Author: Vanessa Measom

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Community Tips

Dev update 30 May: GitHub Copilot Evolves, Angular 20 & Linux 6.15 Land, Critical Security Alerts 🚀

Okay, here's a draft for a blog post covering the key software development news from roughly the past week (around May 23rd - May 30th, 2025), drawing from the items we've discussed and styled after the example you shared. Dev Update: GitHub Copilot Evolves, Angular 20 & Linux 6.15 Land, Critical Security Alerts 🚀

It’s been another packed week in the software development universe! AI continues to drive innovation at a breakneck pace, core development tools are receiving significant upgrades, and as always, staying on top of security remains paramount. Let’s dive into some of the biggest headlines that caught our eye and what they mean for developers.

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AI Development Tools Get a Major Boost

The world of AI-assisted development is moving fast, and this week brought some exciting updates:

  • GitHub Copilot: Now Smarter and More Collaborative
    • What’s new? GitHub rolled out a double upgrade for Copilot. Firstly, it now leverages OpenAI’s more advanced GPT-4o model (announced around May 27th), promising more accurate and context-aware code suggestions. Secondly, GitHub unveiled “Copilot Spaces” (announced May 29th), a new environment designed for teams to collaborate using Copilot, keeping AI suggestions, code context, and discussions all in one shareable space.
    • Why it matters? The GPT-4o upgrade means potentially better and faster code generation for individual developers. Copilot Spaces aims to integrate AI assistance more deeply into team workflows, especially for tasks like pair programming, code reviews, and onboarding. This could significantly change how development teams leverage AI.
    • Learn more:
  • Anthropic’s Claude Models Shine on AWS Bedrock
    • What’s new? Amazon Web Services continues to expand its generative AI offerings. The AWS Weekly Roundup (May 26th) highlighted the availability and power of Anthropic’s Claude AI models on Amazon Bedrock, including discussions around the capabilities of models like Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
    • Why it matters? Access to powerful foundation models like Claude directly within the AWS ecosystem provides developers with more choices and robust tools for building sophisticated AI-powered applications, from chatbots to content generation and complex reasoning tasks, all integrated with other AWS services.
    • Learn more: AWS Weekly Roundup (May 26, 2025)
  • Traceloop Launches Observability for LLM Apps

Core Frameworks, Kernels, and Databases Level Up

It wasn’t all about AI; foundational technologies also saw important releases and announcements:

  • Angular 20 is Here!
    • What’s new? The Angular team announced that the brand-new major release, Angular 20, entered Active Support around May 28th.
    • Why it matters? Major framework releases like Angular 20 typically bring a host of new features, performance improvements, developer experience enhancements, and important dependency updates. For the large community of Angular developers, this means new tools to build better web applications.
    • Learn more: Angular Releases (e.g., https://angular.dev/reference/releases) or the official Angular Blog (angular.dev/blog)
  • Linux Kernel 6.15 Arrives
  • PostgreSQL 18 Promises Performance Gains
  • Visual Studio 2022 v17.14 Preview 3 Drops
    • What’s new? Microsoft released Preview 3 for Visual Studio 2022 v17.14 around May 28th. Key updates include long-requested Toolbox support for Explicit Assembly References in the Windows Forms out-of-process designer and updates to the Address Sanitizer for C++ developers.
    • Why it matters? These enhancements improve the development experience for .NET and C++ developers, particularly those working with legacy WinForms applications or focusing on memory safety.
    • Learn more: Visual Studio Blog (e.g., https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/visual-studio-2022-17-14-preview-3-now-available/)

Platform News & Essential Security

Rounding out the week:

