The last quarter of 2021 saw exciting announcements from the world of technology. Facebook became Meta to pave the way for developing a metaverse, a 3D evolution of the ubiquitous internet where people can come together virtually to interact, learn, play, transact and experience. According to the latest Emergen research report published in November 2021, “The global metaverse market size reached USD 47.69 Billion in 2020 and is expected to register a revenue CAGR of 43.3%.
Metaverse might soon become mainstream but until it does, let us focus on Application Development trends that will shape 2022.
Digital Transformation in the automotive and manufacturing industries has accelerated the pace of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. Simply put, Industry 4.0 is synonymous with Smart Manufacturing and Smart Factory, where real-time data is available to decision-makers. It is not just about the sensors on machines that collect and transmit data to computers but the ability to recreate the shop floor digitally to provide visibility on operations. This paradigm shift in Smart Factory, known as a Digital Twin, leverages data to predict failures, plan preventive maintenance and enable on-demand production. As you can imagine, the machines or ‘edge’ devices create a humongous amount of data that needs to be stored and processed centrally. A robust cloud strategy is emerging as an essential prerequisite for digital transformation in factories. Beyond storage capacity, cloud computing makes it easy to connect or ‘integrate’ apps, microservices, and APIs so that data can flow seamlessly between systems. Some of the data can be analyzed at the source of origin known as the ‘edge’ for rapid action.
Another trend that will gain momentum in 2022 is related to application development. Companies no longer invest in developing or maintaining monolithic applications that are resource-intensive and have restrictions on integrations with other business applications.
Microservices architecture paves the way for applications to be broken into scalable, interactive units known as services, conducive to concurrent development. Developers have the flexibility of choosing from a wide array of programming languages and databases. Should you decide to maintain a business-critical monolith application while creating new functionalities as services, the developers have the option to add an ‘anti-corruption layer’ (Glue Code) to integrate services with the monolith.
Companies developing applications using an agile development framework have realized the advantages of implementing DevOps practices for Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD). The development and IT operations no longer work in silos. Deployment is automated.
Automation testing has gained wider acceptance with the mainstreaming of DevOps in all development projects, but the challenge is the availability of skilled testers who can write test scripts. Scriptless test automation solves this problem by eliminating the need for testers to write code, otherwise known as automation scripts.
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) were initially developed to display websites on mobile screens, responsive and optimized for any form factor. But there is vast potential, especially from an e-commerce perspective, to develop progressive web apps that run on browsers but offer a native app-like experience while keeping the friction low. Search engines index PWAs. They can also be launched from the Start menu like a regular app. You can minimize the costs involved in cross-platform development. PWAs offer matchless security through a secure HTTPs endpoint. PWAs work offline too and can re-engage with users through push notifications. Starbucks, Trivago and Tinder have already launched PWAs to increase user engagement. In 2022, more companies in the e-commerce space is expected to follow suit.
Softura has been helping customers convert technology trends into growth opportunities. We are at the forefront of outsourcing for application development and modernization projects, having delivered more than 2500 successful projects spanning cutting edge technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Predictive Analytics, and Business Process Automation. We have developed products such as Employee Service Bot and IoT-In-A-Box that makes these technologies instantly accessible to our customers.
