Category: Web Application Development

Factors To Consider While Migrating Your Code To Python 3

It’s clear that Python 2 will be sunsetting on January 1, 2020. The Python Software Foundation (the organization behind Python) has stated that Python 2 will not be improved anymore after that day and no support will be provided to existing Python 2 users even if they find a security problem. The only option is to upgrade to Python 3 as soon as you can. Migrating your business suite from an old to a new software version comes with its own challenges. How can you ensure a successful and smooth migration to Python 3? Here is a guideline that addresses the prerequisites and key considerations. 

Related Reading: Switching to Python 3: Is It An Apt Decision For Your Business?

Steps To Successfully Migrate To Python 3

The recommended steps or course of action is to follow intermediate steps in modernizing incrementally and addressing issues progressively. Simultaneously, it is also important to aim for cross-generational compatibility without replacing the code entirely. A seamless migration process requires the following steps:

1. Drop Support For Python 2.6 And Older Versions

It is to be noted that Python 2.6 is no longer supported freely and is not receiving fixes for bugs. Hence, solving issues that come across while working with Python 2.6 or older versions will be difficult. For instance, Pylint which is used for setting up a Linter coverage is not supported by Python 2.6.

2. Specify A Proper Version Support In The setup.py File

In the setup.py file, a proper trove classifier has to be mentioned. This will help in determining whether all packages are Python 3 compatible. 

3. Ensure A Proper Test Coverage

Proper test coverage can avoid many bugs at production. For instance, your test suite must have at least 80% code coverage. The code coverage will let you know how much source code is executed during testing. coverage.py is the best-recommended tool to measure your test coverage.

4. Update Your Code

Most projects will include multiple third-party dependencies. It is thus important to ensure that all third-party packages are compatible. You can make a choice between two tools namely, Futurize and Modernize to port your code automatically.  

5. Division 

Python 3 evaluates 5/2 == 2.5 and not 2. That means, all divisions of int values in Python 3 result in a float value. Going through your code and adding from_future_import division to your files and updating the division operator to // or using floor division will do the needful.

6. Understanding The Confluence Of Text And Binary Data

It is important to decide which  APIs take text and which of them take binary data. For instance, Python 2 made sure that APIs that take text work with Unicode and APIs that take binary data work with bytes. However, Python 3 takes text as str, and binary as bytes. Additionally, Python 3.5 adds the _mod_ method to the bytes type. 

7. Utilize Feature Detection Instead Of Version Detection

Relying on feature detection helps in avoiding potential problems of compatibility errors. For instance, suppose you require access to a feature of importlib that is available in Python’s standard library since Python 3.3 version. Consider the fact that it is also available for Python 2 via importlib2 on PyPI. In this situation, it is very common to write code using the version. This will create issues with Python 4. It is thus better to utilize feature detection. 

8. Prevent Compatibility Regressions

Once the code is translated and made compatible with Python 3, it is important to ensure that the code does not regress. You can use the Pylint for the same. Example, pip install pylint.

9. Check For Dependencies That Can Block Your Transition

The caniusepython3 will help you determine all projects that directly or indirectly can block your transition to Python 3.

10. Continuous Integration To Ensure Compatibility

It is important to run your tests under multiple Python interpreters such as tox by integrating them with your system. 

11. Use Of Optional Static Type Checking

A static type checker such as mypy or pytype on your code will help in porting your code. It analyzes your code and checks whether it can run on Python 3 as well. For instance, if you tend to misuse a binary data type in one particular version of Python, running a static type checker will solve the issue.  

The Python Software Foundation offers a comprehensive guide on how to achieve cross-generational compatibility for enterprises that require Python 2 and 3 to run simultaneously. More guidelines and steps to be noted while migrating to Python 3 can be found in these places: 

• An official Python porting guide
• Reference to python-future
• Porting to Python 3 – Django Tips

To learn more about migrating to Python 3 seamlessly, stay tuned to our latest articles and blogs. If you are looking for a technology partner to help your business transform with the latest digital trends, then get in touch with our experts today!

Fingent Tops Among The Global B2B Companies Listed By Clutch

We can expect software development to go to new and exciting places in 2020. At Fingent, we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished this year and look forward to what’s to come. We are thrilled to announce that Fingent has been included in the Clutch 1000, a list of the 1,000 top global leaders on Clutch! 

We are ranked #5 on the Clutch 1000, which puts us in the top 1% of the over 160,000 companies on their site! We are also one of over 140 custom software development companies on the list, as well as the only company based in White Plains, New York. 

Clutch is a Washington, DC-based B2B ratings and reviews platform. Their team of independent analysts conducts interviews with the past clients of service providers. These verified reviews form the basis of the ratings and rankings on their site! Fingent is thankful to all of our past clients who made this award possible by leaving us reviews on Clutch!

“We are thrilled to have been featured among the Clutch Top 1000 Companies by Clutch!” – Varghese Samuel, CEO & MD, Fingent

Looking for more? Clutch has two sister sites, the Manifest and Visual Objects! The Manifest compiles company shortlists based on service lines and geographic location. We are proud to be one of the leading businesses on the Manifest under the software development category! On Visual Objects, users can look through our solution portfolios to find the best fit for their next project.

We are thankful to all of our clients who have allowed us to be part of their projects! Your success is our success. Looking to start a new project? Get in touch with us today!

Fingent Emerges as a Leader in Node.js Development 

Fingent is proud to announce that we have been featured in a recent press release recognizing the top Node.js development companies by TopDevelopers.co, a renowned review and research platform of IT service providers. 

The importance of Node.js

Node.js is a versatile server-side environment that lets the developer create powerful server-side applications with JavaScript. The availability of a large repository of codes, speed and the efficiency of Node.js are the factors that have contributed to the rising popularity of the platform.

About Fingent

Fingent was established in 2003 with an aim to provide custom software services to our clients. With determination, hard work and a constant focus on the requirements of our customers, we have expanded and today we are serving clients across more than 20 industrial sectors and have an active client base in more than 14 countries covering 4 continents.

