apps you can create with Powerapps- Canvas and model-driven. The choice entirely depends on your use case.

If you must know, goal-oriented applications with more user control are well accomplished with the canvas structure. Model-driven apps are aimed at automating distinct business processes and come with pre-built structures while following a data-first approach. So before diving into the act of development it’s important to identify and categorize the goal which forms the core idea behind the app.

Internet of Things (IoT) and Industries

Sojy SN — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:50:17 +0000

The physical objects embodied with software and other technologies to link and exchange data with the various internet equipment are described under IoT (Internet of Things).

These days it has been possible to connect all our day-to-day devices or objects such as electronic appliances, thermostats, and cars, to the internet, which has enabled the unified communication possible between people and things.

Data can be shared with the least human intervention

A good example of IoT is the "smart home". It aids the user to remote control elements such as the doorbells, thermostats, and electric alarms, where data is shared among the devices linked in the hub. Apart from its domestic purpose, IoT has established its application in an array of devices, industries, and sectors. Even in the medical and educational sectors, IoT plays an important role, fabricating an impertinent world linking the physical and digital.

The advent of IoT

The Iot came into existence by a collection of novel advancements among deviant technologies. The basic factor that enabled IoT to majority manufacturers was the access to low cost, low power sensor technology. The ubiquitous Wifi and 4G facilitated the designers to postulate wireless connectivity anywhere.

Followed by that, efficient data transfer was made possible with a host of network protocols by which sensors to the cloud. Live data streaming and cloud integration are prime factors essential for IoT's proper functioning, while computing and IoT are technologies with many disparities. The business and consumers can access the infrastructure due to the marked up availability of cloud platforms.

Businesses can congregate more perceptivity because of the improvements in machine learning and AI. This has been made possible upon the access to increased data stored in the could. These techniques based on which we coach a machine to imbibe facts from the enormous data it is exposed to, thereby making predictive analysis and autonomous decisions in correspondence to the data it receives. Natural language processing has also been made a reality in devices such as Cortana, Alexa, and Siri due to these advancements.

Industrial IoT (IIOT)

The IIoT Industrial Internet of Things corresponds to the broadening of IoT application in the industrial sectors. The operations of industries and enterprises have been sharpened and made more desirable with improved efficiency and consistency, with IoT employment. In order to avail wireless automation and control, industries evince machine ti machine (M2M) communication. However, with the IoT's advent and application, industries can attain better monetary benefits by achieving a new automation layer. The coherence of information technology and operational technology is what makes it transparent and lucid.

Enhanced system integration is initiated upon this convergence of Information technology and Operational technology in terms of automation and optimization. With the aid of smart sensors, actuators along with remote control access, the mentoring and management of several utilities such as agriculture, transportation, and healthcare have been made effortless.

Business applications of IoT enable to track the customers, inventory, and status of relevant elements. The knock of IoT in the industrial ecosystems has created potent physical-cyber connectivity, the so-called "Fourth Industrial Revolution," also termed as "Industrial 4.0".

IoT has revolutionized four industries for all: the oil and gas industry, which could be supervised with IoT sensors; the agricultural sector, which could make use of the technology to gather granular data about crops, the HVAC industry where the manufacturers could monitor climate and the brick and motor retail sector where the buyers get micro-targeted.

Business sectors can accommodate and interpret the vast amount of information on a rapid scale. In addition, they can also blend the production floors general stores. In general, enterprises aim at four different areas, namely energy use, asset tracking, security, and customer experience.

Energy Consumption and IoT

IoT empowers robotization and operational effectiveness in a variety of industries. IoT applications within the vitality division develop uncommon consideration from buyers, businesses, and indeed governments. Separated from various benefits to the electric control supply chain, IoT vitality administration frameworks allow unused more astute lattices that guarantee exceptional reserve funds, progressed security, and improved proficiency.

The foremost self-evident way to spare vitality is to cut down on squandering it. Keen lighting, learning indoor regulators and sensor-based HVAC frameworks of the modern era are planned to naturally keep up the idealized conditions in spaces and keep vitality utilize at the ideal level. Equipped with distinctive sensors (light, development, stickiness, CO2 level, etc.) these frameworks can powerfully alter the administrations depending on the changing conditions and dodge utilizing vitality in potential squander points. Thus, keen lighting diminishes depending on the amount of sunshine accessible within the room and naturally turns off once the room is purge. Learning indoor regulators precool the space sometime recently, the warm comes to maintain a strategic distance from utilizing costly vitality at the crest stack time.

