Tips to Find and Hire a Dedicated Software Team
The success of any business project is inextricably linked to the work of a technical team. Depending on the scale of the project, ego goals and features, and financial opportunities, a company chooses the most convenient model of interaction with an IT contractor. Recently, companies are increasingly resorting to implementing a particular group of developers in their structures through outsourcing.
What is a dedicated development team?
Recently, companies are increasingly using a particular group of developers in their structures through outsourcing.
There are many models of interaction, among them we can distinguish: fixed cost, time and materials, fixed time and budget … But among all the Dedicated Team model is significantly different.
A dedicated team is formed based on the customer’s aims, wishes, and requirements. This model is suitable for developing large, long-term projects where conditions change frequently. It is pretty flexible regarding the scope of work and tasks, costs and resources, and the development team.
There are two aspects to forming a dedicated team. In the first case, the team is a separate full-service group, which includes all the necessary employees, such as the project manager, designer, etc. In another case, the customer may hire a dedicated team to expand his own; this strengthens his team with several external experts.
The client in this pattern has more control than in other models. Clients can interact with the team and track daily activities and overall project progress. This helps both parties to be on the same wavelength and adapt to the circumstances.
The structure of this model is easier to explain through the following steps:
The customer must have an idea of what exactly he wants. He must determine the number of employees required for his project and the technical skills they need.
The contractor hires or organizes a special team that meets the project’s requirements. The team, together with the customer, agrees on the workload and conditions of the project for a specified amount of time.
Specialists start work during their usual working hours.
The customer has complete management control over the project and the team, while the team is focused on delivering the best results.
Pros of a dedicated team
Economic expediency
One of the main benefits of the dedicated team model is cost savings. It’s cheaper to hire a dedicated team than to assemble a team yourself.
The fact is that assembling a team can be a time-consuming process. It is necessary to consider numerous candidates, their pros and cons, various professional skills, and a familiar role in the entire work process.
The dedicated team model is a viable solution because the team usually already exists and is set up for a specific project type. Removing the organizational part gives you much more time to focus on the project and save money for other essential processes such as technology research and business analysis.
Purposefulness and adaptability
One of the most significant benefits of the dedicated team model is the focused approach. A team without unnecessary distractions is at your disposal. Increased immersion in the project allows you to put additional emphasis on some things, which, in turn, generates much more diverse and extraordinary ideas about possible solutions.
Greater focus is also followed by significantly increased adaptability. The dedicated team model can be reconfigured at each project stage according to current needs and requirements.
This is influenced by numerous factors: the use of technology, market performance, budgetary constraints, etc. All of them require a timely response. This issue is greatly simplified due to more comprehensive development control.
While this is common in any agile process, in the case of a dedicated team, this fact is more nuanced due to more opportunities to test different options and select the best options.
The proposed team is 100% focused on a single project, which helps them stay focused on the task and deliver the best results for the client within a single project.
Full control
The client controls dedicated team members’ selection, motivation, and management.
Fast development cycle
Speed is another significant improvement over other interaction models. Due to the more hands-on approach on the part of the client and the focused development team, the whole process can proceed at a faster pace than using the Time & Materials collaboration model (where everything is strictly planned) or the extended team model (where it is necessary to coordinate actions between parts of the team).
In addition, implementing a DevOps approach will simplify the workflow and automate most of the routine operations, giving you more time to work out its essence.
Given these benefits, the project can be adjusted to suit the situation without slowing down the process. The dedicated team model is great for projects that require constant evolution of requirements in line with the market performance or technological advances.
Close cooperation
One of the biggest problems with long-term projects is narrowing the scope. The more a person is immersed in the process, the less he is aware of the overall picture of the whole process.
With the dedicated team model, collaboration is promoted not only within the development team but also between the client and the team. This helps make long-term planning more efficient. Team members also put more effort into the project, which helps improve workflows, brainstorm solutions, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the process.
Great things are born in close cooperation between the client and the development team. Working with a dedicated team, you have complete control over the project through daily communication and management through web-based tools such as Basecamp, JIRA, Skype, and more.
The team and the client constantly think about the best ways to solve problems and challenges. To get visible results and work more efficiently, brainstorming sessions between the development team and the owner are held jointly.
Continuous Integration
To succeed, the project must constantly evolve: add new features and improve existing ones. This is especially important, for example, for B2C e-commerce platforms, where UX is one of the critical factors and generates conversions.
The dedicated team model is very effective for projects that require growth and development over time.
Another necessary process is product optimization. Due to the evolving technology, such a requirement is vital to the maintenance and development of the product.
Cons of a dedicated team
While there are many benefits, using the dedicated development team model has little impact on short-term projects. While this statement is true to some extent for any software development, this model is especially effective only when applied to long-term projects. When the project is short-term, it will be better to use a different development outsourcing model.
There is no perfect strategy for attracting performers, so working with a dedicated team has drawbacks. Unlike traditional outsourcing, the customer takes on the part of the project risks here. For example, it is the client’s responsibility to take care of knowledge transfer in advance and allocate resources to maintain project documentation to reduce dependence on the supplier. It is also the customer’s concern to ensure that the team is fully loaded since downtime is billed.
Who is on the dedicated software team
Project manager
This is an administrator who can build effective communication between the customer and the team of programmers. The main load of the project manager is at the start of the development stage, during the preparation of the terms of reference and prototyping of the digital solution. After that, administrative functions can be transferred to the lead developer – the team leader, and the project manager will switch to other tasks.
TeamLead
Lead developer. This is also a specialist responsible for administrative work; his main area of responsibility is not external communication but the management of a team of developers. In most digital projects with simple logic and architecture, the team leader and the project manager are one.
Back end
The developer is responsible for writing the program code and creating the server side of the software. He is fully involved in the project from the stage of drafting the terms of reference to the final release.
Front end
Developer – the second key developer responsible for creating custom parts of digital services. His workload in the programming team is also 100%.
Mobile programmer
A 100% load is involved in cases where a digital solution needs to be adapted to iOS and Android mobile operating systems.
Designer
Unlike programmers, he is not a developer, but in any case, he is part of the development team. His task is to create a user and functional graphical interface design in the early stages of project development. The load of the designer usually does not exceed 50% of the time allocated for the entire project.
QA
This is also a part-time specialist connected to test a digital service’s quality in the second half of the software development cycle.
Marketer
It is not directly responsible for creating a digital service, but many customers engage an IT marketing specialist to promote a new service.
Copywriter (technical writer)
He is responsible for filling the project with content and preparing technical documentation, for example, in the form of software manuals. Like a marketer, this specialist is not included in the development team, but his project load can range from 50% to 100% of the total development cycle time.
System Administrator (DevOps)
Leads several projects at once and is a member of many development teams. He must ensure security, data backup, and uninterrupted operation of servers.
Tips for successful hiring a software development team
Save your expectations
Be sure of your expectations when looking for a good software development team. This is important in helping you choose the right team to work with you to achieve your goals.
- Understand your business needs and discuss your goals with your team members.
- Identify significant issues (if any) in the current software development process.
- Find a team to help you solve problems.
- Create a plan that will lead to business success.
Find out what services you need
Before looking for a team, decide if you want to outsource or hire the team.
When you outsource a team, you give them the entire project.
On the other hand, if you move out of state, you hire a contractor to do your intended work.
If you want to outsource your business, determine which types of outsourcing are suitable for your needs—outsourcing types: onshore, offshore, onshore and hybrid. Depending on your budget and conditions, you can choose one of these models to keep your team locally or abroad.
Check outsourcing country
This is an essential factor to consider when outsourcing your software development team. When outsourcing software development services, consider IT market trends and costs.
Team experience
When looking for a software development team, you must consider their experience.
- See a portfolio of all possible options and rank them based on their experience and reliability.
- Check if they’ve worked on a similar project before.
- Find out if the team has completed challenging projects and how successful they have been on previous projects.
All this will help you find the right developer for your business.
Field of knowledge
Software development is like a complex system made up of different bodies. Web Development, Data Science, Mobile Development, Application Development, Backend Development, API Development, Software Appliance Development, Security Software Development, Embedded Systems Development, etc.
Every developer has a skill set that sets them apart. When choosing a software developer, focus on their skills and knowledge. Assess your needs and see if the developer has the skills you need. Do your homework, find out what technologies your software uses, and find developers who understand those technologies.
Team Skills
Some organizations are involved in large, long-term projects, while others work on several smaller projects. A thorough assessment of your expertise, knowledge, and experience is enough to unlock the potential of the software developer. That way, you can determine if your potential contractor has enough experience to carry out a large project.
Your budget one of the most important factors to consider when hiring a software development team is budget. The perfect deal is when your return exceeds your investment. Review offers from potential customers and makes a list of offers that fit your budget. Don’t be discouraged by cheap offers; they usually don’t provide expert service.
Don’t forget to check for hidden costs as well. Some software development agencies charge more for document management, maintenance, etc., which they shouldn’t.
Financial stability
Most companies ignore this aspect, but a software developer’s financial stability is essential. You should take the blame if your prospect goes bankrupt in the middle of your project. This not only affects the company’s finances but also hinders the company’s growth.
Customer-supplier relationship
To support and succeed in a long-term project, you need a team that understands you. Your development partner must understand project expectations, assess potential issues, and know when to say no.
After-sales service
Saying goodbye to developers after the project is over is not a brilliant idea, as all software requires regular maintenance. Even a tiny app needs the care to keep it up to date. Consider after-sales service from a software development team before you hire them.
Where to search for the dedicated software team
The search for candidates is a systematic work that is performed not only by recruiters but also by specialists who are close to the production process. CTOs and team leaders form teams for themselves and are interested in getting high-quality specialists. Of course, CTOs and team lead rarely look for specialists on job sites, but they can post ads about the search for specialists on their pages in social networks and specialized groups. But where to find a dedicated software team?
- Job sites – these are classic places; all know about them.
- Professional social networks – like LinkedIn, where you can find the right professional for a given project.
- Specialized sites for developers – like GitHub, a platform where developers post their projects, or StackOverFlow, a place to share experiences.
- Social networks are popular places where you can sometimes find just the right software developer. Social networks are also platforms for advertising. Targeting and content promotion gives you additional chances to be noticed.
Conclusion
The dedicated command is formed based on the customer’s goals, wishes, and requirements. This model is excellent for developing large, long-term projects where conditions often change. It is flexible regarding the volume of work and tasks, costs and resources, and the development team.
Is Blockchain Secure?
Blockchain is a way to record and store digital information so that it cannot be faked, deleted, or changed without drawing attention. The blockchain consists of a chain of blocks containing information, with each subsequent block linked to the previous one. If you replace or remove at least one of them, the entire chain will collapse. Blockchain is an eternal digital distributed ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record financial transactions as a cryptocurrency and practically everything that has value (property rights, cars, notarial deeds, contracts, etc.).
Blockchain is an open and censorship-resistant database model protected by encryption and decentralization. Blockchain writes information in blocks to a shared ledger, keeping a synchronized copy of it in all systems participating in the network, thereby ensuring its immutability. Despite this exist some risks and threats to avoid.
Some of the blockchain threats and risks
Any new technologies always bring benefits to civilizations and contain unknown risks, including risks related to information security.
Phishing
According to a study by Trend Micro, exploiting human weaknesses has become the main focus of modern cyberattacks. The popularity of phishing among cybercriminals is due to its high efficiency and relatively low cost. The main task when creating a fraudulent letter or website is to convince the potential victim of the legitimacy of what is happening because only in this case will she readily do what the attacker wants.
There are several ways to verify the authenticity of a letter. For example, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange offers its users to add a unique anti-phishing code to letters from the business as a solution. A fair question arises: why does a crypto exchange not use blockchain-based keys to provide security, preferring a primitive secret code that is relatively easy to fake? There is, in particular, a wide range of blockchain-based security solutions that use a distributed ledger to distinguish phishing URLs from safe ones.
Thus, we can conclude that, despite the availability of blockchain-based anti-phishing solutions, they have not yet received wide distribution due to the lack of apparent advantages.
Attack 51% and Double-spending
The essence of attacks is that an attacker, controlling more than fifty percent of the confirming resources of the blockchain network, can print his chain of blocks, which overtakes the main chain of the blockchain and, as a result, becomes the main one. At the same time, he quickly and unimpededly canceled part of the transactions made in their rejected blocks. For example, money transfer transactions. Thus, it is theoretically possible to reverse the transaction retroactively.
At the core, mining is similar to sifting through lottery tickets, with a varying probability of winning. So for a successful attack, you can even have less than 51 percent power. The likelihood of success, in this case, will fall, but the criminal may hope that he will succeed.
