Web development: Trends and Predictions

What global trends are going to shape web development and technology market? Our experts defined 3 main innovations: the growth of artificial intelligence potential, the creation of new security solutions, Internet of Things. What do they mean in 2018 for developers and business owners and how can we get ready for the next year? We have made a list to describe main opportunities and challenges of 2018

Wow, it is December! It means that 2017, the year of huge cyberattacks and jaw-dropping AI innovations, is coming to its close. Now the developers and business owners are concerned about the new tech trends coming in 2018. Every year our team explores new trends in web development and analyzes future tendencies. Going through all major tech news and planning our strategy, we felt inspired and decided to share our expectations for the upcoming year. So, what will shape global tech market in 2018?

Trend #1 – Growth of AI in web development

The tendency started in 2017 will continue in the next year as well. Leading IT-companies and worldwide corporations invest billions in developing artificial intelligence technologies. In web development, this tendency will result with:

Chatbot technology evolution. A while ago, Google has implemented a clever neural network in Gmail and Inbox, and it was a huge breakthrough – now users have a possibility to choose the most suitable answers from three variants. In 2018, it is not the case anymore. With Amazon Alexa, customers have seen how intelligent a robot assistant can be.

AI-powered websites. The most popular solution created recently was Molly, the neural network that builds pages. Well, right now it has pretty limited power but surely the robot will improve its skills. Have a look at the page it has built.

We guess you are wondering whether the robots will be capable of replacing developers. Well, not anytime soon. Obviously, at some point, the neural networks are going to drastically improve their skills but let’s not forget – it is also a creative work that requires a human touch and specific solutions which can’t be offered by a robot.

What does it mean for business owners?

Companies are definitely going to make huge AI-investments in order to outsmart the competition and bring latest web development and UI/UX technologies to the market. To be the smartest, you need to be the fastest. To follow market demands, start making your investments as soon as possible.

What does it mean for developers?

The demand for AI development services will grow in geometric progression, and not only in 2018 but at least for the next 5-10 years. Invest in your AI projects and neural networks development.

Trend #2 – Security is a future of web development

The further AI technologies and big data methods go, the biggest are the threats of security breaches. Today websites have access to social network credentials and confidential information like home address, credit card protection, personal messages, and letters. The more information we collect, the more difficult is to protect everything from cyber attacks. The statistics on cybersecurity are actually scary:

• The general income for cybercrimes has exceeded 600 billion worldwide
• 200+ malware threats are captured every day
• In 2021, cyber attacks will cost business companies more than $3 trillion Nobody is protected – nearly 43% attacks target small and medium business.

What can we do to secure websites and personal data?

All the data will be encrypted and hashed. There are already many algorithms that provide a decent quality of data protection, however, as statistics show, the existing methods are not good enough. In 2018, we should expect the development of completely innovative encrypting technologies and implement them on our websites.

It will be crucially important to use secure blueprints and code scanning tools.

What does it mean for business owners?

It will be crucial to make investments in your system security and do regular testing. The recent attacks on Equifax, Sony, HBO has shown that hackers are able to break even in big systems so don’t underestimate their possibilities.

What does it mean for developers?

Gathering professional testers to your team and constantly improving their skills is now the main focus. Clients’ main priorities are to have the safest solutions and best data protection.

Trend #3 – Internet of Things is a future of development technologies

Talking about web programming trends 2018, it is impossible not to mention Iot development services – it became popular few years ago and now it is blowing off the Web. The income of Internet of Things market has topped $170 million this year, according to Statista.com. Such development is explained by growing number of devices which now are all connected with each other. What we have now is basically a giant device-network – and its possibilities are huge.

The trend is developing tremendously – so what can we do to keep up with it?

• Concentrate on developing and using Application Enablement Platforms. According to IDC report, by the end of 2020, the platforms will be used to build more than 50% IoT applications. It is reasonable – AEP provides many functions in one software product and is developed by massive companies (Microsoft, IBM, SAP).
• Pay attention to IoT security – crucial activities are data encryption, monitoring and analyzing the use of personal information, identification and authorization of data movement between devices. To implement these security solutions, it is crucial to have a strong testing and QA team to detect vulnerabilities and malware.

What does it mean for business owners?

Investments in IoT is a good way to go in 2018 – as the number of connected devices grows, so do the possibilities of the Internet of Things. With one touch or click customers can communicate with other people devices and do lots of things – exchange information, buy products and order services. However, implementing IoT is a complex procedure which requires strong development competence – so gather own strong IoT team or hire devs who have these skills and experience.

What does it mean for developers?

Improve your skills in Java, C, .Net, Python. Linux is the most common OS used for Internet of things development – invest in a strong team of Linux developers.

This is how QArea’s developers see 2018. Web development will go through many changes – what has been started in 2017, is going to drastically improve and become must-have technologies. Therefore, if you think of implementing some of these trends in your project – contact our team – we are happy to discuss your ideas.