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Developer

Top Frontend JavaScript Frameworks in 2022

August 31, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Many front-end frameworks based on JavaScript may be found on the market nowadays. There are a lot of comparable options out there. Because of this, deciding on the best option for your project might be difficult. Ember and Angular, for example, both provide two-way data binding. Furthermore, both React and Vue.js use the same “virtual” DOM model.

We’ve compiled a list of the most popular front-end JavaScript frameworks for your convenience. Let’s look at each framework’s fundamental features and what they can do for us.

Top JavaScript Frameworks for the Front-end

React

One of the most popular open-source JavaScript frameworks, React, was created in 2013 by a Facebook software developer called Jordan Walke. With over 180k ratings on GitHub, the React community is huge. React is used and adored by about 40% of all developers globally. Despite a minor decrease in satisfaction with React in 2020, it remains a popular option for new IT developers. It weighs less, has a more active community, and has a less steep learning curve.

How it works

React takes advantage of JSX, making it possible for programmers to embed HTML code into JavaScript scripts.
You may use the React library with other frameworks like state management, API integrations, and routing.
The in-memory cache used by React’s library creates a virtual DOM. The virtual DOM compares the components’ prior and current states. As a result, the actual DOM only displays components whose states have been modified somehow.
The one-way data binding of the framework facilitates nesting by allowing data to move in just one direction.
ComponentDidMount is used to execute code at particular moments in the lifecycle.

Real-life use cases

Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, Reddit, UberEats, and many more major websites have been built using React.

React’s most popular components

React components may be used to build an appealing user interface using Material UI. Styling components for designing layouts, forms, navigation, and other widgets are abundant with this tool.

React Semantic UI: Semantic UI uses pre-existing functionality by executing simple words. Developers may express their creativity using the interface’s multiple themes.

Toolbox for React Google Material Design guidelines is adhered to by a collection of React components written in SASS. CSS modules are used to import SASS stylesheets into the application. The library’s smooth integration provides flexible and customizable solutions with React webpack.

When to use React?

Single-Page Applications may be built using React thanks to its Virtual DOM features (SPAs). In addition, you may use React to develop big, community-supported apps.

Vue.js

Vue.js is an open-source front-end framework created and maintained by Evan You and his team since it was first released seven years ago. Small-time front-end apps that need to operate on a javascript framework increasingly use Vue.js. The third most popular framework in 2021, according to Github’s study. Almost 700,000 websites have been created using this framework. Vue.js is a full framework that allows you to write code more easily and efficiently. It is also well-known for its smaller file size and quicker download time.

How it works

Vue.js uses the Virtual DOM to update and alter the application’s state.

One-way and two-way data binding are supported in Vue.js. Reactive two-way data binding is the name given to this feature, which means that data in a component class and its template are interchangeable in React.

The ecosystem of Vue.js is vibrant. You may still use Quasar Framework, NativeScript, or Ionic to create hybrid mobile apps even if it lacks their own mobile framework. Additionally, Vue.js makes use of the JSX library. Vue.js can quickly import and manage custom components thanks to the use of JSX. As a result, Vue.js has a wide range of CSS transitions and animations available. Transition wrappers, custom classes, JavaScript hooks, and other features are available to Vue.js users.

Real-life use cases

Alibaba, 9gag, Xiaomi, and a slew of other well-known brands have turned to Vue.js to handle all of their front-end needs.

Popular components of Vue.js

There are over 500 contributors to the Element UI Vue.js component library, which is supported by a strong community base. Components like this enable developers and designers alike to build beautiful and engaging user interfaces by focusing on the smallest details.

You can construct reusable components that work nicely with Server-Side Rendering using Vue.js’s unofficial material design framework, Vuetify. With over 23k stars on Github, this project is gaining traction and a thriving community. Approximately 400 contributors to Vuetify have contributed more than 20 plugins.

A UI kit for Vue.js based on the Bootstrap framework is Bootstrap Vue. Bootstrap v4 may be used in responsive, mobile-first apps thanks to Vue.js. A grid framework, various UI components, and various themes are included in the kit.

When to use it?

Vue.js may be used as a framework rather than merely a library since it doesn’t add any complexity to the developing process. Vue.js is a good choice if you want a lightweight design that keeps functionality separate from presentation. It helps in the formation of SPAs and modest projects. Vue.js is your best option if you’re looking for developer-friendly features like tree-sharking, code-splitting, and more.

Angular

An open-source web application framework created by Google is called Angular. Core features including dependency injection, asynchronous compiles, RxJS, and more were added in version 2 of this framework. It has become very popular among programmers. Nearly 60% of respondents to an Ideamotive study said they have experience working with the Angular framework.

How it works

Angular is an MVC framework in its simplest form. A well-structured application may be created by using this tool.

Data may flow in both directions via the framework. Using the controller, Angular can link the DOM to the model data. You may listen to events and concurrently update data between parent and child components using bi-directional data flow. In spite of its shortcomings, the framework’s environment is superb. Many pre-built solutions are available to help you build easy and efficient applications. When using Angular, for example, you don’t need to install or configure anything.

Thanks to Angular’s hierarchical dependency injection, all code components may be easily checked and reused. In many ways, debugging in Angular is easier because of the immediate error detection and useful feedback choices.