Similar conditions allow the attacker to carry out another attack known as «Double-spending»: to spend more money than he has. For this, he creates several transactions using the same coins. In theory, the network considers extra transactions incorrect and rejects them: miners do not include them in a block.
However, if an attacker can place a block, he can include double-spending information in it himself. In this case, honest miners fork the blockchain and start building a valid parallel branch, ignoring the attacker’s block. If the latter has 51% of computing power at his disposal, he can influence consensus and build his chain with “incorrect” transactions, which will be considered “true.”
DDoS
DDoS — another type of hacker attack, the idea of sending a large number of similar requests. Bitcoin has built-in protection against denial-of-service attacks. For example, the block size is limited to 1 MB to complicate the clogging of memory pools of full nodes, and the size of each script does not exceed 10 thousand bytes. A limited number of signature checks also require a block (20 thousand) and several multi-signatures (20 keys maximum).
At the same time, Bitcoin clients block all suspicious nodes and transactions. For example, in the client’s last version, Bitcoin Satoshi added a function to register non-standard transactions (more than 100 kilobytes). Also, when processing transactions, the client checks that all exits are “not spent.”
Cracking cryptographies
It is believed that quantum computers will surpass classical systems in terms of power in the future. But, as John Martinis, an expert on quantum computing at Google, says, humanity will need another ten years to create such a computer. However, this fact still causes concern in the crypto community.
The productivity of quantum systems in a specific range of tasks is higher than that of classical computers. For example, a D-Wave system using the quantum annealing method is 100 million times faster than conventional computers.
One of the tasks that must be considered in this regard is the problem of factorization. Quantum algorithms, for example, Shor’s algorithm, in theory, will be able to break RSA encryption and, as a consequence, digital signatures used in Bitcoin networks.
Therefore, the development of solutions is already underway today, the purpose of which is to help crypto projects withstand the pressure of quantum machines.
Sibyl Attacks
The attack got its name in honor of the clinical case describing a woman with a dissociative personality disorder. By analogy with this case, a Sibyl attack implies a situation where one node in a network acquires several entities.
A hacker can try to fill the network with nodes controlled by him, and other users will be able to connect only to blocks created for fraud. For example, the attacker blocks transactions from other users by disconnecting you from the public network. After that, the attacker connects you only to the blocks he creates in a separate network. As a result, transactions will appear that will send money again (double-spending).
System time lag
This attack scenario is such that hackers attack a network with subscribers to a blockchain product, such as Bitcoin. By creating a significant computational load on the system, they slow down time within the network, complicating the transmission of data, and messages between end users, updating information in networks, forming blocks, chain, and their fixation by transaction participants.
Transaction vulnerability
Even though transactions in Bitcoin are signed, this signature does not cover all the information that is hashed to obtain the transaction hash. It is possible to change transaction parameters so that the hash changes, but the signature remains the same.
Based on this, an attack can be organized when withdrawing funds with third-party services. In the initial transaction, the identifier is replaced, and the money reaches the addressee, but he informs the service’s technical support that the initial transaction did not arrive. As a result, the service can resend funds.
There is another variant of this attack called «flexibility of transactions.» The essence of attacks is that the attacker changes the unique identifier of bitcoin transactions to its confirmation in Bitcoin networks. In such a change and compliance with the necessary conditions, the user can see that a transaction has not been completed.
Code errors
Bugs can lead to instabilities in security systems. For example, in a node, information must be updated for a short period. If this did not happen due to a bug, the necessary information did not appear in the chain; incorrect data began to spread over networks, etc. All this can cause the network to stop working for several hours.
Key Blockchain Security Factors
Blockchains are built so that their security provides various desirable features that help protect transaction data. Here are some of the blockchain features that help it achieve a high level of protection:
Decentralization
Decentralization — the degree of distribution of decision-making, influence, and control over a network of computers — is a critical player in blockchain security technology. Due to the decentralized nature of blockchains, there is no need for any centralized or traditional infrastructure management, making fraudulent activities difficult. Everyone has access to blockchain information, and all users have access to the blockchain registry. Both private individuals and corporate businesses use blockchain to track transaction records.
Immutability
All transactions in the blockchain registry are immutable, cryptographically signed, and time-stamped. After a transaction has been verified, the object becomes impossible to manipulate data in networks, which gives the blockchain a high degree of data integrity and increases the trust and reliability of the technology.
The main problem of immutability is that it does not allow human error. Any transaction made to an incorrect address becomes irreversible. Cryptography uses both a public key and a private key. The public key is a wallet address accessible to everyone, while the private key is stored securely and should never be lost. All information sent to the public key is encrypted and can only be decrypted with the private key. In addition, you cannot detect or recognize the user’s private key from the open key, which increases the security of the blockchain.
Digital signatures
Digital signatures are based on cryptography and are very important to the blockchain. They cannot be faked and are encrypted using the user’s private key. For example, whenever a transaction is initiated, it is hashed using hash functions and encrypted using the sender’s private key. Consequently, it creates a digital signature. The critical feature helps prevent fraud when managing records on the blockchain.
The consensus algorithm
Blockchain uses a consensus mechanism to determine how the next block of transactions will be verified and added. Consensus algorithms are rules that participants must follow to guarantee the authenticity of network transactions. They also affect the amount of use.
The main types of consensus mechanisms are «Proof of Work (PoW)» and «Proof of Stake (PoS).»
- PoW — Proof of Work: Bitcoin, one of the major cryptocurrencies, uses the Proof-of-work consensus algorithm. Miners verify transactions and computational puzzles, and whichever miner solves the puzzle first adds a block of transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain. In addition, the first miner will receive an amount of digital currency embedded in the blockchain protocol. One of the advantages of using the proof-of-work algorithm is that it is difficult to crack, except that an attacker in the network will receive 51% of the total mining capacity. The greater the number of miners competing in networks, the greater the full mining power and thus the security of the blockchain.
- PoS — Proof of Stake: Using the Proof-of-Stake algorithm mechanism, instead of each miner using energy to solve a block problem, cryptocurrencies like Solana and Cardano use algorithms to verify transactions and create a validator chosen by algorithms for the following block to receive stake rewards. The more your stake in cryptocurrencies, the more likely you are to confirm the next block. The primary purpose of the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm is to solve the problem of 51% attacks. The main disadvantage of using the PoS consensus is that the participant with the largest share of cryptocurrency gets more.
The Future: Interoperability – Key to a Cross-Chain World
Since blockchain technology is developing in many new sectors (such as GameFi, NFT, DeFi, etc.), solutions for functional interactions (for example, bridges between chains) are quickly becoming the subject of the blockchain landscape. Many new projects are working on creating reliable, interoperable solutions for optimal communication between disparate blockchain networks. For example, users will be able to exchange an asset on one chain for another purchase on a separate chain and take assets on one chain by placing tokens or NFTs as collateral on another chain.
Smart Contracts Security Issues
Smart contracts are agreements between two or more parties written as computer code on a blockchain, making them immutable and tamper-proof for all parties. Smart contracts are automatically implemented by the blockchain when predetermined conditions are met, making trustless agreements possible without intermediaries.
Intelligent contract algorithms make blockchain-based services accessible to companies that do not have the funds to invest in years of research and development for their blockchain network. DeFi platforms such as Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche allow companies to create intelligent contracts directly on their blockchain and benefit from their immutability. Smart contracts are versatile tools with many applications.
Although highly secure, intelligent contracts face some problems in this sphere. We conditionally divide these problems into the following types:
- Problems in the smart contract code – They can be problems in the code logic, bad architecture, and low code quality. Problems in the code directly lead to attacks and loss of funds. The good news is that issues in the code can be identified during the audit process and fixed. Understanding where they come from is essential to avoid them in the future.
- Problems in the development process – Problems in the code are primarily due to an incorrectly built development process. The youth of the intelligent contract field, the disproportionate amount of money, and the hype mean that people neglect standard procedures for one reason, which often leads to severe problems. Most Ethereum smart contracts are written without a technical specification. Concise terms are allocated for development. Many people come to the area, including those with no programming background, which leads to a low level of developers of smart contracts. Even with experience, developers are often not deeply immersed in the topic and do not understand the specifics of smart contracts. People who write smart contracts are few, which forms high development costs.
- Problems with the Solidity language – Initially, it was created so a large number of people could quickly master it than to make it convenient to write secure smart contracts. This is a prerequisite for security issues.
- Problems in the concept – Many people do not understand well enough why smart contracts are needed, what they can, what they cannot, and how they work. This leads to poorly written innovative agreements or no warranties – it allows unilateral changes; one party can already change a contract after its signature.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology was created, in part, to allow people who do not trust each other to share valuable data safely and securely. This is because the blockchain stores data using complex mathematical and innovative software rules that are extremely difficult to overcome through a hacker attack for subsequent manipulation.
But blockchain security — even the most advanced systems — can fail in places where fancy math and programming rules come into contact with people who are skilled cheaters. On the other hand, blockchain developers are developing new protection technologies.
Common Web Development Challenges and Solutions
It is well known that web development has been the favorite subject for computer geeks worldwide in this century. But daily growth and new techniques have made it even more amazing to explore and experiment with. In this article, we will write about contemporary web development challenges and their solutions.
What is web development?
Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from the development of a simple single static page with plain text to complex web-based internet applications (web applications), e-businesses, and social networking services. A more comprehensive list of tasks that web development generally refers to may include web engineering, web design, web content development, customer liaison, client/server-side scripting, configuring a web server, and network security and development of e-commerce.
This represents only one stage of the business vision that leads to a functional website that casual visitors can visit. Acquiring a developed website does not automatically lead to fulfilling the set goals (e.g., selling products or services and earning money).
What are the new challenges in web development?
Using WebAssembly Technology
In web development, most applications are written using JavaScript. However, if the portal has extensive and full-weight calculations, this affects the work speed. Stutters lead to a poor user experience and prevent the project from moving forward.
WebAssembly is used to solve this issue. This technology makes it possible to write code using any programming language. It compiles to bytecode, which is subsequently run using the browser.
Wasm code (passed through WebAssembly) takes up much less space than JavaScript and loads much faster. It can also be split into parts/modules to be loaded as needed. To execute JavaScript code, it must first be parsed and compiled into machine code that the browser understands – this takes time. With Wasm, there is no such need for the browser. Studies say that Wasm is 30% faster than JavaScript in terms of compilation speed.
Using WebAssembly technology allows you to get several undeniable advantages:
- freedom of choice of language for programming;
- exclusion of the use of equipment of a particular type;
- speed of code entry;
- a high level of application or portal security.
Thanks to WebAssembly, we will get an increased speed of computation-heavy applications and an improved overall user experience.
Working with serverless architecture
The serverless architecture uses cloud environments: that is, the server is still there, but it does not belong to the owner of the site or application but is used by someone else upon request. As soon as a trigger event occurs, the serverless functionality is launched – operations are performed in the desired sequence (their set depends on the users’ actions). Then the serverless platform works out many ready-made algorithms and rules, makes the necessary calculations, and gives the result. After that, the functionality collapses and waits for a new request. Serverless architecture is especially relevant when you need to optimize the cost of resources and development time.
The “serverless” approach implies two types of architecture:
- BaaS (backend as a service) – applications in which most of the server part is stored in the cloud. Standard functionality in this model is usually provided in the form of SDK or API gateways, and all the necessary actions are performed in the cloud. At the same time, the responsibility for maintaining the software and infrastructure lies with the provider of the BaaS solution.
- FaaS (functionality as a service) is a third-party platform for developing, running, and managing functionality that runs parts of its code based on event triggers (the desired functionality called on demand). The approach is perfect for implementing microservices.
Advantages of the serverless architecture:
- rapid deployment of applications, since you do not need to worry about the architecture and infrastructure – write your code;
- cost reduction: no more wasting resources on maintaining servers and databases, product launches are faster and cheaper, and there is no need to keep spare capacity – you only pay for what you use;
- simple scaling: if the usual “physical” server is no longer enough, adding another one or moving to a more powerful one is another task, but there are no such problems with a serverless architecture;
- the data is relatively “safe” – they are not as afraid of various kinds of attacks as in the case of the traditional server approach to creating sites and applications.
Disadvantages of the serverless architecture:
- difficult migrating of current solutions to a serverless architecture;
- potentially expensive, although resource savings are mentioned among the benefits;
- Insufficiently high speed of code execution and poor adaptability of existing solutions for tasks of processing large amounts of data.
Containers
Due to the growing popularity of serverless applications, containers are also relevant: the studies say that in 2022 more than 75% of organizations worldwide will be using containerized applications.
