Future Innovation in software
Ashutosh K.
Ex banker, Now self-employed, MD &CEO of Kumar Group of companies, Author of many books.
·?Future trends in software innovation
?It is pertinent to go ahead ?explain the above, it is an impediment to take a recap of part software trend and other relaters which will help to comprehend the latest future innovation in Software
?Difference between Software and Program :?
?Software, as the name suggests, is simply a collection or set of programs, procedures, data, or instructions to instruct computers about what to do and are designed to perform well-defined functions.?Software’s are usually developed by people having expert knowledge and experience as well as are trained in developing software and are also referred to as software developers. Software’s can be a program that generally runs on a computer. If the software is not present in computers, then the computer is useless. Software’s can be downloaded on the computer using the internet without any need for a program. Features of the software include security, safety, dependability, correctness, etc It requires more time to create software than the program. Examples of software include Adobe Photoshop, Google Chrome, PowerPoint, Adobe Reader, etc.
? The program, as the name suggests, is simply a collection of instructions or ordered operations for a computer to perform a specific function or perform a particular task and achieve a specific result.?The size of the program generally ranges from kilobytes (Kb) to megabytes (Mb) Programs are usually developed by a person who is a beginner and has no prior experience. Programs cannot be software. If programs are not present in a computer, then also computer can function well because of the operating system. The program cannot run on a computer without any software present in the computer. Features of the program include reliability, cost-effectiveness, maintainability, profitability, etc It requires less time to create a program than software. Examples of the program include Web browsers, word processors, video games, etc?
Operating System:
?An?Operating System (OS)?is software that acts as an interface between computer hardware components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to run other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some environment to run and perform their tasks. The OS helps you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer’s language. It is impossible for the user to use any computer or mobile device without an operating system.
History Of OS
Following are the OSs examples with the latest Market Share
, ??Windows 71.06%
??MacOSX 15.01%
??iOS 3.02%
??Android 2.51%
??Linux 2.2%
??Chrome OS 2.44%
??Other 3.76%
Types of Operating System (OS)
Following are the popular types of OS (Operating System ) which are used for different uses:
Batch Operating System
Multitasking/Time-Sharing OS
Real-Time OS
Distributed OS
Network OS
Mobile Operating System
Embedded Operating System
Multiprogramming Operating System
?Multiprocessor Operating System
Desktop Operating System
Clustered Operating System
Handheld Operating System
?
The time-sharing operating system enables people located at a different terminal(shell) to use a single computer system simultaneously. The processor time (CPU) which is shared among multiple users is termed time sharing.
A real-time operating system time interval to process and respond to inputs is very small.?Military Software Systems, Space Software Systems are the Real-time OS example.
Distributed systems use many processors located in different machines to provide very fast computation to their users.
Network Operating System runs on a server. It provides the capability to serve to manage data, users, groups, security, application, and other networking functions.
Mobile operating systems are those OS that is specially designed to power smartphones, tablets, and wearables devices. Some most famous mobile operating systems are Android and iOS, but others include BlackBerry, Web, and watchOS.Some typical operating system functions may include managing memory, files, processes, I/O system & devices, security, etc.
The important ?functions of Operating System software execute each of the following?roles?as under:
A list of important features of OS:
Advantages of ?OS
Disadvantages of OS
?The role of ?Kernel in OS
The kernel is the central component of a computer OS. The role of the kernel is just to manage the communication between the software and the hardware. A Kernel is at the nucleus of a computer. It makes communication between the hardware and software possible. While the Kernel is the innermost part of an operating system, a shell is the outermost one.
Its structures:
Types of Kernel
Though there are many types of kernels the most ?prevalent two kernels are:
1. Monolithic
A monolithic kernel may be a single code or block of the program. It offers all the necessary services presented by the OS. It is a basic design that generates a discrete communication layer between the hardware and software.
2. Microkernels
Microkernel controls all system resources. Such types of the kernel, services are executed in different address spaces. The user services are stored in user address space, and kernel services are stored under kernel address space to reduce the size of both the kernel and operating system.