  • Firefox 139 Patches Critical Vulnerabilities
    • What’s new? Mozilla pushed out Firefox 139 (and Firefox ESR 128.11) around May 28th, addressing several critical security vulnerabilities (detailed in advisory mfsa2025-42).
    • Why it matters? Browser security is non-negotiable. These updates fix flaws that could be exploited by attackers. All users, especially developers who rely heavily on browsers for testing and research, should update immediately.
    • Learn more: Mozilla Security Advisories (e.g., https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2025-42/)
  • Dynatrace Launches Live Debugger for Production Services
    • What’s new? Dynatrace announced its “Live Debugger” feature around May 29th, enabling engineers to debug services directly in production environments. It allows for grabbing full-state snapshots across numerous instances without needing redeployments.
    • Why it matters? Debugging in production is often challenging and risky. Tools that can simplify this process and provide deep insights without disrupting services can be invaluable for maintaining uptime and resolving complex issues quickly.
    • Learn more: SD Times (e.g., https://www.sdtimes.com/software-development/dynatrace-launches-live-debugger-for-in-production-debugging/)
  • SAP Aims to Simplify ERP Data Access for Developers
    • What’s new? SAP announced new initiatives around May 28th focused on making it easier for developers to access and utilize data from their ERP systems.
    • Why it matters? Simplifying access to enterprise data can unlock new possibilities for custom application development, analytics, and integration, fostering a more vibrant developer ecosystem around SAP solutions.
    • Learn more: The New Stack (e.g., https://thenewstack.io/sap-simplifies-erp-data-access-for-developers/)

That’s a wrap for this week’s key highlights! The pace of change shows no sign of slowing down. Stay curious, keep learning, and ensure your tools (and browsers!) are up to date.

What news caught your attention this week? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Community

Dev Update: Claude Powers Copilot, Google/MS AI News & Critical Node.js Fixes

Weekly Developer News
Weekly Developer News

Hello Developer Nation! It’s a fast-moving world in software development, and staying on top of the latest changes is key. This week, we’ve seen significant movements in AI-powered coding, major announcements from tech giants, critical security patches, and ongoing reminders about best practices. Here’s a condensed look at what you need to know:

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1. GitHub Copilot Enhanced with Anthropic’s Claude 4 Models

GitHub is leveling up its AI pair programmer. Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4 models are now in public preview within GitHub Copilot.

  • What it is: These advanced AI models are integrated into GitHub Copilot to provide more powerful and nuanced code suggestions, explanations, and chat capabilities. Opus 4 is noted as Anthropic’s most capable model.
  • Impact: Developers can expect more insightful assistance, better understanding of complex code, and potentially more accurate generation of larger code blocks. Claude Sonnet 4 is rolling out to all paid GitHub Copilot plans, while Claude Opus 4 is available for Copilot Enterprise users (admins need to enable it) and may extend to other plans.
  • Why it matters: This signifies a continuous push towards more sophisticated AI integration in development tools, aiming to improve productivity and coding quality.

Stay updated via the GitHub Blog.

2. Google I/O 2025: Over 100 Launches, AI at the Forefront

Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, delivered a massive wave of announcements, with AI integrated across the board.

  • Key Highlights for Developers:
    • Gemini Advanced: Updates to the Gemini family, including Gemini 2.5 Pro, offer improved reasoning, coding, and creative capabilities.
    • Firebase AI Logic (Genkit): A new open-source TypeScript/JavaScript framework (Genkit) was announced, enabling developers to build, deploy, and manage AI-powered features and integrate models like Gemini into their applications more easily.
    • Android Updates: The Android XR SDK Developer Preview 2 signals ongoing development in extended reality. Material 3 Expressive offers richer UI possibilities.
    • Web AI: Google is bringing more on-device AI capabilities to the web with Gemini Nano.
  • Why it matters: Google is deeply embedding AI into its developer tools and platforms, providing new avenues for building intelligent applications across mobile, web, and cloud.

Explore all announcements here.

3. Microsoft Build 2025: “Copilot Everywhere” Deepens

Microsoft’s Build conference heavily emphasized the expansion of AI, particularly its Copilot technology, across its entire ecosystem.

