It’s impossible to imagine a modern world without software. But behind software’s ubiquity are several trends and patterns that have emerged (and sometimes faded) over the years. For software developers and software development companies, these trends indicate where the industry is headed, and where they should focus their skills and efforts.
Here are five key emerging trends in software development that WayPath believes will endure in 2021 – and beyond.
1: Progressive Web Apps
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) combine the functionalities of native apps and website accessibility without requiring app store involvement. Since there are no downloading or updating hassles, PWAs deliver frictionless user experiences with reduced wait times and thus help increase user engagement and retention.
Like native apps, PWAs can work offline, send push notifications, and access device hardware. And since they rely on standard web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.), PWAs are easier to build, deploy, and maintain. Searchable by search engines, PWAs are also lightweight, so they take up less space on mobile devices.
2: Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
CI/CD is an agile methodology best practice that allows software development teams to automate deployment steps and ensure code quality. Continuous testing and frequent code deployments are both critical elements of the approach.
With CI, software development teams can automate the process of building, packaging, and testing applications, and thus improve collaboration and software quality. CD provides an automated way to push code changes to infrastructure environments. The CI/CD pipeline provides a reliable delivery process, makes it easier to identify and fix defects on smaller code differentials. It also allows teams to focus on application enhancements and less on system details.
3: Low-code Development
Low-code platforms make it easy to create applications even without knowledge of complex programming languages. Thus, instead of coding each piece of an application line by line, organizations can use visual development tools like component drag-and-drop, guided process modelling, and point-and-click interface templates to speed up application creation, deployment, and maintenance. These capabilities minimize the development burden and also boost business innovation.
4: Cross-platform Development
In the past, app development meant building the app on a single platform (e.g. Android), and then creating another version for a different platform (e.g. iOS). But cross-platform development makes it easier to develop applications that work on nearly every major platform with a single code-base set.
Tools like React Native, Ionic, Xamarin, and Flutter provide advantages like code re-usability, standard APIs, and intuitive user interfaces. This enables developers to develop powerful custom apps for multiple platforms quickly, and without sacrificing performance, reliability, or user experience.
5: AI-assisted Software Development
AI-assisted software development helps streamline and speed up software design, development, and deployment.
Technologies like machine learning and natural language processing can automate part of the development process, enabling teams to produce better requirements documents, improve project management, create more reliable code, predict and avoid deployment failure, and quickly detect and fix security vulnerabilities. Thus, AI-assisted software development is one of the key trends to watch out for in the coming years.
Are You Ready For Software Development In 2021?
The value and importance of software development will continue to grow over the coming years. WayPath delivers world-class software and technology consultancy services to organizations in multiple industries including financial services, government, insurance, and healthcare.
Talk to us if you need support with customer communications, relationship management, or experience solutions.