Vitality capacity is the entire new advertisement. It is picking up consideration within the wake of the later patterns in the keen domestic segment and the developing part of IoT in the keen city concept. In common, capacity permits buyers to preserve vitality freedom within the case of a blackout or other issue on the line. Smart storage enables controlled and proficient vitality reinforcement and gives inhabitants administration functions. In the case of keen capacity, for the case, the inhabitants can make informed choices on the loads and select which loads ought to be secured, how much vitality ought to be gone through within the off-grid mode and where. Moreover, utilizing shrewd capacity, the adopters of sun based and other renewables can presently superior oversee the clean vitality they create, control the excess, and guarantee maximized execution for their controlled organize.

Asset Tracking and IoT

"Asset tracking" alludes to checking the area of particular resources that are imperative to your commerce, whether those resources are hammers, X-ray machines, vehicles, shipping cases, or indeed individuals. "Real-time resource tracking" implies following the development of a resource because it happens, so you know its whereabouts at all times.

Destitute administration of physical resources can be hindering efficiency and has a negative effect on the foot line. Your company may be losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in time squandered looking for gear; in a few cases, like development, the price of stolen resources can moreover include up essentially. Tracking of assets gives a way to address these and other challenges, no matter what industry you're in: Manufacturing companies, especially those working in huge spaces, can diminish the sum of time they spend finding materials, apparatuses, and equipment.

Hospitals can progress quiet care and decrease holding up times if the gear is more effectively found; they can moreover track hardware related to outside understanding care, such as domestic well-being aides. Logistics companies can utilize it to remain on the beat of the area of cargo and move forward conveyance times. Educational organizations can keep track of school property such as research facility hardware, library books, and portable workstations.

Government and cities with IoT

One of the more well-suited depictions of IoT is the concept of essentially interfacing any gadget with an on and off switch to the Web (and/or to each other). This incorporates everything from cellphones, coffeemakers, washing machines, earphones, lights, wearable gadgets, and nearly anything else you'll be able to think of. This also applies to devices, such as a fly motor of a plane or the bore of an oil fix.

Ensure public safety

From connected street lighting that offers enhanced visibility for drivers and pedestrians to gunshot detection and IoT surveillance systems that create improved response time for first responders, smart city technology allows governments to keep their citizens safer while decreasing the strain on resources.

Pull in, hold and serve citizens

Smart cities can utilize information analytics to move forward the lives of their citizens significantly. Shrewd sensors can analyze activity designs to play down the blockage and discuss contamination. Fake insights can optimize open transportation courses and city planning. By utilizing enormous information, cities can commute easily and pull in businesses and their ability to their work drive.

Diminish operational costs

Smart city IoT permits cities to convert city foundations into trade bits of knowledge. Overhauled water meters can offer nearby governments assistance to screen their water utilization and pinpoint spills. Sometimes the costs include up. Edge computing makes it simple to optimize warmth and power in open buildings, and expanded operational efficiencies over city vitality frameworks permit faculty to utilize time more admirably.

Healthcare and IoT

Move forward understanding outcomes

Connected IoT gadgets donate suppliers moment get to information like understanding imperative signs, persistent area, domestic well-being observing and more. These gadgets free up clinicians for more facetime with their patients, expanding persistent fulfillment and the probability of effective determination and treatment.

Improve clinician productivity

From way better administration of healthcare devices with real-time resource following to decreasing symptomatic time with information analytics from wearable well-being trackers, computerized change can assist you to keep up with an expanding number of patients.

Decrease operational expenses

IoT makes a difference not only in the well-being of your patients but rather also in the well-being of your offices as well. Applications like acute indoor regulators can offer assistance to keep utility costs down, whereas video observation can assist you to spare on security measures with brilliant sensors. And information analytics instruments can keep a beat on both your patients and your budgetary welfare, diminishing the expense of care and general operations.

