Top Software Trends of 2021

Staying On Top

The software development industry is constantly evolving, and top developers know that keeping up with the latest tools and trends is the key to staying competitive. Despite, or perhaps even due to the volatility created by the ongoing pandemic, several development methods and tools have risen to prominence over the last twelve months. As the year draws to a close, we believe it is important to reflect upon some of the top software trends that dominated 2021.

Blockchain

While blockchain has been around for years and has been widely used in cryptocurrency, it continues to show promising new applications. Beyond offering safe and secure money transactions online, blockchain has a number of new real-world applications. It can be used to secure, track, and share medical data and records. It provides a backbone for many of the new and wildly popular non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces like OpenSea. Blockchain also has huge implications for record labels; it can potentially upend the music industry by changing the way royalties are tracked. Highly secure smart contracts are fully automated and have been adopted across many industries including real estate, insurance, financial services, as well as medical and clinical research. When integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain can help business partners easily access and share relevant data, without the need for any kind of centralized control or management. These are but a few examples of real-world use cases, and blockchain’s utility is likely to expand even further in the coming years.

Renewed Focus on the Cloud

With the shift to a predominantly remote workforce over the last couple years, the adoption of cloud technologies has accelerated dramatically. The need for remote employees to be able to access, edit, and share files while working collaboratively with their teams made cloud technologies the perfect solution during the pandemic lockdowns. Cloud-based platforms have consistently proven their effectiveness through flexibility and scalability. According to projections from major consulting firm Gartner, spending on cloud services is forecasted to have grown in excess of 23% in 2021, potentially reaching upwards of $332 billion. Another emerging side benefit of cloud platforms has been its impact on the environment. According to Amazon Web Services (AWS), their cloud platform can complete the same task as an on-premise system with up to an 88% lower carbon footprint.

Strengthening Cybersecurity

As cloud platforms and mobile devices become increasingly popular, so too does the frequency and severity of attempted security breaches. This has led to a strong demand for cybersecurity initiatives and an increased need for cyber insurance plans. The continual rollout of new 5g networks in support of smart cities and intelligent power grids has also created security concerns. These areas generate, track, and share incredible amounts of data that must be protected. With so much valuable customer data now being stored electronically instead of physically, the importance of strong and proactive cybersecurity measures cannot be overstated.

Expansion of IoT

With each passing year, IoT continues its expansion across all industries. From healthcare to manufacturing and agriculture, IoT now connects billions of devices around the globe. In fact, according to global consulting firm McKinsey, by 2025 there will be in excess of 50 billion devices connected by IoT in the industrial sector alone. Due to the sheer volume of data created and transmitted to cloud networks, IoT technologies have become a hotbed of ongoing innovation. As businesses continue to invest in IoT technologies, the demand for capable software engineers to create these systems has skyrocketed. The high demand coupled with the fact that IoT is still in its relative infancy with tons of unrealized potential makes it one of the top software trends moving into 2022.

Continuing Evolution of AI

It’s no secret that AI and associated technologies have been taking off in recent years. With deep learning and natural language processing (NLP), AI has rapidly advanced and is showing great promise for businesses across many sectors. According to McKinsey’s 2020 State of AI survey, 50% of the nearly 2,400 respondents from various industries said their company had adopted AI in some capacity. AI controlled robotics are thriving in rule-based business environments such as finance and banking, manufacturing, marketing, and branding. AI combined with predictive analytics can lead to businesses better understanding their customers’ preferences and habits. This could potentially lead to new avenues for reaching entirely new consumer bases.

Rise of Progressive Web Apps

Generally speaking, mobile apps fall into a couple categories. There are native apps, which are built from the ground up to work with a specific operating system (e.g. Android or iOS). Then there are web apps; highly responsive applications built from and accessed by a web browser. Web apps aren't standalone apps in the sense that the user doesn’t need to download and install the code onto their phone. Because these apps are browser-based, they are capable of adapting to the user interface of virtually any device or operating system.

In recent years developers have found a way to combine these kinds of apps into a hybrid, creating what is being called Progressive Web Apps (PWA). PWA’s essentially offer all the benefits and utility of native apps (a homescreen icon, responsive design, fast loading speeds, offline functionality, etc.) with the lightweight, browser-based flexibility of a web app. PWA’s aren’t locked into a single OS ecosystem and can be accessed through virtually any device. They are ideal for testing minimum viable products due to their low costs, rapid development period, and the fact that they don’t require separate dev teams for Android and iOS versions.

According to research conducted by Google, 53% of users will close out of a web page or app if it doesn’t load in three seconds or less. PWA’s rely upon a local cache, meaning the app will load in milliseconds. Because the majority of the PWA is preloaded, their performance excels in areas with poor connections or low internet speeds. On top of all that, PWA’s offer a more consistent user experience across multiple different browsers and devices. These benefits are all indicators that progressive web apps have a huge role to play in the future of app development going into 2022 and beyond.