Real-life use cases

Google has also utilized Angular to develop several services. Websites such as Forbes and LEGO have also been built using Angular.

Popular Angular components

All you need to get started with Ngx-bootstrap. With this component library for Angular, you can easily include Bootstrap in your project. Angular is used to build the bootstrap components, which results in a faster and more responsive user interface.

Angular Material is a set of reusable UI components inspired by Google’s material design. This library is the best place to start if you’re looking for an extensive collection of user interface design elements.

When to use Angular?

As a full-fledged framework, Angular is appropriate for constructing large-scale corporate applications. Furthermore, since it employs MVC architecture, it enables the smooth incorporation of additional features.

jQuery

jQuery dominated the IT industry before the advent of contemporary JavaScript libraries and frameworks. Founded in 2006 by John Resign, it’s one of the oldest and most feature-rich open-source JavaScript libraries. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest JavaScript frameworks for front-end development. 95.5 percent of all JavaScript-enabled websites utilize it, according to W3Techs. With its seasoned and experienced community, jQuery is well-known for decreasing the amount of JavaScript code it requires.

How it works

The event handling capabilities of jQuery are well-known. To simplify administration, even user actions like mouse clicks and keyboard strokes are reduced to tiny code snippets.

jQuery’s syntax is quite similar to CSS’s. As a result, it’s a comfort for novices to develop a feeling for the framework.

In the latest version, jQuery Mobile is included to help developers create scalable mobile apps.

With a simple API and compatibility for different browsers, it is an easy-to-use framework for web development.

A blank jQuery project is under 30kb in zip size, making it one of the lightest frameworks to handle AMD modules. You don’t need Download Builder to keep track of your UI requirements. A specific AMD loader, such as RequireJS, is also supported by the module.

Case studies in real life

For example, jQuery has been used by well-known companies, including Twitter, Microsoft, Uber, Pandora, and SurveyMonkey.

jQuery’s most popular components

jQuery UI is a set of UI components available for free usage in your next project. Developers may utilize the library’s rich and interactive widgets to improve the user interfaces of their applications. The tree view, form widgets, color pickers, charts, and RTL support, to name just a few, are all noteworthy additions to the framework’s feature set. Regardless of the changes in device, platform, or browser, this library provides the same level of performance.

JQuery-based widget library Wijimo is available for jQuery mobile. jQuery is used to enhance the tool’s performance. 30+ themes, including RTL support, video and animation widgets, and more, are included in the app’s features. This widget may be used on both mobile devices and the web.

Muuri is a free and open-source jQuery plugin that allows for the creation of dynamic layouts. Thanks to the plugin, the grid container’s location and size may be completely customized. When developers use jQuery, they can unleash their inner designer and create intuitive UIs because of its versatility.

When to use jQuery

jQuery’s cross-browser compatibility means it’s still the best choice for delivering JavaScript-based online and desktop applications.

Conclusion

As far as front-end development goes, are you ready? This list was put up by a team of specialists using data from surveys, experience, and the most popular products. It can use the unique characteristics of each Javascript-based framework and library.

Developer

Programming Languages for Blockchain Smart Contracts

August 31, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

There is a lot of buzz about smart contracts, blockchain, decentralized finance, and cryptocurrencies these days. Developers are essential to the creation of all of these. Therefore, there is a continuing need for blockchain developers.

Smart contracts can be written in many programming languages. To learn more about smart contract programming, read this article.

Smart contracts in a nutshell

Unlike traditional contracts that require intermediaries, smart contracts execute actions by contract terms. PancakeSwap is one of the decentralized exchanges where smart contracts are in use. Customers can exchange BNB for Ethereum without contacting customer support if they have BNB.

Solidity

A statically-typed, object-oriented programming language designed for creating smart contracts, Solidity was developed for object-oriented programming. Unlike existing programming languages such as C++, Python, or JavaScript, Solidity is built on existing programming principles.

Java and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) share the same hardware as Ethereum and allow smart contracts to be written on Ethereum.

The Ethereum network’s first programming language for smart contracts was Solidity. All calculable functions can be computed with it because it is Turing-complete. However, it is still a relatively new language, which means you will have to fully implement it yourself.

Rust

The Rust programming language is a fast, statically typed, low-level language. Whenever scalability isn’t negotiable, Rust fits the bill. Among the fastest blockchains, Solana uses Rust as its core programming language. The Rust compiler outputs a color-coded error message and further details on the error so that debugging is much easier.

As a result of Rust’s immutability, blockchain applications can be written predictably. Unlike JavaScript and Python, Rust requires you to explicitly state each program construct, which means more code. There are very few libraries for almost everything.

Java Script

There’s a place for JavaScript in the blockchain space because it’s a general-purpose programming language. Developers can easily access blockchain ecosystems by utilizing JavaScript wrappers or libraries. Smart contracts can be created using several programming languages, including JavaScript, on Hyperledger Fabric.

There is a large community of people who support this popular, mature programming language. On the other hand, JavaScript implements dynamic type safety while most blockchain applications are designed using statically typed languages.

Vyper

Vyper is a contract-oriented programming language composed of Python-like constructs targeting the Ethereum Virtual Machine. It features contract-specific features, such as event notifiers and custom global variables. It is deliberately designed to have fewer features than Solidity to make contracts more secure and auditable.

