The world is developing insanely fast, which means that something becomes trending when something else may become obsolete. With the IT industry, one can claim that these changes happen at the speed of a sound. Based on the technological advancements in 2019 (the roots and rapid development of IoT, the heyday of AI, blockchain implementation, etc.), we can predict what is and will be trending throughout 2020.

Be in the loop about tech trends

No matter if you manage an enterprise or you are a software developer who wants to keep up with the times, you should be aware of the software development trends. Whether you own a startup or a long-existing organization, you want to stay on the market for as long as possible.

Being aware of the latest development technologies that will be popular throughout 2020 and in the upcoming years allows to be competitive in today’s market as well as future-proof your business.

Even if you are a developer with a perspective of new job acquisition, you should have an eye for these technologies. If you are a software development company, you also should have your finger on these revolutionary technologies to select the best candidates for your job.

Blockchain

Blockchain has occupied the leading positions among the growing technology trends in 2020 based on LinkedIn’s research. Having emerged together with cryptocurrency and as a technology to store cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain has grown into something much bigger and became a development .

According to the “Emerging Jobs in 2020” report published by LinkedIn the growing interest in blockchain is associated with the growing prices for Bitcoin. So, what else will blockchain be used for in 2020? The answer lies in the fact that it has a lot of advantages as compared to traditional databases:

• All users of a blockchain database have a secured copy of data, which eliminates any inconsistencies.

• As data can automatically be corrected and integrated, users have a high level of trust in blockchain databases.

• Data in confirmed blocks is very unlikely to be removed or altered once it has been recorded. It prevents any fraudulent behavior with data.

Of course, blockchain technology has a considerable number of disadvantages, such as potential attacks, inefficiency, and large size. Nevertheless, it seems that blockchain will be among the most demanded technologies in 2020.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing technology has been on the rise for a few recent years and seems to remain among one of the greatest software development trends since cloud data storage is more cost-efficient for firms than maintaining their own IT infrastructure. Cloud computing services include not only storage but also video streaming, networking, artificial intelligence development, and standard office applications.

According to research conducted by Gartner, by 2021, more than 50% of global enterprises and firms using cloud computing nowadays, will adopt an all-in cloud strategy, which means that these companies will store all their data in cloud systems.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence has been one of the top software industry trends in the past decade and it doesn’t seem to lose ground in 2020. AI will be beneficial for computer graphics to create videos and images as realistic as possible. Another artificial intelligence trend, which will be rather popular in 2020, is deep fake. Furthermore, it has the potential to make users’ experience more personalized.

Specifically, AI will help service providers to have a more accurate view of their customers’ needs according to Tech Startups article.

Here are some facts about AI in numbers:

• Some pieces of research (for example, by PwC, suggest that, by 2030, the AI’s contribution to the global economy will be approximately 15.7 trillion dollars);

• 58 million new jobs will be created by 2022 resulting from the increased use of AI;

• 225% – by this number of percent decreased the Amazon’s “ship-to-click” time due to the use of robots.

Cybersecurity

Among the new technologies trends that will rock the IT industry in 2020, is cybersecurity. As the world is becoming more connected, the need to protect data is rapidly increasing. Thus, more and more companies are looking for effective protection against malware issued by their competitors. According to the IT Security Economics in 2019 Report by Kaspersky, in 2019, more than 50% of all organizations experienced a malware infection.

The demand for highly skilled cybersecurity specialists is expected to grow because of the growing amount of political disinformation cases, as well as, the number of frauds. Research by The New York Times has estimated that, in 2020, the number of unfulfilled cybersecurity jobs will increase to 3.5 million.

Internet of things (IoT)

Another potential 2020 trend is the much-talked-of Internet of things. So, what’s behind its popularity?

The Internet of things has a considerable impact on people’s everyday life; this network of interrelated devices, objects, and digital machines find its use in all domains – from healthcare to architecture, from logistics to education.

Those are the following major 2020 trends in the IoT:

• It will be closely related to Big Data.

• In the upcoming years, the Internet of things will be strongly related to edge computing, a computing paradigm, which makes data storage and computation more accessible to where it is most needed. Edge computing makes data processing on the Internet of things faster and more cost-effective.

• It is very likely that, within the next 10 years, machine learning will become extremely automated with the help of blockchain-like technologies.

• The IoT network has been growing very fast and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Just imagine: according to some estimates, the global IoT market is expected to grow up to 14 trillion dollars! Likewise, Gartner predicts that, by 2021, the number of interconnected IoT devices will be 25 billion.

PWA (Progressive Web Application)

PWA is a brand-new class of web applications development that allows users to have native web app experience. The main feature that makes PWA a trending technology is that progressive web apps can function even when devices are offline.

With PWA, customers can enjoy their favorite websites using mobile browsers without downloading special programs and apps. In 2020, most PWAs will be written with HTML, CSS, React, JavaScript, Angular, and React.js. Some of the most popular PWAs include Starbucks, Trivago, Tinder, OLX, and Pinterest. To publish PWA on the Google Play store TWA (Trusted Web Activities) could be used.

Mobile Development Trends in 2020

Receiving and making calls and SMS have long ceased to be the main functions of a mobile phone. Nowadays, people use a huge number of mobile applications to communicate, play games, study, have a rest, have fun, etc.

For instance, at the end of 2019, Android users could choose from 2.57 million apps available on Google Play while App Store was the second largest app store offering iOS users almost 1.84 million apps.

