DEV Community: sovit rath

Recent Trends In Technology And Computer Industry

sovit rath — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 14:43:08 +0000

2018 saw a huge boost in Technology and in the Computer Industry. Some trends which were there earlier started to catch up rapidly and many new ones also emerged. These technological trends will get even bigger in 2019. Let us have a look at those emerging trends and what to expect out of them this year.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are nothing unheard of. Still whenever the topic of future technologies comes into discussion, suddenly these two become mandatory topics, well sort of. These two trends are no longer in their research phase. They have already started their industrial journey from 2018 and are growing rapidly.

In 2019, AI and ML are going to reach a larger audience, and by audience I am not referring to only developers and programmers, this includes the common public as well. How ? You may ask ! Well, AI and ML are going to be used in mobile applications and web applications / websites extensively. This certainly means better business on the end of the developers and marketers but it can also benefit the consumer or app user by providing a better experience.

These are not all that we are going to see in 2019. There is much more to come in this field ranging from robotics, voice assistants and even usage in healthcare. For a more detailed read you can refer to my article about Artificial Intelligence here.

Big Data Analytics

If ML and AI are going to be on the forefront of the computer industry, then there should be something to drive these two technologies forward. This is where Data Analytics or Big Data comes into play.

The advancements in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are only possible due to extraction, processing and analyzing the huge amount of data that is being generated every day. This must be taken into account that we are talking about data generated from every domain and field and not just any particular industry.

The fact that almost every device that is connected to the internet generates data just adds up to the bulk even more. This can include the web, mobile phones and IoT devices as well. Even then we can dive even deeper into a specific industry, like the stock market. The data generated from the stock market interactions make it even more demanding and urgent to analyze them and make proper future predictions.

Not only that. The market of big data is also growing every year. You can take a look at the statics below:

Big Data Market Forecast

As per this data, the Big Data market is going to be worth 95 billion US dollars by 2026. You can visit this Forbes post for more insight. If you want to dig a bit deeper into the statistics you can visit Statista.

These predictions are just for the next 8 years. Just imagine the growth that we will be encountering in the next 20 or may be 50 years!

Augmented Reality And Virtual Reality

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality often shortened as AR and VR respectively are also catching up pretty quickly.

The two sound very much similar but are different from each other in many aspects. VR is most commonly experienced through VR headsets which often simulate real world or virtual environments which the user can experience through almost life-like sight and vision. VR based video games are some of the most common examples that can be cited here.

On the other hand AR simulates virtual objects in the real world environment. Today, AR is most commonly used in healthcare, navigation, construction, etc. There are many more examples as well. For a more detailed read you can refer this Wareable article here.

AR and VR are really going to change the way we experience things. They are just gonna be pushed for almost anything that needs to be tested and may pose hazards for human beings. Video games, movies, air craft testing, medical are some of the most common examples. May be the most profound effect of AR and VR will be seen in the education industry in the future. These two technologies will make learning a fully immersive and life like experience.

Obviously they will have equal impact in other areas as well. It just remains to be seen how far these technologies can be taken and how fast can the ideas be implemented ?

Cybersecurity

Most of the people who follow tech regularly will be familiar with cybersecurity. Still for a formal introduction, what is cybersecurity ?

Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems and its data from unauthorized access, attack and damage. Well, most of us may think, we have been doing this for years, what is going to change in 2019 ? Actually, a lot of things are going to change in this domain. It can even be said that most of the changes have been observable since 2018.

By now most of us are aware about the growth of AI in the computer industry. Now AI is being used for cybersecurity as well. Obviously more growth is yet to be seen. But how exactly AI will help in this field ?

AI can detect breaches in computer networks far better and faster than traditional methods. Many new tech startups are focusing on this area and investors are pouring their money into these as well. This should not come as a surprise. After all, security is for everyone, be it small startups or big and existing organisations.

So, does this mean that we are all safe from things like cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare. To a certain extent for sure. If security standards are getting a boost, so are the attacking methods of these so called cyber attackers. It is predicted that hackers and cyber attackers too are going to use AI for their own purpose. This makes it even more demanding to raise the stakes. In a very simple (and yet complicated) scenario this can be literally called as AI vs. AI.