Education and IoT

Upgraded video reconnaissance arrangements combined with shrewd sensors, real-time analytics, and computerized crisis cautioning offer assistance keep understudies secure on campus, whereas real-time area following and vehicle diagnostics on school-owned transportation can distinguish unsafe driver behavior like speeding and anticipate breakdowns.

Enhance Educational Results

Information analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer assistance instructors pinpoint precisely where understudies battle. Taking personalized instruction plans into an associated classroom outfitted with immersive innovations like virtual reality and real-time collaboration devices empowers understudies to get a handle on concepts quicker and possess their learning like never before.

Conclusion

The most perfect way to portray IoT nowadays is that it's in its cumbersome high school a long time: Enormous sufficient to be critical, and getting greater each day, but still youthful in numerous ways. Within the brief term, we'll ideally see moved forward security, more development in edge computing tech, and more prominent collaboration between IT and OT.

As the primary era of IoT ventures, which for the most part came from minimal specialized companies, ages out of utilizing, we might see unused rollouts more ruled by industry mammoths like Google or Amazon, based on more open benchmarks. The huge cellular carriers may too pick up a decent footing. Maybe IoT gadgets will end up so ubiquitous that a remote arrange can essentially be treated as a monster sensor. It'll be an energizing innovation to observe.

Containers Vs Virtual Machines: Know the difference

Sojy SN — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 05:20:38 +0000

There has been dramatic progress with the adoption of containers. It has been estimated that the proportion of harnessing application containers will elevate by 40% at the close of 2020. Since it enables agile and effective development process, enterprises are rushing in adopting containers. Yet many are still confused to distinguish containers vs virtual machines.

In fact, there are a lot of questions arise in the mind of people while classifying containers and virtual machines such as

What is the disparity between Virtual Machines and containers?
Doesn’t the ephemeral nature of the containers affect tenacious storage?
How do they aid the contemporary Virtualization and Orchestration solutions?
In this blog, let’s address these questions and get a clarity
continares vs Virtual machiens

Virtual Machines (VMs)

VMs took birth when the bare metal applications are struggled to explore the preponderance of resources. This innovative technology was processed by running software on physical servers to imitate a specific hardware system. However, to virtualize a server, we need a hypervisor. The hypervisor couples, or, in other words, acts as a bridge between the hardware and the VM, which are necessary to create virtual machines. This hypervisor could be hardware, firmware, or software as well.

There is a guest operating system placed inside each virtual machine. Those VMs which has varied operating systems could operate on the same physical server. For instance, a UNIX VM can operate beside a LINUX VM. The size of a VM may be numerous gigabytes with its libraries, binaries, and applications which it services.

The key benefit of server virtualization is its competency to integrate applications over a single system. The concept and practice of a single application running on a single server have elapsed. Virtualization extensively helped enterprises to eliminate server overheads.

VM’s cloud drastically reduces the cost by diminished footprints, rapid server provisioning, and enhanced disaster recovery processes. Further, VM’s enabled the unused severs to re-employed for QA, development processes. The increased use on larger, faster servers eventually liberated these ignored servers.

However, the major downside is that each VM incorporates an individual operating system image, which adds aloft in memory and storage footprint. Hence, it is vivid that this problem adds complexity to the various software development cycle levels- ranging from developments and tests to production and disaster recovery. The mobility of applications along with public and private clouds and the traditional centers, are adversely affected in this approach.

Containers- A Study

The fame of operating system virtualization has elevated through the last decade; hence it empowers software to function stably and effectively. On the other hand, they derived a new pathway to run these standalone systems on a single server.

Let’s have a look at containers and learn how they are distinguished from VM’S.

The containers’ position themselves on top of the physical server, and over the host OS, such as LINUX or Windows. Every container shares the binaries and libraries with the host OS kernel (the binaries and libraries and all the shared elements would be read-only). The containers are megabytes in size and start quickly compared to exceptionally weighty VMs that weigh gigabytes and take minutes to initiate.

In addition, Containers share a common operating system that truncates the management’s operation overhead. They need to take care of a single operating system. So no more complex bug fixes, patches, and downtimes. And the resemblance exists between containers and VMs in apparent in its management points. However, while we consider containers vs virtual machines, the distinguishing factor is the portability and compactness of containers than virtual machines.