A container is a software package that contains all the dependencies: code, runtime, configuration, and system libraries. Containers are almost a panacea for web systems: they are lightweight, elegant, and can operate at a sufficient level of abstraction (that is, independently of other processes). They also reduce the cost of developing and running applications.
Using One Page or SPA
Classic sites (also called MPA – Multi Page Application) update the page every time data is changed, or new information is loaded, and when you go to another section, they load a new one.
SPA (Single Page Application) works differently: upon request, all the necessary code is loaded in the browser at once, but only the fragment the user needs is shown. When he wants to go to another page, the browser takes this data from the loaded code and quickly displays it without any page refresh. If necessary, the browser will additionally ask you to load dynamic content from the server onto the page.
SPAs have been used for a long time: for example, the Gmail mail service, the Facebook social network, the GitHub service for hosting IT projects and their joint development, and the Meduza news site are arranged. But it seems that they have only begun to advise seriously to take a closer look at SPA to make the pages of blogs and catalogs easier, faster, and more convenient for the end user (especially on mobile phones).
Simplifying site navigation enables developers to place one type of information on a particular page. This provides users with comfort in working with sites and the ability to search for the necessary data source.
The use of this concept is related to the ability to load all content via JavaScript and avoid reloading entirely. This allows faster work with the service.
Most often, the SPA concept is used by online stores to create informational blogs, product cards, and catalogs. It is also used by news services to distinguish between news. This design technique achieves the main advantages:
- no complex navigation or extensive menu;
- speed — yes, at the stage of initial loading, you will have to wait a bit, but then you can quickly switch between the content of the site and stick on it for hours (therefore, this approach is often used by news portals and blogs, real estate search sites and mail services);
- user-friendly – able to quickly and efficiently familiarize users with the content of the site;
- SPA website design is better adapted to mobile devices;
- conditional independence from the Internet – if you managed to load the page while there is a connection, you can continue to work offline.
Disadvantages:
- difficulties with SEO: search robots are looking for individual pages, and here all the content is presented on one page – they don’t like this, so they have to conjure with server rendering;
- complexity in development (as for any other technology, for which you have to relearn and use new concepts);
- an increase in the load on the browser (you have to download a large amount of data at once).
SSG – Static Site Generators
According to the classics, most sites and applications work like this:
- the user follows the link;
- the browser sends a request to the server;
- the server executes the code and finds out what content needs to be shown to the user;
- the server unloads the necessary content from the database into the page template;
- the server renders the resulting HTML code and sends it to the browser;
- the user sees the desired content on the page at his request.
Static site generators (SSGs) work differently. They create static HTML pages based on a template or components and use a separate source for content.
Pros:
- simplified technology stack for serving static pages;
- better performance – pages are pre-generated;
- security – minimizing dynamic content due to pre-rendering equals more excellent resistance to attacks.
Headless CMS
Traditional content management systems (CMS) use a content management framework that combines a front-end and a back-end. The content is associated with a specific technology and architecture within this CMS. But such a monolithic approach in today’s web environments proves cumbersome.
Headless CMS solve this problem: they provide only a server part (backend) for content management via API. Due to this, you can use one backend at once to manage the content of several products: several sites at once or a site plus applications. This also makes it possible to automate the distribution of content through all the necessary channels at the same time. The critical task of such CMS is to store and deliver content, and how it will look for the user depends on the developer’s actions.
Pros:
- optimization of development resources;
- unlimited possibilities for structuring and delivering content to the user;
- centralized content management across multiple channels;
- flexibility – content is adjusted to each channel.
Minuses:
- there is no adaptation for the Russian market (existing engines do not provide modules for integration with the necessary Russian services – they will have to be written manually);
- complexity – a sufficient level of professionalism of the developer is needed;
- are justified only on large projects, where a set of different user interaction interfaces is initially assumed.
Development with JAMstack
The increasing popularity of JAMstack is a logical consequence of the already mentioned trends toward serverless architecture, static site generators, and Headless CMS. The term JAMstack was introduced by Netlify founders Matt Bijlmann and Chris Bach back in 2015 – the solution, as you can see, is not very new. But it is only now becoming more and more popular.
JAMstack is an abbreviation for three concepts: JavaScript, API, and Markup (markup).
The essence of the approach is this:
- the front-end is separated from the back-end and databases and deployed via the CDN (Content Delivery Network, content delivery network) – due to this, sites and applications work faster;
- all the necessary screens are pre-rendered during the build process in the form of optimized static pages with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (in contrast, there are dynamic ones that respond to every user action) – each new page is created only when the code or content changes, and not for each user request;
- Javascript and APIs are used to link the front-end to the back-end, and it also allows you to improve and personalize pages for the user.
Conclusion
Whichever career you choose, all of these web development technologies contain a lot of valuable knowledge for anyone who wants to learn. Sure, web development, testing, and implementation can involve repetitive tasks, but it can be nice if you’re tech-savvy. The features you see on your favorite website would not be possible without the help of talented front-end and back-end web developers.
11 Tips to Cut Web Development Costs Without Compromising Quality
Nowadays, people use web applications in one way or another. Web development is one of the fastest-growing activities. The main question for most people who understand the web development process is how to estimate the cost. This is one of the main questions that must be addressed whenever an organization or development team embarks on a web development project. Preliminary determination of operating expenses is one of the most critical factors.
Factors Affecting Web Development Costs
Scope of work
The first thing businesses should do is conduct extensive market research to know the scope before finalizing the core structure segment of their web application development project. Multiple application programming interfaces (APIs), hosting, databases, compatibility – the more complex a web application is, the longer it will take to develop and therefore cost more.
UI/UX design
The high development cost strongly influences the quality of the graphics and animations. These UI/UX design personalization services are better than other template solutions. Differences depend on the armor on the icon, complexity of the design, location of the hero, animation, integration on social media, and the wholeness of the appearance and use on the web application. All these components have a lot in common with the interaction with the public, which is why UI / UX design is essential for attracting the audience and having such a problem with talking about the theme of the product.
Various rental options
The web application development cost can vary significantly depending on your chosen service model. Each option is appropriate in different situations and depends on the requirements of your project.
Generally, there are three main choices for software developers:
Freelance developers
Freelancers are like self-sufficient contractors; they are the best option if you need to manage a small project or require some software upgrades, as a freelancer cannot be responsible for the entire web application development.
Advantages:
- Low-cost solution
Disadvantages:
- Without technical skills, you will have to choose a specialist to test the suitability of the web application.
- The requirement of a project manager to manage the development process.
- Freelancers are more challenging to manage as they can turn down projects unexpectedly.
Internal team
If you are looking for professionals to work remotely as part of your company, or you need to build your in-house team, then this alternative is for you. An in-house team is perfect if you manage multiple projects and prefer to be fully involved in the process.
Advantages:
- Complete control over the team
- No communication problems
- Power to make changes
Disadvantages:
- Complex and lengthy hiring process as you need to hire each team member individually.
- It would help if you chose a technical team to guide you in the project specification and testing.
- Additional costs (office rent, software, hardware, taxes, etc.).
Outsourcing Company
Outsourcing seems to be the best choice for many. In this situation, you will accelerate time to market, reduce project costs, and create a high-quality product. The important thing about outsourcing companies is that they are responsible for project management and product delivery.
Advantages:
- You can search from the vast pool of experienced professionals to create a custom web application.
- Project specifications based on your requirements.
- Business analysts from their team to evaluate the project.
- Confirmed delivery of a working product within specified time frames.
Disadvantages:
- Fees for outsourcing companies are more than freelancers but less than in-house developers.
Location of web development experts
Since web development is a labor-intensive project, project costs greatly depend on the geographic location of the development team. The labor hire fee is extremely high in developed countries like the UK, USA, Canada, etc. Hence, it is recommended to outsource your web development project to software companies based in South Asian countries like India, or East European countries like Bulgaria, where experienced professionals can be hired at more economical rates. This can reduce your development costs to a great extent.
Pricing strategy
It would help if you always chose an economical pricing strategy while outsourcing your project to technology partners. You should choose one of these two pricing strategies – fixed and hourly – according to your project requirements, expected deadline, and budget.
Support and updates, implementation and post-implementation costs
Infrastructure costs such as web hosting and domain registration costs should also be considered as part of the costs. Apart from running the app, you also have to spend on maintenance issues like fixing bugs and adding new features through updated versions. More upgrades mean higher costs.
How the company’s policy affects the cost of web development
First, pricing is influenced by the policy of the agencies or web studios you have applied to. Depending on the company’s attitude towards its reputation, features of its approach, qualifications of specialists, etc., the stated price ranges for web development may differ significantly.
For you, the customer, or your representative, it is essential to avoid two dangerous mistakes:
- Do not chase for a low price; get a low-quality site. Ego will still have to be created anew. As the old proverb says – “A miser pays twice.”
- Do not pay excessive money to web developers that do not correspond to the quality of the service provided to you and the functionality of the final product — the ordered web resource.
To minimize the risk of getting into such situations, ask yourself the following five questions:
- The reputation of the agencies — is it essential for the agency to maintain a good relationship with you? Freelancers and agencies working in the lower price segment do not care about your final opinion about the project after receiving payment. Your negative reviews are a danger only for an agency that promotes its brand and avoids reputational risks. Such a company will apply all forces to fulfill its obligations to you, but the price will be higher.
- Individual or “flow approach” — these web developers “bake sites like pies,” using hacked templates and recently created content or develop sites for specific business tasks of the client. In the second case, the developers must draw the site’s original design, fill it with quality content and think through the semantic structure. This is an entirely different spending time and, therefore, a reasonable increase in cost.
- Qualification of employees — how experienced are these specialists? Are these mature professionals with dozens and hundreds of projects under their belts or “hungry novices”? The latter often take little but make several mistakes and tighten deadlines. Mature professionals will probably make a site famous. However, they must confirm the level of their claims with an impressive portfolio and honest reviews that can be verified.
- Degree of immersion in the project – will the Internet marketer of this agency be fully “immersed” in the study of your offer, niches, and competitors? Web development with marketing expertise included in the price costs more. However, without it, your site loses its commercial function. There is a high risk that it will weakly contribute to lead generation and form a positive image for your company.
- Official cooperation arrangement and presence of an office — will a well-drafted contract be concluded? Will you be able to meet with the developers personally? Companies and individuals working in the lower price segment usually use freelance work. They often work “in the dark” without paying taxes or concluding a contract. Companies occupying the middle and high-price details typically have an office where you can come and chat with developers live. They have permanent employees in their staff who do not “disappear” anywhere and see the most successful and operational implementation of your project as their primary income. As a rule, such an agency knowingly binds itself with obligations fixed in the contract to pay fines (penalties) in case of failure to deliver the site. This is another level of responsibility for the web developer and, therefore, a reasonable increase in cost.
11 Tips to Cut Web Development Costs
Work with professionals
A modern site is not only a friendly design, features, and widgets. It must meet all the basic rules of search engine optimization (SEO). Otherwise, it will be challenging to promote yourself in search; you will spend money on getting the site to the top, you will not get the expected result, and then you will pay even more on remodeling it. If you don’t have enough knowledge, contact a website development agency. This will allow you to do it right at once and not spend unnecessary funds on correcting errors.
Start with a plan
You are planning everything: from asking for ideas to creating and testing the final product — the only thing that will save you money. An enterprise moving towards its goals with a solid plan or structure (including reducing resources and shares) saves additional or recurring costs. Because in that case, you know how much each stage of work costs.
Consider Requirements
Knowing the requirements of future projects is one thing, and performing overtime is quite another. Therefore, documenting all financial and workforce resources necessary for a particular project is an important task.
You can ask for help from programmers and engineers to learn about all the intricacies of the work. Communication with them will facilitate the fulfillment of all requirements without misunderstandings and additional development costs.
Refusal of unnecessary functions
An excessive number of secondary functions often burdens an outwardly simple IT product at the start-up stage. They increase the budget but serve the project’s key goals superficially.
Collect a pool of mandatory functions and assess the need for “add-ons” separately. Excess and expensive items can be postponed until a more financially favorable time.
Use the standard approach — create a test, minimally viable version (MVP) of the product. The release of the simplified version will show the actual level of its needs in the target audience and, simultaneously, reduce costs.
Selection of popular technological solutions
Effective financial management of the web project is impossible without an optimal set of tools for the task. When choosing a language, framework, or compiler, it is essential to consider the rating and popularity among developers.
Attention to the type of contract
A model of cooperation with a contractor that has shown excellent results in the past may be economically unprofitable for the project under new conditions.