  • Key Highlights for Developers:
    • Evolving GitHub Copilot: Microsoft envisions GitHub Copilot transitioning from a “pair programmer” to an “agent” capable of more complex tasks.
    • Copilot Studio for Pro Devs: Enhancements to Copilot Studio are aimed at professional developers for building more sophisticated AI agents and multi-agent systems.
    • Windows AI Foundry: This platform (formerly Windows 11 Copilot Runtime) is designed for model selection, optimization, and deployment across client and cloud, including local versions for Mac.
    • SQL Server 2025 Public Preview: The next version of SQL Server will feature integrated AI capabilities, including built-in vector search.
  • Why it matters: Microsoft is aggressively integrating AI assistance into all facets of the development lifecycle and application infrastructure, pushing towards a future of AI-augmented software creation and operation.

Catch up on Build highlights (and official Microsoft sources).

4. Critical Node.js Security Releases: Patch Now!

The Node.js project issued important security releases on May 14th, addressing vulnerabilities in the 20.x, 22.x, and 24.x release lines.

  • Vulnerabilities Addressed:
    • CVE-2025-23166 (High): Improper error handling in async cryptographic operations can lead to a process crash.
    • CVE-2025-23167 (Medium): Improper HTTP header block termination in llhttp can enable request smuggling (Node.js 20.x prior to llhttp v9 upgrade).
    • CVE-2025-23165 (Low): Corrupted pointer in node::fs::ReadFileUtf8 can cause an unrecoverable memory leak (Node.js v20, v22).
  • Action Required: Users are urged to update to the latest patched versions (e.g., v20.19.2, v22.15.1, v24.0.2) immediately to mitigate these risks.
  • Why it matters: These vulnerabilities can lead to denial of service, information leakage, or request hijacking. Prompt patching is crucial for maintaining application security and stability.

Details at the Node.js blog which you can find here.

Stay tuned to Developer Nation for more updates and insights to keep you informed and ahead in the ever-evolving world of software development! Okay, Developer Nation, time for a quick rundown of the key updates you should have on your radar from the past week. We know it’s a lot to keep up with, so here’s a concise brief to keep you in the know.

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Community

What Developers Need to Know About Manus AI and Autonomous Coding

What Developers Need to Know About Manus AI and Autonomous Coding
What Developers Need to Know About Manus AI and Autonomous Coding

The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, and one of the most exciting yet controversial innovations to emerge is Manus AI. Developed by the Chinese startup Monica, Manus AI is a fully autonomous agent capable of executing complex tasks without constant human oversight. While its potential to revolutionise software development is immense, early reports have raised concerns about system instability, security risks, and functionality limitations.

So what does this mean for software developers? Let’s explore how Manus AI could transform the way code is written, optimised, and maintained—while also addressing some of the challenges it currently faces.

Shape the Future of Tech! Join the Developer Nation Panel to share your insights, drive tech innovation, and win exciting prizes. Sign up, take surveys, and connect with a global community shaping tomorrow’s technology.

What is Manus AI?

Unlike traditional AI-powered tools that assist developers by providing suggestions or autocompleting code, Manus AI takes a leap forward by independently executing tasks. Whether it’s debugging, optimising algorithms, or generating entire scripts, Manus AI functions as an intelligent assistant that works alongside developers, allowing them to focus on strategic problem-solving rather than repetitive coding tasks.

Key Features for Software Developers

  1. Automated Debugging – Manus AI can identify and resolve coding errors autonomously, reducing the time spent on troubleshooting.
  2. Code Optimisation – The AI analyses code efficiency and suggests or implements improvements, leading to better-performing software.
  3. Script and Module Generation – Instead of manually writing boilerplate code, developers can rely on Manus AI to generate functional modules based on given requirements.
  4. Contextual Understanding – Manus AI dynamically plans, analyses, and executes tasks, ensuring it adapts to the specific needs of a project.
  5. Seamless Integration – Recently, Manus AI partnered with Alibaba’s Qwen team, enhancing its capabilities and opening new possibilities for AI-assisted software development.