Bottom Line

Among the several disparities between containers and VMs, the cardinal one is the pathway to virtualization accustomed to containers, enabling multiple workloads to run on a single OS. Apart from that, containers can be deemed as a powerful tool to streamline software development due to their speed, agility, and portability. As we discoursed on a topic such as containers vs virtual machines, we hope you got a clear idea about how containers differ from virtual machines

Top Event Technologies and Trends for 2020

Sojy SN — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 12:19:42 +0000

Events are getting more mesmerizing with the aid of technological innovations. Specifically, the new add-on to this sector-‘ virtual event platforms’ are adding more value in this time of the pandemic.

However, event hosting is not a standalone process, whether it is a physical or virtual event! Helpfully, there is a range of innovative technologies that helps to turn the events more eventful such as mobile technology, event management software, 3D mapping, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, Emotional/facial Recognition using AI, Wearables, and so on.

Scope of Event Technologies

Interestingly, over the last two decades, the event industry has expanded a lot in terms of technological advancements. There were a lot of experiential options got introduced in the field, and more affordable yet effective virtual event platforms have also emerged.

Event technologies today is witnessing such a massive receptiveness as the event organizers and businesses are investing more in it. We cannot ignore that the current pandemic paved the road to such a disruptive change in the way events are hosted.

According to a study report, to make the events engaging, event managers are reportedly spending more than 52% of their event budget on various technologies and their enablers. Besides, as the world is contained like never before, virtual events find their grip to overthrow the need of physical events. These virtual event platforms are offsetting the complex processes involved in conducting an event.

Ultimately, the process of making events exciting begins with the invitation mail to the live event podium/virtual podium. Substantially, the event hosting technologies ranging from webinar tools, ticketing systems, event management software to innovations like Virtual Reality and artificial intelligence collectively shares the credit of the success of a delightful event experience.

But, the dilemma lies in figuring out the best among them remains relevant, and still, it confuses a lot. So, in this blog, we are giving you the insight to understand the different technologies that enabled events more experiential.

Here is a list of some of the event technologies that are improving attendee experience:

1. Virtual Event Platforms

Virtual events are the new normal in the corporate event hosting practice. As the pandemic contained the people in their shelters, virtual event platforms serve as an essential solution to run the businesses right from the safe zones.

These platforms have overturned the conventional way of meetups and running business summits. It gathered all the elements involving in an on-site meeting itineraries into a single online platform such as

Audience Invitation Channels
Welcome Lobby
Auditorium and Exhibition Hall
Brand Promotion Booths
Resource Centers
Networking Corners
Breakout and Keynote Sessions
Live and Pre-recorded Sessions
Event Polls and Surveys

This paves the way for a convenient event hosting model for organizations and institutions. Many business organizations and institutions adopted this mode for running global events successfully. To illustrate, Facebook and Google have launched their yearly summits online via virtual events platforms. Participants have streamed the events online and interact more realistically over these virtual platforms.

It offers more control and engagement opportunity for both the organizers and facilitates dynamic event activities quite engagingly. However, leaving all the skepticisms, online events are gaining more attraction for its potential to earn more leads, close deals, and one-on-one interaction possibilities with the audience.

2. MOBILE PHONES TECHNOLOGY

Smartphones have penetrated more than half of the US and UK markets. Hopefully, we can believe that people attending your event will be one of them using smartphones.

Here go some ways that mushrooming mobile techs adds to the event experience

‘Responsive’ event website: Event websites are one of the essential factors that ignite the spark of an event experience. However, as people are more inclined to their mobile devices, developing a mobile-friendly website design (responsive way) will help to improve the overall experience from the beginning. And this makes it easier for users.
Incredible event app: This will help your attendees to travel the event location, study more about the regional speakers, find out the sessions to attend, and meet other attendees.
There are provisions in some apps where the attendees can simply scan the name-badge to know about them.

Notifications as push messages: Attendees will be notified with push messages while the event takes place. This will bridge the communication gap between them.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION

You can make use of social media by tracking people’s mobile usage. You can promote the event by creating hashtags, sharing the event posts on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., and tag photos and videos of the individual events.

Ultimately, at this time, live-streaming is the most opted mode of attending an event. Social media and Mobile phones really make the best pairs that can create wonders in your event marketing efforts and attract more participants for virtual events.