Three pricing approaches are most commonly used:
- Classic Fixed-Price — the cost of the project is estimated and fixed before the start of work. A model implies the presence of a detailed development plan and specific agreements already at the start. Applicable to small and complicated tasks.
- Phased Fixed-Price — development is divided into segments with fixed deadlines, results, and costs. It is suitable for voluminous and complex projects, where a full preliminary assessment is difficult.
- Time&Material — postpaid contract based on substantial resources spent. When speed is a priority, the performer is verified and has the necessary experience and competencies.
If your project is small, excludes improvements during work, and is accompanied by precise terms of reference, you can choose payment models with a fixed rate. In other cases, adhering to contracts with flexible terms will be optimal.
Clear terms of reference
Unintelligible terms of reference are unnecessary clarifications, loss of time, and corrections that need to be paid separately.
Ideal for the budget — a new specification under the project, or — a standard specification, but worked out in detail. I was taking into account the specifics of the project and the capabilities of the contractor.
Template approach
A CMS with a set of scripts and a platform with ready-made design templates can inexpensively but qualitatively close the issue of web development of applications/services/pages that are undemanding to the internal architecture.
At the same time, typical ready-made solutions are unlikely to be useful for projects with individual characteristics. Here you can not do without “manual assembly.”
Keep in touch and monitor the development team
In addition to setting requirements, keep in touch with the development team. There are many technical tasks, as well as tools that need constant monitoring. Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes, stay in touch with every team member, including developers and engineers, to know the status of a particular project.
Testing – a critical stage
Testing involves identifying errors and bugs in software after development is completed. It can cost a pretty penny in additional resources and labor costs if done again after the product’s release. Therefore, it is better to ensure consistent testing occurs at all stages. This will make the workflow easier and faster. It will also reduce costs and avoid delays.
Outsourcing and Outstaffing
Outsourcing is the transfer of specific tasks by a company to another for execution. You are outsourcing the functions of some departments to freelancers. Personnel outsourcing allows you to optimize the cost of maintaining staff, drawn up by the Labor Code, save on social benefits and taxes.
The main benefit of outsourcing is the inevitable significant cost savings. The rates of outsourcing development companies are much lower than in the local market. A typical company can save up to 60-70% on outsourcing to countries with low labor costs.
Outstaffing is a legal withdrawal of an employee from the company’s staff, which can reduce the tax burden. For your employees, according to the documents, only the employer will change; it will be the outstaffing agency. The workflow will remain the same. It is also more profitable for businesses to cooperate with the self-employed than to hire an employee under the Labor Code full-time or work under a civil law contract. This is one of the options to reduce the tax burden for businesses.
Conclusion
You can always reduce the cost of web application development. The idea’s scale, technical complexity, and uniqueness are just the conditions given which you determine the point of application of efforts to optimize the estimate. The main thing is attention to detail and a clear understanding of the purpose of your product.
Mobile App Development in 2022 – Trends & Challenges?
Mobile app development is increasing in 2022. Technological advances, consumer demand, and many other factors directly impact mobile app development trends. Keeping abreast of the latest trends is perhaps the most crucial aspect of success in this field.
Basic tips and guidance for planning a mobile app development
Planning and Evaluation
The first question that interests the client is: “How much will it cost?”. Following it: “When will the mobile application be ready?”. The performer evaluates and draws up a work plan to answer both questions. At this stage, the project manager coordinates the team’s work and communicates with the customer.
At this stage is studied the technical documentation and calculated how much time it will take for development and testing.
The assessment can be expressed or detailed. Fast evaluation continues from several hours to one day and gives an approximate idea of labor costs. A precise estimation can take a few days to a week, but it allows you to determine precisely how, when and what application you will receive. Suppose a business analyst is connected to the project during the evaluation phase. In that case, it is easier for the client and developers to get a single view of the application and calculate everything accurately.
Sometimes it happens that customers add new features right in the course of the project. The list of tasks has grown and a re-evaluated is necessary. As a result, the budget races.
Analytics
Clients independently perform a business analysis of the application or come with a ready-made list of requirements. But those applications that have passed this stage with the developer company win – analytics helps businesses and developers achieve a shared vision. Based on this, re-evaluate the required work and get a detailed project budget.
Application Design
Sometimes clients come with a ready-made design. If the customer does not have a plan, it is created UI / UX from scratch. When the analyst hands the designer the basis of the graphical interface, the wireframes, it comes to the visual design. A screen map, graphic elements, and a detailed prototype are drawn, taking into account various usage scenarios.
At this stage, the UI/UX designer creates static prototypes and interactive app prototypes at the client’s request. Considering the planned characteristics, it is seen how the application will look and what behavior to expect from it. It all depends on the specific tasks and wishes of the client.
During the rendering of the design, the application takes on its future appearance. Critical is the feedback from the business analyst and the client so that the creation of the mobile application fully meets the requirements.
Development
Hardcore begins when there is a detailed TOR and assessment, the design is ready, and the mobile application prototype is approved. The development team writes the code to implement the application’s intended behavior and to connect the application logic to the back-end if any. And also, the finished design is embodied in the code determining all the styles and UI elements with which the application user interacts.
As soon as a part of the functionality is developed, it is tested and begins the work on the rest of the functions.
When the design is laid out, the designer will check how well the developers have implemented the application screenshots: whether all the styles match the selected ones, whether the color is selected, what is the aspect ratio, and how the corners are rounded, etc.
Testing and Bug Fixing
QA engineers join the project at the start and test as often as possible. This guarantees a high level of quality and helps the client not to inflate the budget.
At the evaluation stage, the TOR is tested. In parallel with development is written test documentation. Testing begins when the functionality is partially ready. All bugs are reported and fixed. Then a check is done that the bugs have been fixed, which did not affect the rest of the functionality. Before the application’s release, acceptance testing is done to ensure that the application behavior complies with the test documentation and the client’s requirements.
Release
When a series of tests and improvements of the application is completed, it is added to the application store requested by the client.
The client can contact the developers for help in the release, or he can prepare and upload the application to the store independently.
Support and Development
After publishing a mobile application, if the client finds bugs, the producers fix them. If the first months of the application’s life show where and what needs to be finished or redone, there are two options: conclude a maintenance contract or launch a new development phase, considering new variables.
How to estimate the cost of mobile app development
The most popular question any mobile app developer hears is “, How much will it cost to create an app?”. It is impossible to give an exact answer without a detailed description of the project and its expected functionality. The maximum that a developer can do without this information is to name an approximate price range. However, be prepared that the actual cost of the work will be several times higher.
We will consider some of the factors that affect the cost of mobile app development:
Functionality
Various factors affect the development cost, ranging from the number of screens to data security. The more complex and functional the application, the more expensive it is.
Application Size
The number of screens and application states directly affects the development cost. The more of them, the more expensive the application will be because each new screen requires additional hours of development, subsequent testing, and design.
Individual design and detailing of design solutions
A mobile application can reach its full potential only if it is user-friendly, intuitive, and pleasing to the eye. Intelligent design plays a vital role in this.
In the development of mobile applications, design can be divided into three levels:
- rough – used when creating prototypes, when you need to check the functionality of the product and its logic;
- standard – made based on user scenarios and UI elements offered by the platform;
- Unique – the most expensive design in development, its creation requires detailed business intelligence and an experienced UI / UX designer. It can be animated design for apps or original game design. Most applications do not require this level of innovation.
Registration and authorization of users
Adding an accounting system to your app can be a great way to improve user loyalty and retention. But it is important to remember that this does not always make sense and significantly increases the cost of development compared to the “anonymous” use of the product. You will need to pay for cloud storage, the implementation and subsequent testing of a mechanism for recovering forgotten passwords, and the safety of personal data. Separate expenses will require the creation of an individual user account.
Content generation in the application and social functionality
Unique content is a significant plus for any product. You can create content yourself or use data from different sources. An information or news application in which all information is taken from one or more sources (added by the administrator or downloaded from the company’s website) requires less development time and, accordingly, financial costs than an application in which users will create content (a good example of such an application – Instagram and other social networks).
Integration with payment systems
From users’ point of view, the ability to pay for their order in the application in different ways is very convenient. For the developer, each payment option means additional time for implementation and testing; for the customer – longer waiting time for the finished product and its increasing cost. If you do not plan to enter the international market, only two payment options are available: bank card and cash.
Application Security Level
When ordering the development of a mobile application, keep in mind that the data it will operate on may interest third parties, so you should consider protecting information. This is especially important for applications that affect financial and banking operations, storage, and processing of personal data. The more valuable the data and the greater the need or desire to protect it, the higher the cost of developing an application.
Where to find resources for mobile app development
“Where can I get money to develop a mobile application?” is the central question that app developers ask themselves. After all, even if the allocated budget is enough for the technical part, no fewer funds will be needed to attract and retain users.
There are several proven options where you can take money to develop a mobile application:
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a way to raise funds with the help of people who want to support a specific project or a specific developer on certain platforms. Advantages of crowdfunding: the ability to raise the required amount of money for the project.
But if you plan to create something more serious, you should consider other fundraising options.
Accelerator
Where else can you get money to develop a mobile game if you are a developer? A good option: accelerators. The accelerator is an intensive startup development program. Startups are provided with all the opportunities for growth: experienced mentors, resources of the organizing company, and constant tracking of project progress. Pros of accelerators: assistance from well-known companies in the development and promotion of mobile applications, minus (although it can also be interpreted as an advantage): developers do not necessarily receive funds in cash, part of the funding can be paid in the form of services.
Publisher
The third option that you can use if you are going to develop a mobile application that will undoubtedly become a hit on mobile stores is the help of a publisher. A publisher is a company that supplies the traffic of its media buying or partners. The work of the publisher directly determines the success of the application in the stores since the more high-quality traffic, the more downloads of the mobile application, and therefore the higher the earnings of developers, regardless of whether they work on a premium model or freemium. The publisher can finance your application at the development stage if it sees potential in it. Pros of a publisher: he will take over, if not all, then most of the work with marketing. Cons of cooperation with the publisher: you have to give him a percentage of the proceeds.
Venture fund
Sometimes mobile application developers resort to the help of venture funds – investment companies that invest the funds of the fund’s founders and their partners in obviously risky projects. Venture funds invest in many startups at once because they know that out of 10 projects, only 1-2 will be successful. As a rule, venture funds take a share in a project in exchange for financing and expertise, which can be considered one of the main disadvantages. In addition, a ready-made prototype will be needed to raise funds.
Trends in mobile app development
There are different new trends in mobile app development. We will consider some of them.
Super apps
One of the most recent trends gradually sweeping the world is the development of multi-purpose, multi-tasking smartphone applications. Previously, applications were created each to solve a specific problem – only communication, logistics, a particular type of service, etc.
Currently, software products of the “super” class are gaining popularity. Such a super application alone can perform a range of versatile tasks simultaneously. The popularity of multi-purpose applications is due to the desire to create an environment that covers the user’s needs as much as possible. For example, what will a person choose – one program that solves ten diverse tasks or ten applications for each job? Of course, having a multifunctional product at hand is more convenient.
Artificial intelligence
AI in mobile devices is still linked to personal assistants: artificial intelligence learns our habits within various applications, revealing preferences. Thanks to AI solutions, app developers and marketers are now closer to understanding user behavior through studying actions, preferences, purchases, etc. Deep learning is a science that involves the ability to “teach” machines to recognize these actions and then apply this “knowledge” to solve various complex queries. This approach also allows you to study user behavior patterns, making interaction with him personalized and smooth.
Application of 3D graphics for mobile applications
3D graphic elements will no longer surprise anyone; this technology has long been used in various areas of design. The new trend assigns a slightly different role to 3D graphics – not decorative but functional. Creating such “useful” pictures will soon become possible directly with the help of smartphones and tablets, opening up a vast field for activity and creating complex graphic objects.
Now, 3D graphics are designed to improve functionality and increase efficiency, and only in the background – to please the eye and attract visually.
From a commercial and promotional point of view, 3D graphics will also add benefits, as this tool can provide a complete picture of the product from all sides, which is a winning approach in online shopping.
Virtual reality
Virtual or augmented reality is getting closer. If, at the moment, it is mainly used by the gaming sphere, science, and medicine, then shortly, this promising direction will cover other areas of human activity. The creation and modernization of AR glasses have captured the minds of many developers worldwide, so this direction will continue to develop steadily and actively.
Useful visualization
Visualization is always associated with some visual representation and exciting and colorful visual effects. But the goal of handy visualization is not high decorativeness but the best way to convey information flows. With the right approach, even the driest and most boring information can be made rich, lively, and engaging. The most important thing that visualization gives is an emotional response, the formation of one’s ideas in the brain. The visual presentation of data excites the imagination and evokes emotions that allow you to recognize better, understand and master the amount of information presented.
