Tag: Web App Development
‘There is success through many advisers.’ This ancient proverb has proved not just true but very effective and powerful in this digital age. This is precisely what Open-Source Software (OSS) accomplishes. It allows for collaborative development where the community can modify and enhance the source code.
Open-source systems can help businesses adapt quickly to changing circumstances and facilitates controlled upgrades. Integration and maintenance become less of a hurdle. With the wide range of OSS possibilities, businesses are wise to tap into this huge potential for building a robust, secure, and yet, cost-effective infrastructure.
This blog will help you gain an in-depth understanding of how open-source can power your digital transformation journey!
How Open-Source Software Powers Digital Transformation
Vendors today provide various software solutions indispensable to a business’s software strategy. But finding the right software solution that caters closely to an organization’s needs has always been challenging! Meanwhile, OSS helps businesses build and maintain their IT ecosystem and enables sourcing highly creative developers with hard-to-locate skills. Engaging with domain experts and making their contribution to the OSS bank helps developers find satisfaction and boosts creativity. Judicious use of OSS can be of great benefit to any business.
Most IT leaders believe that OSS is either “very important” or “extremely important” to the enterprise software strategy. How do we know that? In 2021, developers downloaded over 2.2 trillion open-source packages. That is a 73% increase.
Read more: How to Ensure Safe Use of Open Source Libraries
Here are more reasons to justify this statement!
1. OSS Can Serve as A Ramp to The Future
Irrespective of whether you are a small business with limited resources or an established enterprise with an established IT ecosystem, open-source software’s ability to supply code that can be easily changed and customized to your specific needs is invaluable. Many businesses are turning to AI and blockchain to better understand customer needs and work towards fulfilling them. Open-source code can not only hasten the process but also ensure efficiency.
AI, ML, and AR/VR could feel like the proverbial butterfly always out of reach, and more so if your business does not have a well-established IT team. OSS can then serve as your ramp to the future. Your vendor or coder could build on the resources available to ramp up your IT capabilities and reach your desired situation.
2. OSS Can Be a Beacon for Talent
OSS provides coders and developers with access to code written by experts or extremely creative pioneers. This would be an immersive learning exercise. At the same time, experienced engineers could interact with others in their community, freshening their skills while keeping up with the latest in the IT industry. This exposure would, in turn, influence their recruiting and training activities.
The OSS is also a repository of “glueware.” It allows software engineers to create things outside their immediate area of expertise. While it requires ingenuity and skill to glue parts together to make a whole system, OSS provides not just the individual parts and the “glue” required to fix them. It is a new method of looking at the design, resulting in greater satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
3. OSS Can Build Engineering Discipline
Open-source projects have very clear frameworks. There is structure and good practices such as separation of concerns, abstraction, and isolation. A business of any size would benefit from following the same discipline in setting up its systems.
Maintaining clear standards of operability ad interoperability is another advantage. Using OSS ensures that the same standards are followed. Businesses do not have to invent standards and frameworks but can build on the foundation provided by OSS.
4. OSS Can Improve Your “Ilities”
Scalability, availability, and reliability – are just a few of the many aspects that OSS can help improve. Utility to ensure efficiency and avoid duplicating work can also be added to the list. Developers or vendors would likely prefer importing sections from a tried and tested OSS repository than building from scratch.
Read more: Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning For Faster and Accurate Project Cost Estimation
Dimensions of Open-Source Software
OSS boosts the digital transformation of businesses. It is good for businesses that lack the resources to meet the needs of IT development. OSS can yield different variations by its modularity. Consider a few pros and cons of OSS:
- Price: The price is very low to zero. However, one must consider the need for support, customization, and hosting while considering the cost of using OSS.
- Source Code: Full access to the source code helps developers evaluate the quality of the software and customize it to the needs of the business.
- Functionality: While individual systems from the OSS may be limited, they can be easily ramped up to serve all business needs.
- Modularity: OSS is modular. Hence it prompts the engagement of several experts in building a specific IT system.
- Development: OSS code is developed worldwide by motivated developers from a wide range of roles and functions.
- Distribution: OSS code is distributed over the internet, which is fast, efficient, and cost-effective.
- Licensing: A range of OSS licenses specify how the code can be used, modified, or redistributed. However, certain restrictive licenses only support the limited use of the OSS code.