So, is it really here ? The thing that everyone is afraid of, that we will be using Artificial Intelligence for warfare. May be the cyberwarfare is just the starting and soon we will be using them in real battlefields. The thought can be daunting but may be we are heading towards that. We can only hope that this battle remains in the cyber world only.

Anyway, looks like we will be having some drastic changes the way cybersecurity is handled in 2019. If you really want to get into the topic you can read the article - 60 Cybersecurity Predictions For 2019.

Web And Mobile

Web Development has always been one of the fastest growing technologies and like every year in 2019 also there will be a bunch new of new frameworks, design elements and new tools as well. The following are some of the progressive trends in web:

Single Page Applications (SPA)

Single Page Applications are becoming very common with each passing year. This is because in SPAs the content is fetched only once from the server side and rest of the session goes on however the user interacts with the web page.

With new frameworks and libraries like Vue, React and Angular, we will be experiencing a huge growth in SPAs this year and also in the future.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Many of us have heard about PWAs recently, but what are PWAs actually ? Progressive Web Apps are actually web pages but they behave like native applications and also try to give the user experience as a native application would.

PWAs provide the same experience on large and small (mobile) screens alike. They are really fast and can even work pretty well with inconsistent internet connection. Users are also able to install these onto their home screens. The best way to experience them is trying out one.

UI And Designs

UI and designs for the web are becoming better each year. Web developers are moving towards simple and reusable design components which are aesthetically more pleasing and also user friendly.

Material UI is the best example of simple and yet efficient design technique. You can find almost any taste for your website's design and color from this simple website. Every web developer should give this a try at least once.

Moving on further, we have the Mobile platform. Most of the people who are interacting with any form of technology nowadays is through a smartphone. In short, this platform cannot be ignored. So, let us have a look at the trends to watch out for in 2019:

Instant Apps

Instant Apps are becoming common as they need not be installed on the user's phone and still work like native apps. The best thing about these is that the user does not need to download them and hence, they do not consume any phone memory.

Surely, native apps have their own advantages which cannot be replaced but what if you just want to try out an application ? In that case instant apps can come really handy. And due to increasing support from Google we will be seeing a huge growth in this area.

AR

In 2019, smart phones and AR will go hand in hand. This is not a new thing in the mobile arena but full usage of AR for mobiles is yet to be seen.

Even now, virtual icons on mobile screens for navigation and maps are pretty common. Pokemon Go is one of the best examples of AR technology for mobile platforms.

Still we are yet to see some serious and very useful usage of AR in this area. Hopefully 2019 is the year.

Native Apps With Single Codebase

Most probably this is going to be the hottest trend in 2019 for smartphones. Obviously, we have seen a great rise in this area in 2019 but still more and more developers are moving towards technologies like Flutter and React Native to build native mobile apps.

The main reason for this is that the apps can run both on Android and iOS with a single codebase. And to add cherry on top of that, the development time is reduced by a huge margin when compared to building applications with Java or Kotlin or Swift. So, this is yet another area where a lot of improvements and growth will be seen.

The above are some of the trends which will be encountering huge growth in 2019. The tech industry will experience some really big changes this year and further as well. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Also share this article of you liked it.

For further discussions you can always Contact me and I will be happy to answer your questions.

Artificial Intelligencene In 2019

sovit rath — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 11:02:39 +0000

2018 saw a huge leap in advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning And Data Science. Although present and well known for long, these really picked up their pace in 2018 with their extensive industrial usage.

In this article we are going to see how Artificial Intelligence has established itself in 2018 and how it is going to perform and change the world in 2019.

Artificial Intelligence And Where It Is Headed

AI can excite and scare us at the same time. After all, when Elon Musk talks about the threat that AI can possess, one has to wonder whether it will be our friend or foe.

The hype around AI is ever increasing and does not seem to be dying soon. So, let us see how Artificial Intelligence in being used in real world and how the common people are interacting with it everyday, be it knowingly or unknowingly.

1. Vehicles

It is one of the most debated topics in the world right now. Self driving cars and automated vehicles which are powered by AI just cannot seem to fade away from people's attention.

I mean, who could forget all the drama around Elon Musk and his electric car company Tesla which is powered by AI for self driving. It is also a bit shocking and contradictory that Elon Musk, who openly says how terrified he is of Artificial Intelligence and himself is a huge employer of AI.

