If You Want to be a Winner, Change Your Software Development Philosophy Now

Software Development is about Computer Science activities, including writing Algorithms, coding, and Testing. Software in itself is a set of instructions that the computer will perform. 

To be a winner and stand out from the crowd, a company should incorporate modern technology into Software Development.

Software Development Trends in 2022

With the Corona pandemic breaking out in 2020, organizations had to change their priorities and resort to software solutions for most of their work process. The stress was on Contactless services, Cloud migration, and DevOps. Although the IT industry is in a much better position after the worst of a pandemic is over, as compared to other sectors, even it had to cut costs due to delayed projects. 

As most organizations will now prefer going digital to counter the effect of a possible new pandemic or Corona pandemic rearing its head, Software Development will be in demand. However, Software Development companies will need to change their philosophy to survive the competition. So, we discuss some of the latest trends in Software Development.

1. New Approach to Work

Future of IT companies as far as remote work is concerned looks bright. In 2020, during the pandemic, most of the work of IT companies was done from home. IT companies had to develop new strategies for team collaboration, communication, and management so that employees could work from home hassle-free. Although the companies were skeptical about allowing employees to work from home, they realized that working from home can also be as productive as work from the office, if not more productive.

To start with, shifting from onsite work to remote work was a doubtful thing, to begin. Today, it has become a new normal, with many companies allowing employees to work remotely. Some of the research regarding remote work has resulted in astonishing results like

• Software teams were able to increase their productivity in 59 percent of the cases.
• For 42.6% of the respondents, it had become easier to meet task deadlines.
• A hybrid work model, where employees want to work remotely 3+ days a week, was liked by 64% of respondents.

2. Return of Java

Java was the most popular programming language till a decade back. However, with the launch of new languages with micro-services and container-based development, Java lost its prominence. Java Developers realized the need for change and started incorporating recent trends to make Java popular again.

3. Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source container platform used by 46% of the Software Development teams during development or Testing or just experimented. Kubernetes consists of microservices and Containers, which are trending as far as software development is concerned. Kubernetes also provides scalability, security, and 24X7 availability, which makes it an ideal choice for the Software Development process.

4. Use of Blockchain for Applications Other than Cryptocurrency

Blockchain is a distributed, decentralized ledger that provides the highest level of security and transparency. Earlier, Blockchain was synonymous with Cryptocurrency, but the technology can be used for several other applications in different industries. This makes it an ideal choice for applications in diverse industries along with Fintech.

Some of the applications of Blockchain Technology can be:

More reading: Smart Contract: A Disruptive Technology

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market reached USD 56.5 billion in 2021, and it is no longer considered a futuristic technology. Scientists are far from realizing the full potential of Artificial Intelligence. They divide Artificial Intelligence into three categories.

• Narrow Artificial Intelligence or Weak AI

This form of Artificial Intelligence is restricted to just one application. Some examples include image recognition, speech recognition, and recommendation systems. 

•  General AI or Strong AI

General AI replicates the thinking process of the human brain and is capable of learning over some time. This allows the system to solve problems the way human beings do. Although General AI is far from reaching the intelligence a human brain possesses, they are continuously working to improve the capability of Artificial Intelligence.

• Artificial Superintelligence

Scientists believe that Artificial Intelligence will not be able to think like the human brain but will also be able to surpass human intelligence. Although we are unlikely to see this happening in the near future, Artificial Superintelligence is the dream of scientists.

6. DevOps Tools

DevOps is being used extensively by Software Development firms, and observability tools are becoming a must in large companies and small and medium-sized companies. Observability is not the responsibility of one person, and the concept of data-driven decision-making should be encouraged across all departments of the organization. Every employee should be proficient at monitoring, logging, and reporting. 

This approach makes debugging & troubleshooting quicker and easier, making integration and deployment continuous.

7. Automated Code Reviews

Software Development teams are constantly under pressure to develop & deploy software as quickly as possible. Hence, automated code reviewers have become popular, where developers test the code. Some of these automated tools include Veracode, Codacy, DeepSource, etc. With the amount of coding being done and the number of coding lines being generated, using automated reviewers has become a necessity.

8. Machine Learning Expansion

Machine Learning(ML) became a disruptive technology a few years back and impacted several industries. Voice recognition, Self-driving cars, fraud-detection systems, chatbots, and predictive analytics are all examples of Machine Learning(ML). 

Although more companies want to use Machine Learning(ML) to their advantage, there is a shortage of Machine Learning experts who can help in leveraging the technology. With more Machine Learning(ML) experts being ready soon, the use of ML for business processes will only increase.

IT giants like Google & Microsoft are also doing Machine Learning software development. These IT giants are developing no-code AI software solutions and AutoML. 

9. Rise of Python

In 2020, although Java was still the most popular programming language, Python was a close competitor. Today, Python has overtaken Java to become the most popular programming language. Python programming is being used for Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning applications and other software solutions.