With a curious mind and a constant zeal towards customer satisfaction, we have been able to achieve this milestone of entering the coveted list of top Node.js developers.

Why do clients consider Fingent as an efficient service provider?

We have been able to achieve a satisfactory rating of 4.9 out of 5 on the 650+ projects that we have completed. In all these years, we have never lost our focus on understanding the problems of the clients and offering innovative solutions to them. We have established a dedicated research and development center in India to focus on delivering innovative solutions to our customers.

More than 30 companies including brands such as Sony, NEC, PWC, and Johnson & Johnson have named us as their Global IT partners.

We provide a plethora of exclusive and efficient IT services to our clients which includes services like enterprise software development, hybrid app development, Internet of Things, IT consulting, product development services, mobile application development services, Artificial Intelligence, custom software development, cloud computing, iOS app development, and SAP.

We have happily worked with clients from a diverse set of industries like retail, logistics, real estate, oil and gas, healthcare, fitness, legal consultants, chemicals, to name a few, but we have never let them go without a smile of satisfaction after project delivery. Working with diverse industries and varied client requirements has helped us in learning the nuances of each industry, which has ultimately helped us in serving our clients in a better manner. 

We helped a client in designing a solution that uses the data of NHS (National Health Service) in the United Kingdom as input and gives interactive visually rich graphs as output. The aim was to analyze the data and provide the users with a list of the best hospitals in the U.K. The solution we developed provides the users with every detail about the hospitals listed.  Our portfolio has more details about NHS and a deep insight into our projects, work proficiency, technical product development skills, and professionalism.  

“We take a holistic view, considering for instance – the role of the app in the larger ecosystem that may include AI, Big Data and IoT, whether it connects to 3rd party systems, and most importantly the desired Customer Experience across the entire customer journey.” is what our Senior Vice President – Process and Technology, Mr. Deepu Prakash, expressed in an interview with TopDevelopers.co. 

The profile of Fingent on TopDevelopers.co has all the interesting details on how Fingent has successfully been maintaining a remarkable balance between the clients we cater to, the various industrial sectors we serve, and the wide range of services that we provide.  

Who is TopDevelopers.co?

TopDevelopers.co is a directory and review platform for B2B IT Firms. They offer unbiased service to service seekers, by providing them a listing of genuine and highly professional IT firms, that can help the service seekers in achieving their goals by providing high-quality technical services.  The research team of TopDevelopers.co chooses the best firms by filtering a vast list of companies and introduces only the competitive names to the businesses, enterprises, and entrepreneurs to partner with. The company has a friendly team of researchers and a hassle-free communication system. They provide the listing service for various technologies and services, which makes it a one-stop destination to find your perfect technology partner. To give its clients a broad range, TopDevelopers.co reviews companies from all across the globe and you can filter the companies according to the country of origin, size, cost and other parameters. 

To know more about why Fingent is rated as the top Node.js development company by TopDevelopers.co and how our skills and expertise can bring your business the competitive advantage to excel, contact us! 

4 Top Reasons for Organizations to Move to Python 3

Python is one of the most widely used programming languages on the planet. Over the years programmers have fallen in love with Python for its increased productivity and capabilities. However, a constant argument persists on whether Python 3 is better than Python 2 and would it be a wiser decision to completely shift to Python 3.

Although Python 3 has been in existence for over 7 years, programmers are quite skeptical about using it. Most programmers tend to cling to Python 2, completely ignoring the capabilities of the new version.

This blog will walk you through some major drawbacks of Python 2 and will pinpoint 4 top reasons on why to choose Python 3 over Python 2.

Why Is Python 3 On The Rise?

Before we dive deeper into the major advantages of Python 3, let’s take a look at its origin. 

Released in 2008, Python 3 was introduced to overcome the flaws of Python 2. The major reason behind developing Python 3 was to clean up the codebase and remove redundancy. Although Python 3 is the newer version of Python, it is not necessarily backward compatible with code written in the 2.x version. 

Significant features of Python 3 makes it simpler, easier and incredibly efficient to use. Here’s listing the major differences between Python version 3.0 and 2.0, and the reasons why Python 3 can make a better programming partner.

1. Unicode Character Encoding

As mentioned earlier, Python 3 was introduced to address the vulnerabilities and drawbacks of Python 2. Hence, it reduces the complexities of coding and improves speed and performance. 

Where in Python 2 the character encoding is done in ASCII format, Python 3 is Unicode based. In Python 2 the strings are by default stored in the form of ASCII values. Programmers are required to add ‘u’, to store strings specifically in Unicode format. In Python 3 strings are stored in UTF-8 format, enabling a large number of storage features such as character value storage, different language characters, and emojis storage as well. 

Dropped deprecated features which were frequent sources of bugs in Python 2 have also been replaced by superior alternatives and retained solely for backward compatibility. 

For instance: If a file is created by олга with non-ASCII characters in the name, for the below-mentioned code, if you are using Python 2 your code is sure to throw an error 500. 

However, in Python 3  your error will be detected right away saving you the time on long code creation. Moreover, the error message is much easier to understand. Knowing that str object is owner and node is a bytes object, it is easy to recognize that the error is due to listdir returning a list of bytes objects. 

Adding listdir(‘.’) would make the bug disappear as this would appear as a Unicode string in Python 3.

The difference in the behavior is due to the difference in how each version handles the string type. Whatever is lumped together in Python 2 is split in Python 3.

2. Improved Library Standards

When it comes to libraries, there is a huge difference between the two versions. Many libraries developed in Python 2 are not forward compatible. Hence, the new 3.x version is developed focusing on providing good compatibility. Moreover, most of the actively maintained libraries are strictly created for use with Python 3. Hence, it’s suggested to keep codes compatible with Python 3 to help keep your test running on both versions. 

3. Improved Integer Division

Reducing a programmer’s confusion and frustration, Python 3 is created with a syntax that’s more intuitive. Python 3.x version has an elegantly designed structure that allows performing an action with fewer lines of code. Python 2, on the other hand, requires the exact input to perform a particular result or generate the expected results.