- Monetization: Offering support services to help integrate the system, train users, and fix bugs is one way to monetize OSS. Offering to work out the deployment of OSS systems and taking care of backups, upgrades, and downtime is another way to monetize OSS.
Is Customization A Smarter Choice With Open Source?
Remember that OSS is another tool best suited for certain tasks and not so well suited for others. OSS might not be the best choice for your strategic activities or initiatives contrary to your cultural norms. Certain projects on OSS might have too high a level of uncertainty or too little support.
This does not mean that OSS should be put out of the picture. Do you need to adapt quickly to the fast-paced development in certain domains? Do you need greater effectiveness in attracting and retaining talent? Do you need a solution that requires utility, quality, and speed? OSS can help you in all these scenarios.
Read more: Odoo Migration: Why Is It Crucial and How to Do It Seamlessly!
How Can Fingent Help?
Fingent can leverage open-source technology to quickly develop your customized, dynamic business application. Our experts use PHP, AngularJS, jQuery, Magento, and several other open-source technologies to develop, implement and support a wide range of open-source technologies and resources. Our extensive experience working with open-source tools helps ensure that we can provide our clients with customized, innovative solutions quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality.
Intrigued to learn more about how we can help you develop and leverage the best business software solutions with open source. Connect with our experts now!
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.
Any client needs to know how a proposed app is likely to work and impact their business. It will provide them with an insight into the functionality of the app and how it helps the end users. This is where wireframing comes into play as an essential part of mobile app development. A professional app development company can use wireframing as an essential tool for laying out the functionality, visualization, navigation, UI and preliminary function of an app.
Wireframes have a significant role in the design process. As yet, wireframing has been the most effective way to detect usability issues early on in the design process. Wireframes typically do not include color, graphics or stylized fonts so that the reviewer is least distracted and focused on the user flows and user experience. In what follows, we will highlight why wireframes constitute a vital part of the app development process.
App Designers consider Wireframing an Ideal Building Block
Wireframes are essentially a visual conception that illustrates the screen interface of an app. Usually conceived as black and white layouts, the wireframes outlines how different elements of the app like pages, navigation, and conversion portions are laid out. As a blueprint, a wireframe ensures the level of attention in design and UI so that it remains practical for the end user.
It lays out the skeleton of the app which portrays the page‘s interface (elements spacing, content prioritization, and functionalities) and how users interact with the site. Wireframes act as the vital link between the information architecture and the visual aspects of the design.
Moreover, wireframes act as a visual representation of how the user manages different scenarios and achieves the business objectives. It acts as a site architecture with links provided in each of the wireframes so that a clickable model is built for getting a full demo experience of the app.
Wireframing is the stepping stone for an app to become successful, which also have numerous other benefits.
Wireframing Tools – Key to Navigating the Flow of the App
A wireframing tool will help you understand how to create an app or website essentially easier by visually paring the product down and focus on the functionality and user interactivity of your product.
Clients need to be educated on how your proposed app or website will work. A written or verbal explanation would leave major functionalities down to their imagination, giving way to more errors. This situation is not helpful for you or your client. It is here that wireframing tools can play a significant role in squaring that circle.
Wireframing tools differ with varying levels of functionality some of which can be used purely for simple wireframes, while others to create a working prototype. Some wireframe tools take you through the entire process of roughly sketching your wireframes, creating sitemaps, flowcharts, and storyboards; collaborating them with others, and building functional prototypes.
The Boons of Wireframing in App Development
What wireframing does is to create a visual framework of the entire app. It steers clear from complex flowcharts by substituting with an understandable model that eases the workflow and accelerates the app development process. The following is a check-list of the benefits of using wireframing in application development:
- A Walkthrough of the App
The blueprint of the app laid out through wireframes will give the client a clear picture of what the app is about and its functionality. Using wireframes, the client can suggest changes or improvements so that the final app design remains in accord with their goals. A proper wireframe is essentially a walkthrough of the app that guides the clients and developers to focus on building the app solely with the end user experience in mind.
- Improves Development Process
Wireframes aid real-time communication within the team, which helps speed up the development process. It eliminates design errors as the wireframes can provide insights into the workflows to be used by each section of the development team. The improved app workflow helps the team to focus on the responsiveness of the app using regular feedbacks. Such a method is very useful if a deadline is looming large.