?Difference between Firmware and OS
Firmware is one kind of programming embedded on a chip in the device which controls that specific device but ?OS provides functionality over and above that which is provided by the firmware. Firmware is programs that have been encoded by the manufacturer of the IC or something and cannot be changed but ?OS is a program that can be installed by the user and can be changed. It is stored on non-volatile memory but OS is stored on the hard drive.
?Difference between 32-Bit and 64-Bit OS
Architecture and Software: Allow 32 bits of data processing simultaneously and Allow 64 bits of data processing simultaneously.
Compatibility: 32-bit applications require 32-bit OS and CPUs. But?64-bit applications require a 64-bit OS and CPU.
Systems Available: All versions of Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, Linux, etc. But Windows XP Professional, Vista, 7, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Memory Limits: 32-bit systems are limited to 3.2 GB of RAM. 64-bit systems allow a maximum of 17 Billion GB of RAM.
SUMMARY
Process, Device, File, I/O, Secondary-Storage, Memory management are various functions of an OS.?
The above information is just for reference to get basic knowledge and recollection of knowledge of OS which is the soul of a computer.
?The latest development of Software and expectation in the future after ?2021
Cloud, Edge, Container, Quantum, Blockchain, AI, Deep Learning, Batch, Streaming, Database, Programming, Software Architecture, Web, App, Low Code, No Code
2020 was an unprecedented historic year in the last hundred years since the beginning of the civilization?as on the one hand human lives and livelihood faced great catastrophe threat from the spread of?coronavirus which has even forced for some times total breakdown which became the key reasons and impediment for whom to declare the above threat as COVID 19 a global pandemic. It has affected all the countries, sectors, and almost all the individuals on our Planet. Now at least now we should take the latest invented two doses and efforts for developing the most effective vaccine to mitigate risk. But the silver line is that we have vaccines are available on?our doorsteps and finally can hold the new year 2022 with lots of optimism and hope.
2020 and 2021 were significant years for the Software Development industry with lots of tangible breakthroughs in many areas. COVID-19 has sped up the digital transformation significantly, and the trend will be greater in 2021 which will further get momentum. Two years resembles like light-year in the Software Development industry. ?Making predictions is a risky task. But it can be objectively verified will use data, figures, and facts from authenticate sources and make a prediction for the future considering the past.
?Innovative and future software
?Centralized Infrastructure: Cloud, cloud everywhere
During COVID-19, almost all industries have undergone a major devastating stoppage of their activity, except a few industries. Cloud is the harbinger industry, which made it more efficacious than the onset of pandemic and even during the pandemic. All doubts and uncertainty in terms of Cloud adoptions are addressed and provide clarity.
The global pandemic obviously manifested that?people's requirements did not only need Cloud for high-end but also low-end, i.e., when demand for our services drops significantly. For example, ?the tourism and transportation industry has to sustain their expensive data centers, even though their market drops 90%. Forrester predicted the Global Public Cloud IT infrastructure market would grow to a whopping 120 Billion USD with 35% growth in 2021. Irrespective of industries?spheres, Government, Startups, Agriculture, Healthcare, Banking, had strategies for Cloud migration as a global phenomenon. It is assumed that there would be a massive scarcity and high request for Cloud-Native Engineers in 2021 and onwards.
IT engineers became very eager to join any?Massive Online Open Course to get a Cloud certificate. Considering it would be served to the humanity, ?many of them started providing free?during Covid. Followed by the foremost public cloud providers are starting contributing free courses. In view of the above, ?the biggest public cloud provider?Amazon, as a generous gesture, pronounced that they would give free Cloud Computing training to 29 million people between 2021–2025 which could be able to bridge the gap. This shows the demand for cloud software certificates.
?Decentralized Infrastructure:
Edge Computing potential to grow exponentially?in the future.
In divergence with the ?Public Cloud which requires a centralized Data Center for Data and Computes power, in many circumstances, we need the contrary, i.e. the Data and compute power close to the end-user. Some are very low latency (5 to 20 ms), high bandwidth, regulatory reasons, Real-Time use cases, smart and powerful end-user devices, etc.