Reported Issues and Challenges

While Manus AI is an exciting innovation, early users have reported several issues that need to be addressed:

  • System Instability – Some users have experienced system crashes and server overloads when Manus AI attempts to handle highly complex tasks. This suggests scalability and performance issues in its current state. (Source)
  • Functionality Loops – Manus AI occasionally gets stuck in repetitive cycles, particularly when faced with ambiguous or open-ended tasks. This can hinder efficiency and require manual intervention.
  • Over-Reliance on Existing Models – Investigations suggest that Manus AI integrates existing models like Claude Sonnet and Qwen fine-tunes rather than being entirely novel in its execution. Some critics argue that this limits its innovation. (Source)
  • Security Concerns – There have been concerns about potential prompt leaks and vulnerabilities, raising questions about how well Manus AI protects user data.

These challenges highlight that while Manus AI has significant potential, it is still in its early stages and requires further refinement before widespread adoption.

Self-Correction and Learning Capabilities

One of the more promising aspects of Manus AI is its self-correction ability. Unlike traditional AI tools that require explicit user input for debugging, Manus AI can:

  • Detect errors in its own execution and attempt to fix them without human intervention.
  • Refine its problem-solving strategies based on past mistakes.
  • Optimise its approach dynamically when it encounters unexpected issues.

While this self-correction feature is a major step forward, it is not flawless. In some cases, Manus AI struggles to determine the best corrective action, leading to inefficiencies. Developers should still monitor its outputs to ensure accuracy.

Limited Access and Future Availability

Currently, Manus AI is in an invite-only beta phase, and there has been no official announcement regarding its public release date. Developers can apply for access through the official website: https://manus.im/invitation. Due to high demand, it’s advisable to obtain invitations only through official channels.

Open-Source Alternatives

For those looking for more control over their AI assistants, OpenManus offers an open-source alternative. This initiative allows developers to explore and customise autonomous AI capabilities for their own projects, fostering greater innovation and accessibility.

Additionally, other open-source AI models and frameworks provide valuable alternatives:

  • DeepSeek-R1 – A cost-efficient open-source AI model with strong reasoning and coding capabilities.
  • Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 – A powerful model family supporting mathematics, coding, and multiple languages.
  • OpenAssistant – An open-source chatbot AI designed for interactive and retrieval-based tasks.
  • OpenCog – A framework aiming to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) through interconnected AI components.

However, while these tools provide robust AI capabilities, they do not fully replicate the autonomous agent-based functionality of Manus AI. Unlike Manus AI, which can independently execute development tasks without direct user input, these open-source models require structured prompts and interactions. OpenManus remains the closest open-source initiative focused specifically on creating a self-operating AI agent akin to Manus AI.

The Future of AI in Software Development

Manus AI represents a shift towards AI-powered autonomy in software engineering. While tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT provide assistance, Manus AI takes it a step further by acting independently to handle various development tasks. As AI agents become more sophisticated, we can expect an era where AI collaborates with human developers more seamlessly, improving efficiency and innovation in the software industry.

How to Get Started

For developers interested in Manus AI, you can learn more and explore its capabilities at https://manus.im. Whether you’re looking to integrate AI into your workflow or simply stay ahead of the latest AI advancements, now is the time to pay attention to this groundbreaking technology.

What are your thoughts on AI agents like Manus? Would you integrate one into your development process? Let’s discuss!

Categories
Community Enterprise Developers Interviews

Meet the Enterprise Developers – Interview Series #4: Cloud Infrastructure DBaaS domain

Enterprise developers play a critical role in driving innovation, maintaining security, and ensuring the smooth operation of large-scale IT systems within organisations. Despite their importance, we have seen a noticeable decline in the number of enterprise developers across various domains. Particularly within the data analytics and business intelligence sectors, this drop is significant, decreasing from approximately 20% last year to around 14% this year (source: Q1 2024 Pulse Report).