“Social media + Mobile phones- Best pairs.”

To publicize your event efforts among attendees, you can make use of the techniques listed below:

Create gridding Photo Challenge
Mirror Selfie Stations
Social Flag
Social Wall
Make Global Unified Hashtags
Launch in-app polls
Hold an Ask Me Anything on Instagram
Make Click To Tweet Hashtags

4. FRAME VISUAL EXPERIENCE

The public is damn interested in augmented and Virtual Reality (AR &VR). Apps like Pokemon Go proves it.

Virtual Reality has enormous opportunities in meetings and events. Besides, it has the ability to mend the event industry completely, and it is doing it. VR also acts as a fun factor for the attendees that can offer experiential events in style.

To illustrate, the way Canada’s Wonderland brought the thrill of a roller coaster ride to homes via Virtual Reality was so experiential plus wining. It is proving that VRs importance in making events more vivifying than any other event technology in real-time.

Even though the working technique of VR is swaying your brain and paves a way to believe what is unreal, it gives an experience as if it is happening. When compared to the traditional videos, VR is more:

Engaging
Memorable
Persuasive
Interactive
Here are some ways to implement Virtual Reality in events:

Conduct interactive Virtual Exhibitions
Business Trade Fairs and Expos
Create VR Games
Use VR alternatives in every possible event

5. ORGANIZE POLLS AND SURVEYS FOR ATTENDEES

Giving a real-time experience and immediate feedback is the best way to engage the attendees and bring them into a lively spirit of events. Thus polls and surveys are the best way to get them into the spree.

These are the way; polls drive the attendees crazy in an event

Interrogation: Asking questions during the presentation and getting instant results will turn the event more enjoyable.
Polls or a survey booth: This helps to maintain a rapport among the attendees. Conducting surveys with a touchscreen or a tablet that reveal the results in real-time engages and attracts more people to give productive insights. Later you can send emails or messages as part of following it up and retain them for the upcoming events as well.

Live polls collect the real-time sentiments of the audience, and it can be used to improve the next event. For example, event organizers can collect popular queries collectively to address them. Organizers can collect comments and suggestions to answer in real-time. Also, event managers can add a bit of gamification with a cute gift in their live polls and survey as well.

Plus, event polls are rolling out in many ways such as graphic display, open text display, with moderation control measures, clickable image, word cloud, etc. Appropriate to the event and the audience gathered, polls and surveys are making events more experiential in Reality and in virtual space.

6. USE OF CREATIVITY TO SET THE MOOD

Unlike the other techy ideas, this may seem not very interesting to many. But interactive creative elements play a significant role in event technology success. Be it a virtual event or an on-site event audience love to spend time for something they interact with.

In fact, interactive creative elements can:

Engage and welcome attendees
Create an ambiance
Set the mood
Make the event professionally engaging
Provides a class touch without much monetary loss

Interactive elements set the moods following the type, content, and the overall environment of the event. It plays an integral role in keeping the thrill alive and add more color to every event.

TOP TRENDS OF EVENT TECHNOLOGY

Technological advancement is directly proportional to affordability, and it is also based on the accessibility. Thus, being much affordable and accessible for all kinds of users, event managers incorporate more of such technologies into their events.

In effect of this, many creative and incredible new event technology has begun to take shape in this industry.

Some of them are as follows

1. Combined Reality

By combining the objects of the real world with that of the virtual world, event technologies grew up by creating natural environments for digital ones. This included Virtual and Augmented Realities and came to be known as Mixed Reality Continuum.

This is the most captivating experience that any event organizer can offer to the event-goers. Charity Water (a non-profit organization in New York) experimented with this technique to understand what they are doing in Reality. They gave VR gadgets to their attendees and brought them to the small villages in Africa to show them how they work among the downtrodden areas across Africa and let them experience the real-life response of people virtually. And this exponentially increased the donation, and more people voluntarily helped them for their endeavors further.

Likewise, companies and brands are using this incredible technology to give a life-like event experience to their users. Another example is -Budweiser (beer makers) used VR technology to provide visitors with an unforgettable experience by virtually talking them to their brewery and shown the end-to-end story of the beers that they are going to sip.

That was also a truly successful experiment that quadrupled their fan base, and they could gain loads of appreciation on the go.

