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Microservices v/s APIs: Clear differences

Posted on October 19, 2022November 9, 2022 by vallish

In software architecture and integration, microservices and APIs are often-used terms. The terms might sound new to beginners, but they are the core concepts of every online application today. Experienced developers have a deeper understanding of programs based on microservices and APIs. To use either of these technologies in your product, you must understand how they are different and what their end goals are.

This article will examine the critical differences between microservices and APIs.

What is a Microservice?

Microservices have a misleading name that often seems like a minor development task, but in reality is a broad development domain that covers full-fledged, optimized, and secure software solutions. In software development, microservices can be defined in two contexts:

An independent, tiny development component that is represented by a single microservice.
A microservice can also be used in loosely-coupled software development architecture to facilitate the development of large and complex software solutions. It does so by creating and integrating multiple small developments.

Simply put, microservices are a collection of small development components that, when integrated, create an extensive and robust software product.

What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is not a component like a microservice but a protocol that defines the structure following which two applications can communicate and interact with each other’s data. APIs are software solutions that focus on a particular service. In the software infrastructure, APIs are usually put between the core code components and the front-end interface of the application.

The APIs are added to the software to provide the ability to perform a specific task or borrow functionality from third-party service providers. Whenever software is required to lend its functionality or data to another product, developers must create APIs and write high-level API reference documents and best practices to guide other developers using their APIs.

Microservices and APIs: How do they differ?

It is difficult to compare or distinguish between a microservice and an API because of several similarities and their use within the development architecture.

Microservices is a software development approach that breaks the product into several modular components. Conversely, APIs are application communication tools that make cross-application communication possible.

1. Microservices rely on APIs

An API is not of much use as it lies in the system dormant unless it is connected to services or microservices to attain functionality. From a different perspective, we can also suggest that microservices depend on APIs to extend the functionality to the users. Software as a service, function as a service, and machine learning as a service are all examples of how microservices use APIs as an essential infrastructural component for their design.

2. Characteristics

Microservices are loosely coupled to allow easier integration and faster creation of robust software. They are decentralized in nature, highly manageable, and scalable. An API is lightweight, fast, and extensively specified but does not have a modular design. Keeping an API light is essential to allow other applications to integrate without crashing the host application.

3. Function

In functionality, both services are very distinct.

A software architecture based on microservices is defined by the business capabilities and priorities, which are usually designed to solve big and complex problems. But, using an API, a software system can be easily extended, connected to, or integrated with several other applications. APIs are designed to allow reusable interfaces to connect to any number of services as long as they follow the API integration guidelines. APIs are not visible to the end users. Instead, they are under the hood and directly accessible to other applications that want to connect to your software application.

4. Versatility

Microservices are used to integrate specific business capabilities into a product, limiting their versatility. They are not robust components but highly specified functional units that give software its purpose.

APIs, on the contrary, are highly versatile. You can create an API using any containerized service with any programming language, such as Java, Python, and PHP. Also, APIs can be deployed on any cloud infrastructure, such as AWS and Google Cloud Platform. Furthermore, there are several kinds of APIs to choose from for your application. The most popular are RESTful APIs that allow communication between the two applications over the HTTP endpoints. Such an API uses GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE commands to fetch data. Some other popular API formats are RPC, SOAP, and GraphQL.

Conclusion

There is no choice between microservices and APIs for building a practical and robust application or software. You have to use both: microservices to create business-specific software or application, while APIs are necessary for these microservices to communicate within its layers and third-party applications.

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How to build your first full stack Android app

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Creating a native Android app is more manageable now with all features and functionality made available by the Android Software Development Kit or SDK. If it is your first time trying to create an android app, and you don’t know how to write your first full-stack Android app, we are here to help.

This tutorial will show you how to write a simple android app while introducing you to essential Android-specific concepts such as event handlers, layouts, and activities.

How to get started

One of the prerequisites of becoming an Android developer is familiarity with either Java or Kotlin. Both these programming languages are for Android development. Here are two resources to learn to program for Android:

Learn Java for Android Development: Introduction to Java

Learn Kotlin for Android

Both the courses are free and provide code-based learning, so you can quickly start.

The overall app layout can be designed with Wireframing software like Pencil, but as it is your first app, let’s keep it simple. You can sketch the app’s workflow in a notebook to get started quickly.

Planning the layout of the app you build is important because it decides where all the components will go. Here is a complete wireframe design of a native Android app:

It is an example of a to-do app screen. All the elements on the task screen are laid out. Next, you can create a mockup of the screen with all the design elements to decide what the app will look like. Here is a mockup of the above app:

You can use any industry software like Adobe XD to create mockups.

The following two steps are essential before you start with app development.

Install and set the latest version of Android Studio
A device or emulator running Android Marshmallow or higher

Here is a complete guide on setting up and creating your first project in Android Studio.

Front-end

The frontend components of an Android app are the elements displayed on the screen. An Android developer creates the frontend for an application by:

Creating an Activity
Creating a Layout

An activity is one of the most important components of Android app development. Creating action is the first step toward displaying a user interface to the app users. An Android app can have one or more activities. For instance, an email client app usually has three actions – first for users to sign up, second for signing in, and third for composing an email.

To create an Activity for your project:

Open Project panel in Android Studio
Right-click on your app
Select New > Activity > Empty Activity

A dialog box will pop up like this:

Put the Activity name as MainActivity, and don’t forget to check the Launcher Activity and press Finish.

Launcher Activity allows users to open the activity using the Android launcher.