In our ongoing Enterprise Developer Series, we’re striving to provide insights from professionals in the field. Our latest interviewee, who wishes to remain anonymous, will be referred to as Dev C. Dev C. shares their experiences and perspectives on working as an enterprise software developer at Oracle, offering valuable insights into the benefits, challenges, and evolving landscape of the industry.

Q. Can you briefly describe your Job as an Enterprise Software Developer?

Dev C. I work in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure – Database as a Service team where we get to work in developing many cloud related services and platforms that help customers.

Q. What are some of the challenges and benefits of working at a large company compared to a start-up?

Dev C. I would say there are no such benefits now, earlier my answer would have been job security but recent trends have proven this wrong, one benefit could be the culture and flexibility you get at least in Oracle. 

Challenges come in the form of financial increments and growth potential in some teams.

Transparency is needed

Q. If you could change one thing about how your organisation operates, what would it be?

Dev C. I would like a more transparent view about the growth of an individual rather than just be dependent on the manager and I think I would like to hire more people.

Using AI for education

Our latest Pulse Report shows that almost 55% of developers have used AI-assisted development tools for code generation tasks in the past 12 months, however, how does a company like Oracle view AI? Here is what Dev C has to say about Oracle’s policies.

Q. How is AI impacting your day-to-day life? Is there a policy regarding the use of AI tools in your company?

Dev C. Yes there is. But it’s related to not using it to generate code and use company proprietary code there, we can use it to educate ourselves or learn about different services.

Dependency on tools

Q. How much of your work depends on specific tools, frameworks, programming languages or cloud providers?

Dev C. A lot of it is using different frameworks.

Skill Development

Q: How do you keep your skills and knowledge up-to-date?

Dev C. Mostly by working on different projects, but sometimes if I find something interesting out of the scope of my work, I use youtube and other learning tools to update myself.

Mutual decision making

Q: How much influence do you’ve when it comes to procuring a new tool or service to support the projects at work?

Dev C. It’s a mutual team-wide discussion.

Through our conversation with Dev C., we’ve gained a good understanding of the dynamic role enterprise developers play within large organizations like Oracle. From navigating the challenges of growth and financial increments to leveraging AI for educational purposes, their insights highlight the evolving landscape of enterprise development. 

Do you want to shape the future and influence decisions of the largest tech companies? Get in our NEW Developer Nation survey! Everyone completing the survey gets instant access to our cool, virtual goody bag!

As we continue our Enterprise Developer Series, we aim to shed light on the experiences and perspectives of professionals who are shaping the future of enterprise technology. Stay tuned for more interviews and insights from the world of enterprise development.

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Community

State of Developer Wellness report: 83% of developers report feeling burnout at least occasionally

Developer Wellness

Listening to developers feedback in recent years, it became clear that our community members face anxiety, burnout and are trying to find ways to improve their overall health and wellbeing. 

We wanted to learn more about their experiences and with this week being Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK (15th – 21st May) it seems fitting to announce the launch of our State of Developer Wellness report. The report provides insights from our Developer Nation community including workplace experiences, burnout, mental wellbeing, happiness and lifestyles.

We hope that report will raise awareness around the importance of work well-being for developers and creators, and encourage more discussions within developer communities.

Our State of Developer Wellness Survey reached 870 respondents from 91 countries around the world. 

The report covers:

Distribution of Developers based on their Workplace Setup 

Remote work, how it affects their mental wellbeing, do developers feel their employers care about their wellbeing

Developer burnout

How often developers have felt burnout in the last three months, how they decompress and relieve stress, are they successfully managing their workplace stress?

Developer Happiness and Health Lifestyles

We encourage everyone to read the report and share it with your colleagues and peers. Let’s build on a culture of wellness that promotes the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of the developer industry! 

