If you think about the web 10 years ago, you can easily see that it was a totally different place. There were no smartphone at the time (at least not the ones we know and use today). Internet Explorer was still the most popular browser worldwide. Development methods were radically different than today's ones.
Over the past decade we've witnessed smartphones and tablets emerging to dominate the market. Mobile browsing has already surpassed the traditional desktop computer browsing. Development methods have also evolved to keep pace with this new trend among many others.
The most important question is: How and why does this matter to your business?
There are two things to consider when thinking about keeping up with emerging development trends.
First and foremost, you don't want your business to have that outdated, rusty look that gives potential clients a negative first impression of your company. For instance, a business website that requires Internet Explorer will make most users shy away from trying to access it. Today, your website doesn't only need to work in all known browsers, but it also needs to adjust to suit all types of devices, operating systems and screen resolutions.
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Second, by sticking to old and outdated best practices, you could be missing out on some of the most important advantages of modern web development solutions. You might miss on loading speed, security, capabilities, and who knows what other benefits that entice people into using a website to get what they want. Why overlook such benefits that could put your business in front of more and more eyeballs without additional expenses from your side?
Let's see some of these trends and their effects on your web development.
- The Rise Of Javascript Frameworks
The increasing use of mobile devices to browse the web has changed web development in every possible way. User expectations have shifted. People expect websites to behave more like mobile apps than web pages, so developers need to take this into account in their work.
The consequence of this expectations shift is the rise of client-side development. In the past, web development was based on the client-server model, in which servers did the heavy work and sent the outcome to the client.
Today, users prefer more powerful and more responsive web apps that are up-to-par with desktop software and mobile apps. The result is that developers use more and more Javascript frameworks instead of traditional web development methods.
According to Alan N. Canton, Managing Partner at NewMedia Create, web development has migrated from the popular LAMP stack towards React, Meteor and other such dual data binding Javascript frameworks. Even though the learning curve is steeper than advertised, once the developers become familiar with it, they can deploy client-side projects in a more efficient manner.
Cyber attacks are on the rise. Cyber-criminals are savvier and more knowledgeable than ever before. This ascending trend is here to stay. Statistics show a worsening of the global situation from one year to the next.
The biggest problem is that 96% of all web applications ave at least one major vulnerability. It emerges from the fact that most web developers make the same security errors today as they used to 10 years ago.
HTML5 has been around since 2015, but it is constantly improving. New APIs and features are added on regular basis. Even though HTML5 still offers a ground for confusion, the fat is that it allows web developers to create web applications that behave like native mobile apps.
Let's see in a nutshell why this matters so much. In the past, a website was nothing but a group of distinct web pages all connected together under a domain name. The biggest problem with these websites is that they load way slower on mobile devices. Users get frustrated and quite the website before achieving their goals. This is why more and more applications are now switching to a single-page approach.
How is this trend going to change the web? In the past, using the web was as simple as opening a web browser and browsing the internet.
Today, things are more complex. We use our mobile devices to browse the web. We use mobile apps. We start becoming familiar with the Internet of Things. Web development is less about creating a functional website or web page but rather about offering a seamless user experience.