- Aids Interactive Apps
Some apps need good animation display such as in case of a gaming app. An interactive app requires a blueprint for visualizing all the ideas, designs and features. Wireframing allows just that as it gives developers the means to preconceive the visual and moving elements within the app. This will give them an estimate of how the interactive elements of the app functions and the effect that it has on the user experience.
- Allows Easy Changes
With a wireframing tool, it is easier to make the necessary changes during the app development process. The wireframing model allows the clients to suggest the necessary changes during the actual development. Developers can then work on these suggestions easily by making the relevant changes to the app. Any changes made will instantly reflect in the app, which allows the development team to implement the client suggestions right away.
- Minimizes Overall Project Costs
Having a good wireframe for an app can cut down the costs involved in its development significantly. The client can request the necessary changes when previewing a demo of the app through the wireframes. This prompts the development team to work on these changes in the initial stages of building the app. Changes or additions during the final stages usually prove costly. A wireframe eliminates this and quickens the process of making the app ready for the launch.
Building a great wireframe
At Fingent, wireframes are a complete reflection of our client’s unique requirements. Our team makes it a point to understand our clients not just from a technical perspective but from an emotional perspective as well. This helps us address their requirements better so that the end results always remain fruitful. For that purpose, we employ a standard process of wireframing to build apps with rich user experience and responsiveness. Here are the major steps involved in our wireframing process:
- Understanding the client – Getting to know what the client wants from a technical perspective helps us in determining the right solution for them. But we go an extra mile to understand the client from an emotional perspective as well so that we can serve them better and do more than just provide a technology solution. We get to know what exactly is in the minds of our clients, which helps us in being proactive in our approach.
- Understanding the outcome – The first step in creating a wireframe is understanding what our client intends to do or convey through a particular app. That is, what the client wants his/her users to do. It includes finding out whether the client wants its users to do a particular action or read a particular thing or even feel a particular way after going through the page or app section.
- Creating user stories – We then create user stories which cover the list of features required in the application and also a brief description of the flow and functionality within each section. This helps us better in knowing what to use and where it is placed like whether it is best to use a checkbox or a radio button for a particular element on the page or to have a text box or drop-down menu for another element etc. While creating the wireframes, this can act as a quick reference.
- Designing the wireframes – After obtaining the required inputs from our clients, we then proceed with creating the wireframes by using a stencil kit or other simple wireframing tools depending on the complexity of the application. The wireframes that we create using this method are shared with our clients as well as our designers so that everyone can come up with better ideas and solutions.
- The user interface – While we go about the process of wireframing, we always keep in mind our client’s unique requirements. But we also make it a point to put ourselves in the shoes of the users of the app as well. This helps us understand and answer many questions that the users might have in their minds while going through the app. Together with the valuable inputs from our client, we create apps that are more user-friendly by applying the necessary changes. We preoccupy ourselves with questions during development such as ‘What does the user want?’ or ‘What will the user think?’ What we primarily ask ourselves while wireframing for apps and web pages is ‘What does the user want?’ or ‘What will the user think?’ with the aim of leading the users to what our client wants them to do.
Summing Up
In a nutshell, a good wireframe is a simplified visual concept of the future app. But they can also wreck a project if not done correctly. It helps build a mockup of the proposed app that contains its would-be features and functions.
It doesn’t give any idea about the design but helps to understand the functionality of the application, which is its definitive advantage. It enables the client, developer, and designer walk through the structure of the app without being distracted by colors or graphics.
Even though wireframing could take up some time before the development of the solution, it is always better to make your wireframes perfect and then get into development. At Fingent top custom software development company, we make it a point to wireframe every section of any app, as it is much more meaningful and safe for development later. Our experts assert the importance of wireframing as it allows in creating flexible workflows for easily incorporating changes. Moreover, it simplify the process for the developers and designers to begin executing once the core features and elements are confirmed.
Throughout the process of wireframing and development, we believe it is best to keep in touch with our clients on a regular basis. In this way, we are able to keep them updated on the developments and gather feedback to make sure that it ultimately meets their requirements. This approach not only helps us in our projects but also in building solutions that truly matter to our clients.