If you’ve been developing software since the good old COBOL days, you might’ve understood how different software development was back then compared to today. The software development industry has evolved at a break-neck pace. New trends and technologies have emerged, changing how we develop, test, and deploy software.
Now, the question is: What’s next in the future? How would the software development industry evolve, and what new trends will we see? Don’t fret! This blog covers everything, from upcoming software development trends to new predictions in the field. Let’s begin:
5 Software Development Trends & Predictions for 2023
1. The popularity of cloud computing is on the rise
It’s a brainer that cloud computing is an integral part of our lives. Businesses have no option but to switch to the cloud to stay relevant in the hyper-competitive market.
However, the cloud is getting more popular lately because of compelling benefits like improved security, cost savings, flexibility, and scalability. Some businesses have migrated their applications, infrastructure, and data to the cloud, while others plan to do so soon.
You must have a cloud migration and implementation strategy to brace your software development company for the future and ensure it caters to the evolving market.
2. Cybersecurity has taken center stage
The rise of internet entrepreneurs (people who’ve amassed wealth after the dot com era) has not only attracted attention from the media but also cybercriminals who want to get rich by exploiting them. Now and then, we get to see cyber attacks that cost trillions of dollars each year. Garter even predicts that these attacks will increase by 700% by 2025.
Hence, it has become essential for businesses to take things into their hand and follow necessary measures to secure their software. Doing so has even become more accessible with the rise of cloud computing. Small and mid-sized businesses can add advanced features to their software without spending much money or resources.
3. Low-code platforms are getting popular
Building an app without programming knowledge seemed like a fantasy a few years ago. But today, it is a reality because low-code platforms allow even non-technical users to build mobile apps from scratch using drag-and-drop features. Do you know what this means?
You don’t have to rely entirely on your developers to build a mobile app. If you feel they’re preoccupied somewhere else, you can have a non-technical member with a basic understanding of your app idea try their hands on these tools. Low-code platforms are also beneficial for small businesses that can reduce the costs of hiring additional resources for software development.
Even experienced developers can benefit from low-code platforms by letting them speed up the development process and avoid writing thousands of lines of code.
This way, low-code platforms are a win-win, whether you’re a small business or an enterprise. There’s no reason why you must miss out on them because these tools have a lot to offer.
4. AI & machine learning is taking over
You’re mistaken if you believe software development is just about writing millions of lines of code. It has evolved a lot from that. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have allowed software developers to automate many mundane tasks and optimize their code for maximum performance.
Here’s how AI and machine learning have redefined software development:
- AI helps detect and remove anomalies in software code, making it cleaner and more efficient.
- With AI, you can automatically generate code by using instructions, thus saving you time and effort. Some AI tools even generate new code snippets or even entire modules based on existing patterns of your code.
- Machine learning algorithms can help you detect and fix issues early in software development, saving time and ensuring high quality.
- AI eliminates the need to write code from scratch by offering intelligent auto-complete suggestions based on your code’s context.
- With AI and machine learning, you can automatically analyze user feedback, error reports, and system logs to identify patterns and offer intelligent update recommendations. You can continuously improve the software based on active user feedback.
Now that AI and machine learning are critical in software development, you can no longer treat it as an afterthought. Instead, you need to be familiar with AI and machine learning technologies and analyze how to leverage them to improve your software development process.
5. Microservices architecture is the new norm
Earlier, the standard software development approach among businesses was to build it in a monolithic architecture. In this approach, they used to code the software as a single unit containing billions of lines of code. It worked efficiently for small projects but brought many challenges as it progressed, such as:
- Maintaining a single monolith containing billions of lines of code was a mammoth task. To make even a slight change, developers had to spend hours searching for the code they wanted to modify. Also, sometimes they used to make matters worse in the quest to fix them.
- A single error could bring the entire software down, resulting in costly downtimes.
- Businesses had to update the entire software to release a single update, which took time and inflated costs.
- Scaling the software could be challenging as adding new code could affect how the software works currently.
Many businesses have started using microservice architecture to overcome this issue. It brings its advantages, such as:
- Updating and maintaining the software is no longer a challenge as you can break it down into several microservices, which are easy to develop and maintain.
- An error in a single module only impacts that feature. It doesn’t bring the entire software down, as with monolith architecture.
- You can scale or modify the software easily, as making changes in a microservices architecture is more accessible than the monolith one.
- Technology barriers are easy; you can use the language, framework, and tools you choose in each microservice.
If you’re also looking to build highly scalable and secure apps using the microservice architecture, this is the right time.
In Conclusion,
Software development is evolving at a constant pace. New technologies and trends keep emerging now and then, changing the way we develop software. Only those who can keep track of these latest happenings and leverage them to their business gains can survive and thrive in this hyper-competitive space.
Hopefully, the trends and predictions above gave you enough idea of what’s trending in the software development industry. It’s time to leverage these trends to your business advantage and see the results yourself. Best of luck!