For instance: If you try a simple calculation like 5/2 (5 divided by 2), Python 2, after rounding up would give you the result as 2. To derive the exact result, that is 2.5, the input should be 5.0/2.0.

Whereas, Python 3 would right away, give you the answer 2.5 for the input 5/2, without converting the numbers to float data type.

4. End of Python 2 Support

Yes! Python 2 is expected to stop all support and maintenance by January 2020. Now, this is another major reason why you need to shift to Python 3 at the earliest. By end of support, we mean that all-new packages will be built on Python 3 and hence, it will be difficult to add any new features to the existing Python 2 projects. Major plugins are also being ported to Python 3 and thus, the upcoming updates of these plugins will be available only for the 3.x version. 

Moving forward, it will be difficult to find any Python 2 support services or developers. Also, the Python 2 hosting options will grow more scarce and costly. The Python 3.x version and the releases ahead are believed to have different syntax from that of the current version and thus, getting upgrades for existing features would be difficult to find.

Why Should You Stop Using Python 2?

Although programmers have widely accepted and loved working with the 2.x version of Python, there is quite a huge list of flaws and drawbacks experienced with it. Here’s listing a few of them. 

1. Firstly, as mentioned in this post, the Python 2 text model is not Unicode capable. It doesn’t handle non-ASCII files correctly. This is one of the major drawbacks of the version. Python 2 handles Unicode module names quite inconsistently, which is a source cause of multiple programming errors. That is why 3.x version of Python is designed to have a Unicode based string type by default.

2. In addition to not being Unicode capable, there is a large number of Unicode handling bugs in Python 2 standard library that might never be fixed. Fixing these bugs within the constraints of Python 2 is too difficult, and not worth the effort.

3. Python 2 iterator was designed long before the introduction of the iterator protocol. Thus, it has a lot of unnecessary and lengthy listings, which can now be made more memory efficient.

4. Programmers who have been involved with Python 2 for a long time might have noticed that the version interprets numbers in a strange way if they have leading zeros. Also, the version has two different kinds of integers. Python 2 beginners are often surprised to find that the version can’t do basic arithmetic correctly.

5. The print and exec statement is also weirdly different from the normal function calls like eval and execfile. Moreover, you need parentheses to catch multiple exceptions.

6. Although list comprehensions are one of Python’s most popular features, surprising errors arise on the local namespace. Also, if you tend to make a mistake in handling the errors, there might be chances where you’ll lose the original error.

Eliminating all these persisting errors and flaws of Python 2, the new version 3.x is specifically designed to enhance the quality and efficiency of the programmers. Thus, it is highly recommended to start preparing for a complete shift to Python 3. For developers who would like to check on to the Python 3 upgrade packages, here’s the command you can use:

[Don’t forget to create a test-requirement.txt file when using the command.]

With increased competition and high consumer expectations, programmers are under constant pressure to improve software performance. With the efficiency and ease of use offered by Python 3, programming is sure to achieve greater success than before. Although Python 2.7 will be supported until 2020, the sooner the switch, the better.

If you are looking for a technology partner to help your business transform with the latest digital trends, then get in touch with our experts today!

Fingent Yet Again Ranked Amongst The Top Developing Companies of New York

Utilizing enterprise technology, Fingent develops best in class software solutions for businesses, to help them prepare better for the future. With our customized web and mobile applications, leading enterprises of variant industries have transformed efficiently to provide quality customer services and remarkably grow in the market. Recognizing our hard work and dedication to our clients, we are yet again ranked amongst the top developing companies. 

We’re excited to announce that Fingent has been featured as a top-performing New York developer on Clutch!

Clutch is a ratings and reviews platform for B2B agencies like ours, and they are dedicated to showcasing the best companies around the globe. We earned recognition as a top custom software development firm from Clutch after being evaluated on several different factors, including our market presence, our extensive online portfolios, and, most importantly, verified reviews from former clients. Since we value our client’s opinion above anything else, we are proud to see their positive reviews on our Clutch profile. Here’s just one example of our awesome reviews that have resulted in a 4.9-star rating on Clutch:

We’re grateful to Be Strong and to 26 of our other clients who have taken the time to leave us a review. Our CEO and MD had a few words to share with the Fingent community about winning this award: 

“Clutch’s new assessment putting us at the forefront as a leading development company in the United States once again testifies to the sheer quality of services that we offer. Being included in the report highlights our core capabilities as a professional development company that constantly upholds exceptional development standards and service integrity.” – Varghese Samuel, CEO & MD, Fingent

We would also like to highlight our presence on The Manifest, Clutch’s sister site and business how-to resource. We are also featured on Visual Objects, a platform that equips buyers with a digital portfolio of the past projects of various B2B agencies. 

To know more about why Fingent is constantly rated as the top developing company of New York and how our skills and expertise can bring your business the competitive advantage to excel, contact us now! 

Find Business Success with Agile Software Development Methodologies

Agile software development methodologies have proven their mettle in recent years and “agile” is becoming a buzz word in software development and project management. It makes sense, therefore, to understand what drives the success of these methodologies and consider if your business could benefit from implementing it.

What is the Agile Software Development Methodology?

Agile Development works on the principles of iteration and incremental development. It does not rely on a linear method approach but focuses on rapid delivery of fully functional application components. The focus is not on tasks, but on time phases called “sprints.” These sprints are of specific duration and begin with a detailed plan of what is to be delivered at the end of a sprint. Continuous testing, feedback, and improvement are vital aspects of the agile methodology.

At the heart of the agile methodology is its focus on individuals and interactions rather than processes and tools. Rather than focusing on comprehensive documentation to prove a project’s worth, the primary measure of progress in agile methodology is delivering working, tested software. This serves as a basis for collaboration between teams and customers, gaining feedback and swiftly responding to change. Value-driven development is given prime importance with the focus on delivering visible results and business value continuously. This way, stakeholders and projects have complete visibility on where the project stands and the business value they can expect at any given point of the project.