Each app Activity has at least one layout associated with it. When you create an activity in the step above, the Android Studio auto-generated an open layout for it. For the above activity, a markup file called activity_main.xml will be created.

By default the content of the files will be like this:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>

<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout

xmlns:android=”https://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android“

xmlns:app=”http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto“

xmlns:tools=”http://schemas.android.com/tools“

android:layout_width=”match_parent”

android:layout_height=”match_parent”

tools:context=”.MainActivity”>

<!– More code here –>

</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

Here you will add the elements you want to display on the app screen. Below is the code to display a simple clock app displaying time of India and Germany. The app will have two button layouts. Here is how the XML file code change when we add the layout elements:

<TextClock

android:id=”@+id/my_clock”

android:layout_width=”wrap_content”

android:layout_height=”wrap_content”

app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf=”parent”

app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf=”parent”

app:layout_constraintLeft_toLeftOf=”parent”

app:layout_constraintRight_toRightOf=”parent”

android:format12Hour=”h:mm:ss a”

android:textSize=”32sp”/>

<Button

android:layout_width=”match_parent”

android:layout_height=”wrap_content”

app:layout_constraintBottom_toBottomOf=”parent”

android:text=”Time in Germany”

android:onClick=”onClickGermany”

android:id=”@+id/germany_button”/>

<Button

android:layout_width=”match_parent”

android:layout_height=”wrap_content”

app:layout_constraintBottom_toTopOf=”@id/germany_button”

android:text=”Time in India”

android:onClick=”onClickIndia”

android:id=”@+id/india_button”/>

You can adjust the layout_width and layout_height properties of each view and set color and other design elements.

After making the necessary changes, press Shift-F10 to run the app. If your layout code does not have any errors, a screen like this will be displayed:

But still, the button clicks won’t be functional at this point.

Back-end

If you are a full-stack developer, you understand how the back-end differs from the front-end development. The Android App view above has the frontend elements, buttons, and clock displayed to the users. However, the functionality of the buttons, i.e., when users tap ‘Time In India’ or ‘Time in Germany’, is not operational.

In Android app development, the navigation between two layouts is handled by the backend process, usually Java.

We generate event handlers for the two buttons in Android Studio by generating a MainActivity.java file. In this file, the following code will be present:

public void onClickGermany(View view) {

}

public void onClickIndia(View view) {

}

Here all we need to do is change the TextClock view time on the button tap. How do you reference a layout in an XML file from inside a Java file?

We use findViewById() method for this. Here’s how you associated the XML layout with the Java event handler:

TextClock clock = findViewById(R.id.my_clock);

clock.setTimeZone(“Europe/Berlin”);

TextClock clock = findViewById(R.id.my_clock);

clock.setTimeZone(“Asia/Kolkata”);

The R class here is autogenerated and contains all the views’ IDs. Press Shift-F10 again to re-run the app. Now button clicks must produce the desired results.

Publishing the app on Google Play Store

Before publishing the app on the Play Store, ensure that it complies with all the Play Policies, Google has laid out.

You need to have a Google Play Developer Account (require a one-time $25 joining fee) to access the Google Play Console. From the Console, you can upload your Android app, which lets you upload your Android app as a .aab file (Android App Bundle).

Conclusion

Building your first full-stack Android app does not require you to have pro-Android developer experience. We hope this guide will help you start from scratch as you learn more proficient ways to create Android apps.

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Scala developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, online courses, interview prep, books & more

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Scala has emerged as one of the most potent object-oriented and functional programming languages. Its multiparadigm architecture makes it highly useful for data analytics and visualization applications. There is a buzz in the developer community that Scala might be the successor to Java. Whether it will replace Java or not, in 2022, Scala is in demand for enterprise-level application development.

The programming language has a lot to offer, but there’s a learning curve. To help you get started, we created this Scala developer toolkit. Our in-house Scala experts, in association with industry experts, handpicked these Scala resources.

Proficient in Object-Oriented programming: Scala is a multiparadigm programming language created to be scalable (aka Scala). A Scala developer is expected to be an expert in object-oriented programming languages and not just in Scala. If you have Java, Python, and JavaScript knowledge, you will have the edge over other candidates. You must know how to write concise, elegant, and type-safe code.

JVM: Another reason for Scala’s popularity is its support for JVM. Java Virtual Machine is the runtime environment that gives Java its inter-platform compatibility. As Scala code can run on JVM, most enterprises do not have to change their IT infrastructure to incorporate Scala code. A Scala developer needs to know about JVM and how to write Scala code to work with existing Java code.

Cloud Platforms and ELT architecture: Scala is primarily used for cloud computing platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. As such, a Scala developer must understand how decentralized cloud platforms work. Another essential concept they must be familiar with is ELT architecture. The Extract, Load, and Transform is a data warehousing approach to design secured scalable systems. As systems built with Scala are based on ETL, familiarity with the architecture will help developers write compatible code.

Basic knowledge of Apache Spark and Hadoop MapReduce: Hadoop and Spark are the two most widely used unified analytics engines for large-scale data processing. Before Apache Spark was introduced, Hadoop MapReduce was the market leader. As Scala is often used for data analytics, a proficient Scala developer must be familiar with both platforms.

Most Important Scala Interview Questions to Prepare in 2022

Scala Interview Questions- Beginner’s to Advanced

34 Scala Interview Questions (Plus Sample Answers)

10 Essential Software Developers’ Interview Questions

10 Essential Spark Interview Questions

7 Dos & don’ts for passing your technical interview

Top 7 technical JavaScript interview questions

Interview questions: preparing for a tech round

Official resources

Scala official website

Scala official documentation

Scala official community

Scala official blog

Scala GitHub Repository

Scala Twitter Handle

Online courses and tutorials for Scala Developers

Functional Programming Principles in Scala on Coursera

This free online course in Scala is one of the most popular learning resources for beginners. It is an ideal starting point for understanding the concepts of functional programming. This seven-week Coursera course will teach you all the elements of functional programming style you need to know to get started.

