2020 has been an extremely tough year for everyone in nearly every walk of life. As individuals we have seen our way of life transformed as a result of the global pandemic, and entire industries have had to react quickly and dramatically to adapt and evolve in order to survive.
Many issues, challenges and trends have sprung into existence this year that were unthinkable a mere 12 months ago. However, not everything is all doom and gloom - where there are problems, there are also solutions. Despite the current climate of uncertainty, there also exists lots of opportunity to grow, develop and become even better than before.
If you are part of a software development company that's been caught up in the 2020 storm, you will have noticed a number of trends affecting the industry, and which will most likely continue into the future.
What happened in the Software Development industry in 2020?
Here are some of the top trends we've observed throughout 2020:
The continued rise of AI and machine learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues on its path of innovation with continued developments throughout 2020 in automated algorithms, analytics, and even programming.
Now more than ever before, our lives are filled with AI touchpoints which learn and respond from experience - whether this is on our iPhones, laptops, web browsers or our Alexa speakers.
Within the Software Development industry, developers have managed to increase their usage of AI and machine learning in their operations, helping them to speed up several stages in the development process. Artificial Intelligence has continued to permeate stages including preparation, design, writing code, and testing.
Thanks to constantly improving AI and machine learning capabilities, we can enjoy a more agile, flexible and efficient workflow. This is down to previous coding patterns being automatically tracked, recognised, and applied where necessary. What's more, algorithms are able to identify and highlight any abnormalities (for example bugs or gaps in code) to the development team. Client data can also be collected instantly and analysed meticulously in order to automate a design plan, and build in product improvements.
Developers are exposed to larger sets of data and more constructive feedback thanks to AI, and so they can create better products, improve productivity, create faster workflows and reduce time-to-market.
The coronation of cloud computing
Perhaps the biggest industry trend of 2020 has been the explosion in cloud computing throughout the year, with more and more businesses making the switch to cloud-based operations to facilitate people working remotely.
The cloud computing boom has naturally spurred massive developments in the global software industry. Software professionals everywhere are in high demand to develop and upgrade cloud systems for both businesses and individuals, both on an internal and customer-facing level. The Cloud has helped to fortify systems and networks in 2020 with never before seen levels of security, reliability and convenience. Development processes concerning the Cloud can be much more cost-efficient, as companies only have to pay for the software features they require at the time, and additional capability can often be added.
Some cloud-based services that have seen massive successes in 2020 include Fastly, Cloudera and Salesforce.
Software developers are also given access to an unlimited number of testing and staging servers through the Cloud, which can help them to speed up the development process, improve testing, and prioritize product delivery. The popularity in cloud computing is a trend that will very likely continue to flourish into the next year as a result of its ever-increasing ability to be flexible when responding to unpredicted changes.
After the Cloud's wide-scale deployment in 2020, the way companies leverage their cloud-based software will become even more streamlined, specialized and secure. As a result, data centers will need to continue to evolve in order to keep up with this demand in 2021.
More focus on cybersecurity
2020 was the year that people all over the world took to their laptops like never before, as they were confined to working from home because of the pandemic. Sensitive company data, which before was hosted within secure and complex security systems in offices, could now be accessed from home.
As work-from-home technologies were forced to evolve and develop and become more accessible and cloud-based, so did the tactics of cybercriminals. The coronavirus pandemic has encouraged even more digital crimes to be committed than normal, as hackers seize the opportunity to make the most of the growing business shift to online activity.
To combat this, 2020 has seen a continuing enhancement of security efforts in the software development process. This has included focus on biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and encryption.
On the other hand, hackers with an ethical focus and IT security specialists have been working hard with developers, to make sure that their software code is free of bugs and vulnerabilities, and as watertight as possible against any possible threats. It has become more important than ever to properly test, analyze, and deploy newly-developed software.
Increasing demand for progressive web apps
With consumers being stuck at home for lots of 2020 rather than being able to go out and enjoy their lives like usual, the global growth of mobile phone usage has continued. Software developers have been given the challenge of accommodating online experiences for both web and mobile users.
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are a hybrid of web and mobile applications that look to take the best of both worlds from the two formats. PWAs are built and enhanced with modern APIs to deliver improved capabilities and more reliability for users, while managing to reach anyone, anywhere, on any device with a single codebase.
While some companies choose to build native apps for their services in order to offer an exclusive and efficient UX (for example Spotify, Slack or Skype), PWAs are able to offer similar results with a much lower budget.
PWA usage speeds up the development process because updates only need to be made on the web server, rather than in specific apps for different operating systems. This is because a PWA functions like a mobile app for your desktop, but hosted directly on its website. Users then have the option of downloading an app straight from a website.
PWAs have also gained exposure in 2020 for their fast loading speeds, push notifications, and their instant addition to mobile device home screens, without the need for downloads and installation.
Some of the companies using highly-regarded PWAs in 2020 include Alibaba, Starbucks, and Trivago.