From visiting a Kirana store and waiting in lines to ordering groceries on mobile applications with just one click, all of us have come a long way. The advancement in consumer behaviour and practices have changed over the last decade and the growth in the number of online consumers is something which we have not witnessed in history. This growth and development can be credited to the e-commerce industry. But what have entrepreneurs and enterprises been using to develop these e-commerce stores?

Magento is one such reliable platform on which ecommerce businesses are built. It’s a platform designed to help small, midsize and enterprise level businesses make it big in the e-commerce industries. The Adobe owned platform powers close to 250,000 online businesses and is preferred by many entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide.

Magento is specifically designed and developed to help e-commerce platforms grow by providing useful analytics, scalable technology and optimal solutions to manage a heavy backend while fulfilling consumer needs. If you’re a dreamer who’s reading this article to build your e-commerce store, we’re here to help you and tell you why Magento is one of the best things that can happen to your business.

Giants using Magento

Magento is used worldwide and there is no doubt that it’s one of the best tools to build your e-commerce. Many of the biggest players of the industry like cocacola, Ford, Nike, Nestle Nespresso etc have relied upon magento to build their ecommerce platforms. With Magento store hosting, businesses can create a tailored shopping experience that meets their unique needs, making it an excellent choice for growing e-commerce stores.

Why use Magento?

There are many reasons why Magento is used at this scale and is the choice for every e-commerce store owner. Some of the reasons are listed below.

1) Open Source

“Good things are never free.” Well, this is not the case here. The Magento community edition is open source i.e. free to download and use. This renders the development cost of the website to a bare minimum and the owner can think of better ways to use his/her money. The free edition can be downloaded from here.

2) Scalable Tech

One of the reasons why writing code for e-commerce websites is an onerous task is that the code written should be scalable and should be optimised to handle large chunks of online traffic. Magento is designed to be scalable and hence websites deliver efficient and fast services to its users. It’s no wonder why even big companies with complex operations and high amount of traffic deploy a Magento website to sell products and services.

3) Community

Being open source is one of the strengths of Magento. People all around the globe use it and help other developers to grow in the field by developing free and cool extensions to integrate with your Magento e-commerce store.

4) e-Commerce friendly

Though WordPress might be the best content management system being offered out there, it is no Magento. Magento is specifically designed for building e-commerce platforms and hence has inbuilt features and actions that a developer can use to provide business solutions. This is why Magento is now preferred over ‘WordPress + WOO Commerce’ and ‘Drupal + Drupal Commerce’ combos. This is one of the major reasons why the number of Magento websites worldwide have doubled from 2017 and 2018.

5) Performance

A fraction of a second might be the difference between an interested lead and a converted customer. Hence, if you want to convert that doubtful lead into a happy customer, using Magento is probably a good idea. Magento with its highly optimized and scalable tech renders web pages on your device within an eye blink. This is one of the reasons for a higher conversion rates of websites developed in Magento.

6) SEO Friendly

Search engine optimization is one of the aspects of an e-commerce business that cannot be neglected while making a choice of a platform for your e-commerce store. Magento comes with inbuilt features to develop SEO friendly URL structure, sitemaps, positioning layer, URL rewrites, tags, descriptions, etc. Also, there are a multiple set of extensions to optimize your website’s rank on a search result page on Google and other search engines. We advise you to use these functionalities to the best of your capabilities to increase sales.

7) Ease of integration

Managing an e-commerce store is not an easy task and entrepreneurs depend on different specialised systems for keeping an eagle view of their website and its performance. However, Magento doesn’t fail here too and provides all specialised systems integrated on one single dashboard. Magento is compatible with a plethora of third-party services including payment gateways, transportation, database applications, shipping, order tracking etc. Also, keeping an eye on the websites performance is imperative and hence Magento offers Google tools such as Google Analytics, Google Checkout, and Google Base built into its system.

8) Billing in Multiple Currencies

Technological advancements have made the world a smaller place and businesses can now sell their products to anyone. Hence, consumers should be able to get billed in varied currencies without any hassle. Magento provides developers to integrate payment gateways which can be used to bill in multiple currencies.

9) Multi store millionaire

If you have a pipeline of ideas and products in varied fields and want to set up separate e-commerce stores, Magento is here to facilitate your dreams. With Magento’s content management system you can set up multiple stores for yourself with just one backend. This helps companies to perform enterprise level operations on different stores with utmost ease and pleasantness.

10) Size doesn’t matter

Magento websites are responsive to screen sizes and don’t lose any functionality or efficiency if your consumer operates through a desktop, laptop, tablet or even a mobile device. Also, inbuilt features help you track your consumers’ preferred devices and in turn help you optimise design and layout of your website specific to your consumer needs.

Summing it up

Magento is an Adobe owned platform that powers about 250,000 web stores worldwide. The inbuilt features along with the ease of integration provided by the platform results in a lethal combination for building a successful online store. All this being open source too, help entrepreneurs in cutting development costs and generating sales with higher conversion rates. 

If you’re a dreamer and wish to accomplish success with an e-commerce store, this is the last day of your hustle! We at GoodWorkLabs help dreamers like you to reach at the top of your e-commerce game by developing Magento websites. The team of experienced Magento professionals is equipped with decades of experience in this space helping different websites stand out in the huge crowd. So let’s build your dream with Magento!

Customized UI frameworks offer a bunch of benefits over ready-to-use frameworks, which have influenced many companies to switch to customized solutions. Both ready-to-use and customized frameworks provide their set of advantages and drawbacks, and it all boils down to your business objectives and challenges. Let’s dive into the comparison between these two types of frameworks, along with some tips to create a custom UI framework in JavaScript.

UI Frameworks: An Overview

UI framework refers to a software suite that provides the users with APIs to build new UI components or customize the existing ones. A framework, in general, is a platform for developing applications. UI framework is used to speed up the development process of a front-end application. It enables the developers to develop stunning, responsive and unique multi-device applications without having in-depth design, development, and technical skills. 

UI frameworks are entirely based on web standards, like CSS, HTML5, and JavaScript. For example, Twitter created a custom UI framework of Bootstrap Framework, which is an open-source, free-to-use, responsive, compatible, and customizable. UI frameworks are typically categorized into:

• Ready-to-use UI Framework
• Customized UI Framework

Both have discreet advantages and disadvantages — ready-to-use frameworks are easy-to-use and stable but consist of limitations and lack of control, whereas, customized frameworks offer optimization and full control but require time and expertise and need frequent updates and bug fixes. But, the comparison between the two goes way beyond these factors; thus, let’s discuss the difference between ready-to-use and front-end solutions in detail.

Front-end Frameworks: Custom vs. Ready-to-use Solutions

Ready-to-Use Solutions Advantages

One of the primary reasons people prefer sticking to ready-to-use solutions is its simplicity and functionality. Let’s look at some of the significant benefits of these types of frameworks. 

Plug-and-play functionality: In ready-to-use frameworks, all you need to do is type some markup and you will get a functional code without bothering about factors like dynamic behavior and styling. 

Stable and well-tested code: When you download a ready-to-use framework package, you can be rest assured that the code is stable and well tested. Thus, your website or application will perform well on all the platforms and browsers supported by the particular framework. 

Regular updates: Another significant advantage of ready-to-use frameworks that makes it a go-to choice for most developers is the frequent updates, new features, and bug fixes it receives. 

More significant Community: Ready-to-use frameworks usually have a large community, which you can rely on in times of troubles and doubts. These communities readily provide articles, tutorials, FAQs, add-ons, and extensions for framework learning and website & app development process. 

Ready-to-Use Solutions Disadvantages

The advantages of ready-to-use frameworks look appealing, and you might be on the verge of downloading one for your next development task. But, hold on for a second, as it offers some drawbacks as well, which you cannot look beyond. Here are a few disadvantages of using a ready-to-use framework. 

You still need to learn: Although these frameworks don’t require a lot of technical expertise, you still need to invest time and effort to learn to use it to make the most out of the plug-and-play functionality.

Excess of code: Ready-to-use frameworks are developed for a large segment of users; thus, it attempts to provide functionality for all kinds of developers. It might sound good on the surface, but this one-for-all approach results in a lot of unnecessary code, which might be a burden to use. 