?Edge computing is an old abstraction but it is used in ?Edge Computing in content delivery networks?(CDN),?gaining popularity in recent years. With the rise of?connected vehicles (autonomous Cars, drones), online gaming, IoT, smart devices, and edge AI/ML, Edge Computing will be a massive market in 2021 and beyond. Another key reason is the rise of the 5G mobile devices. Two groups of industries cut-throat competition for grabbing higher market share.
领英推荐
In 2021, two groups of industries will fight for the market share in Edge computing. Led by the public Cloud providers like?Amazon, Microsoft, Google.
??Amazon?is the front-runner with many services, such as AWS Snow family,?AWS IoT Greengrass.?Microsoft?is also making available for use Azure Stack Edge, Azure Edge Zone.?Google?is also moving its Data Center services to the end-user with Google Anthos. The other group is led by the industries that already have the Edge Infrastructure like Telecom Companies, Data Center Providers, Network Providers. If they have a chance to emerge if they leverage their advantages i.e., existing Infrastructure. The Hybrid cloud provider?RedHat?(IBM) will be a key player here with its Hybrid Cloud Platform OpenShift, and assignation in?OpenStack. The new entrant is Samsung.
IBM to advance ?Edge Computing solutions: State of the Edge?is the ingenuity to brand Open Standard for Edge Computing by turning the Edge computing vendor-neutral. Recently State of the Edge became part of the Linux Foundation. Like CNCF, the State of the Edge would also accelerate momentum?in 2022 and onwards. Get ready for many innovations, mergers, neck-to-neck fights, and calibration in Edge Computing.
Cloud: AWS is advancing but Multi-Cloud will be the future
?Amazon?is an undisputed leader with major market size. Microsoft, the second, ?has also gradually improved its market share. Google?is the third-largest public Cloud provider. Amazon and Microsoft will retain their position as the first and second spots, respectively. But, Alibaba will replace Google. ?Concurrently, the Multi-Cloud initiative will get more momentum in the future. Many companies also moving to a Multi-Cloud strategy.?CIA?has recently awarded its Cloud contract to multiple vendors instead of one single vendor. To date, ?Amazon was disinclined to adopt multi-cloud creativity to defend its market share. But the example is seen with past Microsoft 10 years?the entire industry and community are bigger than the biggest individual company. Thus, ?Amazon has silently joined the Multi-Cloud initiative:
?Containerization: Kubernetes is the leader, and Docker will fall
Containerization is the Core Technology of Cloud Native IT, such as Public Cloud, Private Cloud, or even Edge Computing. For a long period, Kubernetes?has recognized itself as the leading Container Orchestration and Management Technology. Like Linux ruled the Data Centers previously, Kubernetes is ruling the Public Cloud and Private Cloud landscape. Initially, Google was the leading force behind Kubernetes, but now almost all Giant Tech companies put their weight behind Kubernetes. All the major public Cloud providers are now offering managed Kubernetes Service, Amazon EKS, Azure AKS, Google GKE, along with their managed Containerization Services. But, RedHat is contributing managed Kubernetes Service in private Cloud with OpenShift.
In 2021, the more adoption of Kubernetes due to its core component in the Hybrid-Cloud or Multi-Cloud strategy. Non-traditional Enterprise applications like AI/ML, Databases, Data Platforms, Serverless, and Edge Computing applications will also move to Kubernetes in the future. Flipped up Docker is gradually losing its charm as a Conternization Technology. There are already initiatives to homogenize the container format and runtime, and two of them are getting huge traction in recent years. One?Kubernetes led Container Runtime Interface?(CRI). The other is led by ?Linux Foundation lead Open Container Initiative(OCI). Just sometime back, Kubernetes has deprecated Docker in favor of CRI and planning to remove Docker completely in late 2021 in its upcoming Kubernetes release (v1.22-SD Times).
As Kubernetes is gigantic in the containerization ecosystem, 2021 will be the?beginning of an end?for Docker. On the upside, the CRI and OCI will get more momentum in 2021 and ahead, and especially the CRI based containers will get a huge improvement.
