The software development industry is continuously evolving, with new trends emerging every year to aid developers and companies with their products. Some of the most notable software development trends in 2023 include no-code or low-code development, AI-assisted programming, and the growing popularity of augmented reality.
These software development trends are revolutionizing the way developers build software, making it quicker to develop, easier to manage, and more cost-effective to create. Keep reading to find out more about the latest software development trends.
Overview of 2022
In 2022, progressive web apps (PWAs) were one of the most popular software trends among development teams and businesses to build fast and accessible mobile apps at a reduced cost.
Automation also played a massive role in 2022, streamlining several repetitive tasks, cutting costs, and refocusing businesses in a more productive direction.
Additionally, cloud computing gained massive traction in 2022. Platforms like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure led the industry, giving companies access to powerful computing resources. Let’s take a look at the many reasons these technologies were so popular in 2022.
Progressive Web Apps
Progressive web applications (PWAs) are light, quick, and efficient applications that can run on any internet browser using a fraction of the data and resources of native apps. PWAs are also a considerably cheaper option for implementing cross-platform solutions.
Currently, many popular apps use PWAs, and you might not even notice. For example, Spotify, one of the largest music streaming services, uses a PWA and has dramatically increased its popularity since they migrated to it.
Twitter is also a great example of a social media platform that uses a PWA. Since the release of Twitter Lite, the number of users has grown significantly because it allows anyone with slower internet speeds and older phones to use the platform.
DevOps
DevOps has proven to be an effective development model, with increased adoption during 2022. DevOps aims to apply software development best practices across the whole team, improving software quality and streamlining the entire software development lifecycle.
DevOps unifies operations and development in tasks such as planning, coding, testing, and deploying. So, instead of having an inefficient and slower development process in which each team is doing its own thing, everyone is working together to code, test, bugfix, and deploy software faster, safer, and more efficiently.
DevOps is a big part of why large companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple can successfully work with a huge number of employees across many different areas.
Automation
Automation tools blossomed in 2022, helping developers automate repetitive tasks, speed up code review, and even deploy software. Automation tools are evolving quickly, becoming more precise, customizable, and flexible, ultimately allowing developers to spend less time on tasks like data entry and more time programming.
One of the biggest uses for automation in development is automated code review tools. These tools are not perfect, but they do enable trained developers to find code flaws in a fraction of the time. Automating code reviews is more precise and costs less than manual code reviews, particularly when the code is extensive.
Automation tools are one of the main reasons DevOps has grown in 2022. Since DevOps aims to streamline many processes to make it easier and faster for teams to work on the software, automation plays a big role in aiding this.
What to Expect From 2023
The trends in software development for 2023 are incredible and show that we are heading toward a bright and accessible future that’s focused on AI and Python.
Currently, there are several AI-assisted programming tools to speed up coding and debugging. However, the use of advanced AI also raises several moral and ethical issues, increasing talk about sustainable technology.
There are also other popular trends, like using augmented reality (AR) to advertise products or using low-code orno-code solutions to build custom tools. So, let’s learn how industries are using the technological advancements of 2023 in software development.
AI-Assisted Programming
Low-code and no-code solutions have been around for years. IDEs also come with autocomplete tools that could be considered a way to streamline coding. But AI-assisted code generation goes beyond simple auto-completion.
Instead of using AI to predict a small chunk of code or using pre-built code blocks, tools like GitHub Copilot, Amazon CodeWhisperer, and Microsoft IntelliCode understand what you’re trying to code and can write it for you. These tools use AI to analyze coding context, including functions, variable names, and types of code, and build several lines of code with the press of a button.
While many developers are still wary of using AI-assisted coding tools, these solutions have been refined and are starting to be adopted by more professionals in the industry. Even if the AI generates a bit of code that is slightly wrong, fixing the faulty code is often faster than writing everything from scratch.
Increased Demand for AR Functionality
Augmented reality has increased in popularity in recent years, especially in the cosmetic, entertainment, and gaming industries. The idea behind the technology is to use cameras, sensors, and even smartphones to create an immersive customer experience.
As a result, augmented reality can help businesses give customers a better idea of their products and services without having to visit a physical store. This technology allows customers to be more involved with your product and give more precise and helpful feedback, improving customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Many companies have already invested in AR and had great success with the technology. For example, Nintendo created Pokemon GO, a mobile game that uses AR as its core system for gameplay. Meanwhile, beauty companies like Sephora implemented AR into their apps, increasing adoption rates with a greater user experience. IKEA also launched IKEA Place, an app that allows users to place furniture around their house with AR for a preview of how it would look.
Sustainable Technology
With AI solutions on the rise, more and more people are becoming skeptical of the long-term effects of fast technological advancement. While the debate about the downsides of technology has been around for years, the quick evolution of AI has reignited discussions about the negative impacts of technology on society, people, education, and work life.
Several organizations are being formed to educate the population about the conscious and ethical use of technology by consumers and software developers. The United States Chamber of Commerce has even been pushing for the regulation of AI technology to ensure competitiveness and minimize potential harm from the commercial use of AI.
For developers, creating sustainable software means creating software that promotes traceability, increases operations efficiency, reduces energy costs, uses renewable energy, and helps customers be more conscious. Software companies will soon be held accountable for the ethical use of their software, and good software development will minimize harm to people and the environment.
Python Grows in Popularity
JavaScript and Java have been the most popular programming languages for years due to their high flexibility, large libraries, helpful communities, and ability to run Java on almost anything. With the increase in popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software and features, a new language is rising to the top as the most used: Python.
While Python is the main language for AI and ML, it’s also one of the languages that pushed DevOps forward with scripting and automation due to its system flexibility. This way, teams can build robust solutions using Python alongside languages like C and C++ to create and compile robust AI libraries.
The community behind Python is heavily focused on building libraries, tools, and tutorials to aid in creating AI and ML solutions. Python is also often the first language many developers learn, making it even more accessible to veteran and junior developers.
Low-Code and No-Code Reduce Development Time
Some developers are also exploring low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions to increase their productivity and reduce the time required to create code.
LCNC uses pre-built blocks of code that can be manipulated using a simple UI to build code efficiently. Because the user interface is often intuitive, these solutions enable anyone to code with nearly zero coding knowledge. Their main advantage is allowing people to convert their software ideas into something tangible.
While these tools are limited in what they can create, they can still generate code that can be adjusted and configured to be used on live projects. This saves valuable developer time that can be spent on more complex systems. Low-code solutions are also better for businesses, making the development process cheaper than other alternatives.
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These are only a few of the many trends still to come in 2023. Many other technologies will still pop up to change and improve software development.
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