Stairway to Scala Applied

Udemy has some good Scala resources for beginners. One such course is the Stairway to Scala Applied. It is a three-part course that provides an overview of the whole spectrum of what you can achieve with Scala. Part 1 teaches Scala’s core syntax and concepts, followed by the language features in Part 2, and Part 3 covers the entire core libraries of the programming language.

DevInsideYou

A YouTube channel for Scala developers, it offers free content for developers to learn basics and advanced concepts. It is an excellent Scala resource for understanding the practical use of the language.

Rock the JVM

Another great YouTube channel to learn Scala, Rock the JVM, is the channel to follow to keep track of all the latest features and updates made to the programming language.

Learn Apache Spark 3 with Scala: Hands-On with Big Data!

Once you get the basics right with the above-listed courses, you can move on to this Scala course from Coursesity to learn the practical implementations of the language. With 20+ hands-on examples, this course teaches how Scala can be used to analyze large data sets with Apache Spark.

Books for Scala developers

https://underscore.io/books/: Great Scala resource sharing free eBooks on various Scala topics.

Functional Programming, Simplified by Alvin Alexander: It is a great book to learn the concepts of functional approach with Scala to build large systems.

Scala for the Impatient by Cay Hortsmann: This is an excellent Scala resource for those who prefer to learn with code-based examples rather than theory. Although it is intended for experienced programmers, beginners can also learn advanced concepts discussed in this book.

Programming in Scala, Fourth Edition: This book is best for teaching Scala to Java developers. It compares the programming languages and draws similarities between the two that Java developers can use to improve the Scala code.

Online communities for SCALA developers

Dev.to Scala Community

Java Programming Forums

Scala School

Scala CodeRanch Community

Podcasts for SCALA developers

Communication: Developers work as part of a team which requires them to collaborate. Efficient communication goes a long way in determining product success. You must have the communication skills to speak effectively in different situations or settings. You must know how to present your idea assertively, perceive what others are trying to say, and pacify stakeholders and clients. Active listening is an essential part of the communication process. Listen to what other team members say to assist them, not just for the reply.

Interpersonal skills: You might be the best coder in your team, but at the end of the day, if you are too hard to work with, it will not benefit your career growth. Patience, empathy, and time management are some interpersonal skills employees seek in developers. These skills will help you resolve conflicts, create a comfortable work environment, and deliver products faster.

Emotional intelligence: According to a survey, 75% of the hiring managers prefer developers who showcase high emotional intelligence. It is a skill that empowers you to keep calm under pressure and deliver results even in the most calamitic environment. Emotional intelligence also enables you to recognize the emotional state of other teammates so you can extend a helping hand when needed.

There is a lot to learn about soft skills, and these resources can help:

7 Most valuable soft skills of exceptional software engineers

How soft skills transitioned to become the new power skills

6 soft skills that still impress employers in 2022

5 tips to present new ideas as a software developer

5 Time management tips for software developers

Conclusion

Developers interested in learning Scala or upskilling their programming skills will benefit from this Scala complete toolkit. It would help if you focused on learning functional programming concepts and Scala fundamentals for an entry-level position. Besides your technical skills, soft skills will also contribute to your candidature.

Talent500 helps companies find the best Scala developers and help professionals keep updated with the industry trends and land the best opportunities. You can join us by signing up here.

Kotlin developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, online courses, interview prep, books & more

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Kotlin is a modern programming language created by Jetbrains to make Android development easier. As an alternative to Java, it runs on Java Virtual Machine or JVM. In 2017, Google made Kotlin the official programming language for the Android platform. It signifies the importance of the programming language for the future. You are in good company if you are an Android developer interested in Kotlin. According to Google, over 60% of professional developers use Kotlin as it helps them boost productivity, code safety, and developer satisfaction.

To help you learn everything about the languages, we have put together this list of Kotlin resources. This toolkit will be the ultimate resource for learning the language and preparing for interviews.

Android foundations: While you must learn the basics of Kotlin, some degree of understanding and familiarity with Java will help. During some interviews, even hiring managers ask general Android development questions. You must understand basic Android programming concepts like collection framework, concurrency and multithreading, generics, and functional programming.

Apart from Kotlin and Java, you have to be aware of design layouts that are created in XML. Android Studio enables you to generate XML layouts and write business logic in an integrated environment. Employers expect Kotlin developers to have good knowledge of Android Studio.

Google Web Toolkit: GWT is one of the most widely used open-source sets of tools that Android developers use to create and maintain the JavaScript front-end applications in Java. As a Kotlin developer, you will use GWT tools to create JavaScript functionality for your applications, such as asynchronous remote procedure calls, bookmarking, UI abstraction, history management, and internationalization. Understanding these tools and their functionalities will help you improve your programming.

Knowledge of databases: The ability to create high-performance Android applications significantly depends on their interaction with the databases in the backend. While there are several databases that Android developers can work with, most Kotlin app developers prefer SQL for their applications. A decent experience with MySQL is a must for Kotlin developers.