You will need to modify it: Since it is made for a large number of consumers, it comes with a standard set of features, which, in its general form, might not be able to cater to your requirements. Therefore, you will need to tweak a ready-to-use framework to make it functional, which will take additional time and effort.

Standard-looking websites: If you are not able to tweak the framework and stick with the general one, your site will look generic like every other website made using that framework. The look and feel of your website play a vital role in attracting visitors, and having a dull site will damage the reputation and image of your brand.  

Third-party integrations: Since these types of frameworks have limited functionality and usable components, you will need to add third-party integrations.

You can’t change the code: The primary disadvantage of ready-to-use solutions is the limitations you have while using it. If you want to use a component of the framework, but the development team decides to remove it,  you cannot do anything but accept the change.

Customized UI Frameworks Advantages

Custom solutions provide seamless functionality and accessibility. More in-detail benefits are discussed below. 

Less time and effort required: When you develop a custom framework, you do so as per your objectives and long-term requirements, which helps to save a substantial amount of time and effort in the future. 

Control over the code: Since you have made the framework, you have full control over its code and design implementation; thus, no features will be removed until you remove them yourself. 

Uniqueness: Customized solutions allow you to give your website a unique touch, which makes your site look more attractive and responsive.

Customized UI Frameworks Disadvantages

Apart from a plethora of advantages, custom solutions offer a few drawbacks as well, as discussed below. 

Time and effort: You will need to put in time and effort in the early stages of requirement; however, after the framework is ready, you will save a significant amount of time and resources. 

Testing and maintenance: For the browsers you are targeting, you will need to test and maintain the code regularly.  

You are responsible for bug fixes and updates: Since you have made the framework, you will be responsible for all the updates, bug fixes, and new features you want to add to the framework. 

The Best Solution

So, as you can see that both types of frameworks offer their set of benefits and drawbacks, and for a beginner developer, making the right call can be a tedious task. However, there is a third solution as well, which many refer to as a semi-custom solution. It can be achieved by performing customizations on ready-to-use solutions like Bootstrap. 

Best practice to create Custom UI framework in JavaScript

Creating frameworks can take a lot of time and effort; therefore, make sure you do it rightly and smartly. Here are a few practices you should keep in mind when creating a custom UI framework in JavaScript. 

Don’t create a framework similar to an existing one: Many developers do this — just because they don’t want to use a ready-to-use framework, they create a new one with the exact same features and functionalities. There are already a lot of excellent frameworks available, and if you create one that does the exact same thing that any other framework does, you have done nothing but wasted your time and effort. Therefore, take the matter in your own hands only if you feel no other framework out there caters to your requirements. 

Make sure you are solving a problem: You can consider this point as an extension of the above point. Every good framework is created under the shadow of a problem, and if you are contemplating designing a custom framework, make sure it helps people overcome some common challenges. You can either create a solution that no one is talking about or create a better version of an existing framework that is in demand. A few common examples of frameworks that solve problems are:

• jQuery: provides seamless selection and manipulation of DOM 
• Modernizr: helps effortless identification of features a browser supports

If you know what your framework is all about, you can make it worth it. 

Don’t rewrite: If you feel you can solve a problem better than some other framework, make sure you don’t end up rewriting it but entirely modify it to cater to your requirements. 

Chase Stability: Unless you are creating a custom framework targeted to cater to highly specific requirements, don’t play around with the code. Avoid experimenting and making the code unstable as it will slow down your framework along with making it incompatible with previous browsers. Instead,  keep it simple and straightforward. 

Make it open-source: Making your source openly available is a great idea — giants like Google have invested years in creating open-source frameworks like AngularJS. Making your framework open-source will help you gain the attention of fellow developers that are willing to contribute to your project. This, in turn, will enable you to speed up your development process, along with making the final product better and bug-free.

Wrapping It Up

Customized UI frameworks offer excellent functionality and flexibility to develop websites and web applications, whereas ready-to-use solutions offer stability and uniformity. Selecting the best among the two can be a challenging thing to do, and you should make a call depending upon your capabilities and requirements. If you feel you are capable of creating a custom solution and you think it is worth making a new one, go for it; if not, stick to ready-to-use frameworks.

To create custom UI frameworks for your business, get in touch with us at contact@www.goodworklabs.com or visit us at www.www.goodworklabs.com.

A best UI UX design studio that offers comprehensive aspects of design and quality can help you attain an edge over your competitors. It might take you a while to figure out the studio that best caters to your needs, but waiting for the right one is worth it as every company needs a strategic UI UX design partner to ensure its brand and products achieve quality exposure and growth.

If your business needs a design partner, but you confused about how to choose the right one, this piece of information can help. Let’s dive into an overview of UI UX design, and a few factors to consider finding the best design studio for your business.

UI UX Design: An Overview

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) refers to the overall experience of a user while using a website or an application. This experience plays a vital role in determining several aspects, such as engagement, conversions, and retention rates. If the experience is clunky, confusing, or frustrating, the user is likely to discontinue using it, whereas, if the experience is pleasant and simple, the consumer will love using it recurrently. The UX design of a product includes several aspects, such as branding, usability, technical side, and of course, the design. A lot depends on the user’s requirements and preferences as well; therefore, make sure to create an accurate buyer persona before commencing the UI UX design process.

Before Choosing a Best UI UX Design Studio

Create a base for your design project before contacting a design agency. Here are a few points to include in the short brief you compile.

•         Your new project end goal
•         What is your budget
•         Expected timeline
•         Exact features list
•         Target audience and buyer persona

That being said, let’s dive into a few factors to consider to choose the best UI UX design agency for your business.

Past Experiences

The primary thing to consider while choosing a design studio is the portfolio of the agency. Having a glance at the past work helps you determine the work style, skillset, and the approach of a company, and it can be a major factor in determining whether the studio suits your requirements or not. A few points to take note of while analyzing the portfolio of an agency are:

•  Number of projects completed: Be sure the experience the studio claims to have is recorded and is not merely a concept.
•  Uniqueness: Does all the projects of the agency follow a similar pattern or design trend? It is always better to choose an agency that takes a unique approach to every process.
•  The Quality of Design: Quality of work is one of the significant aspects to consider while looking at the past work of a studio. Be sure to analyze the spacings, sizes, and navigations used by the agency in its previous designs.
•  Genuinity of the case study: The ultimate motive of UI UX design is to improve the user metrics apart from enhancing the experience. Check whether the case study includes data like retention, engagement, and conversion metrics.
•  Explanation of the process and end design goals: The studio should always describe the design process precisely, and if they don’t, they might lack knowledge of their previous work, which is negative. Look for agencies that are connected with their past projects and know their processes along with stats and facts. You can emphasize asking concrete examples of how did they manage to reach specific ends design goals like increased engagement or conversions.
•  Criticism and Feedback: Hit the web to get a clear idea of what do people talk about the studio, and how does it react to feedback and criticism.

The Quality of Communication

The way a studio communicates with you provides an evident idea of the professionalism of the studio. Ideally, an agency should demonstrate enthusiasm and determination to work with you, and if you cannot spot that kind of excitement, maybe you should look for other design partners.

Also, ask them the frequency with which they contact their clients. Transparency and involvement of clients are necessary to ensure project success. A studio should always update you concerning each day’s process and plans for the upcoming days.

Design Task Understanding

If a company wants to know the ins and outs of your projects, it is a good sign. A company showing interest in detailed questions and research indicates its involvement and enthusiasm to work with you. Thus, if a studio wants to have a full understanding of your business objectives and requirements before they start, stick to them, and if the agency is willing, to begin with, mockups, look for better options.

Project Management

A company’s project managing skills determine how well they can manage a project. A few questions you need to get answered by the studio are:

•         Will the agency deliver the final design as per the schedule?
•         How frequently will they update you regarding the progress of the project?
•         Does the company has some prerequisites or is there anything the company needs?

Having answers to these questions helps you determine how the agency will deliver results. You can also get a vague idea of a studio’s management skills by seeing if they sent the proposal on time, and how often do they communicate.