Similarly, for launching new products, showcasing showrooms and features, and making events a step more engaging event and brand organizers are increasingly employing mixed reality technologies by far.

2. Personalization of Events

A personalized experience will let the attendees choose your event. This is, in Reality, a psychological move. When they feel like their likes and interests are also considered, it will make them more engrossed with your event.

For that, AI and IoT are the perfect duos that can help organizers to strategize and implement a personalized event plan for the people. It can help you to gather granular information to supply personalized content that grabs their attention to the experiences that they are searching for and gives a sort of gratification that their interests are considered by the organizers as well.

As AI helps the event managers to collect the personal touchpoint of people via their event applications or interactive websites, they could pivot and engage with the audience with the insights gathered. And further, this engaging, personalized communication helps to immerse the virtual event-goers far before they attend the events.

3. Automation of Event planning

You may not be aware of the fact that one of the most stressful occupations in the world is that of a corporate event planner. That’s why event automation trends are getting traction and acceptance. However, as a great relief, virtual events turned it into a controllable task within a centralized dashboard.

Let’s delve into the facts. Event automation tools and event hosting platform have made the coordinator’s job easier by freeing them up from the hectic repetitive tasks. As an event involves a multitude of the task, and as it is an assortment of different responsibilities, automation is an incredible solution to enhance the event experience.

Besides, they also help the project managers to have complete control over the event. Organizers can choose a lot of event automation software now. Else they can create customized virtual event applications that bring together all the teams such as marketing, sales, accounting, etc. This allows event managers to work and coordinate from a single platform rather than hopping on multiple platforms and software.

Bottom Line

Event Technology is a rapidly changing sector with futuristic innovations. The way virtual events have shifted the mode of hosting events is an obvious example. With event technology, which includes virtual event platforms, you can save money and make events more exciting and engaging, which will give you more business and ROI. In short, the approach to utilize these technologies determine the result you receive

A CSS Property That Every Web Designer must Know- Blend Mode

Sojy SN — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 13:04:32 +0000

The scope of CSS is growing year by year. Each year CSSConf is releasing new properties list and the latest innovations in CSS collectively. It includes new modes, tags, layouts, containments, fonts, and subgrids for all sorts of technologists and developers.

On the CSSConf 2016, we have heard about the possibilities if practical blend mode that made image rending more potent in our browsers.

However, it wasn't too long ago that creating artistic effects on your web graphics could only be done by using complex image editors like GIMP or Photoshop. The ability to mix two images or two background colors to create a new digital art piece directly from CSS is straight-up remarkable.

This is precisely what blend mode does. Blend mode arguably is the feature that powered itself ahead of its competition, blend mode takes two pixels and combines them to create and image-producing some stunning effects.

Adobe photoshop didn't develop blend modes, but you don't need photoshop to style because now we can do it all dynamically using CSS3.

In this blog let's check what blend mode does at the disposal of web designers and the web development world

Blend Modes

Blend mode takes the stage in compositing operations of graphical elements. The process of layering two or more images to generate a single graphical image is known as Compositing. Blend Mode determines how pixels on each layer interact with each other visible pixels on the layers below it.

Blending occurs on the overlapping content behind the source (top element), which is known as Backdrop.

There are two CSS properties for utilizing blend modes

: Used with background images and values which work with images inside the background property of the element

Syntax:

HTML Version:

<div class="parent"> <h1 class="street">Blend Modes</h1> </div>

CSS Version:

.parent {
background:
url("assets/model.jpg"),
url("assets/textureSteins.jpg"),

rgb(0, 255, 0);
background-blend-mode: multiply, darken,
normal;
}
.street {

mix-blend-mode: overlay;
}

In this scenario, we used three images that specify one blend mode per each if the number of modes doesn't match with the number of images the modes will repeat itself until everyone gets a mode or else they will be truncated if there are more modes than images

: Used to blend elements with parent element and the background of the own element

Syntax:

HTML version

<div class="parent"> <h1 class="child">Blend Modes</h1> </div>

CSS Version:

.parent {
background:
url("assets/model.jpg"),
url("assets/textureSteins.jpg"),
rgb(0, 255, 0);
background-blend-mode: multiply, darken,
normal;
}

.child {
mix-blend-mode: overlay;
}

Browser Support

Browser Support for blend mode properties is improving drastically. Recent studies show that recent browser versions support the properties rather than activation or experimental features used in early browser versions.