Scrum is an important aspect of the agile methodology and deserves a mention in the context of discussing agile methodologies. Using the principles of agile methodology, Scrum advocates a self-organizing and cross-functional team. The Scrum method is supported by two specific roles – the Scrum Master (who acts as the coach to direct teams towards agility and high performance) and the Product Owner (who helps the team build the right product and represents the company and end users).

Why Agile Methodology Trumps Traditional Development Methods

There are many reasons why Agile Methodology is being favored over traditional methods worldwide. We have listed out a few:

Faster and Better Workflow:

Agile Methodology is completely different from traditional Waterfall Methodologies, where projects follow a linear approach and progress from one step to another only after the previous step is completed. The traditional time-consuming method of relying on comprehensive documentation and analysis before the design and commencement of the project is eliminated.

Implementation and development begin almost immediately in agile development and the processes and development is refined in increments based on continuous feedback from customers and project teams. This also cuts out the verification and maintenance stage in the Waterfall Method, where the end product is tested, bugs are fixed, and the code is maintained. In the agile method, this testing and bug fixing is already being done continuously throughout the project, ensuring that the final product is refined and ready to be deployed.

Multilevel and continuous planning:

The absence of detailed analysis before implementation in agile methodology does not mean that the project is initiated without any substantial planning. On the contrary, multi-level and continuous planning is a vital feature of the agile development methodology. The planning follows a just-in-time approach, which aligns the information available with what details are necessary at the time.

The planning usually happens on at least two levels – the release level and the iteration level. At the release level, planning involves identifying and prioritizing the necessary features required in the software. This gives a basis to decide which features must be worked on first. Planning at the iteration level involves which features must be implemented next and the optimal size of batches which can be practically delivered in a single iteration.

Customer Focus:

The most important feature of agile methodologies is that it places the customer at the center of the development process. Teams are directed to think of product design through user stories and use cases, which ensures that customers are always kept at the heart of the process. User stories specify the needs of the end users and the various scenarios that they will use to fulfill that need.

Use cases show how the product developed will help end users achieve the outcome they want in the user story. In this way, the whole development process becomes focussed on what the customer needs. This is the foundation of Customer Experience (CX), which is fast becoming the defining success factor for companies today.

Related Reading: Read on to know how customer experiences reshape a company’s brand identity. 

Business Success with Agile Software Development Methodologies

Businesses the world over are embracing and implementing agile methodologies in their efforts to improve their project management capabilities and improve performance. The 9th Global Project Management Survey, which surveyed 3,234 project management professionals from all over the world attests to this fact.

According to the survey, 71% of organizations use Agile approaches in their business. “We believe that agility could also be used in multiple ways— in everything we do,” says Phillippe Husser, a survey respondent and Senior Partner of Progress Direction Michelin.  “In fact, the world is changing very quickly around us, so much so that we cannot afford anymore to have projects taking two to five years to deliver, because, during this time, the initial requirements have changed.”

Case in Point: Ericsson

Ericsson is a leading provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers and covers 40% of the world’s mobile phone traffic. The company with around 100,000 employees is a classic case in point to show the successful implementation of agile methodologies even in large-sized companies.

The company used to use a plan-driven software process but switched to agile in 2012. One of their main areas of focus was to develop a XaaS platform and services that the customers would use as a service. The results have been phenomenal.

Steve Dennings, an expert on agile methodology and author of The Age of Agile, summarizes the success points of Ericsson’s adoption of agile methodologies this way: “Now with Agile management, Ericsson has over 100 small teams working with its customers’ needs in three-week cycles. The result is faster development that is more relevant to the specific needs of the customers. The client gets value sooner. Ericsson has less work in progress. And Ericsson is deploying one to two years earlier than it otherwise would so that its revenue comes in one to two years earlier.”

Find Success with Agile Software Development

Agile development and methodology is an integral part of Fingent Technologies and creating agile software products for different industry sectors such as healthcare, finance, education, entertainment and media, real estate and retail amongst others. Get in touch with us so we can discuss how you can get effective in your agile journey and find success.

Related Reading: Check out these custom software development trends that every business should know.

iOS 12 is now live and represents the latest evolution of Apple over its decade long existence. Today, Apple’s App Store has over two million apps with over 170 billion downloads and over $130 billion in revenue. With iOS 12, developers are poised to offer a far superior experience for users compared to previous versions.

Here are the top iOS 12 application development features that enterprises can benefit from in the year 2019.

Siri Shortcuts Take User Experience to a New Level

Adoption of Siri is increasing at an exponential pace, considering the popularity of using voice technology for commands and simplifying user actions. True to form, iOS 12 makes Apple’s personal assistant more proactive, by allowing shortcuts.

Siri Shortcuts minimize the number of steps users take to accomplish everyday tasks. Siri intelligently pairs users’ daily routines with app functionality and suggests convenient shortcuts whenever available. Such shortcuts allow users to access the offered functionality or complete the task on hand from the lock screen or from search, without having to open the app.

Siri learns and predicts shortcuts through “donations.” Developers and users may “donate” shortcuts to Siri. Developers may use the Shortcuts API to donate the shortcuts they wish to offer their users. The prerequisite towards “donations” that meet the objectives is developers having an accurate understanding of the specific in-app actions that drive the most engagement, to make the relevant Siri Shortcut donations for the most frequently used features.

The flip side to making donations for shortcuts is handling user expectations. Users may, for instance, expect the app to have shortcuts for features where shortcuts are not technically possible. For instance, when the app requires user authentication before completing an action, such a feature cannot run in the background, as a shortcut.