Testimonials

Client reviews are one of the best indicators of a studio’s performance. If you know someone who has worked with a design studio, talk to them to gather evidence about how did the agency perform. You can also approach a recent client to get feedback and information. Most importantly, ask if they are willing to work with the company again and the reason for them to do so. Lastly, you can refer to the web and refer some review websites such as Clutch and LinkedIn to get individual ratings and feedbacks.

The Team of the Studio

You should always ask for detailed information regarding an agency’s team, product managers, project managers, and creative directors that will be responsible for handling your project’s deliverables, end quality, and communication. The team of the studio might be located in an office or may work remotely; both cases have their set of advantages and disadvantages.

Most importantly, when looking for an agency, talk to the agency lead designer and not just the salesperson or project manager before finalizing.

Look for Specialization

Branding solution providers can also provide UI UX design services, but they might not be able to provide best-in-class services like a dedicated UI UX design studio. If you want your product design to have a significant impact on your audience, don’t get lured for one-for-all services and stick to an expert design studio. Even if you are looking for a multi-service agency, make sure its primary skill set is UI UX design. Lastly, the quality and ability of the studio to deal with the desired range of fields or subjects are also essential.

Assurance of Quality

The management of quality assurance plays a significant role in UI UX design by ensuring that the delivered products meet the specifications of design and interaction. The studio should plan, direct, and coordinate design quality assurance programs to make sure the final project meets the expectations of the end-users.

User Research, Audit, Testing, and Benchmarks

Before hiring a design studio, ensure it has exhaustive experience with the following skills.

•         User testing and user research
•         Usability testing and usability studies
•         UX audit
•         Usability benchmarking
•         Wireframe and interaction prototype design
•         Personas reports
•         Mockup design
•         Sitemap, experience Maps, and Information Architecture
•         User Flows
•         User Journeys
•         Final visual design

These skills are essential because the majority of UX UI design is based on user research, testing, personas, and flow designs.

Wrapping It Up

Design is one of the most critical factors in branding your business and determines how your brand is presented in front of its target audience. It also plays a vital role in attracting, engaging, and converting customers, which makes design the topmost priorities for brands and enterprises. Therefore, it is essential to wisely choose a UI UX design studio to ensure your business gets the performance you desire.

To know more about UI UX, visit us today at GoodWorkLabs, and get a free consultation.

AngularJS is one of the most powerful javascript framework in the world today. Mainly maintained by Google, it is used by developers all over the world to create web applications, especially single-page web applications.

It is often the frontend of the MEAN stack which also uses other frameworks like MongoDB, Node.js, and Express.js.

AngularJS is open-source and uses a simple Model-View-Controller framework that is very similar to the basic framework used by Javascript in general. It is supported by a huge community and updates to the framework are regular and meaningful.

The last major version release for the framework was Angular 7 which was released on 18th October 2018 and the next major version, Angular 8 was released around 2019.

In this article, we look at some of the most anticipated features that are present in the latest version of the world’s favorite javascript framework.

#1 – Preview of Ivy

Ivy is a testing feature that’ll come bundled with AngularJS 8. It is an innovation in the testing aspect of the framework. With the preview of Ivy, you will get a new rendering tool which can help you in testing your web app.

Do note that Angular 8 will only contain a preview of Ivy which wouldn’t be switched on by default. It is an opt-in feature and you will have to enable it, which can be done just by turning the Ivy switch on. In order to enable Ivy in your code, you will have to use the following switch in the code “-enable-ivy”. Ivy is going to change the way we test our apps forever and Angular 8 is a great framework to start it with.

#2 – Lazy Loading

Even though lazy loading is a part of the current Angular version, it is expected to be improved and made much more convenient in Angular 8. Lazy loading is a routing technique used in AnuglarJS that aims to speed up the loading time of the web app. It does so simply by ensuring that only those web resources are loading which is requested by the browser.

A lot of improvements will be seen in terms of lazy loading in Angular 8. Most developers will also notice that Angular 8 will support EcmaScript imports which are dynamic.

#3 – Node 10 Support

NodeJS and AngularJS are two javascript frameworks that are often used together as part of the MEAN stack when it comes to developing web applications. Angular 8 is going to be fully compatible with the latest version of NodeJS, Node 10.

This will be particularly useful to web developers who rely heavily on the MEAN stack and make their lives a lot easier. NodeJS and AngularJS are two of the most commonly used combos when developing web applications and increasing the compatibility between the different frameworks will make designing, maintaining, and updating web applications with new technology a lot easier.

#4 – TypeScript 3.1 support

TypeScript is essentially used to make coding in JavaScript much easier and convenient. It was developed by Microsoft to provide a tool that makes the life of a web developer much easier when it comes to coding in Javascript. Angular uses TypeScript and that’s essentially the syntax followed by the framework. You code something in TypeScript which Angular then coverts into plain javascript and runs it online.

Angular 8 comes with the support of TypeScript 3.1 which is a pretty major update over the previous iterations of the framework. Developers can now use all the latest features of TypeScript when working on their Angular projects. This not only makes coding in Angular easier but makes the codebase much more efficient and easy to understand due to the simplicity of TypeScript.

#5 – CLI Prompt

During the development process of any app, there are a lot of iterations and there is also the use of different processes throughout the entire development period. By the time the first stable version of the app is released, a lot of those features that were present during the development cycle would be removed from the app.

To make the development process easier, Angular 8 comes with a new feature known as CLI prompt. The CLI prompt enables you to selectively pick the processes that you want to be included in the running version of your app. This, in turn, means that you have complete control over the CLI which aids a lot when it comes to the development of web apps.

#6 – Other CLI Features

Due to the CLI prompt, there are a number of other features that come into play with Angular 8. These features can help developers create better apps in a shorter timeframe and make the Javascript framework even better. Some of the best features provided by the complete control over CLI include the following:

1. You have the option of virtual scrolling which can be a shortcut to manually scrolling through a lot of options. This feature is usually found under the UI libraries.
2. Reordering lists and changing the places of elements is known to be somewhat problematic in Angular. With complete control over the CLI in Angular 8, you can simply just drag and drop elements to replace or reorder them.
3. The latest version of Angular 8 also supports the ShadowDOM API.

#7 – Differential Loading

Differential Loading is an Angular 8 feature that will make web apps load faster and perform better. Differential loading is a simple concept but it can really boost the performance of most web apps.

Essentially, when you build the code for production, two different bundles are created instead of just one. One of them will support ES2015+ and then there will be another bundle that will provide support for the older browsers that still only run the ES5 version of JavaScript.

The correct bundle will be automatically loaded based on browser data. This will result in web apps loading a lot faster and performing better because modern browsers would have to deal with less code and a lower amount of polyfills.

#8 – Web workers

JavaScript, by definition, has always been single-threaded. Most tasks are handled asynchronously because of the single-threaded nature of JavaScript. However, complex calculations are not really that fast on single-threads.

As JavaScript is being increasingly used in frameworks like Angular to create web apps all over the world, the requirements have become more intensive. This is where web workers come into play. Although they are not exactly a part of Angular 8, this version of the framework does come with a way to implement web workers via the CLI.

With web workers, it becomes much easier to perform complex calculations and tasks which are CPU-intensive in a background thread while the main thread deals with updating the user interface in real-time. Web workers will allow developers to create even more powerful online apps and are a sign of things to come in the future.

#9 – Bazel

Angular 8 allows you to build your CLI application with Bazel, in a much more faster and convenient manner now. There are many advantages of using Bazel to build your applications including being able to make your backend and frontend with the same tool, incremental build and tests, and remote builds and cache.

Most developers would appreciate the incremental build and tests that are part of Bazel. It makes the application development and testing process a lot easier as subsequent rebuilds work on an increment level and run only those tests which are required instead of testing all aspects of the web application all over again. This will not only make the lives of developers easier but it’ll also reduce the build and rebuild times for most web developers across the world.

#10 – Dynamic imports for the lazy routes

Lastly, most people familiar with Angular know that loading lazy routes required using a custom string in the previous versions of Angular. However, with Angular 8, it is possible to dynamically import lazy routes too.

