Software Development Trends For 2021
With the rise in online businesses, the development of applications and websites, a shift has been seen regarding the software development. Disruptive technologies and new software development tools are getting to boost the working and security of the software. With Coronavirus pandemic, the demand across organizations to carry out processes with efficacy has increased, therefore, cutting-edge technologies are getting deployed in software development. Hereafter, the following trends will shape the software development trends in 2021.
Native App Development
Native app development refers to developing software programs that are fit to run on certain devices, unlike hybrid apps. A smartphone is the most common target device for native app development. As Android and iOS have seized the global market and are not planning to let go in the near future, businesses are investing in numerous native apps for Android and iOS.
Even with the dawn of cross-platform tools like React Native and Flutter that provide faster development velocity, investment in native app development remains simply because they offer an improved user experience and powerful performance.
Cloud Technology Will Continue To Grow
Did you know that in the year 2020, the cloud services industry made almost $40 billion in revenue, taking its market value to a total of $266.4 billion from the $227.8 billion in 2019, approximately an 17% growth in just one year? With this information, one fact has surely been established; in software development services, cloud technology is where the big bucks are at. In 2021, it is projected that cloud vendors like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon will remain to make a lot of money thanks to cloud technology.
The reason behind the trend is simple: there are many companies on the cloud and more are projected to move there. Businesses and organizations of all sizes, whether it’s a small entrepreneurial startup or an MNC, and businesses across numerous industries, from health care to intelligence agencies and even public organizations are all reaching all to cloud providers for data storage.
Cloud technology offers higher security, scalability and flexibility when it comes to data storage and seeing the ever-present risk of hackers which could lead to a security breach, companies will want to make sure they are taking determinate steps to protect their sensitive data and avoid a data breach and other activities that might compromise the confidentiality of data.
Use of Artificial Intelligence Will Increase
In 2021, incorporation of business processes with Artificial Intelligence will be a viable differentiator. There is no disagreeing the effect of AI in software development service, it can accelerate an outcome, allow more conversant decision-making, and deliver more pertinent and meaningful customer experiences.
Tech giants such as Apple, Google, and Facebook are already on the AI trend as perceived in their integration of AI-based predictive analytics in the applications to expand user experience. With that said, in the coming year, the ability to add pioneering AI capabilities to projects and business processes will be crucial for companies, specifically if you are looking to make great strides in your industry.
IoT – A Trend of 2021 and Further
The Internet of Things may not be seen as the newest thing anymore but a part of our reality. The rapid growth of IoT has become so natural. Therefore, in 2021 it will be still flourishing, and even more life-changing projects are to be predictable.
Considering that humanity is still probably to stay at home after 2020, tech companies will come up with new ways to make not leaving the house more pleasurable. Software developers will be in much need of the projects’ realization.
Human Augmentation, AR, and Mixed Reality
Since AR and mixed reality are aggressively used for remote training, healthcare, gaming, and human augmentation boost human abilities by uniting medicine and technology, it is obvious that these technologies will be developing given all the circumstances of the past year.
The approximate pace of the global mixed reality market growth is 73.2% per year in the next few years. And as always, bigger investments and more new projects appearing in the niche means more rapid tech progress and faster implementation of innovations.
Big Data Computation
Previously, Hadoop Map-Reduce was the framework used for the computation of large-scale datasets. Nowadays, Apache Spark has taken over the Distributed Batch Job and has beaten Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) in working and costs.
Apache Spark has definitely targeted the limitations of Hadoop Map-Reduce. It processes everything in memory instead of storing data after each operation. Spark is foreseen to rule over the batch processing framework in 2021 and even next.
Progressive Web Apps
Progressive Web Applications are hot right now in the software development scene. PWAs are just web applications designed to run on mobile devices. Think of an application that provides the functionality of native apps along with website accessibility but without including app stores or taking up storage space on your smartphone. That’s what progressive web applications are. In crux, PWAs offer a parallel user experience to native apps in that they can send push notifications and access device hardware, like cameras for uploading pictures and videos.
However, here’s the catch, you don’t have to download them from app stores, you don’t have to continually update them and they don’t take up space on your device, as they are generally under 1MB in size.
Also, progressive Web Apps are a lot simpler to develop and maintain compared to native apps. You can install PWAs on the home screen of your laptop, smartphone, or PC and use it without a browser. Altogether, PWAs are valuable for development and discoverability, and you can think them to be big in the software development landscape come 2021.
Final Thoughts
Software development trends of 2021 predict further development of such technologies like AR, IoT, AI, and others. In an effort to reduce costs, organizations will go for no-coding platforms, clouds, and PWAs. COVID-winners are dictating the trends of native apps development and distribution of software development among niches.
The pandemic pretty much controls software development trends but gives an opportunity to grow for much-needed niches as AI and human augmentation.