Using Vyper, you can build secure smart contracts that are less prone to attack. Because anything marked constant cannot change state, Vyper supports only a limited number of pure functions.

Yul

To address the needs of different backends, Yul is compiled to bytecode. A common denominator for both Ethereum and WebAssembly is planned by EVM and ewasm (Ethereum-flavored WebAssembly). Solidity uses Yul both for stand-alone assembly and inline assembly.

Yul programs are readable even if they are generated by Solidity compilers. Loops, function calls, and if and switch statements are among the high-level constructs Yul offers. To avoid confusion about concepts such as values and references, it has a default type that can always be omitted.

Yul must be compiled to bytecode, so it takes more time during development because it must be compiled to bytecode.

Final thoughts

Depending on the blockchain you want to work on, you should use a programming language from the above list. Developers prefer Solidity when it comes to Ethereum blockchains, for example.

As the blockchain sector is still developing, we expect to see more conventional language support.

Developer

Top Reasons Why PHP Is Still So Important for Web Development

August 31, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Multiple web servers, such as Apache and Microsoft’s IIS, offer support for the PHP programming language. It’s also worth noting that PHP is supported by the most prominent platforms, including Windows, Unix, Linux, and macOS. Over 79.2% of websites utilize PHP as their server-side language, according to recent studies.

The most common reason why businesses use PHP nowadays

Language’s Adaptability

PHP’s syntax is straightforward, even though it is a dynamically typed language. There are no strict guidelines for scripting, and developers can still test their software with occasional bugs.

PHP Gets Better Over Time

PHP is constantly developing, unlike many other languages, which tend to stagnate. The PHP Group considers developer feedback and difficulties with the most recent release of PHP. PHP 8.0 was just launched, and it has a ton of improvements and solutions for previous issues.

In addition, PHP 7’s stable release addressed a common complaint from programmers: the language’s sluggish performance. New language versions are released yearly, and existing ones are improved.

Changes Made in PHP 7

PHP 7 is the pinnacle of all previous versions. In addition to being the most recent major release of PHP, this version is also the most stable. Many tools and features, such as the New Zend Engine, were included to boost the speed and efficiency of the code.

There have been enhancements made to the engine that deal with errors. The PHP development team refreshed the Zend Engine by reworking its memory consumption, doubling the program’s execution speed.

Minimizing Growth Costs

PHP is an open-source programming language, so no licensing fees are associated with using it to build a website. PHP works well with many databases and can be easily integrated with server platforms like MySQL and Apache.

Helping the Community

The third-largest PHP community in the world lives on StackOverflow, ready to help with any queries or issues you may have with PHP.

Should Businesses Opt for PHP?

The two most well-known Frameworks available for PHP are Laravel and Symfony. Both the frameworks and PHP itself are widely utilized behind the scenes of websites to improve page load times and query processing. Nonetheless, many businesses leverage HHVM and PHP for code conversion into C++ for improved and accelerated execution.

Any business with plans to create a website on which users may communicate with one another can be assured that the language can handle the task. Popular content management systems (CMSs) like WordPress are often based on PHP, making them simple to integrate into an existing website. PHP is best suited for use on the web, whereas other languages, such as Java, are superior for mobile app development.

In conclusion, PHP is the best language for the backend if you’re a business that values rapid website loads. But JavaScript will continue to be utilized for front-end developments for the foreseeable future. Some JS libraries, however, may also be used on the server. Therefore, dynamic websites may be built using a combination of these technologies.

Developer

A Quick Guide to Building Modern Apps with Angular

August 31, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

The popularity of Angular is well deserved. In our list, we have highlighted 5 of the most popular apps you can build with Angular. You will be inspired by these examples and understand why Angular is a real winner.

It has gained immense popularity as one of the leading front-end frameworks. It is an open-source framework that provides a fast and scalable development process. Angular provides endless possibilities for creating exceptional web applications with its defined architecture and libraries.

Angular Applications

With its numerous benefits across various domains, this leading framework can be used to develop compelling & dynamic applications. The following are a few examples of apps you can build using Angular:

SPA (single page applications)

The data management features of the Angular framework enable single-page applications to load quickly. When SPAs are built with Angular, they offer fantastic UI support. This results in a completely immersive user experience with no lag and dynamically displayed information on a single page.

Web applications for large corporations

An Angular mobile and web app are composed of sophisticated software that meets high-security standards. An enterprise or institution operating at a higher level must meet this requirement. MVC architecture and code reuse are also features that make it ideal for building enterprise web applications.

Angular mobile applications

The reuse of the code between mobile and web facilitates the development of an Angular mobile app in less time. Angular frameworks are popular for building cross-platform web applications. You can combine it with NativeScript or Ionic.

PWA (Progressive web applications)

App developers must ensure their applications load quickly, offer offline support, and provide a look and feel similar to mobile applications. With Angular, PWAs can be built with advanced features such as responsive design, mobile-like functionality, and offline functionality.

SSR (Server-side rendered applications)

With Angular, server-side rendering is made easy, and SSR development is made simpler. Due to its role in pre-populating custom user data, the server plays a major role in reducing site loading times. By improving the load speed of SSR apps, Angular increases your site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), resulting in increased business visibility and profits.

