With the unfortunate events occasioned by the pandemic in 2020, technology was saddled with the responsibility of working twice as hard as before. Virtually everyone fell back to IT for success amid the shutdowns that required virtual everything; work, school, governments. And, software development engineers had a field day bringing most trends on the pipeline to the mainstream and inventing newer trends to respond to changing needs, opportunities, and tools.
Some of the trends still on the ship waiting to berth were forced to berth immediately, and so the trends soared and overflowed into 2021. Many corporations and companies are scrambling to incorporate these trends into their systems. From Artificial Intelligence to cybersecurity and blockchain technology, the software development trends are more prominent for success now than ever.
Here we bring you the top 5 software development trends for 2021.
Software development trends for 2021
1. Artificial Intelligence
With most companies looking to trim down their workforce and still enjoy the luxury of productivity, artificial intelligence (AI) is now the norm. From self-driving cars to personal assistant robotics, AI received much-deserved attention in 2020 and that attention is growing in 2021.
Google is at the forefront of pushing AI to the world and expanding it into amazing frontiers. The growth of AI in the 21st century is nearly unstoppable and projections prove that it is here to stay. The jobs of many in the labor force are currently threatened but that won’t stop the rise of robotics because there are dogged CEOs who are more focused on productivity and profitability.
For instance, Amazon currently uses various robots powered by AI throughout their warehouse to perform functions deemed too demanding for human workers, such as lifting heavy items and repetitive motions. Every day more companies use AI to fuel customer service agents that work 24/7.
2. Cybersecurity on the rise
With hackers on the prowl and the security of personal data compromised over the years, cybersecurity is a focal point of attention. From companies to governments and its organizations, software development engineers develop newer solutions by the day and more software is in the development process to counter the cyberwar lords, such as those who shut down the Colonial Pipeline, causing a massive gas shortage in much of the Northeast, growing fat with innovative means to steal and encrypt data.
Cybersecurity software is deployed internally by organizations as DevOps teams now squarely face automated security testing of software during its developmental stages to highlight its porousness earlier and tackle it head-on.
Continuous delivery is also gaining prominence and Amazon, which delivers new code every 11 seconds, is a leader in this space. Continuous delivery hastens the software deployment process and eliminates the high percentage of bugs encountered in normal software development. It also enforces frequent testing so errors are spotted immediately and returned for correction.
Embedded software development
Every year, more and more gadgets become part of our everyday lives. Gadgets like digital watches, toys, security devices, cars, and telephones, as well as a lengthy list of gadgets gaining ground in the tech era, such as IoT devices for everything from monitoring equipment to agriculture to monitoring traffic, abound in both consumer and business spaces. Each device uses embedded software technology and every year a staggering list of new devices appear in the market.
This relentless pursuit of the new and improved requires software development to control devices, create a competitive advantage, and optimize functionality. These devices commonly don’t require an operating system to function and that’s some relief for developers. Since consumers don’t think of these devices as computers, devices demand special software for their functionality with low time and memory capacity.
Devices are required in fields where businesses need machine control, like manufacturing industries, smart cars, and robotics. And if you look at the rise of gadgets over the past decade, you realize that embedded software is more pronounced all the time, and engagements are higher for good reason. If you want to learn more, visit sirinsoftware.com to see examples of software development projects they built.
4. Serverless computing
Gone are the days where server infrastructure demands a lot of time and human effort to maintain optimal performance. Servers today are a combination of the stateless FaaS i.e function as a service and stateful backend as a service (BaaS). With serverless computing, you base your entire internet infrastructure in the cloud and can scale automatically without effort while only paying for what you need.
You can write and build code for your applications without sticking around to maintain the servers or other necessary infrastructure that provides service to the applications. And again, the best part of this is that it runs on a pay-as-you-go billing system, rather you don’t pay for what you’re not using, you only pay based on the amount of time you spend using the application.
5. Low or no-code technologies increasing
Code, code, and more code make things boring and stressful. Trends in software development now evade the direction of code or reduce their principal involvement in the grand scheme of things.
Businesses can now develop and deploy software applications without the need for a web developer or programmer. Rather than employing long lines of code for a single application, a business now uses a point-and-click interface. With this, modern enterprises can now build websites from readymade blocks and incorporate things like online payments into the website using stripe or gain feedbacks from customers using Google forms and more.
In the coming years, we’ll likely see more and more applications based on low or even no code options fueling the backend of a website to provide the necessary functionality. Businesses jump onto this bandwagon due to the seamless nature of creation, integration of other functions, and deployment. It doesn’t get easier than this for now.
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