Whereas the previous syntax used to be –

{path: ‘/teacher’, loadChildren: ‘./teacher/teacher.module#TeacherModule’ }

With Angular 8’s support for lazy routing, the syntax now would look something like this –

{path: `/teacher`, loadChildren: () => import(`./teacher/teacher.module`).then(s => s.TeacherModule) }

This feature will make the code base more standardized. If you use the ng-upgrade command to update your app to the latest version of Angular 8, you’ll notice all imports for lazy routes will be changed to the new syntax.

Conclusion

Angular 8 is one of the best Java frameworks in the world today. It is supported by one of the biggest coding communities in the world and along with other frameworks like NodeJS and MongoDB, it has made JavaScript the language of the internet.

Due to a pretty big community of coders behind the framework, there are always exciting new improvements and developments in the core framework of Angular. Most of these changes are driven by the community which is what makes Angular so popular in the web development community across the world.

Visit us today at GoodWorkLabs and learn more about us!

The development world is increasingly embracing microservices as it makes the development process easier and quicker. Developers use microservices to build more substantial and more complex applications that are developed and managed as a combination of small services. These small services work together to provide the application a broad, extensive functionality.

Microservices are also referred to as “piece-by-piece” development methodology. Let’s dive into Java microservices, and how it can be deployed with AWS.

Microservices: An Overview

A microservice is an architectural style that develops an application as a combination of several sets of small services. Each service operates independently and runs its own process. These services communicate with each other and with clients using “messaging over HTTP” and other lightweight protocols.

In simple words, microservices can be considered as a type of service-oriented architecture applications developed as a collection of several smaller services, instead of an entire app as a whole.

Thus, in microservices, instead of having a monolithic application, you have various independent apps that function separately on their own. You can create these sub-applications using different programming languages, even different platforms.

By utilizing the microservices methodology, you can structure big, complicated applications to less complex mini-programs that run independently. These small programs are conglomerated to deliver the comprehensive functionality of a big, monolithic application.

In microservice developments, the need for a large team working on a massive monolithic project is eliminated. In the case of microservices development, small, agile teams work individually to develop the programs they are most comfortable working with.

All the programs developed are independently executed, scaled, and versioned. These services are programmed to interact with other microservices. They have unique names and URLs and are consistently available in case of failures.

Benefits of Microservices

Microservices offer a wide range of benefits, ranging from helping developers with coding to influencing the architecture. Here is how microservices can help you with application development.

Easy Development and Maintenance of Applications

The major advantage of microservices is its simplicity. Applications, when split into smaller, more composable fragments, become easier to build and maintain. Microservices also eases the process of managing codes by providing a separate chunk of codes, which otherwise would have been a tedious task to do.

Microservices also support the implementation of services using different programming languages, software environments, and databases. This flexibility enables you to deploy, rebuild, re-deploy, and manage each service independently.

For example, if a service allows too much memory or puts a significant load on the process, no other services will be affected, but the service responsible for the load itself.

Therefore, any problem occurring in one microservice will not affect the entire system, making it easy to compensate for the failure of a particular service.

Business-Oriented Orientation

Microservices help you build products, instead of projects. Microservice architectures enable teams to focus on prioritizing business functionality instead of sticking to writing glue code. Business teams need to stay organized around business capabilities, instead of technologies.

Programs developed using the microservice architecture are adaptable, and can be used in multiple contexts. Therefore, the same service can be reused in more than one business operation or business channel, depending upon the requirement. Microservice methodology also ensures each team member is responsible for a specific service, which promotes the development of smart, agile, and cross-functional teams.

Improved Speed and Productivity

The microservices architecture also enables you to counter the challenges of speed and productivity by disintegrating applications into smaller, manageable services that are faster and easier to develop. Different teams can work on different elements of a project without waiting for a team to finish its share of work. This architecture also comes in handy for fastening quality assurance as every microservice can be individually tested. Therefore, you can test the components which are already developed, and the programmers can work on developing other programs.

Flexible Technology and Easy Scalability

As mentioned earlier, each microservice can be written utilizing varied technology. This flexibility simplifies the process of selecting the most appropriate tech stack for a particular need of a service. The microservice architecture also enables decoupled services written in variable programming languages to coexist with other components.

It can also be helpful if you are looking to scale your product. Microservices allow you to seamlessly add new elements to the system, along with providing the ability to scale services individually from one another.

Cross-Functional, Autonomous Teams

If different teams working on a project are inefficient, microservices can be a blessing. Developing a huge monolith program can be a messy and complicated task, especially if you are working with divisions with extended teams around the globe.

Microservices provide developers with more independence for working autonomously, which helps in speeding up the process of decision making in smaller groups. Therefore, if the solution you are planning to develop is huge, consider utilizing the microservice architecture.

Java Microservices Frameworks

If you are developing using Java, you can use a plethora of microservices frameworks. However, the best ones include:

Spring Boot: Spring Boot is the best and most widely-used Java microservices framework. It works on top of languages for Aspect-Oriented Programming, Inversion of Control, and others.

Jersey: Another popular Java microservices framework, Jersey, is an open-source framework that supports JAX-RS APIs in Java. This framework is one of the easiest to use.

Swagger: Swagger is a microservices framework for Java that helps you with documenting API, along with providing you a development portal that enables you to test your APIs.

Apart from these, some other popular frameworks you can consider using are Dropwizard, Play Framework, Ninja Web Framework, Restlet, RestExpress, & Spark Framework.

How to Deploy Java Microservices to AWS?

If you are curious about how you can deploy Java microservices on Amazon Web Services (AWS), this piece of information can help. Check out the best recommendations for using Java microservices on AWS.

AWS Fargate (Amazon Elastic Container Service or Amazon ECS)

Since microservices don’t translate into containers, you can deploy a monolith application with microservices utilizing physical host or virtual machines. However, it is essential to acknowledge the working of containers and what they aim to do. You can deploy services as a set of containers that can commute with one another.

Amazon ECS helps you define your cluster, along with analyzing metrics to configure scalability. If you want to skip the hassle of provisioning, such as managing the cluster, type of instances, and deciding when to scale, you can rely on AWS Fargate. Not only will it take care of the provisioning for you, but it will also integrate with other services like IAM, AWS Elastic Container Registry, and Amazon CloudWatch.

Amazon EKS (Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes)

Amazon EKS is the “Kubernetes as a service” alternative on AWS and can come in handy if Amazon ECS cannot cover your requirements. If your deployment structure needs the Kubernetes engine, don’t worry as you are covered. Amazon EKS enables you to run containers representing microservices, along with grouping them via services and pods.

Amazon EKS also offers integration with several AWS services, including IAM, AWS App Mesh, etc.

AWS Lambda

If your business frowns upon you having your application running all the time, you can characterize your application as a set of serverless functions. Therefore, you can group them to display as an independent service.

AWS Lambda enables you to deploy functions that can run on demand when an event takes place. If you attach the functions to HTTP calls, you can develop an exceptional API that can cover your company objectives. One of the significant benefits of Lambda is that AWS charges for execution time only. AWS Lambda also supports seamless integration with AWS API Gateway, which helps you monitor and secure your API as per requirements.

Best Practices for Microservices

By now, you must have realized that shifting to microservices can be a major advantage for your business and development operations. They provide opportunities for greater reliability, increased scalability, and reduced costs.

However, you can encounter some challenges while using microservices as well; therefore, it is essential to follow some practices for seamless migration.

• All of your microservices should use their data store.
• The development and DevOps teams choose the database for all their services.
• When teams share a database, the chances of creating a monolithic service increases; thus, it is essential to be cautious and alert.

Wrapping It Up

Microservices have revolutionized the app development process and has helped distribute the cumbersome process of creating a monolithic program into small, individual mini-programs that can be programmed using different technologies, and that too on different platforms.

It also offers seamless scalability, which makes it an excellent choice for deploying in AWS. The best Java microservices frameworks include Spring Boot, Jersey, and Swagger. For deploying microservices in Java, you can use AWS Fargate, Amazon EKS, or Amazon Lambda as per your requirements.

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Containerization is growing and evolving rapidly, and when it comes to container orchestration, the two names that come to mind are Kubernetes and Docker Swarm. Both Kubernetes and Docker Swarm are open-source technologies that offer container orchestration.