Conclusion
The world of mobile app development is changing rapidly. But these trends will not lose their strength due to the global growth of mobile technologies and devices and most likely will continue in the coming years.
How to Stay Relevant in 2022 – Foldable Devices Apps, 5G, and AR
In the last 25 years, smartphones have become our constant companion, which is why the mobile app development business is skyrocketing. Every second organization or company seeks to take place on the mobile phones of its audience. Because of this phenomenon, they follow every new trend in mobile app development. In this article, we will observe the recent trends in the development of mobile applications and how to stay relevant in 2022.
Integration into the Internet of Things (IoT) applications
The Internet of Things is far from a new concept. But the rise of mobile device penetration across a wide range of sectors and categories has created seemingly limitless opportunities for the Internet of Things. People are accustomed to using technology to improve their daily lives.
The Internet of Things describes the growing network of devices connected to the Internet, providing convenience and automated control for consumers. Innovative home technology is an excellent example of the rise of the Internet of Things and mobile applications.
Mobile apps can set the home’s thermostat from a remote location, lock or unlock the front door, and connect to home security systems. Different household appliances can also be connected to mobile applications.
The IoT is poised for solid growth in the coming years, and software will lead the way. The number of IoT devices is growing. According to Statista, by 2025, IoT-related technology revenues will exceed $1.6 trillion.
In 2022, according to research, we will see even more mobile applications with IoT technology. Home appliances, automobiles, display devices, intelligent devices, and healthcare are all markets to keep an eye on.
Applications for foldable devices
Mobile phones have changed over the past decade. Touch screens with or without one button have taken over the market.
The foldable display is one of the biggest mobile app development trends that mobile app companies need to focus on. Foldable devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X, and the new Motorola Razr were released in 2019. Depending on the user’s preferences, these smartphones fold to shrink or expand the screen size. For example, a user may be making a call with the device closed but watching a video on a large screen by rotating the device.
The folding display will be a new challenge for mobile app developers. From this perspective, resellers and content creators should consider these devices when building or updating an app. The screen size will change instantly depending on the user’s actions. The idea is that the application should seamlessly adjust its display when the screen is folded or unfolded.
Foldable devices comprise only a tiny fraction of the total smartphone market share. But this will change in recent years. According to a 2019 USA Today study, 17% of iPhone users and 19% of Android users are happy with a phone with a foldable design.
Approximately 3.2 million foldable phones were shipped in 2019, according to Statista. It is expected to reach 50 million units in 2022. 2022 will be a big year for foldable phones, meaning app developers must plan accordingly.
Developments for mobile wearable devices
Wearable technology has also been advanced for many years. This is not necessarily a breakthrough in the market. We have been seeing smartwatches, trackers, and fitness bands for a long time. But wearables have yet to reach their full potential.
While we’re not seeing a staggering jump in wearables from last year, the growth is still solid. The wearable trend has changed and will continue to change how we develop mobile apps.
In 2022, even more, mobile applications for wearable devices will be created. Users can download tens of thousands of apps right from their wrists.
We are just starting to explore wearables and mobile app integration. The coming years will be exceptionally progressive in this category.
5G
The fifth generation of mobile communication, of course, applies to mobile marketing and directly to applications. The more devices that use 5G worldwide, the better the user experience with applications will become. And the applications themselves will become more functional.
5G is an advanced wireless network infrastructure that provides high-speed mobile connectivity. Tech companies promise that 5G will be 100 times faster than its 4G predecessor.
This dramatic increase in speed means faster downloads, real-time transmission of vast amounts of data to wireless devices, and the development and implementation of solutions such as big data, Internet of Things, video streaming, VR/AR, and others.
Smartphone manufacturers are also pushing the development of 5G. Apple Inc., Samsung, and OnePlus Technology Co., Ltd. have incorporated 5G technology into their iPhone 12, Samsung Galaxy, and OnePlus product lines to maintain their leading position in the market.
According to Statista, 5G will grow to 2,451 million people by 2025. Such a rapid development of technology is not surprising. 5G is expected to be a revolutionary technology in many areas, especially mobile applications. the
Some of the potential benefits of 5G:
- This will make a single global standard for everyone.
- The availability of the network will be everywhere and allow people to use their computers and such mobile devices anywhere at any time.
- Due to IPv6 technology, a visit to a mobile IP address will be assigned according to the connected network and geographic location.
- His application will create a real Wi-Fi zone in the world.
- Its cognitive radio technology will facilitate using different radio technologies to use the same spectrum efficiently.
- Its application will make it easier for people to use the radio signal at a higher altitude.
5G is a promising technology that is revolutionizing mobile app development. Let’s take a closer look at the technical features of 5G that these changes will bring:
- The speed will increase from 100 Mbps for 4G to 10 Gbps for 5G, providing a smoother wireless connection on mobile devices outside the network. This will be possible thanks to the higher 5G radio frequencies, which include the spectrum from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, including all previous 1G-4G cellular spectra.
- Low latency, reduced from 50 milliseconds in 4G to one millisecond in 5G. This incredible reduction in latency will mean no image lag when broadcasting competitions or other events as if their audience was present at the scene.
- High connection density. 5G is expected to be able to support one million devices per 0.38 sq. miles, while 4G can only connect 2,000 devices per 0.38 sq. Miles right now. This will stimulate the adoption of new technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data for smart cities.
Beacon Technology in Applications
Beacon technology is used in a wide variety of industries. Whether it’s retail, healthcare, and hospitality, beacons can enhance the functionality of almost any mobile application. The first beacons for mobile applications were developed back in 2013. But over the past few years, this technology has advanced significantly.
Here is an example of how beacons work with mobile apps. Let’s say you’re a mobile app seller who builds apps for retailers. Your customers can install beacons in their stores that connect to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth if the app is installed on their device. When a user walks past a beacon, they can be immediately notified of a sale or special offer on items in that store.
Beacons can also help track customer behavior in stores. They can determine if a user spends significant time in a particular aisle. The app can automatically trigger push notifications to incentivize a sale at a later date associated with those products.
The main advantage of beacon technology is contactless marketing. Ultimately, this improves the customer experience in the mobile app. According to Statista, the beacon market is growing at a CAGR of 59.8%.
The synergy of AR and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence was developing in all directions, and augmented reality is no exception. First of all, it uses the capabilities of computer vision, which allow AR to recognize objects in the frame better and superimpose extended virtual information on them, for example, trying on clothes or viewing goods in the interior. With computer vision algorithms, the phone camera can better recognize the floor, walls, and objects – as a result, it turns out to correctly position the object.
Virtual avatars are actively developing. Many people are familiar with Instagram masks – this is also an example of the synergy of AR and artificial intelligence when more realistic effects can be applied due to more accurate recognition. But virtual avatars have gone further: thanks to technology, it is possible to create a digital copy of a person that will exactly repeat all movements and broadcast them into the virtual world.
AR glasses are a trend that everyone has been talking about for a long time, and functional solutions have finally appeared, for example, HoloLens 2, as well as Chinese counterparts, which are one step behind the flagship, but two ahead in price. The long-awaited release is Apple Glass glasses that will automatically adjust to the user’s vision. It also recently became known that Google is preparing its AR glasses; the company expects to release them in 2024. In 2012, Google already showed its first AR glasses, but the technology was ahead of its time because, at that time, even smartphones were not so widespread, and the device did not become popular.
WebAR is a trend that increases the availability of augmented reality for the mass user. Because “installing an app” is a complex targeted action that costs money for the company. WebAR eliminates this step.
WebAR developments have already appeared, and standard libraries allow you to launch the service quickly enough, so the technology will drive growth. The 8th Wall WebAR technology supports almost 3 billion smartphones on iOS and Android; that is, it is the most common.
The movement to the Metaverse
Someday we will come to the Metaverse, but this idea is now at the point of inflated expectations. Because the technology is not yet ready because getting into the Metaverse is not just putting on VR glasses and immersing yourself in space. People need to spend a lot of time in this virtual place. To do this, it is necessary to ensure the availability of devices and the Internet, integrate payment services, provide high image quality, make devices light and high-performance, and, in general, think over a world in which users will be interested in moving around.
Right now, images in VR services look very playful. Therefore, the Metaverse is the hype that the industry needs because, without it, there will be no investment and attention to the industry. And now, thanks to the attention riveted to the idea, there are more developments, sometimes even useful ones.
Following the predictions, we will likely see a quality metaverse after 2030, but certainly not in this decade. But the islands of the metauniverse, which make it possible to realize individual spheres of life, are already appearing. We are actively monitoring which of these will be the most sustainable. Perhaps all companies will switch to a remote mode of operation, VR glasses will be issued like a corporate laptop, and virtual reality meetings will be held daily.
The rise of mobile e-commerce in 2022
Previously, this trend dominated in 2020 and 2021 and will continue to flourish in 2022. It seems like everyone is using mobile apps to increase their income. From large retailers to individual content creators and personal brands, there is much money to make in this space.
The mobile e-commerce functionality is the main feature that mobile app resellers can demonstrate during their presentation to clients. Every day, a different business is launching an app to increase sales.
We’re not quite there yet, but we’re almost at the age where you need a mobile commerce app to stay competitive. Every person and every business that sells online competes with giants like Amazon. To keep up with the times, you need to copy what makes these brands so successful; the app is at the top of this list.
In 2021, more than 72.9% of e-commerce sales came from mobile devices. Apps play an essential role in mobile commerce’s current and future success. 2022 will continue to be an important year for eCommerce app development.
Conclusion
To keep up with these ever-changing trends, companies that offer mobile app development services must constantly innovate. They must know the latest technological developments, market needs, and directions.
18 Tips to Choose the Right Software Development Company
Choosing the right software development company is a complex process. Suppose you want your partner to live up to your expectations regarding quality, professional mindset, and culture fit. In that case, you need to specify specific standards from the very beginning for choosing a software development company. This article will examine the top 15 criteria companies should consider in their supplier selection process.
Communication
When a company wants to find a reliable software development company, there are several criteria to consider – company size, pricing models, experience, etc. Rarely do they identify communication as the main factor. Here we highlight this criterion to emphasize its weight in the project’s overall success.
Ineffective communication can span many aspects, including poor English proficiency, lack of emotional intelligence, cultural differences, and more. But let’s approach this from the other side, paying more attention to understanding the client’s needs. The desire of the seller to clarify all the nuances with you ensures the comfort of your further cooperation with them.
Company size
The size of a software company and the scale of its projects are of great importance. If the provider is too big and works primarily with large enterprises, it may not be interested in your specific needs. A small company, on the contrary, may not have enough experience to operate on such a scale.
Another aspect that is affected by the vendor’s size is its ability to scale up or down the development team. Medium and large vendors have more internal resources and more external candidates. This way, they can quickly expand the development team to handle the growing workload and move people to another project if you need to shorten the deadline.
Pricing
Pricing is undoubtedly not the first criterion to look at, but it plays an essential role in the decision-making process. The cheapest service, or rather the most economical one, is not always a good decision. To avoid wasting money, you must clearly understand your project’s scope and ultimate goal. Usually, the project budget is determined by the interaction model you choose.
For example, it doesn’t make sense to hire a full-time IT architect or UX designer if you only need their services for a certain period on a project. On the other hand, paying developers or QA specialists by the hour doesn’t make sense if they are fully involved in the project and work a 40-hour work week.
The fixed price model works well for companies with a complete understanding of the product and clearly defined requirements. In contrast, the dedicated development team model is optimal for long-term projects with changing conditions.
Specialization
It isn’t easy to find a software development company that specializes specifically in a particular area and technology stack. Let’s say you want to expand your internal team with Java developers who work with microservices. You should first consider those vendors who can provide you with this experience and rapid staffing, regardless of all other criteria. Therefore, when looking for a specific set of skills, you should choose providers with expertise in this area.
Here arises the question – what exactly can this company do for you that others can’t? Most companies offer similar services, so searching for specific features can be a compelling argument when choosing. The best way to determine what features you need is to first think through all the possible use cases for the system and then compare them with the proposed functionality.
Experience
Before you start working with a particular supplier, ensure that the company has practical experience in similar projects in your industry. Those who develop fintech solutions and specialize in insurance, crowdfunding, and P2P lending cannot be equally good at car software development services.
The same applies to managing large-scale projects with multiple distributed teams. A company with no experience with remote teams would find it difficult to establish effective communication between groups at both the technical and organizational levels.