Applications with UI animations

Why do web apps succeed? UI animations that are engaging, intuitive, and stunning steal the show. Students need animations to engage and delight themselves, especially on Edutech platforms and learning platforms. When you need an exceptional user interface, Angular is your best bet.

Applications for the eCommerce sector, travel, social or finance platforms

With Angular, you can develop apps for various industries, such as the food industry, eCommerce, travel, social, or finance. With its extensive libraries and high-performance, robust features, it will cater to any organization, regardless of size.

Final thoughts

If you’re looking to develop business apps, Angular is the framework to choose from. Adding to its appeal is Google’s backing and an active developer community. Angular helps you reduce development costs, make your project more structured, and scale it easily.

Developer

PHP Use Cases – A List of Companies That Have Adopted the Language

August 30, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

The most recent version, 7, is utilized by 66.2% of all PHP-based websites today. Many of the largest firms in the world utilize PHP for their server-side programming because of the language’s flexibility and widespread adoption.

PHP Use Cases

PHP has become the de facto server-side language for various industries and technology behemoths. We segmented these businesses by industry. While some of these businesses somewhat rely on PHP, others rely heavily on it.

Social Media Sites

People who utilize social media platforms can log in to their accounts on the platform’s website. Faster database queries are one of the many ways PHP improves loading times.

Facebook

Facebook, as reported by Similarweb, receives over 22 billion monthly visits.

Facebook, which uses PHP, has opted to grow its PHP monolith rather than adopt a distributed microservices design, despite the dynamic scripting language’s poor reputation for scalability.
Hip Hop Virtual Machine (HHVM), a just-in-time compiler for PHP, enables Facebook to avoid a difficult rework that would have slowed down the firm.
Facebook developed its own dialect of PHP called Hack, and many of its capabilities have found their way into PHP 7 and the forthcoming PHP 8.

Flickr

There are over ten million groups and billions of photographs on the photo-sharing website Flickr. PHP is the primary server language, MySQL is used for databases, and Memcached is utilized as a caching layer; all three components of the LAMP stack are employed to run the site.

Among the many notable features of Flickr’s highly scalable design are:

You should consider your software to be more than just a web application. You may use many feed formats like RSS, Atom, and SOAP with your REST APIs.
Become a stateless person. As a result of its stateless nature, the system is easier to maintain and more resilient to updates.
Abstract. Set up distinct layers for the database, the business logic, the pages, the page markup, and the presentation. This allows for rapid iterative development to proceed.
Layer. Using layers, developers may construct page-level logic designers can use to craft an engaging user experience. In cases when designers want it, they can request page logic. It is a negotiation between the two sides.

Tumblr

Millions of people across the world use Tumblr as a social media platform to connect and express their thoughts and opinions via the medium of blogging and the sharing of photographs. The PHP server-side scripting language was officially recognized as the primary language utilized by the platform. The performance benefits of Scala led to its limited usage.

In their blog article PHP 7 at Tumblr, the Tumblr team discussed the new PHP capabilities that will simplify the lives of Tumblr’s developers.

The language supports giving functions specific return types. This eliminates the need for some repetitive coding and verifying function returns by hand.
Anonymous classes, like anonymous functions (closures), are created dynamically and can act like real classes by mimicking their behavior, enforcing interfaces, and extending other classes.
Security and overall speed were improved around the board in PHP 7.

Web Portals

There are a plethora of websites that provide their visitors with relevant and timely news and information. Regarding speed, PHP is a popular choice for these platforms. Following is a description of a handful of these portals and the role that PHP plays in each one.

Wikipedia

When it comes to finding knowledge on any subject, big or little, this is one of the best places to go on the web. Anonymous users provide data. PHP is the primary server language used by the platform, allowing web pages to load quickly.

According to the Wikimedia servers website, PHP (70%) and JavaScript (30%) are used to develop MediaWiki, the organization’s primary online application.
Wikipedia also migrated to HHVM in 2014 to improve speed by translating PHP code into other languages.
Which program(s) are responsible for keeping Wikipedia up and running? The majority of the code at the Wikimedia Foundation, where Wikipedia is housed, is written in PHP 7 and stores data in MySQL or MariaDB. ElasticSearch, a search engine built on Lucene, is used to implement searches.

Content Management Systems

When it comes to managing a website, content management systems are the way to go. Many prominent CMS systems are also based on PHP, greatly boosting language usage.

WordPress

More than 64 million websites are powered by this CMS, making it the market leader. WordPress relies on the PHP server-side programming language for its entire backend and for its lightning-fast database.

Drupal

More than a million websites, or around 2%, are powered by Drupal. For maximum safety, many government websites are hosted on Drupal, both a content management system and a content management framework.

Drupal 8 was built from the ground up using the Symfony PHP framework. This has been a major factor in developing this CMS for the better.

Since its inception, Drupal has integrated several third-party libraries and frameworks, including Symfony components, OOP, the Twig template engine, and more. It completely rewrote its foundational components, application programming interfaces, configuration management system, etc. The outcomes are impressive, as the architecture of Drupal 8 is radically different from that of Drupal 7.

Travel and Hospitality Portals

The expanding Travel and Hospitality sectors reflect the growing use of internet booking platforms. Here are a few examples of systems in this space that have taken advantage of PHP to boost their efficiency.