Nowadays, using the latest mobile development technologies allows business or organization to get the competitive advantage on the market.

There are two categories of mobile development frameworks: native and cross-platform ones. While native apps development is usually done with frameworks created by the company that owns a mobile platform (iOS SDK or Android SDK), cross-platform frameworks allow using a single codebase for multiple platforms.

A considerable advantage of native mobile applications is that they are fast and compatible with the device’s hardware. On the other hand, cross-platform frameworks are more cost-effective than native development. These frameworks allow businesses to achieve various markets. That is why they are among software development trends in 2020.

Xamarin, Flutter, and React Native cross-platform frameworks are believed to be the most promising trending technologies in 2020.

However, these frameworks also have drawbacks that can’t be ignored.

• It is quite difficult to integrate an application developed on cross-platform frameworks with local (iOS or Android) settings. Thus, you may need to use third-party applications and programs.

• The speed of the code at the development phase might be low.

• While switching to a new platform, you may find out that your previous code is not reusable.

• Additionally, building an application with a great user experience is not an easy task as each platform is unique and has its own one-of-a-kind functionality.

Xamarin

Xamarin is an open-source platform framework based on C# programming languages.

It is a revolutionary approach to mobile development because it allows sharing approximately 90% of the codebase among several platforms

Additionally, the Xamarin framework creates a flawless native experience with the help of platform-specific UI components. Another uncomparable benefit, which brings Xamarin is that it allows to maintain and update applications easily only by making changes in the source file. Some of the applications developed on Xamarin include CA Mobile, Novarum DX, Storyo, and Captio.

Flutter

Flutter is another open-source mobile development platform, which aims at creating unique UI experience on different platforms. The framework was created by Google and uses the Dart programming language, which is quite unfamiliar to most programmers. Like Xamarin, this framework allows you to build native-like applications, though it is a cross-platform framework. An undoubtful flutter’s benefit, which makes it unique, is the availability of numerous widgets and an opportunity to create new ones.

Hot reload is a unique feature that can make flutter the best technology for mobile development in the 2020s

React Native

One should not forget about the widely used React Native framework, on which Facebook and other quite popular applications, such as Instagram, Uber Eats, Airbnb, and 2048 were developed. These applications have been downloaded by millions of users, and it’s not a surprise that businesses will continue to use this framework for application development. There is a great number of reasons why this development technology will be trending in computer science in 2020:

• Another benefit, which React Native brings to its apps is the fact that they consume less memory than other applications through 3rd party plug-ins.

• In the React Native framework, it is possible to reuse already written code, which makes it much easier to detect and fix bugs.

• The framework is regularly updated, so, the new 0.60 version will be more accessible for Android and iOS platforms.

• Released in September 2019, the new version has a feature called “Fast Refresh”, which makes apps development even faster.

In spite of the fact that these three cross-platform development apps are trending in 2020, they have some disadvantages for mobile development, which you should take into consideration. For instance, a major flutter’s drawback is that it has a limited library, which means that developers should compile it themselves.

The Most Trending Programming Languages in 2020

The popularity of programming languages changes significantly every year. Some already existing languages find new ways to be applied while new programming languages with very attractive features are coming. Businesses choose which language to use depending on how much it can help to achieve their goals.

It has been estimated that, currently, there are between 500 and 5000 programming languages, which almost equals the number of languages spoken worldwide.

For many years, the top programming language was Java. Even though it’s still widely used, one can say that there are completely new trends in technology.

Some of the top programming languages that have the potential to rule the IT world in 2020 are JavaScript, PHP, Python, and GoLang.

JavaScript

For many years, JavaScript remains one of the most commonly used languages for programming. According to the Stack Overflow survey, 67.8% of all developers used JavaScript in 2019. It’s mainly used in front-end development, which makes it possible to create highly interactive web pages. The active use of JavaScript is strongly associated with the thriving game industry nowadays.

PHP

PHP is a preferred language among website developers, especially beginners. Although nowadays, PHP is outranked by JavaScript and GoLang, it is still among the trending web development technologies for 2020. In fact, approximately 70% of modern websites have been written with this language. It seems that it will remain on the top positions in 2020 because of its large ecosystem, ease of use, and huge developers’ community.

Python

The popularity of the Python programming (development) language is related to its wide range of applications: with Python, you can create mobile and web applications, medical tools, and network servers. What is more, Python is often used for AI development. Throughout 2019, the popularity of Python rose from 5% to 10% and it seems that its rise will continue. Experts say that Python has become so commonly used because its entrance barriers have been lowered significantly.

GoLang

GoLang is one of the newest programming languages; although Google introduced it back in 2009, it was a household name throughout 2019. Its main feature is an active support of multithreading, thus, it is a perfect option for those companies that rely heavily on distributed systems. One of the reasons why this language has been so popular recently is that it has a very small syntax and is easy to learn. GoLang also is a lightweight language, which allows you to develop applications that do not take up much memory.

Conclusion

Since digital presence is vital for businesses today, being aware of the latest software development trends is a must for clients as well as software development providers. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and the Internet of things are those trends that will dominate in, at least, 2020.

These technologies have already entered various spheres of economy. For instance, the IoT is now actively used by governments and environmental services to track the consequences of global warming. If you want to move with the times and remain competitive in your field, you should know what is trending and how to use it for your benefit.