Although Tesla is one of the automotive companies that is in the limelight because of AI, certainly it is not the only one. Some of the other major companies are also working very extensively on self driving vehicles. It is just that they are not very open about it and also they are not shipping AI powered self driving cars to the public.

You can have a look here if you want to know which are the major players in the AI powered automotive industry.

2. Robotics

Its often speculated that AI automation integrated with Robotics will take away the jobs from human beings. In 2018 we observed how robotics and AI were employed in the industrial workplace.

Even the Toyota manufacturing plant used AI and Robotics. You can have a look at this video here. But as much as we have seen until now, it is most likely happening that robots are actually doing the repetitive tasks. This leaves the humans to actually focus on the work that are more important in such places.

So, are automated robots taking away the jobs or rather creating more valuable jobs which demand better skills on the side of the humans. If better skills are required to perform a job then the quality of jobs will increase and so will the quality of work.

This may sound a bit far fetched, but it looks like AI and robotics may eventually end up making more jobs. More importantly it can help make the education and skills market a better and more competitive area which can benefit us after all.

After all, improvement in AI will also mean more employment of Artificial Intelligence Engineers and every company would like to hire only the best of these engineers.

2019 will surely be a very remarkable and exciting year in terms of AI used in robots.

3. Healthcare

When AI has touched so many areas, it should not come as a surprise that it is also used in the Healthcare Industry.

In the healthcare industry the data can be absolutely huge. AI can help to handle such large data very easily. But that's not all. Patient diagnostics, managing reports of patients and their previous records, as well as managing billing, these all can be performed by AI in healthcare.

According to Marketsandmarkets.com , in 2018 the artificial intelligence in healthcare was estimated to be USD 2.1 billion and is expected to reach USD 36.1 billion by 2025. That is a huge number when only considering the healthcare industry. Just try to imagine the estimations when all other areas will be taken into account. You can read the full report here.

It is also speculated that AI in healthcare can lead to reduction in healthcare costs which is a good thing after all. Although these reports cannot be stated concretely as of yet but still this is most likely possible. For a full analysis of how this can happen, you can read this article.

4. AI Powered Voice Assistants

Everyone likes a personal assistant who can answer our questions 24/7, schedule our meetings, make grocery lists, set reminders for us and maybe even tell a joke sometime. Sounds a bit too much demanding for a human being.

With the advent in AI powered voice assistants even common people are enjoying the above mentioned luxuries. Amazon Alexa and Google Home are the most widely used voice assistants right now. Even chatbots used in some websites can be termed into same categories. After all, they are also AI powered.

More and more people are using their voice for common tasks such as setting reminder, alarms and online searches. This so called hands-free experience is heading towards a huge growth in 2019 with smartphones and such voice assistants becoming more affordable.

One major area where voice assistant is seeing growth is the healthcare industry. These assistants can help elderly and disabled people to do some very basic but important tasks through voice. This can range from providing them with news from all over the world to reminding them to take their medications on time. This is yet another example of how AI is entering into the healthcare industry.

Conclusion

Although there are many more usages of Artificial Intelligence in the real world, the above were the ones where we will be observing the most growth and impact in 2019 and beyond. Hopefully, the impacts are going to be more empowering to humans rather than detrimental.

Share and suggest your thoughts about AI and its future in the comment section. If you liked this article then share it and you can always Contact me here.

6 Signs That You Are Not Meant To Be A Programmer

sovit rath — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 12:39:17 +0000

This article was originally posted on my blog. Check it here. here

Let's face it. Not everyone is meant to be a programmer or a software developer. That may sound astonishing to some, but the truth is, If everybody just starts to code, then the world will come to a halt Byte By Byte.

Now, those of you who are getting ready to pick up your C++ hammers to break the computer screens, just hold it. I know that you have read numerous blog posts on 'Everybody can learn to code' and that is as much true as the sky is blue. That's because the sky is not always blue. Everybody can learn to code but that does not mean that everybody should become a programmer or a software developer. May be it is just that you enjoy coding but not as a profession.

Let us analyze some of the traits that show that you are not fit for a programming job.

1. You like regular work hours

In the software industry one thing is particularly consistent, and that is 'inconsistent working hours'. Whether you are working on your own hobby project or working for an employer or getting something done for a client as a freelancer, you will really always have to pour in some extra hours of work.