Trivago

Trivago is a website that allows users to compare hotel booking options and pricing. It takes data from several booking platforms to determine the best deal offers. Trivago’s technological stack is comprised of PHP, Kotlin, and GoLang, the latter of which is utilized for performance-critical aspects.

Delivery Hero

It’s a great delivery app used in over 50 countries. Restaurant fare and retail goods are both available for delivery. The company has also staffed with PHP developers to enhance the site’s backend functionality.

They also employed GoLang for several performance-related reasons, but they continue to rely on Go as their primary backend language. This is done to increase the performance of their applications.

Developer

What Is Flutter, and How Does It Work?

August 29, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Solution delivery is a critical step that directly affects a software product’s success. Using certain programming languages, libraries, and frameworks, it is feasible to increase performance and assure a smoother user experience.

To assist you in making the best decision for your project, we have outlined Flutter, a cutting-edge technology that allows teams to create applications for various operating systems.

What is Flutter, and how does it work?

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit (SDK) that can be used to develop cross-platform solutions for mobile and web devices. Using Flutter, you can design a single application that runs on several platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux.

Flutter was created by Google and is now backed by a large and active user community. Instead of using widgets or web browser technologies like other cross-platform frameworks, Flutter doesn’t. This UI toolkit, written in the Dart object-oriented language, has its widget rendering engine.

There are many main libraries in the Flutter Engine, which make up a portable runtime that can be used to host apps on various platforms. Accessibility features are also included in the engine.

The following components are part of the Flutter SDK:

Customizable React-like framework for programmers
A vast assortment of iOS-style widgets that use the Material Design UI framework
Text support in a mobile-first 2D rendering engine.
Dart DevTools for testing and fixing issues in applications.
Unit and integration testing APIs
Software development kits (SDKs) and plug-ins for connecting to the system
Create, test, and build apps using command-line tools
Run tests on Linux, Mac, and Windows using a headless test runner.

Updates for Flutter are generally released every three months and aim to improve stability and performance while also bringing in new functionality.

More than 100,000 applications have been created using Flutter 1.0 since its introduction in December 2018. Alibaba Group, eBay, Google Pay, Nubank, Toyota, and BMW are a few well-known companies that have used Flutter in their work.

Flutter’s top cross-platform development advantages

Costs and time to market are reduced.

The competitive nature of today’s marketplace necessitates the production of new goods and frequently upgrades to old ones to maintain consumer satisfaction and retention levels. It is the primary goal of cross-platform technology to write a single codebase that runs on all of the target devices. As a result, enterprises do not have to recruit many teams to develop native apps for iOS and Android.

Using Flutter for cross-platform development, companies and institutions may drastically speed up their time to market while decreasing their costs by 30 percent to 50 percent. Native solutions may be written in parallel, without a doubt. Developing an app for one platform may need more time than making one for another, depending on the duties involved.

Flutter comes with a robust SDK that includes a wide selection of Material Design widgets, Dart DevTools for testing and problem fixes, and command-line tools for creating and developing applications in Flutter. Flutter also offers a Hot Reload capability, enabling software specialists to make changes to the backend while seeing how those changes are reflected in the front end in real time.

Eased maintenance

Flutter’s cross-platform app development benefits include easier maintenance. Having a single codebase rather than many makes it simpler to deliver updates and new features.

A near-native-like user experience.

It is possible to achieve a user experience comparable to native apps by using Flutter for cross-platform app development. It’s feasible thanks to Flutter’s native user interface components for iOS and Android platforms.

As an added benefit, teams can create almost any animation or interaction they want using Flutter while maintaining a consistent look and feel across all platforms. Software developers may also offer gesture-based navigation using Flutter.

Consistent performance

Flutter makes it possible for software developers to create high-performance and dependable apps. Its 60-frames-per-second (FPS) speed on several platforms makes it a strong option for video streaming platforms, e-learning solutions, and other programs that need to serve a big audience quickly.

It is feasible to use an external graphics card to get the same 120 FPS as the native program. Using the Dart programming language, which compiles into native machine code for many operating systems, is the fundamental reason Flutter is so quick. Dart is the programming language of choice for Flutter apps.

In terms of stability and performance, it’s worth mentioning that Flutter is always being upgraded. Founders of Flutter, for example, added support for the Metal API in May 2020, which allowed them to increase performance on iOS devices by nearly half a percentage point.

The ability to quickly and easily design a user interface

With Flutter, software developers can build a user interface considerably more quickly than with Kotlin Multiplatform. If you’re looking for iOS-style widgets that adhere to Material Design standards, Flutter is a good place to start. You may also create your widgets or customize existing ones using this cross-platform technology.

The disadvantages of utilizing Flutter for cross-platform development

The disadvantages of utilizing Flutter for cross-platform development are as follows:

Typically, Flutter-created apps are larger than their native counterparts in size. Developing a software program that doesn’t take up a lot of storage space on a computer or other technology may be difficult.

Reliance on native characteristics

Compared to native development, software developers may have to spend more time if they need to develop a mobile app while providing native features.

Upgrades to the user interface

Flutter’s engine recreates native user interface components. Developers may be forced to wait for the framework to catch up before they can use new OS features, such as UI elements or updates to existing components.