Kotlin Android Interview Questions

40 Kotlin Interview Questions Android Devs Must Know

20 Essential Android Interview Questions

10 Ways Java Developers Can Upskill to Prepare For 2021

Kotlin interview coding questions for developers

Kotlin Framework Interview Questions

16 Tricky Java Developer Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Things to keep in mind during front-end performance testing

Official resources

Kotlin official website

Online courses and tutorials for Kotlin developers

The Complete Android + Kotlin developer course

An ideal beginner’s course from Udemy will teach you how to use Kotlin for Android app development like a pro. Apart from the basics of the language and framework, it teaches you the latest Android APIs and services through building real-world mobile applications.

Kotlin for Beginners: Learn Programming with Kotlin

Another excellent Udemy course to learn Kotlin is Kotlin for Beginners, which teaches more advanced programming language concepts to beginners. If you are familiar with Java, you will benefit significantly from this Kotlin course that teaches variables and nullable types, loops, object orientation, and conditionals.

Kotlin Bootcamp for Programmers by Google

Google designs this course to help programmers learn Kotlin within two weeks. This is the right online course if you are an experienced developer who wants to try Kotlin for Android app development.

Kotlin Essential Training

For those who have some programming experience, this LinkedIn Learning Kotlin course will provide a comprehensive overview of the language. You learn how to set up a project, create code with rudimentary Kotlin syntax, and manage databases in the course.

Kotlin for Android Developers

If you are an experienced Android developer creating apps with Java and want to try your hands at Kotlin or convert your App from Java to Kotlin, this free, week-long course from Udacity will help you. It is not a beginner’s level course, so you have to be familiar with Android development and tools to benefit from this course.

Kotlin Coroutines

Getting started with Kotlin for Android app development is more manageable, but for creating robust apps, you need to know how to use Coroutines to simplify the app code and manage background threads. Google Developers provide this course for free to help developers learn this advanced concept.

Books for Kotlin developers

Atomic Kotlin: A great Kotlin resource for both beginners and experienced programmers. It’s a free e-Book from multi-award-winning author Bruce Eckel.

Head First Kotlin: For a complete introduction to Kotlin.

Kotlin in Action: Teaches you how to create production-quality applications with Kotlin.

Kotlin Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide: Learn the elegant style and features of Kotlin through carefully considered examples.

Online Communities for Kotlin Developers

Kotlin Subreddit

Kotlin Dev.to Community

The Daily Kotlin

Kotlin Forum

Kotlin on Stack Overflow

Podcasts for Kotlin Developers

Kotlin X Change

Talking Kotlin

Now in Android

Empathy: When you empathize with your team or clients, you fully understand their problems and are in a better position to assist them in overcoming their challenges. Empathy also makes it easier to communicate better with other developers and not appear arrogant when you dismiss or counter their suggestions.

Communication: Developers work as part of a team. Communication is a soft skill that enables them to express themselves effectively, whether convincing a client or presenting an idea. Speak with conviction even when you are unsure of yourself. That’s how you make people pay more attention to your words. Listening is also essential for positive communication; the best communicators spend more time listening and talking less. Also, don’t interrupt a teammate or anyone when they are speaking. Wait until they have talked to chime in with your thoughts.

Patience: Being a developer is challenging. You will have assignments to solve a problem, and seldom will you be able to do it in a single try. Patience and perseverance are two essential virtues of great developers. They are patient and can keep calm even under strenuous working conditions.

Open-mindedness: To inspire innovation and readily accept new ideas, you need open-mindedness. Be open to new ideas and do not dismiss them without trying them. That is how you learn, by exploring new pathways to solve problems.

Here are some additional resources to learn about important developer soft skills:

7 Most valuable soft skills of exceptional software engineers

6 soft skills that still impress employers in 2022

5 tips for presenting new ideas as a software developer

How soft skills transitioned to become the new power skills

5 Time management tips for software developers

Conclusion

Kotlin has become the de facto programming language for Android app development. As Google has designated it as the official language for the Android platform, industry-wide adoption of Kotlin is surging. This Kotlin developer tool is the ultimate resource for developers to learn the language and prepare for job interviews.

Our tech experts collated the Kotlin resources listed in this developer toolkit at Talent500. We are a platform for developers to find the best remote work opportunities. Join us today and get hired by some of the world’s leading tech companies.

Developing a super app: the complete guide

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Smartphones are becoming an integral part of our professional and personal lives. According to Statista, in 2021, Google Play and Apple Store witnessed a combined 230 billion app downloads. This number is exponentially increasing, and businesses are trying to create more apps for their diversified services. But installing multiple apps takes up more storage space on a user’s device and instead they prefer to install a super app that performs multiple functions. People use apps to make payments, shop online, order food, watch movies, play games, connect with others, and many more. But it is getting increasingly difficult for them to manage all the apps. As a solution, they are looking for a single app to do it all, in other words, super apps.

What is a super app?

A super app is an application that has all the features integrated to be a complete solution for every need. You can use a super app to order food, pay bills, buy insurance, book hotels and flights, recharge your phone, etc. A good example is the Tata Neu app, which combines all of Tata group’s services in a single application. It offers “everything from groceries to gadgets, trends to travel, cuisines to coffees, and fitness to finance.”

Given the increasing demands of customers and the rising cost of app development, it is not difficult to anticipate why businesses are vying for super apps. This article looks at how to plan a super app from scratch.

1. It starts with market research

Not every category or type of app can be converted into a super app. Market research is essential to decide the inclusiveness of the super app. You must understand your users across gender, age, interests, requirements, etc., to ensure that the app navigation is suitable for every user. You might also want to partner with other online service providers to make your super app more useful. With the giants like Amazon, Tata Neu, and Paytm, it won’t be easy to compete. You should create a profitable long-term strategy when you partner with growing third-party online services.