Although both the systems are not rivals, Kubernetes vs. Docker has been a long-debated battle. So, let’s do a deep dive into these applications.

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source application that provides automation, deployment, management, and scaling of a containerized application. It is widely used for massive-scale productions and for running heavy workloads. 

Docker Swarm

Docker Swarm is the orchestration of Docker’s container. Docker swarm uses the Docker API, which makes it is easy to use and less complicated. It features a zero single-point-of-failure architecture, with automatically generated certificates and backward compatibility.

Kubernetes vs Docker Swarm

Kubernetes and Docker Swarm, both are orchestration tools that offer similar functionality. However, there are some basic differences between the operation and functionality of two systems, as discussed below.

Installation and Set-Up

The installation process in Kubernetes is manual and requires expertise and planning to make it ready to use. Moreover, different operating systems have different installation processes. If you want to use Kubernetes, you need to be acquainted with cluster configuration beforehand. 

On the other hand, Docker is simple to install and set up. For Docker, you need to learn one set of tools to configure and build an environment. Moreover, Docker Swarm provides flexibility with regards to nodes by allowing a new node to join a cluster as a worker or manager.

Application Deployment

In Kubernetes, you can develop an application using a combination of deployments, services, micro-services, or pods. 

On the other hand, google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm indicates that in Docker Swarm, you can deploy applications as services in a Swarm cluster. You can also use Docker Compose to deploy an app, and if you want to specify a multi-container, you can use the YAML files.

Monitoring and Logging

If the servers are deployed within the cluster, Kubernetes will support multiple monitoring and logging versions like Heapster/Grafana/ Influx, Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), and Sysdig. 

Talking about how Kubernetes is different from docker swarm, Docker Swarm supports monitoring only with third-party applications. Docker Swarm features an open API, which makes third-party integration easy. If you want to monitor using Docker Swarm, use Reimann.

Working

If you want to run Kubernetes, you need to know CLI (Command Line Interface). If you want to run Kubernetes on top of Docker, you will need to know Docker CLI as well. 

As far as Kubernetes vs. Docker is concerned, Docker Swarm is a tool of Docker, which requires the same language for navigation within the structure. This easy functionality makes Docker easier to use compared to Kubernetes.

Scalability

Scalability is a vital factor to consider while choosing the best container orchestration system. Kubernetes is an all-in-one framework, which makes it rather complicated to use. It offers a set of APIs and a robust cluster state, which reduces the process of deployment and scaling of the containers. For teams looking to simplify the operational complexity of Kubernetes, opting for Managed Kubernetes services can offer seamless deployment, scaling, and management, allowing organizations to focus on application development rather than infrastructure maintenance

Talking about google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm, Docker Swarm can deploy containers in comparatively faster, which promotes the reaction times to provide seamless on-demand scalability.

Availability

All the pods in Kubernetes are distributed among various nodes, which tolerate application failure and provide high availability. Kubernetes features load-balancing services that detect and remove unhealthy pods, which ensures high availability. 

Evaluating Kubernetes vs. Docker, Docker Swarm provides high availability as well; Swarm nodes can be utilized to replicate the services. Docker Swarm features Swarm manager nodes that are responsible for managing the cluster and resources of worker nodes.

Networking 

Kubernetes offers a flat network that allows all pods to communicate with each other. In Kubernetes, the model needs two CIDRs: one for IP address and the other one for services. 

Talking about how Kubernetes different from docker swarm, Docker Swarm features a node joining a cluster that creates a network of services for all the hosts in the Swarm. Docker Swarm users also have the option of encrypting container data traffic while creating their overlay network.

Pros and Cons of Docker Swarm

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of Docker Swarm to get a better idea of google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm.

Pros

• Using a virtual environment usually takes a lot of time, but it is not the case with Docker Swarm. 
• The documentation of Docker Swarm provides all the necessary information
• The configuration process is fast and simple. 
• Your application remains isolated in Docker
• Docker also provides component reuse and version reuse.

Cons

• Docker is a Linux-dependent platform and requires virtual machines to run on another OS. 
• It does not have a storage option.
• The monitoring process in Docker is not advanced.

Pros and Cons of Kubernetes

To understand the Kubernetes vs. Docker difference, let’s talk about the pros and cons of Kubernetes.

Pros

• In case of errors with multiple updates, you can roll back to the previous image.
• Kubernetes offers Horizontal Infrastructure Scaling, Auto-scaling, and Manual scaling, along with a Replication controller to ensure the cluster has an accurate number of pods in a running condition.
• Kubernetes monitors the health of containers and nodes and promotes the self-healing and auto-replacement of damaged nodes. 
• Kubernetes allows the regular deployment of features without worrying about the downtime. 
• In Kubernetes, data is divided across the containers, but if pods get damaged, the volume is removed automatically.

Cons

• The installation process is tormenting, and if you are not using a cloud provider, it would be more challenging. 
• It is hard to set up, and creating a new process takes a lot of time. 
• If your application is stateless or clustered, you have to work on the application configurations.

The Final Verdict

First and foremost, you need to understand that Kubernetes vs. Docker is not a battle, as both systems provide a separate set of functionalities. Evaluating Kubernetes vs. docker, the difference is simple: Kubernetes is difficult and complicated to use but provides additional functionalities, whereas, Docker Swarm is easy to use and setup but offers a limited set of features. 

Therefore, if you are still confused about how is Kubernetes different from docker swarm, you can study google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm features to analyze which system suits your requirements.

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Cross-platform is commonly used by app developers to cut down on the development time and produce cost-effective results. However, cross-platform app development can lead to several performance & UX-related problems.

Cross-platform app development is the process or approach to develop applications that can run on multiple platforms. These applications use a reusable code that can reutilize to create the same form for several platforms. However, this method of approach comes with its advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s discuss in brief the pros and cons of cross-platform app development.

Pros

Reusable Code

One of the most significant advantages of this method of app development is the reusable code, which the developer can use across different platforms. Therefore, instead of developing separate applications for separate platforms, the developer can use and customize one code for different platforms. Moreover, the same code can be utilized for future projects as well.

Reduced Time

As mentioned above, the reusable code enables developers to use one code across all platforms. Doing so results in a significant reduction in development time and allows developers to complete development projects quickly.

Cost-Effective

Since one code can be used across all platforms, app owners don’t need to spend money on hiring separate developers for different platforms. Doing so saves a hefty amount of money. For instance, iPhone app development and android app development, if done separately, gets expensive.

Easy Development Process

Cross-platform app development makes the overall development process easy, resulting in a pleasant time for both developers and business owners. The cross-platform development framework supports HTML5 and CSS3, making it easy for developers to use.

Enhanced Market Reach

One of the limitations of single platform development is limited reach. If an application is developed specifically for iPhone, Android, or Windows, users will not be able to access it. And since single platform development is costly, app owners refrain from developing the same application on different platforms.

But cross-platform development enables app owners to launch the same application on all the platforms, enhancing the user base and market reach, which otherwise restricted in a single-platform application.

Integration with Cloud solutions

Cross-platform applications can integrate with various frameworks that offer several plugins to the developers for improving aesthetics, app functionality, and validity.

Simple to Update

Cross-platform applications are easy to edit and update. Since all the apps use a standard code, the update can follow across all platforms, which results in seamless operations.

Cons

Although cross-platform development comes with a bunch of exciting benefits, there are a few drawbacks to this approach as well, as discussed below.

Challenges in switching the platform

Almost all cross-platform frameworks use their JavaScript subsets, which may cause problems in the reusable code. The issues arise while switching to another platform; the reusable code becomes unusable.

Lengthy Integration Process

Another problem with cross-platform applications is the time-consuming integration process. The integration process with local settings and preferences is not easy and might require the support of third-party cloud providers to resolve the storage difficulties.

Limited Updates

The operating system may not support all the features a framework uses. For example, if IOS releases an update or adds a new element, you have to update the iOS version of your application accordingly. However, you cannot do the same with an android application until Google releases a similar update.

Sluggish Code

Cross-platform app development is not as easy as it seems, especially for novice developers. Developers need to use several cross-compliance during the development process that might lead to a sluggish code, and thereby a slow application.