Feedback from customers
When choosing a software development firm, visit popular review platforms such as Clutch, GoodFirms, AppFutura, and more to get honest customer reviews of various vendors. In addition, it is essential to seek references from real, previous clients who can give you a true insight into the company’s processes and service quality. If a company is looking for professional growth, you can easily find it in the lists of the most in-demand software development firms.
Flexibility
Knowledge of agile development techniques is essential for any software development company today. However, that is not what we mean when we say that a service provider must be versatile. Here we want to underline the importance of business flexibility.
When choosing a software development company, ensure it is flexible enough to adapt to changes as your business grows. This applies to many aspects such as scalability, new technologies, offering different pricing models, data adoption, etc.
First, the supplier must be able to quickly adapt to your plans and strategies and scale easily as your business evolves. Second, technological progress has become so fast that the technologies you use today may be obsolete. Therefore, choosing a software development firm that can keep up with innovation is essential.
Corporate culture exceptionally values and different corporate cultures can hinder the quality of a software product, affect communication, and lead to project delays. If you want a successful partnership with a software company, you need to delve deeper into the vendor’s culture and business ethics.
For example, Indian developers are unlikely to question customer requirements and offer alternative ways to develop a product. This often leads to misunderstandings and unfulfilled expectations. In some cultures, religious beliefs can make it difficult for developers to work with a client that makes or sells beer, for example.
In contrast, Eastern European software developers share Western culture, so it is easier for them to work with North American and European businesses.
Knowledge of English
Since English is the de facto lingua franca in the tech world, it goes without saying that a software company must have a reasonable level of English proficiency.
We can say that the Bulgarian IT developers have one of the highest rates of knowledge of English. Studying this language is compulsory in almost all schools in Bulgari, and students preparing for an IT career pay great attention to learning well. Many people in the country below 60 years of age speak English at some level.
Geographic location
Convenient geographic location is a vital criterion every business must consider when looking for a partner abroad. Short flight distance, little time difference, e, and visa-free travel are some benefits that can significantly improve outsourcing partnerships.
Technical infrastructure and office space
A software company must be able to provide a reliable and secure IT infrastructure. Companies, for their part, must ensure that the vendor can equip their future team with suitable hardware, software, networks, and all the technical infrastructure needed to develop, test, deliver, and support IT services.
Comfortable office infrastructure is no less critical. Suitable office spaces are conveniently located, have plenty of space, enough conference rooms and seating areas, and, most importantly, they must be safe. Intelligent office spaces can help employees increase productivity, reduce stress, and spur creativity.
Employee training
When negotiating a deal with a software development firm, ask about their employee training policy. The supplier must provide its employees with various training opportunities so that all distributed team members use the same coding methods and speak the same language.
It is essential that the supplier takes care of the professional development of its employees and provides them with the necessary tools, such as professional certificates, leadership programs, employee career maps, etc.
Exchange of information and termination of cooperation
It’s no secret that they take valuable knowledge when a software developer or manager leaves a project. Thus, a software development firm needs to organize and encourage knowledge-sharing sessions between team members within a project. This practice is essential for distributed teams that work remotely and are located worldwide. Sharing best practices eliminates loss of knowledge about the project and gaps in misunderstandings.
Companies looking for a software development partner rarely consider how they will end the partnership. Ending a partnership with a software company is just as important as the search and selection process. The supplier must ensure that project knowledge is well documented and experience transferred to the client.
Safety of data
Some companies focus only on closed enterprise systems, others choose cloud solutions, and others use mixed approaches. Each company has its attitude to security and its requirements for ensuring it. But no matter what you choose, you need to ensure that the platform offered by the vendors keeps your data safe while being flexible enough to meet all your needs.
Customization and integration
Most customers are interested in the possibility of integrating the proposed software solutions with those already used in the company. Sometimes this can be critical. However, not all vendors can provide fast and efficient integration with other programs, so this aspect should be considered in advance and one of the first.
Easy to learn and use
This is a critical parameter, and it can be decisive. You must ensure that every employee in your organization can use your chosen platform.
Competent suppliers pay special attention to this parameter. Many try to make their interfaces as easy and intuitive as possible while using elements already familiar to users – for example, those used in social networks.
To evaluate this criterion, it is desirable to use test periods of using the system to analyze the “feedback” of users. And remember – no matter how powerful and functional the system is, it does not deserve attention if it is cumbersome and inconvenient to use.
Support and maintenance cost
Make sure the vendor offers adequate support for their product. Prices here vary widely – some manufacturers charge more than 20 percent of the annual license, while others, on the contrary, offer free support. Some vendors set up the system and then leave it up to solve problematic issues. Others commit themselves to constantly updating and tweaking the platform as new versions are released.
Contractor’s brand reputation
A software company’s image in global and local technology markets dramatically impacts how well and quickly it can attract technical talent. The company is looking for a software development partner, above all, to get rid of the hassle of recruiting and share the risk of hiring people. Thus, a salesperson with a reputable employer image has fewer staffing and retention issues. Therefore, the employer brand is a decisive criterion that must be considered when choosing a partner.
You must pay attention to whether the contractor acts as an expert in his industry and his resources for training users. Regularly releasing educational materials, manuals, seminars, and the like is a good sign that you are dealing with professionals. In an industry as volatile and rapidly evolving as IT, working with people who provide their clients with up-to-date knowledge is preferable. This helps in achieving common goals.
Good interpersonal relationships between business partners directly affect the success of both parties. So when a salesperson shows genuine concern for a customer’s success, it’s a game-changer. If a supplier does not offer genuine enthusiasm for your project and your business in the early stages of cooperation, this should be a wake-up call for you.
Passion4Tech – the best partner in software product design
If you need a software product designed for your specific business needs, you can rely entirely on Passion4Tech company. We make a complete customized solution and process management starting from your business analysis, building the software from scratch, creating an engaging application design, deploying the software, and supporting its integration with your systems and further operation. Our expertise in software development allows us to offer the most advanced approach and cutting-edge technologies that enable more excellent performance and productivity.
More information here: https://passion4.tech/web-software-mobile-app-development/
How to Become a Blockchain Developer: Top 8 Skills for a Newcomer in the Field
Blockchain developers are programmers who deal with the creation of blockchain applications. They manage the entire life cycle of a blockchain application, meaning they will be responsible for the research and execution of the application. They create the whole blockchain system architecture, compose smart contracts and optimize protocols.
Why become a blockchain developer?
Our world is changing at a rate comparable only to the times of the industrial revolution. In the 19th century, supporters of manual labor lost out to competitors who were not afraid to adopt the technology. Soon, assembly lines became the norm, automating production that humans had done by hand for thousands of years.
Today we see the same thing, only this time the human is replaced by artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. And it happens much faster and on a larger scale. The time will soon come when automated computer systems will replace most workers.
Computer skills, especially programming, will be critical to building a career in the coming years. Of course, there will be other career ladders, but computer experts will be helpful in most industries, which is obvious. Anyone lacking these skills will be in a losing position in the job market.
It is also worth noting how communication technology and the power of decentralization have helped many entrepreneurs worldwide create their businesses and make transactions without any unnecessary agreements. Before the Internet, this was hard to imagine. Over time, this becomes a trend.
In addition to the benefits listed above, there are others.
The use of blockchain technology nowadays is increasing in almost all areas of activity. A blockchain developer can be roughly compared to a website developer. Any organization – educational, financial, supply chain, entertainment, or media – needs its website, but its internal specialists often do not have the necessary competency. The situation with blockchain implementation is very similar. Applications of this technology can pay dividends in almost any industry, and at some point, any company will need a specialist or team of specialists to help implement the technology.
On LinkedIn and UpWork, the demand for jobs in one way or another related to cryptocurrencies has increased tremendously in recent years. These jobs are now more than ten times more likely to be sought after than in 2014. According to Computer World, the average salary for a blockchain developer in Silicon Valley is $158,000 annually.
The blockchain industry itself, according to experts, 2025 will have a capitalization of several hundred billion dollars. This is a rough assumption, given that we do not know how states and international institutions will behave regarding the blockchain. However, this technology will undoubtedly change many industries and business processes.
Don’t go into this space thinking that cryptocurrencies are the only application of blockchain that deserves attention. Do not discount decentralized applications and distributed accounting technologies. This area is so young that even the study of the fundamental principles of the protocol is not yet fully completed. We ignore the lion’s share of the technology’s potential by focusing on cryptocurrencies.
What can a blockchain developer do?
There are several development paths for a blockchain developer.
The core developers focus on the fundamental principles of technology and protocols – the core of the blockchain. Blockchain developers are working on software integration and decentralization. The difference may seem insignificant for someone not so deeply immersed in the topic, but this is a delusion.
We have already mentioned many opportunities to work on public and private blockchains. The former may seem more familiar: ICOs and public services are associated with them.
STEEM, ICON, and Ethereum are examples of public blockchains. Private blockchains are created for the needs of specific companies. For example, Barclays wants to provide itself with its blockchain and is engaged in several types of research in this area. The company’s specialists are experimenting a lot, trying to find out what will be most beneficial for the end user.
Specialization of the blockchain developers
A blockchain developer works with decentralized services and cryptographic tools and writes intelligent contracts based on the blockchain. There are several professions:
- development and control of smart contracts
- development of decentralized services
- development of server solutions and new networks using Blockchain protocols
Specialization depends on the developer’s skills, interests, and goals:
- Architect (Core Blockchain Developer) – builds architecture, selects system design methods, and creates consensus protocol designs.
- Software developer (Blockchain Software Developer) – uses the created architecture and protocols to develop specific software.
- Brilliant contract engineer – audits and develops smart contracts, helps to embed smart contracts into application and business logic.
- “White hacker” — analyzes business flows and security, identifies vulnerabilities in protocols and intelligent contracts, and conducts end-to-end testing of business processes.
Also, due to the industry’s novelty, each developer is still a bit of a business analyst since he has to interact with product owners or users of the system to draw up the correct task of the implemented blockchain solution.
Top 8 Skills for a Newcomer in the Field
Mathematics
Encryption is based heavily on number theory and abstract algebra. The same knowledge will be helpful in asymmetric cryptography (with a public key) for symmetric – a combination of probability theory and modular arithmetic. For cryptographic protocols, you will need – logical thinking and knowledge of the properties of primitives (low-level algorithms).
Programming languages
The developer must know at least one programming language. To become a blockchain developer, one language will not be enough. We will consider some of the most commonly used in this sphere:
- Java – Java is a universal and, as a result, popular programming language. Core team developers use them to build high-performance clients and tools in the corporate and financial sectors. IOTA, NEM, Hyperledger Fabric, and NEO are written on it. Java is relatively easy to learn, but the language allows you to develop many complex solutions. The popular NEM cryptocurrency is based on Java.
- C++ – C++ is a general-purpose, object-oriented language. It can be used to solve many blockchain-related problems. Satoshi Nakamoto used (this pseudonym maybe is a group of people) C ++ to create the core of Bitcoin, which can be considered one of the primary languages for blockchain development. C++ is also used by Ethereum, Ripple, Monero, EOS, Stellar, and QTUM platforms. Allows you to use ready-made libraries and cryptography at the most secure level. Provides performance, memory efficiency, and complete control.
- Python – Python is the second most popular programming language. Relatively easy to learn. It is recommended for blockchain to be used in IoT (Internet of Things). This language is universal, and various libraries allow you to use it to create an interface and for internal development.
- Go (GoLang) – Go (GoLang) is an open source, compiled C-based multi-threaded programming language developed by Google in an attempt to create a replacement for C/C++. Provides simultaneous operation of different processes. Fast, easy to maintain, and efficient. It is effective for distributed systems as it can simultaneously process multiple parts of the blockchain. They are used in Ethereum, Dero, Hyperledger Fabric, and GoChain.
- Solidity – Solidity is a JavaScript-like object-oriented language for developing smart contracts. It is cross-platform, but in practice, it is used mainly on Ethereum. In addition, it is one of the four languages for the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine).
- Rust – Rust is a multi-paradigm artificial language that provides performance and security, particularly concurrency security. Syntactically similar to C++ but with more stringent formal verifications and protection from being shot in the foot. It can be either a language for writing a blockchain node or a system client or a language for smart contracts (the long-awaited Cardano contracts).
Cryptography and Cryptonomics
Cryptography is the basis of blockchain projects. Provides encryption, message integrity, block ciphers, and hash functions. This also includes knowledge of RSA (Rivest – Shamir – Adleman) and ECDSA (elliptic curve cryptography).
In the field of blockchain, cryptography is applied in the form of protocols that do not allow unauthorized access to data. For example, public key encryption can provide the basis for crypto-based financial transactions.