Computing: Quantum Computing will get momentum
This is the most transformational technology, like the digital computer, which contains the potential to impact every sector. It will be number one by 2030. The art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point. The most advanced Supercomputers as a normal human beings, for example, a Chess Player or an 8th-grade math student, then Quantum computing is the Supergenius like Magnus Carles, who can play with 50 average Chess players at a time or genius Mathematician like Euler.?There were some significant breakthroughs and advancements in Quantum computing in 2020. In June 2020,?North Carolina-based Honeywell?asserted a fresh lead that it had created the most powerful Quantum Computer, beating the previous record set by Google. It was just after a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) presented that Quantum Computer could beat the most advanced classical Supercomputer easily for a certain job ?(Gaussian boson sampling).??
Many governments and Tech Giants are discovering and investing in Quantum Computing. Google and IBM are two of the biggest players in this field. Google even launched an open-source library TensorFlow Quantum(TFQ),?for prototyping the Quantum Machine learning models. Amazon is also offering managed quantum computing service via its Amazon Bracket?Cloud Service. Looking at the massive interest and its infinite potentials, there will be some breakthroughs and astonishing discoveries in Computer Quantum year ahead.
The ?Open Source SDK?gasket is also offering a free course on quantum computing.
?Blockchain: Spreading its wing among global with excitement, will continue its growth ?momentum
It is a?Distributed Ledger and one of the major disruptive technologies developed in recent times. Technology-wise, it has the potential to change the whole industry. Although Cryptocurrency played a major role in popularizing the technology. It also played a major role in moving the Technology in the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” in Gartner .s Hype cycle curve. Several dubious entities capitalized on the popularity of??Bitcoin?and created scam projects to cheat common people who wanted to be rich in a short time. Now Blockchain is going through the “Trough of Disillusionment” of the Hype Cycle curve. Also, Governments are interfering in Cryptocurrencies to prevent scams. Recently the Chinese government has seized a Cryptocurrency scam “Plus Token Ponzi”: Chinese have seized an enormous $4 billion Crypto from PlusToken Scam -CoinDesk. Facebook?released its Cryptocurrency?Libra?in 2019 but got intense regulatory pressure in 2020 shifting it. It has not made the proposed Libra Other open-source Blockchains like?Ethereum?are putting a Code in the Block, making it possible to use it as a smart contract, which is the future of Blockchain.
Now blockchain will be used more as a Smart contract mechanism, and it will enter the “Slope of Enlightenment” phase. Blockchain will get a major boost in 2021, as China has but it in its ambitious 500 Trillion “New Infrastructure” plan.
?Artificial Intelligence (AI) :
The revolutionary ?technology, AI has already shown its magical potential ?by starting to enter all sectors with the slogan “AI for all.” A natural language processing domain, GPT-3 was the biggest breakthrough that came in May 2020. The US company OpenAI?invented?GPT-3?which has made it possible to create human-like text using Deep Learning. Only after four months, the entire world was simultaneously amazed and shocked when the following Guardian Article was written using GPT-3:
am not a human. I am a robot. A thinking robot. I use only 0.12% of my cognitive capacity. In 2021, there will be a discovery in Natural Language Processing, where AI will write articles or write small software programs.
An interesting development was AutoML 2.0,?which makes ?Automated feature engineering. In 2021, there will be a major advancement in Full Cycle AI Automation and more democratization in AI. AI is not unbiased, and?Ethical AI?is getting more power. Another major trend in AI is Explainable AI,?which will need an explanation for why AI has taken a certain decision. In 2021, there will be major progress in these fields as the?EU?has set regulations to explain AI’s decision.AI will also see major adoption in the Aviation industry in 2021 and beyond. Only a few days ago, the US Air Force used AI as Co-Pilot to fly an Aircraft one of the Air Force.s oldest planes became the first military to fly with AI. AI will also be the centerpiece in Chinese digital-based infrastructure for the future. It is key to China's Infrastructure plan as is AI talent.
AI is Key to China Infrastructure Plan, as is AI Talent. We have seen a ubiquitous presence with lots of mind-blowing innovations and democratization in AI in 2021.
?Deep Learning Library: It will be TensorFlow 2.0 and PyTorch
Presently, Google?and?Facebook?are the two dominant players in Deep Learning and Neural networks. Google’s key business is searching capability, and it is the leading innovator in Natural Language Processing. Facebook’s key business is a social network, and it has to handle Images, Videos, and Text. In Image processing, Facebook is the tech leader with many innovations.