The point of concern as a decision-maker or developer, how do you solve the problem of creating your mobile application for multiple platforms?

It has become an essential element for any organization, whatever its size. Some companies can focus on one operating system (operating system) and avoid all others. Nevertheless, many companies must focus on a multitude of mobile devices with different operating systems. Today, it’s vital for the app to support Android gadgets, iPads, Windows Phone, Amazon Kindle, tablets, BlackBerry, and more.

One of the most challenging situations for application developers is developing a native mobile application and using it on multiple platforms. Of course, as a business, you have to deal with different types of customers with varying types of devices. As a result, you need a mobile application that can work seamlessly on almost any platform (for example, Android, iOS, Windows, etc.).

Whether your company creates a mobile app for application stores or in-house use, you often face the challenge of developing it for multiple platforms. In general, this means targeting both iOS and Android devices.

Let’s understand cross-platform apps

In an apt scenario, cross-platform applications run on multiple operating systems with a single code base. There are two types of cross-platform applications.

1. Native Cross-Platform Apps
2. Hybrid ‘HTML5’ Cross-Platform Apps

Cross-Platform Apps

The majority of the mobile operating system has its own Software Development Kit (SDK) for creating mobile applications. These SDKs also have preferred programming languages, supported by the operating system vendor. As we know, for iOS Objective-C and Swift are the recommended programming languages ​​supported by Apple, while for Android, Java is the preferred language supported by Google. Typically, applications framed with these languages ​​using the official SDK are known as native applications.

Nevertheless, it is possible to use APIs (Application Programming Interface) furnished by the native SDK, in other programming languages ​​that are not compatible with the operating system vendor. These are the way native “multi-platform” applications created. Typically, a third-party provider chooses a programming language and makes a unified API over the native software development kit availed by the various operating system vendors. With this unified API, it is possible to cater to multiple operating systems with a single code base. Because the final application produced still uses native APIs, cross-platform native applications can achieve near-native performance without any visible straggle for the user.

Some widely used cross-platform framework include

• React Native

React native leverages the best parts of native development with React, considered best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

React Native can use in your existing Android and iOS ongoing development projects, or you can start the development from scratch.

Consistency in terms of UI and UX on both Android and iOS across multiple devices is one of the critical benefits of react-native.

How React Native Enables Low-Cost App Development

React Native competitive advantage is its low-cost development. Following are key features which enable in cost reduction;

1. Reusable Components
2. Smooth Debugging
3. Less Operational and Maintenance Cost
4. A Single and Robust UI/UX
5. Affordable Way to Market

• Ionic

Based on: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and SASS.

Ionic is one of the most popular cross-platform frameworks built with Angular and Apache Cordova; it felicitates the ability to develop apps for multiple mobile platforms in the most efficient manner. Apps developed using the Ionic cross-platform framework can run on iOS and Android.

Ionic apps use regular web technologies like HTML, CSS, and Angular and designed like web applications. But Cordova, which it depends on, enables it to make use of the device’s native features.

1. Hiring a new set of developers is not required. The existing web developers can transition easily to developing mobile apps with ionic since they make use of similar technologies.
2. Ionic makes use of web technologies, so it’s handy to work with it.

• NativeScript 

Like Titanium, NativeScript aims to make Web-based programming available for application development. Telerik announced NativeScript, a company famous for its suite of GUI components for enterprise applications in 2014. It uses JavaScript as its primary development language. The native script also supports TypeScript, Angular, and uses CSS for style. In comparison to the other technologies mentioned above, NativeScript is relatively new, but it has a lot of potentials.

• QT

QT is a cross-platform workstation development library in the industry, launched 21 years ago, in 1995. QT supported iOS and Android cross-platform applications in 2013. QT encompasses C ++ with Qt Meta Language or Qt Modeling Language – Which is a markup language similar to HTML for creating cross-platform applications. Still, by default, the Qt GUI components do not adhere to iOS and Android, and C ++ is not a handy programming language because of its vast syntax, manual memory management, and compatibility issues. QT can be quite productive if there are hands of experienced C ++ programmers.

• RubyMotion

RubyMotion is the primary language for development. One of the earliest actors in this field. When they announced for the first time in 2012, it was only related to iOS but has supported iOS and Android since 2014. Rubymotion needs a separate GUI code for iOS and Android. Nevertheless, business logic can be reused on all platforms.

Hybrid ‘HTML5’ cross-platform Apps

Mobile applications are graphical interface applications. Most of the mobile apps rely on core web services for much of their business logic. Approximately speaking, in mobile applications, especially in the area of business process automation, almost 60% of the code deals with the creation and management of the graphical interface.

As we know, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone all have a very advanced browser component in their SDK. By leveraging this Web View component, programmers can implement standard HTML5 Web technologies to design and program elements of their application. In the end, the use comprises at least one native frame and HTML / JavaScript code executed in a web view. That’s why they are called “hybrids.” Application features that require sensor input, such as geolocation, camera, or lower-level features, such as file system access, primarily use a native JavaScript bridge provided by the infrastructure of the hybrid application.

Apache Cordova, originally called PhoneGap (launched in early 2009), is the most popular multiplatform hybrid framework. It is compatible with most major operating systems for modern smartphones. Because in hybrid cross-platform frameworks, HTML and CSS used to generate a graphical interface, almost all of it can utilize on different operating systems.

In hybrid applications, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code furnishes with the app. As a result, there is no lag in loading UI-related code, as you experienced when loading Web sites on the network. On powerful and modern phones, it is possible to create a user-friendly interface with HTML5 technologies. With Cordova, primarily for B2B applications, it is possible to reuse the code between 80% and 90% on all platforms.

On the contrary, some programming languages used in native app development are:

1. Java
2. Python
3. PHP
4. Ruby
5. C++
6. JS

The Ending Note

Cross-platform development is a breakthrough technology that allows small business owners to reach a large number of the target audience with a single application. Moreover, this process helps them save a significant amount of time and money, as well. It is also a lot easier to make a mark on app marketplaces of google play store and apple app store. It has a broader user base owing to the opportunity to reach a more general audience.

However, in the case of a few businesses or applications that offer a plethora of sophisticated features, cross-platform development can have some challenges. Therefore, it is essential to contemplate the pros and cons before selecting a suitable development process for your application.

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The contemporary IT market is very dynamic and is constantly changing its business objectives and technical needs. To match and stay ahead of your competitors, it is vital for you to have a team that can match the market requirements. The major constraint to growth is that so many companies that need a tech team to enable their business, spend most of their valuable time, energy, and money on doing recruitment instead focusing on their core business. 

Are you doing the same and seeking an alternative for this?  If yes, then Staff IT augmentation is the answer for you. Want to know what it exactly means?

Staff Augmentation is a flexible outsourcing strategy that allows you to onboard high-tech talent worldwide. Once you have identified your requirements, you need to identify an IT staff augmentation partner who’ll provide you with a team for your requirement. You can onboard a team on a short term or long term basis. Your staff augmentation partner would take all your administrative and organization troubles and you would get all the time to tackle your main responsibilities and integrate well with the augmented team.

Now, you must be thinking who would choose these candidates? It’s you who will select the candidates who fit your company’s requirements and also you can cut or extend the augmented team whenever you wish to. One thing you would really like about is that the liability and cost of hiring new full-time employees are stamped out. The remote developers who are hired by a staff augmented company are committed to one project at a time. 

Now, it’s time to understand why staff augmentation services are important for any organization and why it is becoming the future of work?

Closing the skills gap-

The organizations which have inadequate IT Talents for their existing or upcoming projects can appoint programmers or developers outside the country with staff augmentation services. These companies usually hire from countries where there are developers in abundance and resources are economical.

Easy reach for skilled talent-

This would be one of the major advantages of staff augmentation as they have a grip on both active and passive market. You must be aware that active resource talent is available for everyone in the market but the premium and best talent are usually in the passive market, which makes all the difference while hiring. This means that the accessibility of consulting firms is pretty high and they can hire skilled professionals for your company easily.

Lessen the recruitment time-

As mentioned in the above point that staff augmentation can hire specialists easily and within a short span of time. Thus, it helps in reducing the cost and time that you would spend on finding tech professionals for your company. With the help of Staff Augmentation, you can get a specialist with rare skills from anywhere in the world and that too within record time. Thus, your company would not have to suffer losses in searching for the right talent and waiting for the project to begin.