Cryptonomics is the economics of a crypto company. There is no banking system and the Central Bank, which would explain where the sector is moving. Therefore, you will have to understand asset valuation, monetary policy, and game theory independently.
Smart contracts
Smart contracts enable transactions for goods or services without the need for intermediaries. They are executed only if the parties comply with the terms of the contract. The effectiveness of smart contracts is primarily due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain.
Smart contracts are used in construction, law, and other sectors of the economy.
Data Structures
A blockchain network is made up of data structures, and in the most general sense, a block is also a data structure. It clusters transactions for a public ledger, a blockchain.
Data structures are essential to a blockchain developer because they help understand a block’s underlying functionality.
Blockchain architecture
Architecture is the fundamental concept of the blockchain. The developer should be fluent in three types of it:
- The private blockchain architecture is suitable for use cases with a limited number of participants and is a popular choice for businesses.
- The architecture of the consortium is not entirely decentralized. The members of the group consisting of several organizations have full power here.
- The architecture of the public blockchain is characterized by a high level of decentralization, which allows you to participate in the network through transactions or mining. The most famous example of such an architecture is Bitcoin.
Web development
In most cases, a blockchain programmer will develop web applications. He will also need to learn web design and other tools to create quality dApps.
Customers demand blockchain developers to create applications that even people with minimal blockchain knowledge can easily use.
Network Protocols
It is an established set of rules governing data transfer between different devices on the same network. They allow connected devices to communicate, regardless of internal processes, structure, and design differences. Understanding how distributed registries, peer-to-peer networks, topologies, and routing is essential.
Blockchain protocols allow network nodes to exchange information securely over the Internet. There are hundreds of protocols, so studying them will require considerable time. Here are the five main protocols that are relevant at the moment:
- Hyper ledger
- Multichain
- Enterprise Ethereum
- Corda
- Quorum
How to get a job?
To begin with, you must be sure that you have mastered the basic set of skills. Regardless of the requirements for the developer, everyone should have a base.
Then two main paths open before you: as a developer or as a consultant.
On the technical path, you will become a software developer – the person who will program smart contracts, decentralized applications, and blockchain code. This will require all the skills that we mentioned earlier. By the way, knowledge of JavaScript will be beneficial since Solidity strongly resembles it; it will be easier for you to get started with Ethereum.
Newcomers to the field are accepted quite quickly. Still, a developer with years of experience and experience in drafting smart contracts will no doubt be more welcome than a completely green youth. However, this should not scare off newbies: even the most seasoned programmers were once just as green. Learning and actual programming is the key to success.
Online recruitment platforms are seeing a marked increase in the demand for and supply of crypto-related jobs. More and more resumes of blockchain developers appear on LinkedIn and Upwork. Why don’t you add your own? In search of vacancies, you can go to AngelList or Blocktribe, where many requests for blockchain developers are posted. In addition, Ripple is currently looking for specialists.
Thanks to the solidarity of the developer community, you can gain experience as a volunteer. Many projects are happy with an extra pair of hands, as long as the right skill level is attached to them. Read about projects of interest on Reddit, Telegram, Slack, and Discord, and send tweets to team members. And, of course, do not forget to look at their sites: many post vacancies there.
As in any other field, networking is an integral part of career development in blockchain development. If you want to make a career as a blockchain developer, good networking can do some of the work for you. Adopt the experience of more advanced developers, listen to their advice, prove yourself a good specialist – and, perhaps, you will be invited to a new vacancy.
How much do blockchain developers earn on average?
The rapid growth in the number of projects requiring blockchain has created a shortage of personnel, which, in turn, has affected candidates’ salary expectations.
According to iTechArt experts, it is impossible to determine a single hourly rate for a blockchain developer – it all depends on the complexity and urgency of the project. Be that as it may, according to Glassdoor, you can roughly understand the market conditions at different ends of the globe. The median salary of specialists in the US is about $92,000 per year, in the UK – almost 51,000 pounds, and in Europe – about 49,000 euros, respectively.
Who is not suitable for the position of blockchain developer?
Those who decide to develop in this area must constantly face the requirements for new networks, protocols, and libraries. Projects come with varying complexity, from writing simple auxiliary smart contacts to implementing a full-fledged online exchange with cold wallets and virtual transactions. As in IT, you need to quickly adapt to tasks and not be afraid to parse new material.
It is worth considering a different path for those who do not like to experiment, look for mistakes, and quickly switch from one task to another. Success in the blockchain directly depends on whether the developer is ready to try something new and be an active member of the open source community.
You can also say that there are no juniors in this area: the blockchain does not tolerate those who do not have a fundamental knowledge of programming. In any company whose clients need a distributed database, a programmer will be considered for a project only if they have experience in commercial development, knowledge of essential certificates and blockchain standards, and confident knowledge of one or more programming languages.
Conclusion
Now is the time to plunge into the blockchain world and become a true insider. Every member of this young field is still learning the technology, and the chances of becoming one of the pioneers are pretty high.
Blockchain developers often solve complex problems related to applications and blockchains. The need for such specialists in the labor market is constantly growing, but it isn’t easy to acquire the necessary knowledge on your own. Confidently solving problems in the field of blockchain will also require practical skills, which it is almost impossible for a beginner to acquire without participating in real projects.
Top 10 Web Technologies to Focus on in 2022 – AI Chatbots, PWA, Native Cybersecurity
Next year’s trends directly depend on users’ needs and preferences. Developers are directly related to these factors and select tools for creation based on these data. Based on the trends in the development and use of tools, I concluded that some methods would be transferred from this year, as they have not lost their relevance. Therefore, several main trends can be identified.
Hotwire
Hotwire is a set of tools for creating fast web applications with minimal use of JavaScript code from one of the Ruby on Rails correspondent developers, Basecamp.
The approach increases the speed of loading web pages. It reduces the amount of JavaScript code by sending HTML instead of JSON (Hotwire – HTML-over-the-Wire) and using chatbots and artificial intelligence for communication.
Hotwire renders templates on the server side without compromising application speed and response. In addition, it helps the web application to be better indexed in search engines.
Artificial Intelligence Chatbots
A chatbot, or just a bot, is a unique application implemented as a dialog interface. Bots in social networks do not differ from ordinary users for those who communicate with them. But they know how to do practical work, often for minimal remuneration.
AI and bots can learn, collect data, or solve complex problems. AI is considered one of the most influential technologies shaping the future of website development.
We currently see dozens of AI chatbots, virtual assistants (Alice, Siri, Alexa), and voice bots as the latest web industry trends. These technologies enable businesses to engage and enhance human interaction. When building a marketplace, chatbots will help you improve your customer experience.
How are bots better than humans?
- Tirelessness. A bot can work around the clock, unlike a human;
- Speed. If a person, even the most “pumped” in the topic, in any case, needs a few seconds to think, the bot will answer the question instantly;
- The bot is always up to date. The rules in banks and other organizations may change, but this information does not always reach the employee. Bots can be updated quickly, and the update speed is a matter of minutes;
- Accuracy. Operators can perceive information with errors, while robots, as a rule, do not. Operators have a relatively high risk of error or incompetence and take time to learn new information;
- Minimum requirements for the client application and the user’s device. It can be a simple smartphone, a smartwatch, or a TV. Customers often use their favorite messenger: Telegram, Viber, Facebook, or WhatsApp. To start a dialogue with a chatbot, one click is enough;
- In advanced bots, you can write phrases as they come to mind—no need to pick up special terms or know specific commands. The bot recognizes speech using artificial intelligence. This is especially true with complex financial and insurance services, where the service’s subject is complex. A chatbot allows people to start dealing with their money without deep knowledge.
Chatbots can provide not only text but also media content. These are videos, audio messages, podcasts, and other content available on the messenger. This makes communication as complete, lively, and transparent as possible compared to chatbots in separate applications, for example, banking.
Low-Code and No-Code
Oddly enough, while there is a boom in online programming training worldwide, Low-Code and No-Code platforms are becoming more popular – and in 2022, this trend will continue.
Low-Code and No-Code allow you to develop applications, websites, and programs and automate workflows without code knowledge (or basic programming skills).
The most popular solutions in this area are website builders, but there are also more sophisticated platforms. For example, some allow you to process large amounts of data, while others generate code on request that the user can add to their application independently.
Podman
Podman is an alternative to the Docker application containerization tool. Initially, it was free, but in the last year, it became already paid.
On the one hand, such a policy makes the use of the tool expensive for many companies in which it is already implemented. On the other hand, it makes it challenging to implement due to the relatively high cost.
Podman is a free containerization service that, along with Rancher Desktop, will gain popularity among developers in 2022.
Progressive Web Applications (PWA)
PWA is an approach pioneered in 2018 for developing fast, reliable, and user-friendly web applications. The Google search engine separates web applications from native ones according to these criteria, so in 2022 the approach will gain popularity.
- For an application to be called progressive, it must use a particular set of technologies:
- Service Worker – a proxy layer between the frontend and backend through which all browser requests pass;
- HTTPS – the approach assumes that all site resources are transmitted through a secure protocol. In addition, the site should not contain links to unprotected resources;
- App shell – the basis of the graphical interface, which is stored on the client side and loaded when the web application is launched;
- Web App manifest – determines how the name of the application, its icon, and the PWA itself will look in the browser;
- Push notifications are pop-up windows offering to receive news from the site—the only widely used PWA technology many site owners abuse.
The pros of developing websites with PWA include:
- lower development and support costs;
- faster time to market;
- easier spread;
- saving energy and device memory;
- high speed;
- offline use;
- better engagement and conversion;
- hassle-free maintenance and updates.
According to a Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson study, global mobile data traffic is projected to grow 4.5 times to reach 226 EB monthly by 2026. This means people will use mobile devices more often to fulfill various needs. Moreover, by 2026, 5G networks will carry 54% of total mobile data traffic, enabling faster and more responsive mobile services.
A critical aspect of building a PWA is creating a UX/UI design that emphasizes the user experience. Website development with PWA allows businesses to remain competitive in today’s market.
Native Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the process of protecting sensitive data, networks, and software applications from cyberattacks. Cyber attacks can be seen as exploitation of resources, unauthorized access to systems, and ransomware attacks to encrypt data and extract money.
The days when it was enough to have only a strong password are long gone, and our personal and business data is exposed to many dangers.
Cybersecurity is essential not only for business organizations and government agencies. This could be for anyone who uses digital devices such as computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc. These devices contain any personal information that digital thieves would love to have. What’s also important about this is that if your data is exposed to hackers, they may use you as bait to lure friends or family into a digital scam.
Several models for ensuring security are recognized as the most effective. These include Zero Trust and Threat Hunting.
Zero trust
This is a zero trust model. According to it, any user and device connected to the network have zero trust. They need to prove by identification all the time that they have the right to access the system. It does not matter where they connect from and to which network segment. Zero Trust assumes that the security service must watch for any suspicious signal entering the network.
For this, distributed accesses and multi-level identification are used. Distributed data access makes it possible to provide full or limited access to users. Zero Trust uses AI to ensure that IT systems independently detect various vulnerabilities and suspicious activity, eliminating them.
Specialists’ duties include monitoring systems’ functioning and adjusting search algorithms.
Threat hunting
It began to be used ten years ago. Now, it has transformed the proactive and iterative analysis of information collected from endpoints and sensors to detect threats that bypassed the protections used.
Threat intelligence professionals use Threat Intelligence technologies to understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures of attacking cyber-fraud groups.
The main component of Threat Hunting is the team. Only trained personnel can take full advantage of Threat Hunting. Personnel must know the host and network forensics, cyber intelligence, and network and OS security.
Voice search
Voice search is a technology that allows you to ask a search engine a query without using a keyboard. Most often, voice search is used on mobile devices, where it is more convenient to say the desired phrase than manually enter it.
Previously, all information was in the text. But over time, more and more Internet users prefer to communicate using audio rather than textual information. This is why the Internet uses sound and speech interpretation as one of the fastest-growing technologies in website development.
Voice search optimization provides many benefits to both users and business owners, including:
- saving time and the ability to order more goods;
- serves as a source of customer behavior analytics.
Augmented Reality (WebAR)
Augmented reality is an environment that supplements the physical world as we see it in real-time with digital data using any devices – tablets, smartphones, or others, and the software part. As part of AR, on various devices’ screens, you can view 3D objects and visualize non-existent objects in a particular room. AR allows you to superimpose visual objects on physical space. Combine them.