Final Words

Flutter is the greatest choice for a business trying to meet a short deadline for a software product since it provides a full-featured SDK. Businesses and organizations may also save 30 percent to 50 percent by using this strategy. Fast and consistent performance can be achieved using Flutter and a beautiful user experience. If you are planning to start a small or medium-sized project, this technology will likely meet your requirements properly.

Developer

The Battle Between Scala and Rust

August 26, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Over the last few years, we’ve been using Scala to build data pipelines, stream processing, and many other applications; at the same time, we’ve been hearing many positive things about Rust. This article aims to provide a comprehensive comparison between both languages, no matter what their role is.

An overview of Scala

Scala was the first language developed by scholars to run on the Java Virtual Machine as an alternative to Java. In Scala, you get the benefits of both functional and object-oriented programming.

Like Scheme, Standard ML, and Haskell, Scala has many functional programming features, such as currying, type inference, immutability, lazy evaluation, and pattern matching. Java compatibility issues still exist with this powerful but difficult-to-learn language.

Scala’s advantages

You can express any kind of problem in Scala in a very different way than you can in Java or Go. Besides being compatible with Java, it comes with all the optimizations built into the JVM over the years. There are tons of features included in the type system, including building custom DSLs for your libraries, enforcing checks at compile time, etc.

Scala’s disadvantages

It is difficult to master and learn. In a large project, maintaining code consistency is difficult. There are some compatibility issues with Java, and if you need Java libraries, Scala loses its advantages. Due to its large container size and difficulty in tuning, it inherits the JVM issues for cloud-native applications.

An overview of Rust

Originally developed at Mozilla in 2006, Rust achieved its first stable release in 2015. Designed for performance and safety, Rust is a general-purpose programming language that supports multiple paradigms.

Many companies have been using it over the last 5 years, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Facebook, Mozilla, Dropbox, and Cloudflare. There is no garbage collection in Rust, and reference counting is optional. To maintain the same level of performance, Rust was originally developed to replace C++.

Rust’s advantages

It is extremely fast and efficient. It offers a wide range of features, such as closures, pattern matching, collections, generics, etc. Easily readable and concise. A cargo package manager is an excellent tool.

It can interact with existing C programs and is compatible with C. The community behind it is thriving, and it is truly open source. Cost-effective and low energy consumption. It has grown rapidly and is becoming more popular. It handles errors very well.

Rust’s disadvantages

Since it does not have native concurrency support, you have to use libraries to do this. Even though the number of production-grade applications is growing, there are not many currently in production. Quite a challenge to learn, especially the ownership model.

Comparison between Scala and Rust

Scala is the most suitable choice for Big Data/Data Processing. Akka is a beast of its own and can handle a large number of requests without relying on any external libraries. Besides the actor library in Rust, there is also Actix-web, one of the fastest HTTP servers on the market, beating virtually any HTTP server written in Scala.

The Scala Play Framework is best suited for stateful web applications or applications that last for a long time. As a result, the JVM has enough time to optimize the application. A systems programming language, Rust, is focused on performance, low resource usage, and low-level details. This new and simpler programming language aims to replace C++ completely.

There is some difference between Scala and Rust, but Rust is not far behind. Only some features, such as higher-order types or tail recursion checks, are missing at the moment, but they will be added shortly. WebAssembly is the major component of WebAssembly, which is supported by the Rust first class. Compared to Rust, Scala is a better choice for Big Data (Spark and Hadoop ecosystems).

Developer

Kotlin Multiplatform for Cross-Platform Mobile Apps

August 25, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

Cross-platform app development is becoming more popular, thanks in part to the rise of cutting-edge technologies like Kotlin Multiplatform. These technologies enable software developers to build high-quality, native-like solutions that also cut costs and time to market. Cross-platform tools, on the other hand, must be chosen with their unique features in mind to fulfill software requirements and achieve your specific business goals.

Kotlin Multiplatform is one of these languages, and it comes with many advantages and a couple of drawbacks.

What is Kotlin Multiplatform?

JetBrains created Kotlin, a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) targetting statically typed object-oriented language that may also be converted to JavaScript or native code. The first stable version of Kotlin, v1.0, was released in 2016. Google announced three years later that Kotlin was the preferred programming language for Android apps.

Android development was still the primary use of Kotlin in 2020. Kotlin was used in the development of 70% of Google Play’s top 1000 software applications, according to the search giant. Because of its short, simple syntax, Kotlin makes it easier for programmers to develop mobile applications than Java.

JetBrains has added multiplatform programming capabilities to make it easier for software developers to create solutions for various operating systems. As a result, software developers have been able to build code in a standard Kotlin language that runs across all platforms.

As it turns out, Kotlin Multiplatform is a method that enables developers to exchange code and essential operational processes across several operating systems. While Flutter allows teams to create a user interface, Kotlin Multiplatform does not.

Many well-known firms, like Yandex, Philips, Netflix, Quizlet, and Autodesk, have already used Kotlin Multiplatform, despite its relatively new cross-platform technology.

Kotlin Multiplatform technology has a variety of applications:

App development for both Android and iOS platforms.

When developing a mobile application for Android and iOS, Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMM) allows you to share common code. Software developers may write platform-specific code to build a native user interface or incorporate an API into a native solution when appropriate.