TensorFlow?from Google was the leading library in Deep Learning, but everything changed in 2016 when Facebook released PyTorch which?used Dynamic Graph instead of Static Graph (used by TensorFlow) and was more Python friendly. Google reacted by creating TensorFlow 2.0 in 2019, which copied many PyTorch features (Dynamic Graph, Python friendliness). It also works perfectly with Google’s?Collab, a very modern and powerful Notebook. Since then, Google enjoyed the upturn of TensorFlow 2.0’s popularity. Currently, TensorFlow is the most popular Deep Learning framework,?and PyTorch will be the “go-to” library for Enterprises and communities. Companies with an existing TensorFlow codebase or who want to use Collab Notebook should use TensorFlow 2.0. Companies or individuals new to Deep Learning or who want to continue with Juypter Notebook should choose PyTorch.
?Data Store: One size will not fill all
The modern Database landscape is full of choices and wide variations. We have the classical SQL Databases, mainly the big four databases MySQL, oracle, MS-SQ,?Postage SQL.?NoSQL databases, which mainly comprise a family of Databases:?Document, Key-Value, Wide-Column, Time-Series, Search, Graph. There are also many other types of Data Stores.
A surge of the so-called Globally distributed ACID transaction databases New?SQL?databases. Google is the leader with its?Google Spanner,?the first horizontally read/write scalable ACID compliant database. Amazon also has a horizontally scalable ACID-compliant database. Amazon Aurora?offers almost all SQL features but no horizontal write scaling. Outside the Hyperscale Cloud providers,?Cockroach DB?is also a very prominent NewSQL or Distributed SQL Database. The Data Store eco-system will remain as it is now with many options. There will not be a Master database that can serve all purposes. In 2022 also, choosing the right database would be a very challenging task with careful consideration.
Many popular Databases have changed their licenses (MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis, Kafka) as the Hyperscale Cloud providers, especially Amazon, have abused their innovations and earned money without paying back. The trend will continue ahead, and other startups or innovative companies will use more restrictive licenses to protect them from the preying Cloud providers.
?Data-Intensive Computation: Spark will remain the leader
Past few years,?Hadoop?was the default choice for?Data-Intensive Computation?or?Distributed Batch Jobs. Apache Spark?is currently the Vendor Neutral Distributed Batch Jobs platform of choice and almost replaced Hadoop in most cases. The trend will continue ahead and Spark will be used as the preferred platform for Data-Intensive Computation. Spark is a JVM-based system that is resource hungry, and you will get a huge Cloud bill. But unfortunately, there is no resource frugal Framework of Spark’s power and maturity on the horizon. All the major Cloud providers have their own Cloud Native solution to make Data-Intensive Computation. My two-cent advice will be to use Spark over Cloud specific solution in 2021 to avoid vendor locking.
?Real-Time Streaming: Flink will be the obvious choice
In recent years, Real-Time streaming is becoming increasingly popular as enterprises are throwing away the old Lambda Architecture?in favor of Real-Time stream processing frameworks. Also, two types of frameworks exist here. The one is Micro-Batch based platform led by?park Streaming. The other one is the Low latency stream processing platform led by?Apache Flink. It edges out Spark Streaming for the scenarios that require need real-time streaming (fraud detection, anomaly detection, rule-based alerting, Ad-hoc analysis of live data). All Hyperscale cloud providers offer their own solutions as well. I would advise choosing Flink over Spark or proprietary Cloud solution in 2021 as it has unmatched power and capabilities in real-time stream processing.
?Data Platform: Others will follow Snowflake
Modern data architecture is quite complex. It contains Data Sources, ETL pipeline, Data Warehouse, Data Lake, Data Analytics tool, and many more components. In the case of Enterprise Data Platform (ABM AMRO’s Data Platform. Snowflake?has revolutionized the modern Data Architecture by providing one Centralized data source, one platform, and built many different workloads on it. In classical architecture, the data need to move in different stages, but there is only one “Source of Truth” of Data in Snowflake. It is not the perfect use case for all. But, it will democratize and empower the Data Platform and Data Warehouse. It has already shaken the Data Warehouse market as shared by?Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison killing Amazon Redshifts.?It is expected more innovations to bring Snowflake into one single Data Platform for Enterprise use cases. It will be a great help and game-changer for many companies.