Flexibility-

The major advantage of outsourcing the technology requirements of your company is that you have the complete flexibility of utilizing the resource. You will have complete freedom to appoint numerous specialists for a project within a short span of time and only for the period they are required. You can hire them for 6 months-2 years and can renew their outsourcing contract, doesn’t that sound great as you would not be tensed of having so many resources on the bench.

Less operational overheads-

Employee related operational stuff like signing employment contracts, accounting, and payroll would be taken care off by your staff augmentation partner. 

The next question which you may want to ask could be – “How do we find the best and cost-effective staff augmentation company? “

Before selecting any company there are a few things that are to be done at your end. Firstly, you should check what kind of talent do you lack. Secondly, is your requirement long term or short term. Once you are aware of the requirements, it is easy to look for the best-suited staff augmentation company both onshore and offshore. Once you have the best possible options then select them according to the preferred location and see if they match the time zone, prices, and other such factors. 

Thereafter you need to verify testimonials and see their rating and feedback. Once everything is done then you can negotiate with them for pricing and other terms and conditions. Choose the best one according to your requirements and the best price and sign a contract with them.

Once you choose the best then you can rely on them and get the best talent out of the pool. Now is the time to understand how staffing companies work and deliver you the best results?

• Identify the skill gap- Check what you have in terms of team and what more you might need
• Tell your needs- Articulate your requirements and expectations to your staff augmentation partner. 
• Interview and hire developers-Once they get the best talent for your project, you can conduct multiple rounds of interview with the tools and methods as per your organization’s recruiting procedure and after you are satisfied with their skills and talent, you can give them a go ahead, so that they could work for you
• On-boarding- The staff augmentation also takes care of the on-boarding process. The specialists hired are introduced with the in-house team and briefed about the project.

We hope this article helped you with your dilemma of hiring an in house IT team Vs onboarding a staff augmentation partner.

Looking for a staff augmentation partner? Contact us. 

Does building a web server sound complicated? But it doesn’t have to be. Do you know that you can create a web server in a couple of lines of code? Yes. You can create a web server in a couple of lines of code with the help of Node.js. Research says that around 49% of software developers use Node.js in building advanced blogs.

Now, let us see what exactly the term Node.js is.

What is Node.js?

Node.js is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment. It functions on various computing platforms. Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine is used for building Node.js

The engine can successfully convert JavaScript code into an efficient low-level machine code that can operate on the computers without any interpretation. 

Node.js operates on the computers as a standalone application. 

This unifies the web application development around the single programming language rather than using various styles for the server-side projects and the client-side scripts.

Node.js has an Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) which permits the asynchronous input and output functions. The set up also allows enhancing the scalability and the throughput in the web applications that have several I/O operations and real-time web-based applications like browser games. It is always essential to understand that while the JavaScript files have the extension .js, “Node.js” is the product name in the reference frame.

How Node.js aids in building applications?

Node.js consists of all the features you need whenever you run a program written in JavaScript. This allows you to use JavaScript to code the command line tools. In addition to that, it also enables server scripting, thereby permitting to create dynamic web page content before you send it to the user’s browser. 

What is Node.js used for?

Node.js is used in various applications. The experts say that Node.js has increasing demand coming second to Big Data specialists. The main reason for these increasing demands is multiple uses and advantages of Node.js. Many renowned corporate companies across the globe make use of Node.js. 

Let us now discuss why they are using Node.js for.

1)   Creating Chat rooms

Whenever it comes to developing some real-time applications like chat rooms, Node.js shines brightly. Although many people these days use phone applications and social media for communication, the chat rooms are still means of correspondence between the users and the brands. 

These features help in experiencing better use of applications like online games. The other things that contribute to better the experience of using forms are Big Data and Machine Learning. 

You must be thinking why Node.js is useful in creating chat rooms? This is because Node.js is excellent for developing high-traffic, data-intensive, and light-weight applications that are ideal for creating the chat rooms as they the incarnation of all these features.

2)   Collecting Large Data

The software can be used whenever you gather significant amounts of information. Since the extraction of the database is a blocked function, receiving large amounts of data can result in a hold-up. 

With Node.js, you can also gather this information and relay it to the back-end progressively. Hence, avoiding any system jams whenever storing the data becomes more effortless.

3)   Audio and Video streaming

All the files that are uploaded to the streaming sites like Veyo and YouTube must be processed before they are heard or viewed by people. This typical process of audio and video uploads saves lots of time and also makes the uploads accessible faster. 

Node.js is used beyond all these purposes. The back-end application, REST API tools and utilities, messaging middleware, blogs, social apps, HTML5 multiplayer game servers, among the other applications that are not CPU intensive, can be written in Node.js.

Here, we will learn how Node.js helps you in making a blog. This is a sequential process that you can follow for developing light-weight blogs with Node.js faster. 

Here, the commands and tools used in the development are associated with Mac. The express version would be 4.16.4. While the development process, if you hit a deadlock, then you can always Google for finding the perfect solutions. 

So, let us start with a procedure to create a light-weight blog with Node.js. 

How to Build a Simple Engaging blog using Node.js?

The first and foremost step is downloading Node.js on your machines and later install it. After the installation, you need to select the location where you will be saving your project. Then, open a new folder for the blog and create an app.js file in it. 

Make use of a node package manager for initializing the project. This step would allow you to manage the dependencies used in the project way more effectively with the help of package.js on. Hence remember to provide the application app.js whenever asked about the entry point.

Start Building

Then use Express for setting up your web server fast. Hence, firstly, write, and then run the Express installation code. This particular express code is necessary for saving dependency locally so that you can use it in your application. Next, you need to write the code in app.js.

Provide a New Route for Serving Your Page

Next step is writing code to add a new route to the server page. After hitting the way, the index page must be rendered. Let us backtrack here for creating the index view to make sure to run the relevant code. 

Then write a simple HTML file in the index.html. You should provide more dynamic features and add a form that will post to your web application.

Restarting Your Application

You need to restart the application and go to the specific port in order to check your progress thus far. You will then realize that you should store your posts from within the form as it would be posting everything to “add post”. Hence you should create a route for the same and the schema which would store all that information.

Installation of MongoDB

For the database connection, you can use MongoDB. Hence, install MongoDB on your machine and then create a data folder which stores all your database system. Then, give specific folder appropriate permissions by running the relevant code. After running the MongoDB terminal, you are set to go. 

For launching a Mongo, you need to open a new window and then run it. After that, provide proper code in the terminal for enabling mongoose for handling all the connections in the mongo database. 

Always be sure to provide the body parse for enabling the application to parse the post data bit. Hence, in your terminal and web application, you need to run the codes for the installation of the body-parser.

Setting up the Schema

For setting up the schema and its model, create a mongoose schema. The next step is to add all the relevant parameter definitions. After doing that, you need to assign a mongoose model to it by providing the necessary codes.

Adding the “add post” Route

Provide an “add post” route that would be storage for all the information. Also, redirect to your particular path after finishing this and add an error whenever required. You need to take hold of the information before sending the same to view in the root route. 

Next, provide a correct code in the index.html for displaying all the saved posts. Always keep Mongo running before you run node app.js. Then gauge your progress by looking at your hosting port.

Now, let us get down to the significant benefits of using Node.js as a programming language.

Advantages of Node.js

1) Node.js is scalable

The critical benefit of Node.js is the developers find it easier to scale the applications in horizontal and vertical directions. All the forms can be mounted in a parallel manner by adding nodes to the existing system.

Node.js also offers the option of adding extra resources to single nodes during the vertical scaling of the application. Hence it is highly scalable and also provides a better choice than the other JavaScript servers. 

2) Easier to Learn

As JavaScript is a popular programming language, many front-end developers have a good grasp of it. It becomes more comfortable to use Node.js at the back-end as learning Node.js consumes less time.

3) Node.js can be used as a single programming language

Node.js offer developers a luxury to write server-side applications in JavaScript. It allows the Node.js developers to write both front-end and back-end web applications in JavaScript via a runtime environment. They do not need to use any other server-side programming language that makes the deployment of the web application much more straightforward as all the web browsers support JavaScript.