10. Multi-Modal Database

Software solutions are much more complicated than they were a decade ago. Most of the solutions can work with different data types and thus integrate several databases. Although, having multiple databases for one App is not a good decision. 

It is ideal to have one database that can serve many data models and various databases. For example, Azure Cosmos DB is a multi-modal and multi-purpose database.

11. Focus on Cyber Security

With the world going completely Digital in a post-pandemic world, one thing that haunts everyone's mind is the security of online services. As per Statista, in 2022, the following trends have been seen in cyber security.

The average spend per employee in the Cyber security market is expected to be USD 42.52

Revenue for the Cyber Security market is expected to reach USD 146.30 billion.

12. Progressive Web Applications (PWA) On the Rise

Progressive Mobile Apps do not require to be downloaded the way regular Apps need to be done. They provide the same look and feel as regular apps and a good user experience.

As they are more cost-efficient than regular apps, companies are now going for Progressive Web Applications, which are websites by nature and look like Apps.

13. Outsourcing Software Development

The demand for software development has constantly been increasing, and the need for experienced IT professionals is enormous. So, it may not be possible for all companies to hire in-house software professionals as it requires a lot of capital investment for buying hardware & platforms for software development.

This makes outsourcing development an ideal choice for small & medium-sized organizations. As software development is outsourced, the company can focus on its core competency and other organizational activities rather than wasting time & resources on a specialized field.

More reading: Why Outsourcing Software Development is Crucial for Your Business?

14. React & Angular

Tools like TypeScript & JavaScript dominate front-end web development. React & Angular are frameworks that are popular examples. React is supported by Facebook and provides flexibility and SEO-friendliness Angular is promoted by Google, using which you can create cross-platform and fast, high-performance native applications.

React & Angular are both expected to lead the Web Development trends in 2022.

15. Deep Learning With TensorFlow

To know the software development trends, one needs to know the most popular tools with software development engineers.

As far as current trends are concerned, TensorFlow is the most popular tool for engineers to develop deep learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning applications. TensorFlow is user-friendly and flexible, making it easier for developers to build complex softwares. TensorFlow has a robust ecosystem that consists of libraries, tools, and other resources needed to create Algorithms & Intelligent models.

16. Low-Code/No-Code (LCNC) in Software Development

The latest trend in Software Development is going for simplification and fewer lines of code. CNC platforms allow almost everyone to develop software without old-fashioned coding with the use of GUI configurations. This gives the platforms for people to implement their ideas into software solutions without learning programming languages.

Low-code approach can give developers time to work on higher-level projects. Low-Code or No-Code developers take less time to create software apps than traditional developers. Although many companies are skeptical about this approach, it has its benefits, like reducing manual work, saving time and money, and allowing developers to enter software development with no or little experience.

17. Infrastructure Management with GitOps

GitOps is becoming popular with developers, and the spread of cloud-native Software Kubernetes has further propagated the adoption of GitOps. It is a practice of infrastructure automation and Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery pipeline.

As per experts, GitOps will be used by more software development teams in 2022, as cloud providers like Amazon & Microsoft support this approach.
 

18. Legacy System Migration

Many companies are still using old software systems deployed several years back. They are compatible with the latest technologies, which causes snags like poor performance, high maintenance, data security breaches, and dissatisfied customers.

As a result, more companies want to migrate their processes & data to new systems, which will help them in remaining competitive & retain clients.

19. Cloud-Native Technology

The recent trend in Software Development is to use cloud-based platforms, infrastructure, and frameworks. Even team management & Communication is done through cloud-based software solutions. Clouds can be public, private, and hybrid and are based on containers and microservices. Cloud solutions provide flexibility and scalability and thus improve the productivity of software development teams.

20. Focus on Standards of Software Quality

Some companies want their Software Development to be certified for having achieved specific standards from organizations like ISO/IEC 27001. This is because software development is also entering into critical spheres like healthcare, Communication, and utilities. These spheres directly affect human lives, and therefore standards should not be compromised.

21. SRE and DevOps Work Together

Site Reliability Engineering is a part of DevOps implementation forms and has become popular among Software Development companies. The primary purpose is to check the system's reliability by checking each commit, pull request, or deployment. SRE engineers would have experience in both development and Software System administration. 

Due to the SRE approach, Devs and Ops find a middle ground with System reliability & agree on parameters like required availability and allowed downtime. 

22. Testing Centers of Excellence (TCoE) Expansion

Software Development is incomplete without Testing, and the trend is to make testing a centralized service. As a result, special platforms like Testing Centers of Excellence are established. Such platforms ensure software quality standards and best practices are used across all company teams.

So, To be a Winner…

Gone are the days when the old software development philosophy used to work and helped IT giants grow at a leopard's pace. If you want to keep up with the competition and increase market share, you will have to change your software development philosophy. For your Software Development needs and finding the best talent for it, you can visit Goodtal.