Rapid Application Development: Low Code/No-Code will expand
Rapid digital transformation is creating an enormous gap in terms of supply and demand for Software Engineers. Although the increase of new developers is joining the industry, more requires to fill the gap. it is still not enough. Recently, the Low Code/No-Code initiative is gaining speed. There are many low code/no-code platforms in the market, mainly in Web development like Bubble Their success cleared the way for?LCNC?development in other areas also:?No-Code App Development, No Code AI, No Code Machine Learning. CNC tools can boost businesses or people with great ideas. In 2022, LCNC will be one of the hotly contested fields with lots of innovations, mergers, and acquisitions.
Software Architecture: Microservices, Monoliths, Serverless will co-exist
In recent years, Microservices?Architecture became the preferred choice in large-scale Enterprise Application development. However, designing Microservice Applications is more Complex than a “One size fits for All” Monolithic application. Microservice Architecture needs a set of best practices. Like any other Software Architecture, Microservices also has use cases where it excels and corner cases where it fails. It also needs a set of design patterns.:
There is a backlash against Microservice Architecture for its complexity and failure in certain use cases. The great?Kelsey Hightower?has summarized the criticism to Microservices in the following Tweet:?It contrasts with the trends we had seen a few years ago when Monolithic Architecture was criticized and deemed old-fashioned. In reality, Monolithic Architecture is also a great Architecture where it fits the best as?put in the following
Another Software Architecture that got much hype in recent years is Serverless Architecture. Amazon has pioneered the Serverless Compute service with its groundbreaking AWS Lambda?service where the developer only writes code and the Service provider manages the Server. It is also an Architecture that is hyped by some and criticized by others. Like Monoliths and Microservices, Serverless is also no Silver Bullet and should be used where it fits (e.g., event-driven and bursty load). Last year, all the Software Architecture (Monolith, Microservice, Serverless) will coexist as all of them had their own use cases, pros, and cons but choosing Microservices for large-scale Enterprise development (where SOA was traditionally used), Monoliths for small scale development, Serverless for event-driven and burst loads.
?Programming (mainstream): Python and JavaScript will lead the roost
The programming language landscape is also going through major changes over a period of time. The traditional heavyweight programming languages are losing their market share to the easier and developer-friendly programming languages. An extensive analysis of the in-demand languages placed Python and JavaScript first and second place. Finally, the most popular programming language ranking site?TIOBE?acknowledged the change and placed Python higher than Java.
As the Software development industry is thriving and a huge percentage of new developers are joining the industry, the easier, developer-friendly programming languages will be more popular in 2022. Python?is the number one programming language in Data Science and number 2 or number 3 language in almost all other fields except low-level programming. JavaScript?is the undisputed number one language in Web development and is increasingly popular in other domains, including Backend development. It is also a perfect language for beginners. Java?is slowly losing its popularity as the most popular programming language. However, with its legendary backward compatibility and embracing changes (6-month release cycle, polyglot Virtual Machine?GraaIVM), it will remain the number one choice in Enterprise Software development.
C++?is another mainstream programming language that is going through major changes in recent years.?C++20?was released only days ago, and it will completely change the way C++ was programmed until now. It is one of the most disruptive C++ releases in recent years and can hugely impact its popularity in 2021 and beyond. In 2021, the mainstream programming Languages will hold their own, although they will feel pressure from the modern programming languages.