Improved Core ML 2 Brings Machine Learning to Apps Easily

Core ML is a relatively new toolkit, but very critical, considering it now powers Siri, Quick Type, and Camera functions in iOS. Core ML allow developers to integrate machine learning models including text, barcode, face, and landmark detection, object tracking, enhanced image recognition, and other intuitive functionality into apps, easily. Core ML 2 comes with over 30 layer types and supports expansive deep learning capabilities. Developers may run on-device machine learning models without the need to analyze data across multiple servers.

iOS 12 makes it easy, simple and fast to integrate Core ML 2 with user-facing apps. Developers can leverage this handy toolkit to embed machine learning frameworks and models directly into mobile apps, with just a few lines of code, and with no extensive technical expertise required.

A New CreateML Framework Allow Lay Users to Create Machine Learning Models

Create ML, a new framework, allow developers to build machine learning models, with little to no machine learning expertise. Its similarity with Swift makes the framework familiar and comfortable to use. Create ML is also integrated into Xcode 10 playgrounds, making it easy to view model workflows in real time.

Developers can leverage the embedded natural language capabilities of iOS 12 to create in-depth models for advanced purposes such as regression, image classification, word tagging, and sentence classification, with just a few lines of Swift code.

Highly Intuitive ArKIT2 Toolkit Takes AR Experiences to a New Level

The improved ArKit 2 toolkit allows developers to create powerful and hugely incredible Artificial Reality (AR) immersive experiences. The toolkit enables developers to create engaging multiplayer games, presentations and more, allowing multiple users to view or play the AR enhanced simulations simultaneously. The ingenuity of the toolkit enables developers to offer users the option to save the AR experience and resume it at a later time, co-opt real-world objects into the AR experiences, and much more.

Interactive Push Notifications

iOS 12 changes the way users receive push notifications. Users now gain considerable control over the type of push notifications they choose to receive and how they receive such notification. Users gain access to message settings directly from the push notification interface, allowing them to opt-out of messages from the device’s lock screen. The enhanced downtime settings enable users to ignore push notifications entirely.

Such new functionality, however, creates a new challenge for developers. It is no longer enough to somehow coax the user to download the app. The obvious requirement to remain in the user’s scheme of thing is to provide better and highly personalized, stand-out content in the push notification. Developers can also add buttons and switches to the push notifications, to encourage user action, infusing interactivity to push notifications. Developers can also customize the font, image, and other elements of the push notification.

End of Password Annoyance with iOS 12 Application Development

iOS 12 offer developers access to Password Autofill. Users may leverage this new feature to create and save passwords, and then log in to incumbent accounts, with just a few taps, regardless of the device. The password autofill functionality saves the user’s password on the device, and users can now share the data across devices using the iCloud keychain.

The new password autofill option significantly improves the user’s onboarding process, offering the path of least resistance. Empirical evidence suggests complicated registration fields harm user acquisition efforts and increase user abandonment. Also, contrary to the first impression, the autofill option actually increases app security. Autofill suggests strong, unique passwords at the onset.

While features and options are aplenty in the new iOS 12, the key to successful app development is picking and choosing the right features, relevant for the project. A tie-up with competent professionals with a history of having developed successful apps helps.

Related Reading:  How to Empower your Business with an iOS Application

As we enter 19 years into the millennium, we find that Java has been running on 10 billion devices. The world is yet to witness innovative and user-friendly Java trends that will have a profound effect on application development in the year 2019!!

From peer-to-peer, open source and embedded to wireless and Juxtapose applications, Java has been the most popular programming language in the world of application development, with the highest rating of 16.746 percent, according to the Tiobe index!

A Retrospective Of Java Trends

Java so far has given a step-up to many of the light-weight programming platforms, as for Eclipse, Java Development Kit (JDK), the Oracle JDeveloper, as well as the Eclipse and other Open Source Applications. Let us take a look at the Java trends that made a breakthrough in application development.

• Emergence Of EE4J and MicroProfile Projects

The Eclipse Foundation has emerged with pride with the introduction of projects like EE4J and MicroProfile.

MicroProfile has provided insight into how a more open Java EE community could flourish. Both Java EE and Spring technologies benefited out of this rise, by bringing accelerated innovation.

• Emergence Of Kotlin  

Kotlin, the JVM-compatible programming language has caught the strong attention of the Java/ Android community. Its concise coding syntax and interoperability with Java have already made it a hit in the world of application development. Kotlin is first-class support for Android and is expected to additionally improve its use for mobile application development in 2019!

• Java SE 6 Updates And The OpenJDK 10 Release 

2018 also witnessed the updates of Java SE 6. These updates, however, are not publicly available as yet! The code restores are only available through the Java SE Support program and in Solaris 10’s Recommended Patchset Cluster and were mainly a couple of security fixes. OpenJDK 10 was released on 20 March 2018, with the adoption of certain new features.

• Ensuring Seamless Configuration Of Applications With Containers And Java Runtimes 

The Collection framework has managed to leverage more benefits of the use of containers and Java runtimes. This offers a seamless configuration of Java applications and consistent memory management.

• Frequent Alteration To Features – To Ensure A Well-Planned Application Development

Yet another major development was the introduction of a ‘six-month release’ interval.

This ensured frequent iterations and faster introduction of features to Java applications. These characteristics were decided to be made available through enterprising shops.

Technology Trends in Java – What To Expect In 2019 

Java is a programing language that can run on nearly any system (Thanks to the platform-agnostic JVM!), it has started to get easier to use and scalable than ever before! Below are listed the major trends that we could predict for the year 2019.

• Java Continues To Evolve – Java SE 10 Contribution 

Java is a programming language that is used by more than 9 million developers. It contains extensive libraries that shape the whole enterprise application development. With the release of Java SE 10, which was created in close collaboration with the OpenJDK Community, came several new added features. Java is also ranked as the #1 developer choice for cloud, with over 12 million developers and over 21 billion cloud-connected Java virtual machines!!

• Real-time Specification 

The Real-time Specification for Java (RTSJ) is into existence.

Java creator, James Gosling, and Sun’s real-time guru, Greg Bollella have described embedded systems as “the new frontier in which predictable execution takes precedence” over other system attributes, such as speed, bandwidth, and payload-carrying capacity. They are promoting real-time Java applications for embedded use! With the RTSJ, they have managed to solve the language and runtime issues.

