The Ultimate Software Development Trends of 2017

Software development is going through exciting times. 2016 saw the rise of chatbots, predictive analytics and introduced us to automation. No matter what industry a business is in, technology will continue to play an important role.

Application software development is increasingly becoming the revenue-generating engine of most electronics businesses; new features are more often than not provided by software. Electronic circuitry and software is increasingly being added to previously non-electronic devices as connectivity technology has become more accessible as component prices have fallen. IoT and the promise of big data insight is driving forward innovation as the potential cost of being left behind is deemed too great to sit on the side-lines.  Laura Preston, one of Redline Group’s R&D / Engineering Contract Consultants discusses five top trends in software development this year:

PaaS

‘Platform as a Service’ will gain greater momentum. PaaS is a cloud computing solution which provides software and hardware tools to software developers. Users typically log in through a web browser and access the ready resources required to host and develop an application or software. PaaS providers can charge per-use basis or flat monthly fee. Some examples of PaaS providers are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google App Engine and Heroku.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is ability of machines to learn without being explicitly programmed externally. This technology has brought the machines closer to humans. Machine learning allows technology to continuously adapt to the changing environment and even learn from them. Machine learning is not new and is used extensively by Google results, Facebook feed and even businesses which are not directly in technology field.

Automation

Automation is already a growing trend and will continue to remain so in 2017. Automation has application in all departments of businesses including operations, marketing, supply and research. As machines become smarter, they will take care of any work that is manual and repetitive.

Decentralised Teams

Software development teams are going to be more decentralised. Version control systems records versions of a changing file and allow teams to collaborate more smoothly. Platforms built for remote access will allow teams to be location free and more flexible.

Agile

Agile is a set of principles and practices which allow software developers to be adaptable to change. It is allows cross functional team to collaborate and gives room for changes during the development process. Being agile is more of a strategy than a set methodology to develop software. Speed is key benefit of Agile development. The basic software is delivered early on and the remaining features are delivered subsequently. Testing is integrated with development in this method. This also gives a continuous and steady flow of income to business.

Future of software development

Samson adds: “A certain portion of the software development industry will become automated and obsolete to some extent - opening jobs for configurators, site builders and the like. This has always been the case whenever various elements are repetitive and could be bundled together in order to optimise the workload and increase the efficiency of a company - especially given the competitive market out there. That said, the software development industry isn’t going anywhere. There’s plenty of innovation required and tons of custom work that aren’t available yet or are not efficient for various organisations,” says Samson.

There are three main aspects that would still be valid and in demand over the next thirty to fifty years:

• Flexibility
• Performance
• Security

The flexibility aspect includes custom features, integrations, and tailored admin and user areas for better usability and adaptability for given industries. That covers both the front-facing part of software development, the engines running behind the scenes, and various tools interacting in-between.

The performance problem is often valid whenever you try to bundle a few tools or solutions together for a high-scale solution. In order to cater for more markets, those aren’t flexible enough and load tons of data and code that slows the application drastically. That may also affect the stability of the application in the long run and be unbearable for solutions that handle a large volume of users or data.

In terms of security, there’s always been a misalignment between top-notch security and freedom of use and adjustability. The more secure application is, the more steps or restrictions are introduced in the usability cycle. This means that an ‘off the shelf’ solution will either be super secure, or usable and vulnerable (in general, that is). There are ways to work around those problems and build custom layers for backups, intrusion detection and prevention systems, proper logging, and adequate security without causing too much trouble for users while still being a preferred choice for them.

 Laura continues “The challenge for developers in 2017 will be to integrate and manage the plethora of different IoT technologies, data, endpoints, platforms and back-end systems, at a speed that keeps up with the rapid pace of innovation. It will also require the niche expertise of data specialists whose availability can be few and far between in today’s marketplace.”

To find out more about Software Apps / C++ / C# / Java Jobs or Embedded Software jobs, or to see our latest Engineering and R&D jobs, please click here or alternatively, contact  Laura Preston on 01582 878823 or email LPreston@RedlineGroup.com