Augmented reality has penetrated our lives. It is used in many countries around the world. AR is utilized in the following spheres:
- Medicine
- Military industry
- Computer games
- Applications for smartphones
- Polygraphy
- Literature
- Motion pictures
- Television
- Advertising
Augmented reality in the development of sites for e-commerce helps:
- reduce waiting time;
- allow customers to try out the product before buying;
- improving user experience;
- make online shopping more tangible.
AR is used to improve the user experience. Amazon, IKEA, and MOSCOT are prime examples of e-commerce brands using AR.
AR technology allows the creation of virtual showrooms, allowing customers to feel like they are in a store. Thus, customers can choose from various styles and be sure of the right product.
Web assembly
WebAssembly has been the most talked about new technology trend in recent years. This tool, also known as Wasm, allows developers to create high-performance applications. WebAssembly integrates with browsers. It can be used to develop various solutions such as 3D environments and cryptographic computing.
Web systems are primarily written in Javascript. But running applications with complex logic makes it difficult to achieve near-native performance. Multiple operations on a site result in delays and slower loading and prevent your web content from being promoted.
This does not mean that JavaScript should be abandoned. Instead, these two tools should work in parallel so that developers can get the most out of them.
Main advantages of WebAssembly:
- simplified and optimized development;
- better performance;
- less hassle associated with page loading;
- use of open development platforms;
- compatibility with any equipment and language;
- easy debugging;
- safety.
WebAssembly is the perfect choice when building a site that loads faster.
Serverless architecture
Forced work-from-home shifts marked 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing spread of Covid-19. This is why cloud solutions have only recently expanded. And the Internet, as one of the fastest growing domains, has documented significant growth in demand for serverless architecture.
As one of today’s most exciting web trends, serverless computing boasts many benefits.
- Increased scalability
- Faster time to market
- Profitability
- Delegated service
Serverless development means programmers build and run web applications without thinking about servers. These sites still run on servers but are backed by cloud providers.
Conclusion
In 2022, current web technology trends will change how businesses interact with customers. The technologies are becoming more personalized, more user friendly, and increasing user engagement. One of the main trends is the further development of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, advanced web applications, etc.
The Future of Blockchain Development Services
What is a blockchain?
Blockchain is a way of preserving information in a computer network, an ever-growing list of computer records called ” blocks’, interconnected and encoded cryptographically.
The blockchain database contains information about all transactions carried out by system participants. Data is stored as a chain of blocks. Each of them includes a certain number of transactions. An analogous example of its structure is an infinitely long metal chain in which links cannot be broken or swapped.
The concept of “blockchain” has no national origin; it has network “citizenship.” The term’s history began in 2008 when an anonymous person or a group of persons hiding under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published an article that became the manifesto of this innovative technology. The article described its essential characteristics and the possibility of creating a decentralized system of monetary settlements.
Eight main trends in the blockchain development
Blockchain regulation
Tighter regulation comes as governments, banks, and institutions join the race to bring blockchain into traditional infrastructures.
Many believe that increased regulation is a sure way to promote the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. However, this could be a double-edged sword for some crypto projects already in the spotlight due to dubious support, such as Ripple (XRP) and Tether (USDT).
Stablecoins seem to be at the forefront of these conversations. Central banks around the world are showing increasing interest in creating blockchain-based central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Many investors expect tighter restrictions in the crypto space to pave the way for institutional adoption.
Acceptance of cryptocurrencies by institutions
Many commercial and central banks, once called the “nemesis” of the cryptocurrency world, are turning to cryptocurrencies and blockchain to streamline their practices and keep pace with technological advances. Cross-border payments are painfully slow and expensive.
The coming months will see an increase in the institutional adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies by major payment processors, corporations, and governments. In addition, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) can play a prominent role in facilitating decentralized governance for various applications.
Development of non-fungible tokens (Non-Fungible Tokens)
The NFT token protocol appeared on the Ethereum blockchain in 2017 – they contain unique metadata, which distinguishes them from other tickets. With their help, you can store more individualized information.
Use cases: government documents (from marriage certificates to driver’s licenses and property documents), luxury goods registers, tickets, and other digital goods.
The token will be a ticket, coupon, or collectible. It can represent an actual object: a cup of coffee or a piece of art. Non-fungible tokens will completely change the concept of the economy.
Share tokens
Tokenized shares are securities converted into digital security tokens using blockchain technology. The security token is backed by a real asset and tied to its value.
This is another example of linking tokens to objects from the real world. Infrastructure development will drive their popularity — extraordinary STO (security token offering) exchanges and wallets. The instrument itself will reduce liquidity in the stock market.
Tokenized assets
All illiquid assets will be split into fractions, tokenized, and placed on exchanges. This is how new liquidity will be formed: in the real estate market or, for example, in art. They will be traded 24/7, 365 days a year. Such infrastructure is already being developed in Malta and Switzerland.
Data protection
Blockchain can be used for data protection, reducing fraud, waste, and abuse while increasing trust and accountability. In a blockchain-based government model, individuals, businesses, and government authorities share resources in a distributed ledger protected by cryptography. This framework eliminates a single point of failure and inherently protects sensitive citizen and government data.
Freedom of speech
Thanks to the blockchain, no statements can be unilaterally removed by corporations or governments.
We will move away from a hierarchical society toward network structures. These changes will have significant social implications: trust and decentralized control will become the new standards.
Blockchain and the Metaverse
The term that has become synonymous with blockchain is “metaverse.” The Metaverse is one of the biggest blockchain trends that has made headlines in recent months.
It is understood as a network of virtual worlds, the purpose of which is to promote the establishment of social connections using virtual reality, augmented reality, and Web3 technologies. The Metaverse uses blockchain to create an immutable record of transactions for digital assets.
In the metaverse, people use cryptocurrencies to purchase assets such as virtual land, resources, and tools in various game scenarios. In addition, these assets are “tokenized” on the blockchain as non-playable tokens (NFTs).
Easily accessible cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are fungible. However, NFTs are often scarce or unique. This makes it possible to own virtual property in the metaverse.
The most popular blockchain platforms
On the fundament of blockchain platforms are developed blockchain-based applications. They may be permissioned or permissionless. These platforms provide different blockchain services. Ethereum, Hyperledger, R3, Ripple, and EOS are a few names that have created blockchain infrastructure to allow people to develop and host applications on the blockchain.
Ethereum
Ethereum is an open-source blockchain platform. Designed for intelligent contracts and provides programming tools for their creation. Introduced by Vitalik Buterin in 2013, this platform simplifies the development of next-generation decentralized applications (DApps) and online contractual agreements.
Ethereum allows the development and issuance of cryptocurrencies and existing digital tokens. Moreover, you can create your own DAO (Democratic Autonomous Organization), a virtual organization where various problems are solved by voting its members.
This platform offers valuable features, including Turing-complete languages, command-line tools (built on Go, C++, Python, Java, etc.), and an Ethereum wallet. The latter makes it possible for developers to store and protect crypto assets and simplifies the development of smart contracts.
BigChainDB
BigChainDB is an open-source distributed ledger. It was created to store large amounts of data. The system allows developers to deploy proofs-of-concept and blockchain applications.
This database provides decentralized control, low latency, resiliency, powerful query functionality, and high transaction processing speed.
The system does not have its cryptocurrency but allows the issuance and transfer of assets, tokens, and cryptocurrencies. BigChainDB supports digital user assets and sets access rights at the transaction level.
BigChainDB is based on a federated consensus model, a federated node with the right to vote. Supporting public and private networks, BigChainDB has many uses, including intellectual property, labor, government, and land cadastre.
Hyperledger Fabric
The Hyperledger Fabric blockchain is one of the most popular Hyperledger projects organized by the Linux Foundation and released in 2016. Hyperledger Fabric is written in Go and uses Docker containers to implement smart contracts.
The platform is the basis for creating blockchain-based solutions with a modular architecture and supports using one or more networks. The ability to provide high flexibility, reliability, and scalability makes Hyperledger Fabric suitable for developing enterprise-level solutions.
If we talk about its useful functions, it contains channels for exchanging confidential information and adheres to the policy of confirming transactions. In addition, transactions include signatures of all supporting participants and are forwarded to the service of the order. Hyperledger Fabric is one of the best platforms for creating public blockchains.
Hyperledger Cello
Hyperledger Cello is a blockchain platform and operating system; This is one of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger projects. Hyperledger Cello’s goal is to minimize the effort required to create and manage blockchains by delivering on-demand “as-a-service” deployment models in the blockchain ecosystem.
Hyperledger Cello allows developers to create a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform from scratch and manage the blockchain lifecycle. Moreover, Cello can support a range of networks over bare metal, virtual clouds, and clustered containers (Cello supports Docker, Swarm, and Kubernetes).
Hyperledger Sawtooth Lake
Hyperledger Sawtooth Lake is a blockchain platform representing an enterprise solution supporting public and private development. This platform makes it easy for software engineers to create, deploy, and run distributed registries and applications.
Sawtooth Lake is a set of modules written in Python and provides an abstraction of intelligent contracts, which allows developers to write contract logic in the language of their choice. Transactional business logic in Hyperledger Sawtooth is separated from the consensus layer.
The consensus mechanism is called Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET). It uses the reliable SGX computing module built into Intel processors of the latest generations.
There are many valuable ways to use Sawtooth Lake. For example, in the case of seafood procurement management, he solves such problems as improper food supply, illegal fishing, and seafood fraud.
Hyperledger Sawtooth can provide a secure infrastructure for creating and exchanging digital assets.
Hydrachain
HydraChain is an open-source extension for the Ethereum blockchain platform. It offers support for the development and deployment of public distributed registries.
HydraChain is fully compatible with the Ethereum protocol and provides an infrastructure for creating Python intelligent contracts. Hydrachain has many tools to reduce development time and improve debugging.
HydraChain must provide a high level of customization: various aspects of the system can be easily adjusted according to the user’s needs. For example, when creating smart contracts, you can easily configure transaction fees, gas limits, and blocking time.
Corda
Corda is an open-source blockchain platform for creating public distributed ledgers. This project was created by the R3 consortium, which unites the largest banks and allows for to management of legal agreements between parties.
R3 Corda provides secure data storage and immutable data recording like other distributed registries. It is noteworthy that only Corda makes possible the development of interacting blockchain networks whose transactions are strictly private. It is probably the only distributed registry platform with a pluggable consensus.
Multichain
Multichain is an open-source distributed ledger based on the Bitcoin Blockchain and created to process financial transactions with multiple cryptocurrencies.
This platform provides various levels of access control and permissions and enables rapid solutions deployment. In Multichain, virtual networks can simultaneously be located on one server.
Open chain
As an open-source blockchain platform, Openchain was created to issue and manage digital assets in a reliable, secure, and scalable way. This technology includes intelligent contract modules, a unified API, and multiple control and access rights levels according to a hierarchical system of accounts.
In Openchain, each transaction is signed with a digital signature (as in Bitcoin), and the consensus mechanism is represented by Partitioned Consensus. It is worth noting that Open chain is a free platform, so you don’t have to spend cryptocurrency to use it.
Chain Core
Chain Core is an enterprise-level blockchain platform based on the Chain Protocol and created to issue, transfer and manage digital assets on public blockchain networks. In addition, the platform allows developers to make financial services from scratch.
In Chain Core, proprietary digital assets include currencies, securities, derivatives, gift cards, and loyalty points. The platform offers role-based network management. Chain Core has a federated consensus and supports smart contracts, transaction privacy, and multi-signature account support.
Influence of blockchain technology on the general state of the economy
Company «PwC» recently published an analysis according to which the application of blockchain technology already by 2030 will be able to provide colossal economic growth. The development will be provided at 1.7 trillion dollars, according to average estimates. «PwC» is an international network of companies worldwide that professionally includes auditing and consulting services.
Analysis of blockchain systems entered the category of studies directly related to the study of the influence of modern technologies on the state of the world economy. Representatives of the international organization believe that blockchain is helping in restructuring and “rebirth” organizations, an opportunity to work in a new way.
Having analyzed the system’s state, experts identified five of its main areas of use. They included:
- tracking and control of listed sums of money;
- execution of payments and provision of financial services;
- creation of contracts, regulation of conflict and disputes;
- working with clients;
- identification and management.
This report on system and blockchain trends 2022 suggests blockchain can be used in different industries, from fashion to heavy industry.
Today, experts consider the most favorable position of the blockchain in the fields of health protection, education, and management. PwC specialists believe these industries will become the most profitable in ten years and raise the economy’s overall level significantly.
Also, the report mentions that a favorable political environment is necessary to develop such systems fully. Without it, cooperation between states is impossible and, accordingly, the development of strategic goals to which they must strive. It is also worth mentioning the importance of the business ecosystem, which must be ready to use all new opportunities and learn to manage them.