?Programming (modern): Rust will finally arrive
Another interesting trend in the programming language landscape for the last few years is the rise of modern programming languages. The older languages have past baggage and cannot move fast (Java) or become even more bloated and daunting by adding more and more features (C++). The modern and newer languages are free of past baggage and can fulfill today’s developers' demands. Most of them focus heavily on developer ergonomics and support modern features like type inference, null safety, expressiveness, conciseness. Many of them are also designed to take advantage of modern hardware and modern Infrastructure (Cloud, Multi-Core, GPU, TPU). The modern programming languages led by?Rust, Go, Kotlin, Swift, TypeScript?are gaining more popularity in each passing day,
How Rust, Go, Kotlin, TypeScript, Swift, Dart, Julia can boost your career and improve your software development skills. The trend will continue in 2022 and ahead as well, as they are among the fastest-growing languages. Among them, Rust will make a breakthrough in 2022 as the industry is finally taking note of it. For the last five years, it is the most beloved programming language according to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey: Tech Giants are finally using Rust instead of C/C++ for security-sensitive and complex projects. Microsoft recently declared that they would use Rust to fix security bugs: ?Amazon declared to invest heavily in Rust. Google’s?Go?is already a mainstream and established programming language. With lots of improvement scheduled for the Go 2 release, it will gain even more popularity in the future. JetBrain’s Kotlin?has already established itself as the second most popular typed programming language in the JVM ecosystem. In Android App development, it has already surpassed Java:
Microsoft’s?TypeScript?has firmly established itself as the typed alternative to JavaScript. Recently, it has seen a gigantic leap in popularity as many complex projects (e.g.,?Deno,Vue.js)) are preferring TypeScript over JavaScript: Apple’s?Swift?has already replaced?Objective-C?as the preferred language in?macOS?and?iOS.?It also sees adoption in other areas. Backed by the Tech giants, expect modern programming languages, including Rust, will gain more traction, popularity, and use in 2022.
Client-Side Web Frameworks: React will continue to Rule
Most of the User-oriented Enterprise applications are Web or Mobile applications. In Web development, the JavaScript/TypeScript based Client-side Web frameworks are dominating for several years now. The trend is to use JavaScript frameworks for UI development and Server-Side frameworks for Backend development where Front-end and Back-end are separate Services. Facebook’s?React?is the leader among the Client-Side web frameworks. It is the trendsetter and most widely used framework in the industry. Although React is not the most popular Web framework, that honor goes to another JavaScript-based Web framework,?Vue.js. It is also the number one framework in China as the creator of the Vue.js (Evan You)?is a Chinese ex-Google developer. Unfortunately, this Chinese connection raises security concerns among large enterprises, and the adoption of Vue.js in the US/Europe is relatively low. Google’s Angular?is lagging React and Vue.js but is still a solid framework. However, the most revolutionary Web framework in recent times is?Svelte. Unlike other frameworks, Svelte is a no-runtime framework and focuses on the compile step. All the major JavaScript-based frameworks will learn from each other and adapt features from others. They will converge even more in 2022 and ahead.
.Server-Side Web Frameworks: Spring and ASP.NET Core for Enterprises
Server Side frameworks are end-to-end frameworks that offer end-to-end Web development, including view layers via Server-Side rendering. But as already mentioned, the trend in modern times is to use them for Backend only JVM.?Based Spring framework?is the number one Server-Side framework in Enterprise development. It also provides all necessary features to develop small and large, complex applications:?Inversion of Control, Dependency Injection, Cloud Native development, Reactive, and Event-driven application development, Rapid Application Development.?In 2022 also, Spring will remain the number one backend framework for enterprises. In a previous post, I put Spring as the number one Server-Side Web framework:
Microsoft ASP.NET Core?is another compelling polyglot Web framework and works seamlessly with popular JavaScript frameworks (React, Vue.js, Angular). In 2022, ASP.NET Core will be a major player in Server Side development for enterprises. Many startups and small companies want to have an end-to-end framework including the View layer, for rapid application development. Python-based Django, PHP Laravel,?and?Ruby on Rails?will be excellent options for them in 2022 and ahead.
?App Development: Native App will continue to dominate
Smartphones are now a part of our daily life. The number of Smartphone Users is already 3.5 Billion, and it will become 3.8 Billion next year. As a result, Mobile Apps are becoming increasingly important for end-users, especially for the younger generation. In Mobile App development, there are four major trends: Native App Development, Cross-Platform App Development, Hybrid App Development, and Cloud-Based App Development.