• Project Juxtapose 

Sun’s JXTA open source platform has gained ample acceptance among developers.

Using Project Juxtapose, Sun hopes to influence standards that will govern future Web services development. With this, Java developers will be able to focus their capability to contribute more for Java application development.

• The Java Effect On Scripting Languages 

Scripting languages such as Jython, which is a complete implementation of the Python language, is coded in cent percent Java. Python, Perl, and PHP to name a few other programming languages are receiving widespread attention.

• Wireless Applications With Its Ease Of Use 

Wireless application development in Java has gained noticeable traffic due to its open-source platform nature. The reason being Nokia, the world’s largest mobile telephone maker, has committed to using the open source Symbian OS for all of its future handsets!!

Both kinds of Wireless Java applications, Local and Network applications, is more challenging because they are developed on one platform (such as Solaris or MS Windows) but deployed on a totally different one (such as a cell phone or PDA). It is a concern that, while emulators enable developers to do some of their testings on the development platform, they need to test and evaluate the application in a totally different environment of a live wireless network. This is however made easy!!

• Growing demand for Java developers 

Java being a statically-typed language, it is faster and easier to maintain with fewer bugs. It is also backward compatible, which means old versions of the language will still run perfectly even after new versions are released. This is a big relief for businesses who would otherwise worry about rewriting their code every time a new version comes out. Coupled with its portability, developers know that investing in Java will pay dividends for a long, long time.

• Mobile Application Development in 2019

In less than two years, the demand for mobile enterprise applications is estimated to rise five times faster!! Android currently dominates the smartphone market with 80.7% (compared to Apple’s 17.7%) and will continue its expansion! Java will, as a result, continue to be the driving force behind mobile application development trends!

• The IoT Era And Java

The Internet Of Things is among the latest development trends in Java! As of now, Java is currently one of the few technologies that are capable of adding life to IoT. It is indeed true that Java’s future lies in the Internet of Things.

Mike Milincovich, Eclipse Foundation strongly believes that Oracle will help to develop a definite end-to-end storage data solution in 2019!! Like the Kona Project that is currently working on Java APIs for embedded systems.

The Java ME platform allows vendors to build secure mobile enterprise applications for the Internet of Things. The language is supported by the Intel IoT platform!

With all these advanced features and development, Java continues to grow and evolve. Java has undeniably achieved the top spot among the most popular programming languages in the world!

AngularJS has come a long way since Google launched it in 2009. Today, it is one of the most widely used JavaScript frameworks. Here are some of the good reasons which make the framework so popular and powerful.

1. AngularJS Modular Architecture Makes the Framework Very Powerful

AngularJS has a Model View Controller (MVC) architecture, which is best suited to create dynamic web applications with rich content. The framework divides logic, process, and UI into separate modules, making development easy, simple, and faultless, while also improving code quality in a big way.

The modular architecture improves app architecture, and enhances flexibility and functionality, without compromising stability. It facilitates developers to create powerful workflows and achieve powerful results with little effort.

Developers working on a modular framework to create fully-responsive single page apps need to perform very few manipulations on JS and HTML, to achieve different results. It requires very few changes to ensure the page renders differently on various devices and platforms  Also, making changes means rearranging the modules rather than tweaking with the code itself, delivering better stability. Developers may also segment code parts, simplifying testing, updates, and maintenance activities as well.

2. AngularJS is Resource Rich

AngularJS is built on JavaScript and comes as a complete package, removing the complexity traditionally associated with JavaScript development. It offers everything the developer requires to get the app up and running. It is also very easy to co-opt third party libraries and packages, facilitating the presentation of data in a very appealing way.

The multiple templates, modules, and UI effects on offer, improve the all-important user experience considerably. AngularJS also offers several readymade versatile solutions, such as, UI routing approaches, which make the task of customization very easy.

Developers may extend the HTML templates by adding constructs to expand the HTML functionality, facilitating an advanced approach to manage components. In fact, it is possible to extend the HTML vocabulary by implementing features even during runtime

3. AngularJS Leverages the Power of Simplicity

AngularJS makes the development of dynamic web apps simple and easy.

It is possible to add AngularJS to an HTML page easily, using a simple coding script. App developers also need not add all the libraries when writing the code. They can add libraries later, making modifications and customizations very easy. The improved and declarative user interface allows developers to create eye-catchy user-experience across the app.

A normal application consists of more than 60 components, and the project soon turns messy. AngularJS makes it easy to manage and locate the codes for the developers.

The AngularJS code is easy to understand and easy to maintain as well. The ease and simplicity not only make development quicker, but it also means the client need not be tied to a developer who happened to develop the code initially. They can pick and choose any developer as required, depending on the specific nature of the problems they encounter midway.

4. AngularJS Facilitates Accelerated Development

Today’s developers are invariably hard-pressed for time. AngularJS is a godsend in the sense it offers a powerful tool to get the job done very quickly. The modular capabilities of AngularJS facilitate parallel development, reduce dependencies on other modules, and thereby accelerate the critical time-to-market.

The modular structure of AngularJS facilitates code reuse. Each created module remains either independent or dependent on each other, as per the developer preference, facilitating code reuse. Developers may co-opt their previously build components in a new application, sparing considerable rework. A simple copy-paste of an existing component into a new one will make all assets available automagically.

AngularJS also allows changing the behavior of the HTML tags, to create customizable and reusable tags. This not only makes the code more readable and quicker to create but also helps in developing a glitch-free web app

AngularJS also comes with real-time and in-built modules to support in-depth and functional testing for every constructed module. The modular structure means the segments and modules requiring testing may be processed distinctly, while the rest remains untouched.

5. AngularJS Taps into the Power of the Crowd

Popularity brings in its own benefits. It has ensured for AngularJS an active and vibrant community of developers, always ready to solve even the most advanced of concerns. Developers may easily tap into the power of the crowd to figure out the appropriate solution to fix pressing issues.