As an app developer, you must ensure that the super app has a native feel. This is why UI/UX, design, and content of the presentation planning are essential.

2. Comprehensively define the app features

Features and functionalities are critical for the success of a super app. The requirements you find from the excessive market research should be effectively translated into features during the app development. Define what features and functionalities your app will need. Will it have e-commerce features, payment gateways, messaging and calling features, news feeds, etc.? These considerations will guide you toward taking the right UI/UX approach and technologies stack.

3. UI/UX design considerations

The design requirement for super app development is more complicated than traditional mobile applications. As you will be developing an app for several segments, the UI/UX elements have to be versatile to transform and accommodate the needs of each part. The critical factors to consider while planning super apps are color scheme, typography, effects and transitions, placement of the services, usefulness for users with physical disabilities, and content planning. Well-defined design considerations are essential for a satisfactory user experience.

4. Pick the correct technology stack

Super apps are composed of many online features across several industries. You must consider many technical aspects to integrate different services into your app. While deciding on the technology stack, you will use for app development, focus on the following aspects:

Code space consumption
Code execution time complexity
Development requirements (development time, challenges, upgrades)
Available resources
Budget

Every phase of the super app development will have specific requirements. Based on the most common conditions and architecture of super apps, here is a list of technologies that you can include in any development stack:

https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/technology-stack-ev-charging-station-app.png

5. Quality assurance

Just like any other software, the super app development must also go through a series of test cases to ensure that the code is bug-free and top quality. QA engineers have to write test cases to evaluate the overall user experience at this stage. Any super app should be put through:

Compatibility testing
Functional testing
Installation testing
Localization testing
Manual testing
Performance and load testing
Security testing
Usability testing

The results of these testing approaches will tell the development team about the performance and code quality of the super app.

Conclusion: What to keep in mind when creating super apps?

Given the complexity of a super app, there is a need for cutting-edge IT infrastructure. The server and memory management should be blazing fast. Furthermore, you should optimize the code for faster loading and execution. The API creation for such an app is sophisticated and requires multiple developers to work on the code. And ultimately, the standards and regulations for a super app are complicated as it falls into various categories.

Talent500 is the platform for mobile app developers to explore global opportunities at some of the largest tech companies. Sign up here and become part of our elite pool of talent.

Essential skills required to get hired as an iOS developer

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

After Android, iOS is the most popular mobile operating system. Since Apple launched iOS, its adoption has rapidly increased; today, over 2.22 million apps exist on the Apple App Store. The demand for an iOS developer is at an all-time high, and to make a successful career in the field, you should have some most in-demand skills.

The iOS development is increasingly becoming popular because of the demand for Apple devices. Also, the ease of app development, unified user interface, and high-profit potential of iOS apps attract more developers from all over.

This article lists the essential skills required to get employed as an iOS app developer.

1. Practical knowledge of Swift 3.0

Of all the object-oriented programming languages, Swift is the most popular. Developed by Apple, this iOS development programming language has a simple syntax and is much easy to use. Any proficient iOS developer should have practical knowledge of Swift 3.0. It is the programming language developers use to create apps for iOS, Mac OS, watchOS, and tvOS.

As a fast and stable iOS development language, Swift allows developers to create responsive and feature-rich applications much more quickly. You can learn this language easily as it is an open-source programming language with wide adoption in the industry.

2. Core Data

Core Data is an essential framework for any iOS developer to learn. It is used to create data-driven applications as it simplifies model objects’ management and relationships. When you use Core Data, you do not have to bother about routine tasks associated with object life-cycle and graph management. This framework also reduces the amount of code an iOS developer writes to support the model layer. Several applications make Core Data a critical skill, such as saving application data for offline use, adding undo functionality to an app, and caching temporary data.

Companies want to hire iOS developers who are well-versed in using Core Data to build applications that can easily sync across multiple devices. To produce quality customer-centric applications, you must be familiar with this framework.

3. Memory management

Every iOS application should make efficient use of hardware, most notably the memory available on the device. The structure of the iPhone or iPad’s primary short-term memory system is such that the device’s operating system dynamically allocates memory on the integrated RAM to store data temporarily. This is why iOS devices have high resource-constraint on memory. Any talented iOS developer should be able to manage memory effectively. As your apps will get only limited memory access from the system, you have to ensure that your app does not slow down or eventually crash. It would help if you were skilled in proper memory management to ensure that your apps do not cross the established per-process limit. It is one of the essential concepts in iOS development.

4. Spatial reasoning

The iOS development process is versatile, and you must consider the compatibility of your applications across iPhone, Apple Watch, or any new Apple device. The users must be able to interact with your applications on any device. You need to think in 3D and visualize the spiritual relationships between different objects.

As an iOS developer, you must understand the controls or inputs available for various Apple devices. Also, you must be aware of the limitations or restrictions of different iOS versions. As a frontend developer, you can quickly learn spatial reasoning through practice. Here is an excellent resource to understand the design process applicable to iOS development.

5. Experience in unit testing

Eventually, all apps must be tested for their functionality. It requires iOS developers to be familiar with unit testing. A practical and well-planned unit test is small, fast, and isolated. You must be able to design unique test cases that test one thing at a time. For instance, if you are working on a calculator app and added a feature to rewind up to the last ten operations, you might want to write a unit test to check this functionality.

You must not wait for the build of the entire code before testing for work. As early as you conduct unit testing of each feature, you can prevent bugs early on. Companies usually hire iOS developers with unit testing experience who can quickly test the validity and functionality of the applications they are working on.