Client-server development

With Kotlin Multiplatform, web developers may reuse business logic on the frontend and backend of their web applications.

Kotlin Multiplatform has several benefits.

Faster development using local technology advantages

Kotlin Multiplatform enables the exchange of critical business logic across several platforms, including Android, iOS, JVM, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Windows, as well as JavaScript and WebAssembly. However, while being a cross-platform technology, Kotlin Multiplatform does not allow the “develop once, deploy everywhere” strategy. You still need to build two different native solutions, such as when a corporation plans to offer a software product for Android and iOS.

It is possible to reuse multiplatform logic and code in common or platform-specific code using Kotlin cross-platform technology. For example, Kotlin Multiplatform allows teams to speed up product delivery while retaining the benefits of native application development.

The best performance

Software developers can develop applications that run smoothly on several platforms thanks to Kotlin’s cross-platform technology. Kotlin Multiplatform is the way to go if you want to produce a complete solution that can serve a broad audience, manage high loads, and give an exceptional user experience. Kotlin is ideal for designing software solutions like e-commerce marketplaces and complicated e-learning apps.

Use of smartphone features

A camera, a microphone, and an offline mode are all easily accessible in native solutions developed in Kotlin Multiplatform. Cross-platform applications often need additional time and effort to provide this feature.

Cons of using Kotlin Multiplatform

More time and money are spent on app development.

Engineers may use Kotlin Multiplatform to share code across multiple operating systems rather than writing a separate codebase for each platform. In addition, it lacks the UI toolkit. As a result, it takes longer to develop a cross-platform software solution using this technology than with Flutter.

Kotlin Multiplatform has many benefits, but you should know that using it will cost more money.

A more complicated debugging procedure

When developing applications in the Kotlin cross-platform language, debugging native code becomes more difficult. JetBrains, the creators of the Kotlin cross-platform technology, are actively improving compatibility for third-party libraries.

Insufficient learning resources

Kotlin Multiplatform is a very new technology. Thus there are fewer resources to learn about, but Flutter has extensive documentation that helps software specialists get up and running fast.

Kotlin Multiplatform Concluding remarks

Kotlin allows software professionals to produce high-quality apps in a fraction of the time and expense. Cross-platform technologies such as Kotlin make it easy to exchange code across different operating systems.

Software developers may design native solutions while reusing some code using Kotlin Multiplatform. Consequently, the Kotlin cross-platform language helps to greater performance and enhanced user experiences.

Developer

Flutter vs. Xamarin for Mobile Development in 2022

August 24, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

As cross-mobile app development gained popularity, new frameworks and technologies emerged. Microsoft’s open-source Xamarin is one of them.

Flutter vs. Xamarin

Flutter is Google’s UI toolkit for developing natively compiled mobile, Web, and desktop apps. Open-source developers and designers may use it for free. It was unveiled in 2015 at the Dart Developer Summit and initially supported up to 120 fps multimedia rendering for Android apps. The first stable version was released in 2017.

Flutter is newer than Xamarin, which has evolved. Mono developers founded Xamarin in 2011 to make cross-platform apps. Xamarin development used the same language, enabling code to be shared across all supported platforms.

Each platform’s UI wasn’t reusable at first. The fix came in 2014. Xamarin Forms were born. Forms provided an abstraction layer atop the different platform user interface principles. Developers may reuse most code between platforms. Microsoft purchased it in 2016 and included it in NET.

What’s the difference between Flutter and Xamarin, two cross-platform mobile frameworks?

Why Xamarin at first?

Xamarin’s description and function seem promising to developers. First, many know a standards-based markup language like HTML that describes UIs. XAML isn’t odd. Second, C# is a popular and user-friendly programming language.

27.86% of professional developers use C#, according to Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021. Xamarin lets developers share 90% of their programs across platforms. All business logic may be written in a single language to achieve native performance, appearance, and feel on each platform.

Eight Benefits of Flutter

I switched from Xamarin to Flutter to explore deals, create wishlists, and purchase things. I was surprised by how effortlessly I generated views. Xamarin’s equivalent. Flutter could perform forms that kept me awake quicker and prettier. I was surprised by the ability to customize default components and maintain a consistent look across platforms. Flutter’s seamless functioning convinced me to ditch Xamarin. I discovered further reasons to like Flutter. Below, I’ll elaborate.

Popularity

500,000 applications utilize Flutter. Statista and SlashData named Flutter the most popular cross-platform UI toolkit.

Flutter’s popularity may surprise you. Simple. Simple and straightforward framework. You can develop attractive user interfaces with complex animations for several platforms with one language.

Beginning with a well-documented widget collection. A vast community builds Flutter. Open-source packages are produced by developers worldwide. Flutter cross-platform app development may let you launch your app without spending a fortune. This framework enables it. Flutter is good for beginners. Flutter may be popular since it’s a Google product.

Code-sharing

Flutter’s ability to exchange code across platforms saves developers time and effort.

Performance

Flutter doesn’t utilize OS widgets. Material Design and Cupertino (iOS-styled) widgets are included. Framework and Flutter render them. We increase flexibility and eliminate limits by not using platform-specific widgets.

Application performance is key to UX. Slow applications discourage most of us. Flutter is unique among cross-platform frameworks. Flutter is implemented directly into machine code, eliminating interpretation performance problems.