Firefox: Supports background-blend-mode and mix-blend-mode.

Opera: Supports background-blend-mode and mix-blend-mode.

Chrome: Supports background-blend-mode and mix-blend-mode.

Safari: Supports background-blend-mode and mix-blend-mode on desktop and mobile. However, it does not yet support hue, Saturation, color, luminosity blend modes.

Internet Explorer: background-blend-mode and mix-blend-mode are not supported and listed as "under consideration" with a "low" priority.

Let's discuss different values and understand how they work.

Normal

The Value doesn't have anything to the RGB values of the bottom and top layers.

Multiply

This Value multiplies each pixel of the bottom and top layers of the RGB channels

Consider having a logo with white BG or a picture with any background, now if you want to display the object without any background you can use the multiply value

Syntax:

.multiply {
mix-blend-mode: multiply;
}

Screen

This Value takes the values of both layers by inverting their values, then multiply the values of the two layers and invert the final result once again. We can use Value to remove the black background from an image over a black ground.

Syntax:

.screen {
mix-blend-mode: screen;
}

Overlay

This Value is used to give more contrast over an image. I do it so by mixing the values of the screen and multiply in such a way that multiply function works on areas darker than 0.5 and areas with 0.5 screen function works hence the image becomes more contrasty

Syntax:

.overlay {
mix-blend-mode: overlay;
}
Hard-light

This Value also uses Screen and Multiply the same way as overlay does, but instead of affecting the top layer for the base layer, overlay affects the base layer for the top layer. So, in other words, it's a swap.

Syntax:

.hardLight {
mix-blend-mode: hard-light;
}

Soft-light

Near to overlay, this Value creates less contrast than the one done by the overlay value. In other words, you won't get pure white or pure black while using this Value.

Syntax:

.softLight {
mix-blend-mode: soft-light;
}

Color Dodge

This Value is adapted from photography wherein the revelation process; a negative is made a positive on the photographic paper. This effect avoids light in certain areas, which results in end areas to be more apparent than the others.

Syntax:

.colorDodge {
mix-blend-mode: color-dodge;
}

Color Burn

This Value takes the bottom layer, inverts its Value, then divides the result with the top segment and inverts the Value again. This effect darkens the top tier by showing the colors of the bottom layer.

Syntax:

.colorBurn {
mix-blend-mode: color-burn;
}

Darken

This Value is a combination of color that is made of the darkest colors of both the layers; in other words, this Value keeps the smallest values of both layers of the RGB channels.

Syntax:

.darken {
mix-blend-mode: darken;
}

Lighten

This Value is made from the lightest RGB values of both images or layers

Syntax:

.lighten {
mix-blend-mode: lighten;
}

Difference

This Value subtracts the lightest of the RGB Value from the smaller ones thus blending with white inverting the top layer

Syntax:

.difference {
mix-blend-mode: difference;
}

Exclusion

This Value is the same as "Difference" with less contrast.

Syntax:

.exclusion {
mix-blend-mode: exclusion;
width: 110%;
}

Hue

This Value takes the Saturation and luminance of the base color and hue of the blend color and then merges them

Syntax:

.hue {
mix-blend-mode: hue;
width: 110%;
margin: 0;
}

Saturation

Like hue, this Value merges two values of the base color with one property of the bend color. The property being Saturation

Syntax:

.saturation {
mix-blend-mode: saturation;
width: 110%;
margin: 0;
}

Color

This Value follows the same pattern as that of Hue and Saturation. However, this Value is the li\uminance of the base color and the Hue and Saturation of the blend color.

Syntax:

.color {
mix-blend-mode: color;
}

Luminosity

This Value is the opposite of color; it combines Saturation and hue of the base color and luminance of the blend color.

Syntax:

.luminosity {
mix-blend-mode: luminosity;
}

Bottom Line

Blend Mode helps us to merge RGB values from layers using for images to blend in the background property and content of the element and for items that want to merge with parent elements. Now you can add sophisticated visual effects to your web designs by CSS alone; no professional-grade image manipulation software required.