Conclusion

iOS development gets more manageable if you are well acquainted with the above-listed skills. Companies prefer iOS developers proficient at everything-gathering client requirements, planning the app structure, and developing a scalable iOS app. We hope this article will help you start on the right track to becoming a more proficient and skilled iOS developer.

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7 best development practices for a successful Android app in 2022

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Android is the most widely implemented operating system. Its smartphone OS market share is over 87%, according to Statista. Not just in the smartphone market, but Android is used for several other applications such as smart TVs, car navigation systems, and even laptops. Due to its massive market reach and billions of users, Android development evolves faster.

Creating a successful Android app is, however, an endeavor that requires in-depth planning and research. But the fast-paced development prospects have led to the creation of some best practices for android development that ensure you build quality apps every time.

This article lists the seven best mobile development practices for the Android platform.

1. Understand the internal Android framework

Experienced mobile developers understand how important it is to know the internal architecture of an operating system to exploit its functionalities fully. The first principle you must focus on is understanding the internal Android framework. As a developer, you should learn its file system, memory allocation, threading, and CPU usage. You must know the possibilities before you can start development. Once you are confident that you understand the Android framework well enough, you can write quality code that eliminates errors.

2. List the features comprehensively

After you understand the Android platform’s scope, you can create a comprehensive list of features. It is essential before you invest your time in designing and coding the application. Apps that struggle with engaging users or end up with bad reviews are often created without proper feature planning. Think of building an Android app as being similar to planning a city; you need to create a map of the infrastructure, amenities, and types of properties.

Ask these questions to create a comprehensive list of features:

What do you want your users to be able to do with the app?
How will the added features be accessible to the users?
What are similar apps available on the market, and how will your app differ from them?

Brainstorming these ideas will help you create an elaborate list of features necessary to make your Android app successful. You will have a better understanding of the design and development requirements. It even provides insights into the marketing aspects of how you can make your app stand out.

3. Design it with users in mind

Your Android app design must be user-focused. Move away from your personal preferences about the design and focus on data and insights. Knowing your target users and how they will use the app is essential. Some critical design considerations are their age group, when they will use the app (home, office, or on the go), requirements (for disabilities, if any), and demands not fulfilled by other apps.

4. Hire the right talent for development

You need the right mobile developers in the team for quality android app development. You can’t build a successful app with a buggy or low-quality code. One crucial Android development practice is not to skimp on hiring great talent. Skilled developers understand how to fully exploit Android’s memory management, CPU usage, and multi-threading which results in high-performance mobile app development.

Some important aspects to look for are:

3 to 5 years of experience in Android development
History of successful app delivery backed by reviews from previous clients
Hourly rate or fixed price for projects
Have they worked on similar apps?
Whether they will work directly with you or through an agency/partner

5. Select the right technology

Today, there are several technologies available for Android app development. It will help if you choose the right stack depending on your app’s purpose and features. Decide whether you need a hybrid, native, or cross-platform mobile app. Based on the answer, you can choose either React Native or Flutter for Android app development or Objective-C, Kotlin, or Java for native app development.

6. Test from an early stage

Testing is as essential as design and development. Start testing your app at an early stage for device compatibility and bugs. The users are too quick to leave negative reviews if they experience problems. It is best to follow an agile process for mobile development that facilitates rapid, iterative testing and feedback. All bugs must be identified early, and regular product updates are released such that your app’s user experience is consistently high.

7. Always follow Android clean coding guidelines

You must follow Android coding guidelines to create scalable and high-performance Android apps. Clean code improves robustness, minimizes errors, and makes it easy to manage updates. When you follow the clean coding guidelines, you can simplify the complicated development process. It also highly optimizes the code, improving the end-user experience. Ultimately, all these features help bring down the development cost and reduce the development time.

Conclusion

Android app development is easy when you follow these best development practices. The focus must be on user-centric design, quality development, and clean code.

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What is the future of DevOps technologies?

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

DevOps is one of software development’s most widely adopted automation processes. DevOps engineers are responsible for accelerating the development of products and frequent releases of updates. Some of the most renowned companies in the world, such as Google, Netflix, and Amazon, use this methodology to increase the efficiency and productivity of their teams.

According to market research, the expansion of DevOps is expected to reach $287.9 billion by the year 2026. This growth will demand more DevOps engineers to join the engineering teams. If you are wondering about the future of DevOps technologies, the prospects are up-and-coming.

This article explores the future of DevOps technologies and how organizations are improving the development culture by implementing this methodology.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is the methodology that provides an alternative to the agile development environment for creating faster and smoother development of applications. It is a continuous process that also includes last-mile delivery. This methodology ensures that product testing, development, and operation are in sync and that delivery can be made in less time. Several processes are involved in DevOps, such as voting, building and integration, continuous testing, reporting, monitoring, and configuration.

For a successful career as a DevOps engineer, you need to focus on building skills in the following technologies.

1. AI/ML in the DevOps

The DevOps methodology has made the software development life cycle much more efficient. Combined with a cloud-native approach and microservice architecture, it is possible to build any software with limited resources and time. With this approach, you can integrate testing and production environments to find problems with the application before it goes live proactively.

But there is scope for further improvement in DevOps pipelines by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning. With these technologies, you can build and automate much better, which is why the industry is gradually transitioning from DevOps to DataOps and AIOps. The focus is shifting to using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to log and monitor metrics that give more control automatically. It would help if you learned tools like Moogsoft and BigPanda, a leader in AIOps.