AngularJS is today the most popular framework to develop on-demand video streaming apps, apps with loads of dynamic features such as travel apps, weather update apps which require interactive display and real-time activities, interactive apps for user reviews and other purposes, apps with a lot of user-generated data, apps processing huge data loads, and more.  Some of the most popular interactive apps on the internet, such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Upwork.com, and others, are developed using AngularJS. Yet, the framework actually draws its strength from a very large number of small-scale developers, who find it ideally suited to their requirements.

The Internet holds over 1.8 billion websites as of today.  Out of this big mix, the number of active websites is no less than 644 million. What is equally startling is that more than one-quarter of them are powered by WordPress. Starting off in 2003, WordPress has evolved down the line from a blogging platform to the world’s most popular open-source content management system.

From its first version 0.7 to the current 5.0.1, much has changed. Refined UI, the introduction of plugins, widgets, streamlined dashboards and an array of new features.  When it comes to 2018, WordPress is much more than a typical CMS platform. Most businesses now run their websites on WordPress whether in e-commerce, LMS, marketplace etc.

It is easy to use and economical, which is why most businesses prefer WordPress over other CMS platforms. WordPress is 100% customizable allowing businesses to optimize their website or blog for easy discovery and indexing by search engines. Moreover, WordPress sites are perfectly scalable and feature extended functionality with the addition of plugins.

With a string of new releases on their way, WordPress is further broadening its scope. To really understand how, here are 33 astonishing facts about WordPress in 2019.

33 amazing facts about WordPress in 2019

1) WordPress Drives One-Quarter of the Internet

WordPress powers nearly 32.5 % of all the websites on the Internet, which means nearly one out of three websites that you have visited is built with WordPress. That is to say, about 75 million websites now run entirely on WordPress.

Source – W3Techs

2) WordPress is Growing Ahead of its Competitors

WordPress attained an astonishing 4 % growth from 2017 to 2018 according to a study made by W3Techs. It clearly establishes that WordPress’s market growth increased by 4% in the past year.

Meanwhile, WordPress’s competitors’ growth diminished in the same year.

• Joomla’s market share actually decreased from 3.4% to 3.1%
• Drupal’s market share decreased from 2.2% to 2.1%

3) Google Trends Data Shows Growing Popularity of WordPress

From the worldwide Google Trends data of the past year, you can see how popular is WordPress compared to other competitor CMS platforms like Joomla, Drupal, Magento, and Shopify.

Source: Google Trends

4) Woocommerce Plugin has a Remarkable Market Share

WooCommerce, the eCommerce plugin for WordPress powers about 29% of all the eCommerce sites on the Internet according to Datanyze. According to the same, WooCommerce has a market share of 21% across all the eCommerce websites in the world.

Source: BuiltWith

We worked with WooCommerce to build an e-commerce platform for one of our clients, Homeschool. It is a platform that provided users with high-quality educational resources that they can purchase or read online. Moreover, we also used WordPress to build an e-commerce website for VKC, one of the largest footwear manufacturing company in India.

5) “WordPress” Keyword has High Search Volumes in Google

In fact, the popularity of WordPress has peaked in recent times that it clearly has gained an upper hand in the search volumes of search engines. The keyword “WordPress” has around 1M-10M average monthly search volume in Google, which is 10 times the search volume for keywords of “Drupal” and “PHP”.

6) WordPress Leads in Global CMS Market Share

WordPress owns nearly 60% of the global CMS market share according to a report by W3Techs.

Joomla comes as the next competitor to WordPress with a market share of 6% followed by Drupal with 3.6%.

7) WordPress is Available in more than 80 Languages

Being a complete CMS solution, it is no wonder that WordPress packs more language support than its close competitors. WordPress contains translations for over 167 languages. Out of that, currently, 32 locales run full translations worldwide and has 58 up to date locales.

More languages are added by a team of independent collaborators as we write this to further extend the language support offered at WordPress. Very shortly, WordPress will cover almost all the major languages across different regions of the world to enable anyone to write, edit and publish content online from anywhere.

8) 56,319 Plugins and Counting

WordPress does have around 56,319  free plugins in their repository. That is by far one of its biggest advantages, which can be summed down to one word, extensibility.

The sheer number of plugins, both free and paid is what sets WordPress apart from its competitors. The WordPress plugin repository is growing each day as new plugins are added on a continual basis.

Besides, one can easily build their own custom plugins as is the case with one of our projects. We built a unique custom WordPress plugin for the Australian Retailer Association to help them manage events from a single interface.

9) Alexa Ranks WordPress High

As per Alexa, WordPress.com is the 57th most popular website in the world, or in other words, WordPress.com is popular than Pinterest, Github and CNN.

Source: Alexa

10) A Single WordPress Theme Churned Out Millions

One single WordPress theme Avada has generated more than 27 Million USD in revenue. It became the highest selling multi-purpose theme and the most downloaded on ThemeForest.

Custom themes are yet another key attribute of WordPress. As we have mentioned earlier, our work on a custom plugin for one of our client did not stop with that. Our team developed a custom responsive WordPress theme that revamped their website for better load and render times.

11) WordPress is Behind Big Brands

Lots of big brands use WordPress. It may be surprising that an open source CMS has such a high number of valued users from various businesses. Here are some of the top brands using WordPress to manage and publish their content online.

12)  A Swift, Responsive and Redefined WordPress with Calypso

Calypso is the new JavaScript and API driven interface for WordPress.com. It is a highly powerful interface with lots of futuristic features that simplify how we manage websites. Calypso includes multi-site support with better page loading speed by utilizing the REST API and WordPress JavaScript.

Calypso is available as a downloadable application from WordPress.com that utilize its interface on computers running on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. The responsive design offers a streamlined user experience that makes it a very user-friendly platform for managing websites.

13) Gutenberg – An Entirely New WordPress Experience

Gutenberg is the new react driven revolutionary editor of WordPress. It is said to be a radical step in the future of WordPress giving a whole new disruptive editing experience, especially for media-rich web pages.

