Software development is the process of generating and maintaining applications, frameworks, and other software components through conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug resolving. Software development company entails writing and maintaining source code, but it also encompasses all activities that lead from the conception of a desired piece of software to its final manifestation, usually in a planned and structured manner. Many companies out there nowadays aim to improve business software, such as the Testrigor software testing tool, which allows you to discover what needs improving in your server very quickly. Research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, and any other activities that result in software products are all included in software development. Software can be made for a wide range of purposes. The three most prevalent purposes are to fulfil the special needs of a specific client or organisation (known as custom software), to meet a perceived need of a group of potential users (known as commercial software), or for personal use (known as open source software) (e.g. a scientist may write software to automate a mundane task).
Methodologies
A software development process (sometimes called a software development methodology, model, or life cycle) is a framework for organising, planning, and controlling the development of information systems. Over time, a wide range of frameworks have emerged, each with its own set of strengths and disadvantages. There are numerous techniques to software development: some use a structured, engineering-based approach, while others use an incremental approach, in which software evolves piece by piece. A single system development methodology may not be appropriate for all projects. Based on different technical, organisational, project, and team concerns, each of the current techniques is best suited to specific types of projects.
The following stages of software development are common to most methodologies:
- Examining the issue
- Research into the market
- Getting a handle on the software’s requirements
- Creating a software strategy or design
- The software’s implementation (coding)
- Software testing and debugging
- Deployment
- Bug fixes and maintenance
The software development life-cycle, or SDLC, is a term that refers to all of the stages. Different methods to software development may perform these stages in a different order or commit more or less time to each stage. At each stage of software development, the level of depth in the documentation provided varies.
We are currently witnessing a rapid digital change that is affecting many aspects of life, including business, healthcare, manufacturing, and entertainment. People utilise AI-enabled services like Gmail, Google predictive searches, and personalised product suggestions on a daily basis without even realising it.
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of some software development trends that will dominate in 2020-2021. They’re listed below.
Internet of Things
In 2021, one of the most important technological trends will be the expansion of the Internet of Things. It has a significant impact on our world by connecting sensors, devices, machinery, and automobiles. There are numerous application cases in various businesses, including:
- Automobiles that are linked
- Inventory/equipment tracking from afar
- Monitoring of traffic and the environment
- Telemetry at the bedside
- Patient health management from afar
- Discovery of connected oil fields
- Management of construction machinery
- Signage that is digital
- Traceability of the supply chain
- Home automation that is smart
- Monitoring of water and energy usage
- Other
According to Statista, the global IoT market will generate $1.6 trillion in revenue by 2025. Construction, telecommunications, and healthcare will have the highest compound annual growth rates (CAGR), at 15.0 percent, 14.2 percent, and 13.6 percent, respectively (IDC report).
IoT can provide a number of benefits to businesses, including the ability to collect large amounts of data, accelerate various processes, prevent equipment breakdown, ensure inventory management without losses, and lower operating costs.
Artificial Intelligence
According to MarketsandMarkets, the global Artificial Intelligence market will grow at a CAGR of 36.62 percent from $21.46 billion in 2018 to $190.61 billion in 2025. Factors such as rising large data volumes, rising cloud usage, rising need for process automation, and widespread adoption of personal digital assistants are all contributing to this rapid expansion.
Robots, chatbots, machine learning algorithms, image/text recognition software, data filtering, data analytics, sales forecasting, and more AI applications are available.
Businesses can benefit from AI in a variety of ways, including streamlining operations, lowering costs, increasing productivity, improving customer service, and increasing performance. Furthermore, AI has previously been used in the creation of art and entertainment. Even yet, AI today is capable of painting and creating stunning visuals.
Blockchain
While no one knew what blockchain was before it was revealed to be the technology underpinning Bitcoin, it is now widely used in a variety of fields. It represents a decentralised digital data record that allows for secure data storage and transactions without the involvement of other parties.
It also introduced Ethereum smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts that contain agreement terms between two parties and are written directly into the code. Ethereum is an open-source blockchain-based distributed computing platform. They can also be used in the above-mentioned fields, automatically checking completion and removing intermediaries.
Continuous integration + continuous deployment
In 2021, one of the most recent software development technologies will be continuous integration + continuous deployment (CI/CD). It allows IT services vendors to streamline programming processes and increase end-solution quality, making it one of the best practises.
Due to quick error detection and code modifications, CI helps specialists to speed up app assembly. Furthermore, they have the authority to contribute code to a common repository, with each check-in confirmed. Bugs and faults are discovered and fixed significantly more quickly as a result of this.
Continuous deployment’s main goal is to speed up the distribution of application updates. Every update to the code in the CD is subjected to automated tests before being assembled into builds and deployed to production via repeated deployments.
5G
5G is a cutting-edge wireless communication technology that gives smartphone users greater mobile broadband, enhanced experiences, and faster download and upload rates. The number of 5G-enabled connections is expected to reach 20-100 million by 2021. (Statista). By 2021, global spending on 5G mobile infrastructure is expected to total $2.3 billion.
The goal of 5G is to improve data security. Furthermore, due to improved connections, speed, and experiences, VR and AR development will improve.
Progressive Web Apps
Another emerging trend to be aware of is progressive web apps. A PWA is a native solution that combines the functions of a website and a mobile application. It may be downloaded immediately from the website and placed on the smartphone’s home screen, providing users with an immersive full-screen experience. As a result, you won’t need to go to the app store.
PWA benefits include improved performance, engaging UX (user experience), faster loading times, and less data usage. Forbes, Twitter, AliExpress, Pinterest, Lancôme, Flipkart, BookMyShow, and MakeMyTrip are just a few of the well-known organisations and initiatives that have already adopted PWA solutions.
Cybersecurity
According to Cybersecurity Ventures’ predictions, cybercrime would cost the world $6 trillion per year by 2021, surpassing natural disasters in terms of damage. The establishment of strong protections has become more vital in today’s era of cyberattacks and dangers. This encourages everyone to incorporate security solutions, including government agencies, enterprises, and small and medium-sized organisations.
Various firms around the world are investing in cybersecurity to prevent fraud, data leaks, malware, ransomware, phishing, and social engineering. New protection methods, such as hashing protocols, machine learning algorithms for fraud detection, and blockchain-based solutions, will emerge in the near future.
IT outsourcing
Because IT outsourcing provides skilled engineers at a reduced cost across various areas and specialities, an increasing number of firms throughout the world are opting for it over in-house developers. According to Technavio’s forecasts for 2018, the market will be worth $409 billion by 2022.
Increasing demand for business process optimization will become one of the primary drivers in 2021, according to Technavio’s analysis.
Because mobile and web development necessitates experts from various IT fields, firms are looking for testers, solution architects, UI/UX designers, business analysts, consultants, marketers, and project managers in addition to programmers.
Conclusion
The electronic world is transforming the way we live and work at a breakneck pace. To address various business difficulties, mobile and web apps, IoT platforms, AI-enabled programmes, 5G, blockchain-based systems, and a variety of other digital solutions are being used.
They provide numerous advantages while also assisting businesses in meeting industry-specific requirements and lowering costs. Various revolutionary technologies will be rapidly adopted in the future years.