2. Serverless computing

DevOps teams are actively using serverless architecture for maintaining their production pipelines because of the massive operational cost of server infrastructure. DevOps automates software development and deployment based on several components. When you get a modular component view of the pipeline, it becomes much easier to identify the bottlenecks and unnecessary server resources. The serverless architecture can mitigate the challenges common to the product’s deployment and development.

If you plan to become a DevOps engineer, you should learn how serverless computing can streamline overall DevOps operations. Companies prefer serverless architecture because it dramatically reduces server maintenance costs and workloads. The flexibility, reliability, cost efficiency, and speed of serverless DevOps infrastructure improve the efficiency of the complete software life cycle from development to deployment.

3. Low-Code/No-Code applications

Many organizations are adopting the low-code/no-code development approach to deploy applications swiftly and to keep up with the demand for new features and applications from users. DevOps engineers experience higher agility and can develop fast-track applications to meet the market’s demand. Adopting a low-code approach in the DevOps framework is a game changer.

With no-code application development, you can allow non-technical contributors to be part of software development through the help of visual interface integrations. As DevOps engineers play an essential role in connecting end users with developers, they play a crucial role in adopting this trend. This is another DevOps technology that you should focus on.

4. Container technology

Another technology that is evolving fast and emerging strongly is container technology. Containers are handy for sandbox applications for security or resource constraints reasons. There are also instances when companies use containers per user or user session to micro-monitor the behavior of their products. Including container technology in DevOps allows limitless possibilities to improve user and system security and enhance user analytics.

Simply put, container technology allows putting all the software components in a single unit that can be used to run microservices or larger applications alike. All the code, libraries, configuration information, and other dependencies can be withheld in this container, making it much smoother to deploy software across the network. Another reason why this DevOps technology is becoming popular is because of its lightweight architecture. Unlike deploying full-scale servers to test applications, containers make it possible to deploy multiple versions of the same application and multiple operating systems.

Conclusion

DevOps is evolving fast and driving a significant transformation in the software industry. The DevOps technologies we have listed here are helping organizations to move rapidly beyond simple automation and enhance their ability to design, produce, launch, and maintain high-quality software products. As a DevOps engineer, you must familiarize yourself with these technologies for a successful career.

Talent500 helps start-ups and Fortune 500 companies to build remote engineering teams. Join us here and explore career-redefining opportunities at some of the largest tech companies.

5 most commonly found types of bugs and how to fix them

Posted on October 10, 2022October 10, 2022 by vallish

The software development life cycle (SDLC) has several stages that include testing. No code is ever written with perfection when first created. Bugs, errors, and anomalies repeatedly occur, so companies perform a comprehensive software assessment to maintain its quality.

But what happens when bugs are not identified early on during the software development?

The cost of fixing bugs and security issues increases with each development stage. It is least expensive to correct errors and anomalies in the design phase. According to a study by the Systems Sciences Institute at IBM, fixing a bug during implementation costs 6x higher than fixing it during the design phase. Furthermore, the study found that companies waiting to fix bugs during the Testing phase of SDLC could end up paying 15 times more compared to the cost of recording and resolving bugs during the design and development phase.

Competent QA engineers understand that to fix bugs early stage, it is essential to know the most common errors that occur. It helps to understand what kind of bugs popup during which phase of project development.

To save time and cost invested in testing, here are the most common software bugs that developers and QA engineers often encounter. Pay attention as soon as you identify them because that is the best way to tackle them effectively.

1. Functional Bugs

The errors associated with the functionality of a specific software component are called functional bugs. A non-responsive Login Button or an erroneous Cart function is functional bugs as they don’t function as intended.

It can be costly to fix these issues if they appear in actual use conditions. Functional testing help testers evaluate a website or app in a live environment early on rather than discovering them in the production environment.

2. Logical Bugs

Nothing can be more complicated to troubleshoot than a poorly constructed logic. Logical bugs cause the software to malfunction, disrupting the entire application. How devastating the effects of logical bugs can be was evident when NASA lost its Mars Probe spacecraft in 1999 because engineers in the software team forgot to convert British measurements into American units.

While most software projects won’t be of such scale or involve millions of dollars worth of space vehicles, logical bugs can be challenging to track. Fuzzy testing is a common approach for identifying logical bugs. During this testing, malformed inputs are sent to a code block to expose infinite loops, memory leaks, and crashes.

3. Workflow Bugs

Workflow bugs are associated with the navigation of a software application.

For example, consider a payment function that involves several steps. Users can switch between pages with ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons to complete the process. But if the ‘next’ navigation exits the process, the workflow is broken, resulting in a bug.

Fortunately, workflow bugs are the easiest to identify as they are much more apparent. Manual testing is enough to find most workflow bugs.

Unit Level Bugs

Unit level bugs are pretty common and easier to fix. As each software module is in written form, testers can test small batches of code to ensure they are functioning as expected. Unit testing helps developers capture bugs that are left undetected during coding. Before moving to the next component, the bugs are isolated and fixed.

For instance, when working on a signup page, a developer can verify all the user input fields and validation buttons. If a field does not accept input or the validation is not working correctly, that will be a unit-level bug.

4. System-Level Integration Bugs

These bugs are in one word: miscommunication. System-level integration bugs occur when two or more units created by different developers are integrated. These bugs stop different units from interacting due to inconsistencies or incompatibility.

System-level integration bugs are hard to track and even harder to fix as developers need to examine thousands of lines of code. Inappropriate interfacing, memory overflow issues, and database connectivity issues are common system-level integration bugs.