Native App development?gives the highest flexibility with the best performance and user experience. But it is most expensive to develop as enterprises need to keep two separate teams. Cross-Platform App?development is becoming increasingly popular, as almost the same codebase can be used for both iOS and Android App development. Although the development cost is low, it is less flexible and not as performant as the Native apps.
In recent years,?Cloud-based Apps?are getting more popular where the Data and the main business logic remains in the Cloud. A device-specific thin client is developed which connects and fetches data from the Cloud. While it is a better choice for Data savvy applications, it is not mainstream for normal App development. Native app development?is still the better choice for normal app development for enterprises, although Cross-platform app development is catching up. In 2022, Enterprises will prefer Native app development, whereas startups and small companies will prefer Cross-platform app development.
Cross-Platform App Development: React Native will dominate, but Flutter will catch up
Cross-platform app development is getting increasingly popular as it is less expensive. There are many Cross-Platform app development platforms in the market, but Flutter and React Native are the leaders: Facebook's React Native?is based on the most popular JavaScript-based Web development framework,?React.?It has the slogan “Learn once, write anywhere.” Facebook is actively developing React Native, and they test its features with?2.7 Billion Facebook users. If a company already has to React for Web development and React Native for App development, they can share the components and codebase between Web and Mobile development. Also, React Native is based on JavaScript, which is one of the most popular programming languages. Currently, React Native is more popular than Flutter. In 2022, React will dominate the Cross-Platform App development as there will be a major update in React and React Native performance.
Google’s Flutter?is a relatively newer framework but became immensely popular in recent years. It offers a powerful UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled mobile, desktop, and web applications from a single code base. However, Flutter is not yet a major framework in Web development like React. Flutter uses a modern programming language,?Dart is one of the fastest-growing and highly productive programming languages. In terms of performance, Flutter has edges over React Native. It also offers better developer ergonomics, and developers love working with Flutter:
Unlike Facebook, which puts all its weight behind React Native, Google has many frameworks in Web and App development (e.g.,?Angular?for Web) and not putting all its weight behind Flutter and Dart.
Considering everything, I predict React Native will edge out Flutter in 2021 as Facebook is planning major performance improvement in React Ecosystem, the Achille's Hill for React Native.
??API: REST for Business Applications
Microservice Architecture and Serverless are becoming increasingly popular in recent years. The Microservices or Nanoservices need to communicate, and usually, Synchronous communication is used over event-driven, asynchronous communication. Even the traditional Monoliths communicate via synchronous communication.
REST?is the most dominant API technology in 2020. REST is a communication standard based on Web technology. It is in the industry for quite some time now (20 years). REST and SOAP arrived almost simultaneously, but where SOAP is almost deemed legacy technology, REST continues to rule. Whether it is a large enterprise or a small startup, REST is everywhere. In 2021 also, REST will continue to dominate.
There are also some excellent candidates in the API domain. The most prominent one is?Google’s?gRPC.?Unlike REST,?gRPC?is an?RPC?protocol like SOAP. Google has learned the lessons from the older RPC protocols, and created gRPC suitable for modern Software Development needs. Instead of JSON, gRPC uses highly performant messaging format?Protocol Buffers(also developed by Google). As a result, gRPC is more performant and less readable compared to REST. In Machine-to-machine communication, it is the obvious choice.
Another API technology that is getting increasingly popular, especially for UI developers, is?Facebook’s GraphQL.?Often the UI needs to make lots of API calls to the backend for getting all the data it needs. GraphQL allows aggregating the APIs to reduce the chatty communication between the UI and the Backend. One major drawback of GraphQL is that it is not suitable for high-security concern development.
All three have actually separate use cases and can complement each other, and the trend will continue in 2021.
CONCLUSION
Based on the current trends, data, and facts, It is obvious that innovation about the most important Software development trends for 2022 and the year ahead. The whole Software Development industry is much bigger, and It is very exhaustive.
Another interesting fact is how the four Tech Giants: Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft, are dominating almost all areas of Software Development. There is quite a possibility that?a 360-degree?overview of the Software development trends lies ahead in 2021.
ARS Group's Of Company-owned PATRON/CMD/CEO at ARS Group's Of Company CAIIB, FRM,GARP,PMP
3 年This is great informative, keep it up I like it, Thanks for this articles