It is not like that the regular 9 to 5 schedule of your office does not come into account, it's just that working for extra hours to make that nth line of code work is pretty normal. And the truth is most programmers just get used to it pretty quickly.

So, if you are someone who loves having regular office hours, then may be programming is not for you.

2. You hate solving problems

Programmer / software developers do what they do due to one particular reason, they just love to grind their brains to solve problems. I mean, not every working hour is spent solving problems, still a decent amount of time can be attributed to it.

If you are considering to get into the world of programming, just make sure that you like logic problems and love to solve them as well.

3. You need a push to learn new things

One common trait of any decent programmer is that he / she is self motivated. Be it learning a new programming language, getting to know a new technology or just reading a programming book to expand their knowledge, good programmers will just do those on their own without any one pushing them to do it.

Often developers find that they have to learn a specific technology to get something done for a particular project but they won't need it in the future after that. Still they just jump on the learning train and try to wrap their heads around it happily.

It is not easy to do something everyday that you hate. So, if you find that learning something new everyday is too difficult for you, may be should consider changing your job.

4. You find it difficult to work in a team

If you are a programmer or developer, then chances are that you are placed in a team with a specific goal to accomplish. In a team, communication is the most vital aspect. If you cannot express to other members in your team why something needs to be done the way you want it to get done, then you may find programming very frustrating.

Most people think that a programmer just goes to work, grabs a cup of coffee and sits in front of the computer all day long staring at the screen while his hands move magically over the keyboard. That cannot be any farther from the truth. Yes, you spend a decent amount of time coding but you spend even more time communicating your thoughts and ideas to others. Because after all, a developer writes code for human beings first and for a computer second.

5. You are not good at listening to other's opinions

This is much of a continuation of the previous point. When you work as a developer and placed in a team, then the most important factor that determines the success of the project is constant and clear communication. It is just as important to listen to the ideas of your team members and clearly analyze why they want something to be done in a particular way.

If you only keep pushing your ideas and belittle the ideas of others then chances are that other team members may find it difficult to work with you.

But what if you are working as a freelancer ? In that case the ideas and opinions pitched by your client should be respected. It may be the case that your client is not a very tech savvy person. In that case it is the duty of the programmer to make the client understand why something would or would not work when done in that particular way.

So, listening to others should be another checkpoint of a good programmer.

6. You are doing it for the money

Everybody knows that software development is a very high paying industry. But if you are in it only for the money, then my friend, you are going to get very frustrated and burnt out really quickly.

None of the developers out there do it for the money. Now, some of them may say that they are in software development for the money, but the truth is deep down they just love programming and software development in general. Can you even believe when somebody says that they grind their heads in front of the computer for 10-12 hours a day so that they would get paid every month ? No, every developer just loves the thought of creating software and products from an idea.

So, think again whether you are doing it for the money. If yes, try to find something that you really love doing.

On a final note

This article is not to demotivate anyone from learning programming or sticking to their programming job. I just wanted to make some of you aware that their might be a better job out there where you can have better impact and fulfillment as well.

May be you can become a better Digital Marketing expert, but because you love technology in general, so you are holding on to a programming job. There can be many other reasons as well.

Still deep down if you believe that you actually love programming but have some of the above mentioned traits, then do not worry at all. You have all the chances to improve in those areas and it is very certainly possible. You just have to invest the time and be willing to change. After all we are all humans and humans have evolved and can evolve to achieve something that they really strive for.

That's all. If you liked this article then comment and share it. If you have any questions or concerns, just Contact me here.

JavaScript In 2019

sovit rath — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 15:08:41 +0000

This article was originally posted on my blog. Check it here .

2019 is just around the corner and there is not better time than this to become a programmer. So, let's see why you should learn JavaScript in 2019 and its applications.

Some of you may ask, why am I writing about JavaScript now ? After all, JavaScript is not an unknown language and the people who need to learn it will learn it eventually. First of all, I needed a topic to write about as I post an article every week. Secondly, there are many who want to start learning to code in 2019 but are confused about the language they should choose. And finally, may be even if you know programming in general, then also you may take away a thing or two from this article (Or may be add a thing or two by providing your thoughts in the comment section).

