Latest Trends in Web Development at the Moment
Today, the web has been getting more and more ingrained in our daily lives. People are using it for everything, from banking, to shopping, to entertainment, to reading news. So, the demand for web development talent is as high as ever.
Here’s our list of the main players that we think will reshape the tech landscape in web development:
Virtual Reality
When discussing the future of technology, virtual reality or VR is another topic that always seems to surface. Virtual Reality has already started to sweep the gaming industry today. The Vive and the Oculus Rift bring new and interesting possibilities to the world of gaming, but it won’t stop here.
Companies including Mozilla and Google have begun work on APIs to help VR technology transition to the web. As standards develop, we expect more applications to be developed using Virtual Reality technologies.
Near future, we’ll see virtual reality in various applications, ranging from news coverage, education, to virtual real estate tours.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a movement where typically non-internet connected objects are given network connectivity in order to receive and send the data. These objects can range from a kettle to toaster, to sensors on motors or sensors embedded in concrete to detect weaknesses and damages.
Web developers may not be directly involved in this process. However, its likely developers will be involved in the development of apps that use, analyze and display the devices’ data. Tech organizations such as Bug Labs and Xively have already started working on APIs that can be used by the developers to communicate with IoT devices.
Though the Internet of Things (IoT)brings a lot of opportunity for innovation,some concerns have been raised, specifically around security. No doubt it will be challenging for the developers to help to protect our fittings and furnishings from the hackers.
Rails 5
The newest version Rails 5 was released in June 2016. The Rails 5 is still young and we expect its popularity to grow as it continues to mature into 2019–20. The newest release Rails 5 came with some interesting additions that web developers should get excited about:
- Turbolinks 5
- ActionCable
Artificial Intelligence
Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is always high on the agenda and we think it is actually justified. A lot of advances have been made in the field of Artificial Intelligence in the last few years.
Some of the biggest tech organizations, such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, have been releasing their AI technology to be used by the public. AI is already used by large applications, either to improve the search engine like in Google’s case or in Wikipedia’s case to identify damaged or inaccurate articles.
With easier access to the necessary tools for Artificial Intelligence development, we can expect AI developers to start using AI in new and different ways in the future.
Web Design Evolution
Web design styles have changed with remarkable pace. The first website contained only text with hyperlinks that explained what the web was, how to use it, and basic set-up instructions. From those days to the present, web designing has taken a winding and long journey.
If you are interested in web designing, here are a few trends to watch out for the coming year:
- Movement-based interfaces will probably become a staple on the web in the near future. Probably when combined with libraries (such as tracking.js), interfaces that respond to hand movements could be closer than we think.
- Bolder and larger typography.
- People often want engaging ways to get their information quickly. This will likely elicit a rise in the use of images, videos, and other storytelling visuals.
Yarn Package Manager
Yarn package manager is an incredibly popular tool, specifically in the front-end JavaScript communities. Yarn makes it easier for the developers to install, update, configure, and uninstall code modules within their applications only. They do so by communicating with a registry of code modules and manage various dependencies code modules usually have.
The most popular JavaScript package managers are Bower and NPM. However, a new package manager has been developed by Facebook, in collaboration with Exponent, Google, and Tilde. We expect its popularity to grow in the coming years.
Yarn aims to address issues Facebook have experienced with the NPM, particularly in areas such as security, performance,and consistency. Yarn package manager still has access to the Bower and NPM registries.
Angular 2
Angular 2 was also released in 2016, and it came with a lot of changes — Google’s front-end JavaScript framework has been completely redesigned.
It now takes the advantages of JavaScript ES6’s features, applications are written in TypeScript and now moved towards a more component driven architecture.
Angular now has a regular and more defined release schedule. They intend to release three minor updates and one major update every 6 months, which means that we’re sure to see a lot more changes in this widely popular framework.
Conclusion
The web is indeed an interesting place, where nothing stands stagnant for too long. Information is always changing and the techniques we use to deal with that information will always evolve along with it.
Coming years is likely to bring some very interesting developments in web technologies, and we are looking forward to seeing what it holds in store for us!
What do you think will be the biggest game changers in the near future? If we’ve missed anything important, let us know in the comments below.