Final Word

Here, we have defined Node.js, the various uses of this software, and the step by step process is highlighted by creating a light-weight blog with the help of Node.js. Welcome to real-time application building! To know more about us, visit us today at GoodWorkLabs and learn more about us. 

Are you looking to incorporate AI tech in your existing business model or are you generally curious about this technology? Get an insight into how Artificial Intelligence technology increases the productivity of the business and accelerates performance.

In either case, there are some mind-boggling essential facts that you must know about AI. 

Starting with the basics, we are quickly briefing you about this technology.

In the current industry scenario, some industry sectors are at the start of their AI journey, while others are veterans. 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are now considered one of the significant innovations since the microchip. 

We have come a long way since they set foot in the market. Machine Learning used to be a fanciful concept from science fiction, but has now become a reality.

Neural networks paved the way for “deep learning” breakthroughs in Machine Learning. While the previous Industrial Revolution has harnessed physical and mechanical power, this new revolution will harness mental and cognitive capacity. Many experts in the field believe that Artificial Intelligence Technology is ushering the next “Industrial Revolution”. 

Someday, not only manual labor will be replaced by computers, but also intellectual labor. But, the question is how exactly is this going to happen? Or has it already started?

By 2025, it is projected that 463 exabytes (EB) of data will be produced globally each day — equivalent data in 22 crore DVDs per day. That’s huge!

How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will impact our day-to-day lives in times to come?

1) AI into Automated Transportation

Have you been flying on an airplane recently? If so, you’ve already experienced the automation of transportation at work. Such modern commercial aircraft use FMS (Flight Management System) to control their location during flight, motion sensors, a combination of GPS, and computer systems.

2) Self Driving Cars and AI

It is more difficult to leap into self-driving car business. Since there are more cars on the road, many obstacles to avoid, and the traffic patterns and rules restrictions which we need to adhere to. 

According to a report of 55 Google vehicles that have traveled over 1.3 million miles overall, these AI-powered cars have even exceeded the safety of human-driven cars.

With Google Maps’ assistance on your smartphone about location data, we have already conquered the GPS forefront. A similar GPS is used in these cars, which can calculate how quickly the device is traveling by comparing the position of a device from one point in time to another.

It can decide how slow real-time traffic is. It can combine information with user-reported incidents to create a traffic image at any given time. Maps will determine the fastest route between you and your destination based on traffic jams, construction works, or accidents.

What about the ability to drive a car? Well, machine learning enables self-driving vehicles to adapt instantly to changing road conditions while learning from new road situations at the same time. Onboard computers can make split-second decisions much faster than well-trained drivers by continuously filtering through a flow of visual and sensor information.

All this is based on the very same machine learning principles used in other industries. You have input characteristics (i.e., real-time visual and sensor data) and output (i.e., a decision on the next actions for a car). Amazing, right?

3) Cyborg Technology

Our minds and bodies are less than perfect. Technology will improve to the extent that we can increase some of our computer weaknesses and limitations, enhancing many of our fundamental skills.

But, wait before you start to imagine dystopian worlds of steel and blood, consider for a moment that most people walking around are in a certain way “cyborgs.”

How many people do you know that without your trusty smartphone would survive the day? For contact, navigation, information learning, receiving important news, and a host of other things, we still rely on these handheld computers.

4) Taking Over the Dangerous Jobs

Bomb disposal is one of the most dangerous jobs. Today, among other things, robots (or more technically drones) take over these risky jobs.

Currently, most of these drones need to be operated by a human.

But as machine learning software is evolving in the future, robots with artificial intelligence would do these tasks entirely. This technology has already saved thousands of lives on its own.

Welding is another work outsourced to robots. This type of work produces noise, intense heat, and fumes toxic substances.

Such robot welders would need to be pre-programmed to weld at a specific position without machine learning. Improvement in computer vision and deep learning, however, has allowed greater flexibility and accuracy.

5) How AI helps in nursing elders?

Everyday tasks can be a struggle for many senior citizens. Many have to hire help from outside or rely on members of the family. 

For many families, elder care is a growing concern. In-home robots can support elderly relatives who don’t want to leave their homes.

This approach provides more flexibility to family members to handle the care of a loved one. The in-home robots can help seniors with daily tasks and allow them to stay as long as possible independent and live in their homes, improving their overall well-being.

Health and Artificial Intelligence scientists even have infrared-based systems that can identify when an older adult falls. Scientists and medical specialists can also track sleeping, feeding, decreasing mobility, fluid intake, chair and bed comfort, urinary frequency, restlessness, fatigue, food and alcohol consumption, and many more.

6) AI into enhanced Health Care

Hospitals might soon put your well-being in the hands of AI.  Hospitals that use machine learning to help treat patients have fewer accidents and fewer cases of hospital-related illnesses, such as sepsis.

Artificial Intelligence also tackles some of the most intractable problems in medicine, such as helping scientists to understand the genetic diseases with the help of predictive models better.

Initially, health professionals must manually check the information reams before they diagnose or treat a patient. High-performance computing GPUs have become primary resources for deep learning and AI applications.

Deep learning models can offer real-time insights and, in conjunction with an abundance of computing power, help healthcare professionals diagnose patients more quickly and accurately, create innovative new drugs and treatments, minimize clinical and diagnostic errors, predict adverse reactions, and reduce healthcare costs for clinicians and patients.

7) Artificial intelligence is capable of changing the business forever

It is a promise to take care of all the tedious things that employees are already doing, freeing their time to be more imaginative, and doing the job that machines are unable to do.

Today, emerging technology is mainly used by large companies through machine learning and predictive analytics.

Here’s a look at AI’s current county and what lies ahead:-

1. Nowadays, only 15% of companies use AI whereas 31 percent said it was on the agenda for the next 12 months.
2. For those companies already in the Artificial Intelligence range, high-performing companies have said that they are more than twice as likely to use technology for marketing as their peers (28% vs. 12%). Unsurprisingly, data analysis is a key Artificial Intelligence focus for businesses, with on-site customization being the second most frequently cited use case for AI. 
3. The survey respondents have described customer personalization (29%), AI (26%), and voice search (21.23%) as the next dominant marketing pattern. These top three responses, totaling 75% of all AI applications, indicate that AI is more widespread and accessible than the respondents are aware of. 
4. 47% of digitally mature organizations or those with advanced digital practices have established a specified AI strategy. 
5. Business leaders said they agree that AI will be fundamental in the future. In reality, 72% said it was a “business advantage.” 
6. Of those who have an innovation plan, 61% said that they are using AI to find information gaps that would otherwise be overlooked. Just 22% said the same thing without a strategy. 
7. Consumers use more AI than they know. While only 33 percent claim that they are using AI-enabled software, 77 percent currently using AI-enabled products or phones. 
8. 38% of customers said they believed that AI would boost customer service. 
9. Out of 6,000 people surveyed, 61% said they thought AI could make the world a better place. 
10. In a survey of more than 1,600 marketing professionals, 61%, regardless of the size of the company, pointed to machine learning and AI as their company’s most significant data initiative for next year. 
11. The effect of AI technology on business is projected to increase labor productivity by up to 40% and allow people to make more productive use of their time. 
12. The largest companies, those with at least 100,000 employees are most likely to have an AI plan, but only half of them have one. 
13. More than 80% of the executives see AI as a strategic tool. 
14. Voice assistants are incorporated into a wide range of consumer products; almost half of US adults (46%) are now using these apps to communicate with smartphones and other devices. 
15. When asked about requirements for marketing software providers to have native AI capabilities, more than 50% of the communicators said it was essential or appropriate to do so. 

Winding Up

As many people have rightly noted, the idea of Artificial Intelligence is not a new one. It’s been around since the very early days of computing. Pioneers always have invented ways to build smart learning machines.

At present, the most promising method for AI is the use of applied machine learning. Instead of trying to encrypt machines with everything they need to know beforehand (which is impossible), we want to allow them to learn, and then learn how to learn. 

The time for machine learning has arrived, and it is in the process of revolutionizing all of our lives.

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