How JavaScript Fared In 2018

Before moving to the state of JavaScript analysis in 2019, let us first have an overview of JavaScript's performance in 2018.

Those of you who are even a little bit familiar with JavaScript must have experienced how rapidly it changes. The most significant changes happened in ES6 which was released in 2015 and there was not turning back from there. As of now, the current version is ECMAScript 2018 and I am certain that every developer out there must be speculating about all the changes that will come along in 2019 with ESNext.

Let's have a look at Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2018.

Most Popular Technology

The above two images clearly show that JavaScript was the most popular technology among developers in 2018, that too for both All Respondents and Professional Developers. This only means that JavaScript will grow even more in 2019.

Also according to ZipRecruiter the average salary of a JavaScript developer in the United States is $103,480/year, which is not a small amount by any means.

Average Salary of Javascript Developer Jobs

You can also see that a JavaScript developer's salary can go as high as $165,500. I think that is a pretty good reason to become a JavaScript developer, although you must have a fair bit of experience to land such a job.

That's enough talk about the run of JavaScript in 2018. Still, if you want to analyze a bit more you can always visit this awesome website, State Of JS . This website will give you a very clear idea about how JavaScript performed in 2018.

Now let us move on to see why you should learn JavaScript in 2019.

Learning JavaScript in 2019

The first question is, who should learn JavaScript in 2019 ? Well, if you are a developer and have never tried JavaScript before, then you should really get your hands dirty with JavaScript. If you are someone who has never coded before and want to start your programming journey, then also you will love JavaScript.

The second question is why you should learn JavaScript ? For a short answer, JavaScript can be used to build almost anything nowadays. Obviously the first thing that comes to our mind is Web Development but it is not the only usage. You may ask, what are the other uses ? Good question. Hmm..., let us see,

Web Development

I know that it is the most common use case of JavaScript, still I felt that without mentioning this point it will be very hard to move forward.

In Web Development, the Front-end and Back-end frameworks that can be used with JavaScript are just immense. Due to this only we are seeing a huge growth in the web industry in the last few years with some of the most amazing web applications being built with JavaScript.

For the frontend part, HTML and CSS are the very basic skills. Apart from that there are a number of frameworks. React, Vue and Angular are the three most popular ones out there. You can choose and start from any one of those but stick to master one at time. If you want to explore, there are many other frontend frameworks as well. Feel free check them out.

If you are more interested in the back-end part of web development which deals mostly with servers then Node.Js is the best option for you. After you dive into Node.Js you will observe that there are frameworks for it as well. Express is the most popular one right now. Feel free to explore all your areas of interest and take your time to choose the right path for yourself.

Mobile Development

JavaScript made it really easy for developers to build high quality native mobile apps without moving to another language. In this case React Native is the best option. React Native can help build really high quality apps for both Android and iOS. If you plan to learn React, then you will be able to transfer much of the knowledge to mobile development with React Native as well.

Desktop Applications

JavaScript has also set foot into the Desktop App Development with frameworks like ElectronJs. There are other good options as well. If you are interested you can read this awesome article to know about some of the major players out there for desktop app development.

Game Development

Yes, Game Development as well. Looks like JavaScript has no stopping point. With frameworks like Phaser and renderers like PixiJs you can create really awesome web based games. Obviously Unity and Unreal are the industry standards for game development, but what is the harm in trying out new things when you start to learn JavaScript. You can read about game development using JavaScript in this Medium article by Vadim Brodsky .

IoT and Robotics

JavaScript also enables you to program robots and build and control IoT devices. Feel free to check out the following, Johnny-Five, Nodebots, Cyclon.js.

Machine Learning

Finally, something to talk about. Right ? Now Machine Learning is also possible with JavaScript. Libraries like TensorFlow.js have made it possible to train models in the browsers as well. I think that it would be best if you explore this part on your own because this requires its own dedicated article. For a start you can read this article and make up your mind as to where you want to start.

Final Words

I think the above are enough reasons to get some motivation for learning JavaScript if someone wants to start programming from this New Year. That's all from my side. Now it is your turn to start learning and build some amazing stuffs.

If you liked this article, then share it with someone you think can get some value out of it. Also comment and share. If you have questions feel free to Contact by clicking Here. And yes, one more thing, Happy New Year and have an Awesome 2019 ahead.