Top Software Development Trends 2023

The software industry is growing incredibly fast, and the ever-changing technological advancements are the primary reason. Organizations around the globe are increasing their tech budget every year. Adapting newer technologies helps a business stay ahead of the competition.

Let’s Highlight Some Software Development Trends of 2023

Cloud Computing

The world of software development has seen changes in how information is stored, communicated, and exchanged. Cloud computing is not a new trend and offers modern organizations a range of benefits like improved scalability, cost savings, and more. 

This technology minimizes the need to buy and maintain expensive IT infrastructure. It is categorized into three categories: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, and each of these cloud computing types is accessible in pay-as-you-go models.

Cloud computing led to the rise of serverless computing and more adaptations of AI and ML algorithms. All these changes bring more flexibility, scalability, automation, and collaboration into software development projects. 

Low-Code and No-Code Development

Low code offers intuitive graphic tools, but there is still a need to write some code. On the other hand, no-code is an extension of low-code, offering all the low-code functionalities without needing to write even a single line of code.
Some of the best low-code and no-code platforms to develop software are listed below.

For Low-Code Development

• Zoho Creators
• Appian
• Visual LANSA
• GeneXus

For No-Code Development

• Salesforce Platform
• Glide
• Airtable
• Quickbase

Progressive Web Applications

One can decide whether to create a web or a native application. Web applications offer easy usage as one does not have to install anything to start with them. Such applications have a wider reach as compared to the native applications. Web applications are multi-platform.

Native applications, on the other hand, offer features such as easy access over different devices, faster loading, and multiple hardware compatibilities. Progressive web applications were created to provide the user with the best of both worlds. These applications are built and live on the web (cloud). 

Progressive web applications have features like push notifications and are installable on one’s device. These applications are highly reliable (compared to others that may take time to download pages). The user interactions are fast and pretty engaging.

Artificial Intelligence

AI transforms applications by taking over mundane tasks and performing them precisely. This technology can easily comprehend natural language, recognize images, and make accurate predictions so the business can make better decisions. 

One of the significant advantages of artificial intelligence is the ability to generate code automatically. This has allowed organizations to reduce the gap between experienced and inexperienced developers while making the software development process more efficient. 

Some other trends associated with this technology concerning software development are mentioned below.

• Improved code quality- AI helps identify potential issues at the early stages of development
• The inclusion of NLP (natural language processing) is essential for developing chatboxes and virtual assistants. 
• The automated bug-fixing mechanism is offered with AI-powered software development. It allows developers to save time in identifying and resolving issues manually.

DevSecOps

As the name symbolizes, DevSecOps is a trend that combines development, security, and operations to upgrade the software development process. It does so by introducing security practices at the beginning of the application development or the SDLC. The practice is tricky to establish and requires cultural changes within the organization, but it renders several benefits. Some of the advantages of employing this trend are listed below.

• Better collaboration between the different teams (development, security, and operations)
• Automation for faster security checks and compliance.
• Establishment of security as code (SaC), allowing easier management and tracking of issues.
• The DevSecOps practice helps in building a uniform security foundation as its automation process helps in integrating security functions in the entirety of the software.
• It becomes easier to scan all the environments and identify their flaws (as different issues may behave differently in other domains).
• There is an auto-verification check feature that can be implemented with DevSecOps practice. It helps maintain code’s accuracy without compromising speedy development.
• The development phase comprising this practice ensures secure coding practices which eventually minimize the security risks.
• Training to foster a security-first mindset and advance container security and threat modeling.

Rising New Languages

As the world shifts to the internet (online), the need to program different programs/ applications increases. Currently, several languages can be taken up based on projects one wants to create.

The complexity and simplicity of the programming languages are also considered before selecting one. Some languages that have gained popularity over the last few years are listed below, and global stats prove the same.

• Rust offers an ownership system and borrowing rules, improving a project's memory safety and concurrency. This language is continuously evolving to deliver better results and offers robust security.
• TypeScript is an extension of JavaScript offering advanced features and functionalities. One benefit of using this programming language is better tooling and IDE support, improved readability and maintainability, backward compatibility with JavaScript, and more.
• Go(Golang) is an open-source programming language that has gained much popularity in software development. The tech giant Google developed it and offers several advantages to developers around the globe. Some benefits include concurrency support, a robust and standard library, and static typing.

Cyber Security

The Internet has grown significantly over the past years, as has cybercrime. Protecting data, networks, and devices from malicious attacks has become essential. Ignoring this aspect in software development can cost the business its reputation. Allowing only authorized people and organizations access to respective data is one of the most significant advantages of establishing cyber security. One can review the listed considerations to build better cybersecurity in any application.

• Using secure coding practices so the code is not easily penetrable.
• Conducting regular security assessments like code reviews and continuously monitoring the code helps find flaws at earlier stages.
• Overseeing patch management is also essential, which involves identifying, acquiring, testing, and deploying software updates.

Kubernetes Container Orchestration

Containers offer isolation, greater efficiency, scalability, and easy versioning and rollbacks. Kubernetes, aka K8, has become crucial to developing modern applications as it provides automated deployment, supports deployment across multiple nodes in a cluster, and more. Some other benefits of container orchestration in software development are highlighted below.

• It allows developers to manage the application configuration independently of the application code.
• Managing sensitive information effectively becomes simplified.
• K8 integrates easily with monitoring and logging tools and more.

Rising IoT Devices

According to Statista, the demand for IoT devices has increased in the past few years and will continue to grow. In software development, IoT plays a vital role as it helps in creating an interconnected device network. This network may include mobile phones, smart watches, sensors, etc., simplifying data exchange. The pointers below are other ways IoTs help developers in software development.

• Data collection and analysis have become simplified.
• Connectivity and interoperability are promoted.
• Real-time monitoring and control are established.
• Integration with IoT capabilities improves user experience.
• Coupling with Artificial intelligence, it offers automation.

Increasing Use of Python

Python has been one of the top choices for software for decades now. Its usage grows yearly because of the perfection it brings to different projects. It is simple compared to other programming languages, and the case discussed below sheds some light on it. Some other reasons that contribute to its increasing popularity are mentioned below.

• The provision of clean and straightforward syntax allows the software engineers to read and maintain the code easily.
• It is versatile and can be used to build AI, analyze data, web application development and more.
• It is widely used in cloud computing, automation tools, and other areas as it offers rapid prototyping.

Conclusion

The year 2023 is witnessing many software development trends adopted by businesses around the globe. These are a few uses of AI to create applications, an adaptation of predictive analytics, and big data (trends). Tools offering these trendy solutions are out on the market, making the future of software development pretty bright. Following up with the latest innovations helps the organization grow better and helps the developers succeed. However, developers still need to execute the project efficiently, which can be done using strategic management. Since dealing with complex situations requires skill, having a good software development team is even more essential.