Widget

Widget deserves particular attention. The widget technique is powerful for anybody using this technology. Everything on the application’s graphic layer is a widget.

Most widgets are views or visual controls, while some handle animations or detect motions. Beware of the graphic layer. Not everything in Flutter is a widget, contrary to popular belief.

Each view in the app is composed of widgets. Creating a tree widget. Combining widgets creates bigger blocks. Break a complex view into smaller pieces and develop widgets in new files. This strategy has two benefits.

Code clarity and maintenance. Flutter optimizes the tree when smaller widgets are used. We may select from several typical widgets. They’re well-documented. Instructional films typically include interactive demonstrations. This helps novices.

Pub, the packet manager

Pub, the Dart package management, contains reusable libraries and packages for Flutter, AngularDart, and standard Dart apps. Flutter Ecosystem Committee selected high-quality products. The Flutter Favorite program recommends app packages and plugins.

Increasing numbers of well-rated bundles. Null safety is provided in Dart 2.12 and Flutter 2; therefore, verify whether the discovered package supports it. Check the package’s latest update date. The package may not have been updated recently. This isn’t a guarantee of quality or fit for your circumstance; always evaluate packages and plugins yourself. HTTP package simplifies developers’ jobs. Many are well-documented and infinite.

Hot-reload

“Hot reload” is a nice Flutter feature. View building takes time. Imagine having to restart your program to observe code changes. Hot reload makes changes instantly visible. Pressing the right key combination changes our vision. Hot reload is featured in other mobile frameworks/tools, but it works excellently in Flutter, allowing newcomers to master layout construction rapidly.

Beyond mobile

Flutter capabilities aren’t limited to mobile apps. The promise made by Flutter.dev to “Build applications for any screen” seems to have been maintained. Build, test, and deploy applications from a single codebase. Flutter contributors are working on stable versions for each platform.

Plugin gap

Many mobile apps depend on OS-level services like getting GPS coordinates or gathering sensor data. Google plugins fix several issues. When your program needs an OS-level capability that isn’t a plugin, don’t worry. Flutter’s channels allow native code and Dart to communicate easily.

Developer

The Popularity of Elixir: How Useful Is It?

August 23, 2022 Comments Off Roxana read

The Elixir programming language’s popularity has continuously increased since its first release. According to Stack Overflow’s 2021 Developer Survey, Elixir was well regarded; it ranked 4th in the loved-vs-dreaded technologies, making it one of the most “loved” languages.

Let’s have a look at some practical applications of the Elixir language.

Who Is Already Using the Elixir Language?

It is still too soon to classify Elixir as one of the most popular programming languages, but its use is increasing rapidly. The wide spectrum of businesses that have moved to Elixir so far includes both large and small operations and commercial and government-run websites.

However, what significant projects make use of Elixir? Pinterest, Postmates, and Bleacher Report are just a few well-known companies using Elixir.

People often turn to Pinterest for visual sources of motivation and inspiration. Millions of people use this app every month, and thus the traffic is always quite heavy. Using Elixir, Pinterest reduced its notification system’s code size from 10,000 lines to only 1,000. They also resulted in a 50% reduction in required server capacity.

One of the most visited American sports news sites is Bleacher Report. Ruby on Rails was used to create the site originally. However, it soon became apparent that the framework couldn’t handle the site’s anticipated growth. The group ultimately decided to switch to using the Elixir programming language. As a result of this choice, the business could avoid spending a substantial sum of money on servers and other infrastructure. They used just five Elixir servers as opposed to Rails 150. Incredible, right?

Postmates is making extensive use of Elixir web development for a wide range of software systems, going so far as to document their experience with the language in publications and offer libraries built on top of it to the open-source community.

Why Do Developers Enjoy Elixir Programming?

If you were to ask programmers what makes them happy at work, you would likely hear the following:

Using productive technologies that provide rapid product expansion and scalability
Access to the correct development resources, including frameworks, libraries, tools, and services, is crucial for creating high-quality products.
Speed in releasing updated features
Being a member of an active and welcoming community that can support and assist you
General satisfaction with the progress

Does Elixir programming guarantee these features?

Elixir is a tremendously efficient programming language. It enables application scalability and does a decent job of it.

Advantages include support for the Phoenix web framework written in Elixir. Elixir’s programming environment is strong, too. Naturally, the number of libraries and services is not always sufficient to meet the demands of all developers. However, the core team and many others are working hard to change that.

Because of its uncluttered syntax, Elixir code is simple to create. It just takes a few lines of code to implement a command.

Despite its modest size, the Elixir community is kind and helpful to newcomers. The number of people working on and using Elixir increases with the language’s rising profile.

Elixir programmers have reported a pleasant experience when they are not forced to decide between code speed and performance. Developers like that Elixir provides both of these features.

This brief analysis of the Elixir programming language focuses on the factors that contribute most to a developer’s satisfaction with their work and concludes that Elixir is a great choice.

Try Elixir Now

Since the popularity of the Elixir programming language and the Phoenix framework continues to rise and the responses from developers who have used these technologies have been overwhelmingly favorable, we have no option but to dig further into them.

The advantages of Elixir programming are considerable, and the language’s current standings are solid enough to ensure that it will not fade from view very soon. The moment to try Elixir has come. Which side are you on?