Creating rich and engaging content is made easier with Gutenberg’s refined interface. It includes new tools like blocks that help users with even basic technical knowledge stylize and rearrange multimedia content effortlessly. Gutenberg will be the default editor of WordPress from version 5.0(which is set to release soon).

14) Moz lists WordPress in its Top 500

Moz in its Top 500 domains, lists WordPress.org as the 7th most popular website in the world. WordPress.com follows close behind, ranked 10th in the list.

15) 4,300,000 downloads for a Single Premium WordPress Plugin

Wpbakery Page Builder is a premium WordPress plugin with more than 4,300,000 installations.

16) Wix Once Stole WordPress Code

Wix, one of the biggest competitor of WordPress actually once stole GPL code from WordPress. The result was several allegations made by Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg against Wix of stealing their open source under the GNU Public License (GPL) code without any attribution, credit or license. Wix CEO, responded back that they indeed used WordPress code citing it as open source and free to use.

17) Yoast is Still the most Popular WordPress Plugin

Yoast, the SEO plugin of WordPress alone has more than 5 million installations. Around since 2008, Yoast has been the favorite plugin of countless users for implementing effective SEO strategies that earn them a notable place in the search results.

18) Plugin Installations is the Highest on WordPress

Around 35+ WordPress plugins have more than 1 million active installations. When looking at WordPress.org the number of plugin downloads have exceeded 1 billion.

19) The Most Vulnerable CMS on the Planet

Security is one weak string that WordPress has long struggled with. Data suggests that nearly 60% of WordPress sites are affected by security vulnerabilities caused due to an outdated or poorly coded WordPress plugin or theme. Around 8% of WordPress sites were hacked due to a weak password.

This is, however, not a sign of weakness of the CMS platform. Out of date versions and plugins have been identified as the leading causes behind the vulnerabilities that affect the platform such as hacking and malware attacks.

20) WordPress Hosts an Amazing Global Community

At the heart of WordPress is a large community dispersed globally who collaborates and contribute to making the platform better. WordCamps is one such, which are local conferences that covers everything about WordPress.

As of now, around 915 WordCamps have been organized in 65 countries and 71 cities across 6 continents. It brings together developers all over with sessions and activities to find ways to more effectively use WordPress.

21) A Majority of Educational Institutions Use WordPress

44.8% of colleges, schools, and universities all over the world use WordPress.

• Harvard Blogs
• MIT
• Northwestern University
• Boston University
• University of Berlin
• University of Melbourne
• Oregon State University Blogs

22) WordPress is Used by Governments All Over The World

WordPress powers thousands of government websites in all parts of the world. The list includes dozens of US Federal and State government websites, counties, small towns, high schools, etc.

Government websites like America.gov, Congressional Budget Office, Library of Congress, Brazilian Culture Ministry etc. are some that are run entirely using WordPress.

23) WordPress.com is not the Same as WordPress.org

WordPress.org(self-hosted WordPress) is the actual open source WordPress software. Anyone can download, install, modify and host it anywhere.

WordPress.com is the “website-as-a-service” implementation built on the WordPress.org software. WordPress.com hosts your site and handles everything for you.

24) WordPress versions are Named after Jazz Musicians

WordPress core developers share a love of jazz music, and since WordPress 1.0 all major releases are named in honor of jazz musicians they admire.

25) GNU GPL Licenses WordPress

WordPress is released under GNU GPL which means you have the freedom to,

• Run the program for any purpose.
• Study how the program works and change it to make it do what you wish.
• Redistribute copies so that you can help your neighbor.
• Improve the program and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

Getting started with WordPress [Source : LearnWebCode]

26) WordPress has only 822 Employees

WordPress has only around 822 employees around the world which is 1/700 of the total employees in Amazon.

You can also see that, even though eBay has much less traffic compared to WordPress, they do have 17 times more employees than WordPress.

27) Content Keeps Pouring Out from WordPress

Users produce about 69.3 million new WordPress posts and 72.0 million new comments each month. By looking at the live activity, we can infer the amount of usage at different countries.

28) More WordPress Versions in a Short Span

More than 98 versions of WordPress has been released till now. The development community has been quick in coming up with redefined versions to help make WordPress better and an all-encompassing CMS system open to everyone.

29) WordPress Once Passed off as a Necessary Job Skill

WordPress was the most requested job skill in the world in 2014. For developers, having a handful of WordPress skills like writing, publishing and managing content on the platform were viewed as necessary to land a job in the information technology sector.

30) WordPress Surpassed Amazon in Visits One Time

Some years back, WordPress.com had more visits than amazon.com. The popularity of the CMS platform has reached its peak that it now gathers more visits than any other websites belonging to different categories.

31) You can Setup a WordPress Website in 5 Minutes

WordPress does have the famous 5-minute installation setup, which means you can launch your first WordPress website fully ready in just 5 minutes.

32) A WordPress Plugin Akismet is Catching more Spam than Ever

Akismet, the spam blocking WordPress plugin catches 7,500,000 pieces of spam per hour. As of now, Akismet has succeeded in blocking about 456, 455, 260, 375 spam comments from the web. Several websites integrate Akismet into their WordPress to deal with spam worry free.

33) WordPress has its own Merchandise Store

The official merchandise store of WordPress has been named as Swag Store. It sells a range of WordPress merchandise from t-shirts, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, sunglasses, carry bags and skullcaps.

Summing Up

From individual bloggers to big companies, WordPress helps them share their passions, promote their company’s products and engage with a wider audience. Being a step ahead of its competitors, WordPress puts forth what an ideal CMS platform should be like. Open source and an extensive collaborative community that strives to make it better with each new releases and updates.

For this reason, we at Fingent rely extensively on WordPress to create, publish and manage all our digital content as well as use it across different projects to serve the requirements of our clients. The conciseness and extended capabilities of WordPress ensure that digital publishing and management is more swift and easier than before.

We can help you with the same as our expertise in WordPress can give your business a solid online identity that will push your content across a wider audience and distribute your marketing efforts more effectively.