Nowadays, software development is constantly developing. While the idea of producing software for the project appears to be a vibrant start, there is a lot to consider. From envisioning, specifying, and designing through programming, documenting, testing, and bug-fixing, the application engages in numerous developing and sustaining activities to ensure the success of the business. IT executives must remain on top of trends as firms undertake digital transformation efforts to keep up with consumer demand and compete for the best talent.

Software development: What trends are flourishing and what trends are fading?
  • Flourishing: Containers 

    The latest trend is containerization. Kubernetes, Podman, and all the other technologies related to containerization are here to stay and evolve. Any software developer needs to learn those technologies if they want to keep up.

    Containerization doesn’t only bring a new way to deploy the application. It’s also a new way to think and plan. While that impact is not yet visible on small open-source projects, bigger projects like Gitlab are embracing containerization and delivering an architecture that is to be deployed on Kubernetes. 

  • Fading: Java

    Java is the main programming language taught in many universities. For a while, it was the only programming language on the market that was cross-compatible without pain. 

    But now, with all the new programming languages on the market like Go, Rust, Ruby, and Python, Java’s best years are in the past. In the open-source community, Java was never the language of choice for developers. But in businesses, Java was/is the language of choice. It probably gonna take time to fade away, but it’s inevitable. Java consists of verbosity and sloppiness. 

  • Flourishing: Low-code development 

    Low-code development is growing. Since the start of the pandemic, IT leaders have been accelerating their digital transformation programs. The next level of transformation is about enabling the business units to streamline their own workflows and add new functionality on their own. And that’s where low-code development comes in. 

    The term ‘low-code’ is still somewhat new, but the idea has been around for a long time. Since then, every business unit has created some level of automation or process streamlining through spreadsheets, whether it was building budgets, reporting trends, or data entry, spreadsheets have long been the go-to low-code technology. 

  • Fading: Software engineering seen as a cost center

    As a trend, organizations that had viewed software engineers as cost centers are now rightfully viewing their engineers as innovators. Software engineering and business goals align more seamlessly than ever before. Organizational structures, team dynamics, technology stacks, and paths toward expertise now similarly align to support engineers as they better their craft. On a cultural level, engineers are granted the latitude necessary to engage in trial and error, make mistakes, and ultimately succeed in introducing valuable software innovation.

  • Flourishing: Software engineering seen as an innovation center 

    In the same vein, organizations are increasingly keen to support engineers in their desire to learn new skill sets. This trend is giving rise to the Spotify Model, in which engineers can shift roles and autonomously engage with and learn from tribes and guilds across their networks and industries. 

    Organizations with strong platform engineering cultures allow for development resources to regularly change teams, without the need to stress over replenishing those teams focused on deployment or building technologies. At the platform level, organizations are also now hyper-focused on reducing technical debt, especially around non-functional areas. Examples include security with the DevOps movement and scaling/robustness with Site Reliability Engineering expertise – each of which allows developers to focus on feature development and not potential technical debt.

  • Flourishing: Increase in cloud computing 

    During the pandemic, most companies shifted their focus to expanding remote work capabilities, which prompted the rapid acceleration of cloud computing. Though things are returning to normal, organizations still trust the cloud to be upscale or downscale as per their current business requirements. The demand for cloud-native technology is increasing as it allows you to construct, design, and operate workloads directly developed through the cloud. 

    Businesses are looking forward to cloud transformation leveraging agility and better speed extending with built-in scalability in a model work environment.

  • Flourishing: AI adoption accelerates 

    The revenue from the global artificial intelligence market is expected to see rapid growth in the coming year, reaching more than half a trillion US dollars by 2023. Some forms of AI and machine learning are used in nearly every industry, from real estate to production and manufacturing. Another industry in which AI is poised to make the most significant impact in healthcare. Currently, it is seen that in the business world, AI software is making an impact through Robotic Process Automation (RPA). For instance, businesses use RPA for data entry, mass emails, payroll, lead nurturing, financial planning, and compliance. SMEs, large enterprises, and government agencies will use various software segments like AI applications, AI platforms, and AI system infrastructure to enhance operations agility.

  • Flourishing: Continued expansion of IoT 

    IoT debuted as a much-hyped futuristic technology that has become a reality impacting different sectors. From smart appliances to phones, cars, and security systems, IoT is mainstream. This trend will expand more in 2023, and organizations will focus on IoT developments at a rapid scale and leverage the trend to grow their organization. 

    The proliferation of devices has fueled the growth of IoT. Thanks to the new sensors, more computing power, and reliable mobile connectivity, it will continue to become cheaper, secure, and widely available. Furthermore, IoT will be used with data analytics software and artificial intelligence to help businesses improve processes, reduce overheads, boost productivity, and generate higher revenue. 

  • Flourishing: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) adoption 

    Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a process that allows the management and provisioning of computer data centers with the help of machine-readable definition files. It codifies IT infrastructure in software rather than in hardware configuration tools. The development team can automatically manage and monitor through software code rather than manually configure devices one by one.
      
  • Flourishing: Global recognition of microservices 

    Microservices in another technology trend changing the software industry. It is a distinct approach to software development that focuses on creating single-function modules with well-defined operations and interfaces. Recent cloud and container developments led software development companies to consider microservices a leading form of architecture.

    Instead of building one best service, developers break the functionality into manageable sectors. The software consists of microservices, where each performs a single function impeccably. One of the best advantages of microservices architecture is if a single microservice goes down, the entire application will not be affected. In 2023, the trend will become more agile and will gain global recognition. 

 

Conclusion

The IT market will continue to grow and will be highly influenced by the above trends in the upcoming year. In 2023, organizations’ primary focus will be on automation at all business levels. Most organizations are investing in emerging technology trends and expecting a significant return on investments. However, these technologies come up with challenges, and a better step will be connecting with reputed Software Development companies to know the current market in real time and deploy efficient products with the right technology implementation.