5. Out of Bound Bugs

When a system user interacts with the UI of an application or website unintentionally, out-of-bound bugs occur. Entering a too large or too small value in an input field or using an undefined data type are expected out of bound bugs. Form validation issues that pop up during functional testing are examples of such errors.

Conclusion

For any website or mobile application to be helpful for the end-users in the real-world environment, it needs comprehensively testing for the most common bugs. Regardless of the software complexity and size, testers and developers must ensure that most bugs are identified and resolved early as possible. Fixing bugs at the later stages of software development proves to be costly and time-consuming.
Talent500 is the platform for Quality Assurance engineers to find opportunities with global companies. Join our elite pool of software testers found by fast-growing startups and Fortune500 companies.

Azure developer toolkit: In-demand skills, learning resources, online courses, interview prep, books & more

Posted on October 10, 2022November 10, 2022 by vallish

Development in the cloud requires a distinct set of skills and knowledge. Compared to building applications for on-premise environments, working with the cloud is more challenging, given these platforms’ massive global scale and resiliency. After AWS, Azure has the largest market share at 21%. If you plan to become an Azure developer or want to explore the domain, you must improve your existing skills and acquire new ones.

We created this Azure developer toolkit to help you quickly find critical learning and preparation resources.

Let’s start with the skills you must have to grab the competitive advantages of being an Azure developer.

Scripting: Azure cloud is vast, and if you deploy an extensive application on Azure, you have to script your environment such that you can update the complete infrastructure. Scripting is an essential skill for Azure developers and allows them to create environments much faster. Cloud platforms can be expensive, so it is economically viable to tear everything when you use them and build a backup when needed. To do so efficiently, you will have to script the environment. In Azure, developers have Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates that they can use to create code for the infrastructure and deploy it through Azure automation tools like Visual Studio Team Services. As an Azure developer, you will be expected to know such tools.
Learn how to develop resiliency: Cloud platforms are built for resiliency, implying applications in the cloud keep running even if the server dies. Azure developers must be familiar with the cloud’s mechanism to utilize this resiliency. One important concept is self-preservation. You have to learn how to make different aspects of an application and make use of Azure to keep it alive even when the server dies. Learn about Retry Pattern. There are Azure SDKs available that allow developers to automatically implement retry patterns.
Monitoring and diagnostics pipeline: As a cloud engineer, you must work on all application development aspects. It will be challenging to manage or monitor all the microservices that run in a container in the cloud. Due to its loosely connected and highly distributed nature, it is not easy to get a good overview of the health of your system. You must learn to create pipelines to monitor your services and even diagnose them if needed. Fortunately, in Azure, you can set up automatic monitoring of the services using Azure Monitor. Also, learn about logging mechanisms like Application Insights for applications and Log Analytics for infrastructure.

Official resources

Online courses and tutorials for Azure developers

AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Prep

This Udemy course is an excellent resource for beginners to learn about the Azure cloud. It not only teaches the fundamentals of Azure but also prepares you for the AZ-900 or the Azure Fundamental exam. The course covers Azure storage services architecture, Virtual machine creation and storage, Azure database services, Big Data solutions on Azure, the internet of things, Azure infrastructure as code (ARM Templates), and Azure DevOps.

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Another online course to learn about Microsoft Azure services from scratch is Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. It introduces cloud computing and how to deploy apps on Windows Azure infrastructure. It teaches Windows Azure compute and storage, SQL Azure, cloud computing tradeoffs, and the limitations of the Azure platform.

Azure DevOps Fundamentals for Beginners

Designed for both beginners and experienced developers, this Udemy course explains how DevOps concepts and practices can be migrated to Azure. It teaches how to plan, manage, and deploy your first Azure DevOps application through hands-on exercises and use cases. This course discusses all parts of the DevOps landscape, such as app containers, commits, code requests, sprints, unit testing, and code artifacts.

Azure Kubernetes Service with Azure DevOps and Terraform

If you are an experienced developer who wants to foray into the Azure cloud, this is the online course we recommend. It covers all the essential DevOps tools and technologies you might have used at work, such as Kubernetes, Docker, AKS, Azure Disks, Virtual Nodes, Active Directory, ACR, DNS Zones, and Terraform. This course is ideal for Azure architects, sysadmins, and developers who want to master Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Books for Azure developers

Online communities for Azure developers

Podcasts for Azure developers

Empathy: Writing code and spending time on engineering assignments is not the only work that developers do. They also interact with other stakeholders. The adage “putting yourself in another person’s shoes” is what empathy is about. You must nurture your brain to understand other people, anticipate their opinions, and be open about their ideas. An empathic developer knows how to address the needs of others and adjust their behavior.
Communication: You might work with people from all backgrounds and cultures. Understanding what you say and how you say it can impact other people’s feelings is essential. Strong communication skills can make you a great team player. Not only have speaking skills, but you must also have impeccable communication in emails, chats, and other tools.
Self-awareness: Being confident in what you know is one way to feel confident truly. Self-awareness means keeping in touch with both your strengths as well as weaknesses. When you are aware of your shortcomings, you can seek proper training and mentorship from your colleagues or manager. The learning resources we shared above are a few you can bookmark and follow to learn new skills necessary to become a cloud engineer.
Self-learning: Another great soft skill for developers is self-learning. Put yourself on a path of life-long learning to identify problems and quickly find solutions. It is not a coincidence that thousands of developers enter the IT industry without a formal degree. If you keep learning new technologies and tools, you can be a successful developer.

More resources on soft skill development:

Conclusion

Azure developers are in demand as companies are adopting cloud infrastructure. We hope this Azure developer toolkit provides you with all the necessary resources to learn and master the skills you require.

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