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Community

Let’s Talk About Developer Wellness

Twice per year we run our global surveys with developers like you including professional developers, hobbyists, students, no-code software creators and as always we invite you to leave feedback, which we love to read!

For a long time we have been focusing on developer research aiming to shape the developer ecosystem, and improve the tools and platforms you are using everyday.  Listening to your feedback, we realised that there are a lot of you out there facing anxiety, feeling burned out and trying to find ways to improve your overall health and wellbeing. 

You asked, we listened! The State of Developer Wellness Survey is our first 5-min survey dedicated to your wellbeing.

For each completed response, we’ll be donating $1 USD with an aim to donate up to $1,000 to the Turkey / Syria Earthquake Appeal. What’s more, we’ll be running a prize draw for swag and sharing our inaugural State of Developer Wellness Report in Q2 with you. 

We are confident that the report will help raise awareness around the importance of work well-being for software developers. It is also expected to contribute to our understanding of the Developer Nation community and the challenges that our members are facing so that we can better support them with our content and community offerings.

If you’ve taken the survey and want to be notified when the report is published, sign up here. If you’ve not yet taken the survey, you can participate now!

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Analysis

Are Low/No-Code tools living up to their disruptive promise?

Low/No-Code tools

You may be wondering why software development is a slow and expensive exercise. Its complexity and the need for technical resources may be hard to find or very expensive to hire. Due to this, low/no-code tools have become increasingly popular among developers today. In this article, we explore low/no-code development, the advantages/disadvantages, and try to understand if it is disrupting the software industry today with data-driven facts.

What is low/no-code tools software?

Low/no-code tools are visual software development platforms. Unlike traditional software development, which involves programmers writing lines of code, the low-code/no-code platforms encapsulate all this behind the tool.

As per the State of the Developer Nation 22nd Edition – Q1 2022 report,  46% of professional developers use low/no-code tools for some portion of their development work.

The difference between Low-code and No-code development platforms

Before we proceed further, hope you know the difference between low-code and no-code software.

Low-code platforms require technical knowledge and it helps the developers to code faster. The main benefit is that these platforms have powerful tools that speed up technical software development activities and are built for coders. 

No-code platforms are built for standard business users. There are no options for manually editing code and rather focus on the user experience aspect in creating functionality and abstracting the technical details away from the user. 

Despite some level of automation in low-code platforms, coding is still core to the development process. Openness is a key difference between low-code platforms and no-code ones. As a developer, you can modify existing code or add new ones to change the application. The ability to add code provides flexibility with more use cases and customization possibilities. However, it limits backward compatibility.

Any new version changes to the low-code platform may affect custom code developed and may need a proper review before an upgrade. That means whenever there is a launch of a new version of the low-code platform, customers will need to test if their customized code functionality works well after the upgrade. 

In the case of no-code versions, customers do not have to worry about any functionality or breaking changes due to the platform being a closed system.

Low-code platforms offer easy integration capabilities. Unlike No-code which can lead to users creating programs without proper scrutiny with risks like security concerns, integration, and regulatory challenges besides increasing technical debt.

How do you use low/no-code tools and software?

As a user, you visually select and connect reusable components representing the steps in a process. You then link them to create the desired workflow. The code is very much present behind the steps, which drives the functionality.

Low-code/no-code tools enable non-technical staff at workplaces or anyone to develop business workflow applications. Moreover, low-code/no-code platforms allow easy integration with other business applications. For example, a sales staff could use a low-code/no-code application to develop qualified leads or opportunities into a database. They could then set triggers to send out targeted communications based on the occurrence of specified events.

Advantages and disadvantages of low code/no-code software.

Low-code/no-code platforms have both advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of them.

Lower costs & faster development: Time is money, and you can reduce your costs when you create more applications faster that automate and help improve productivity. You save costs on recruiting additional developers as applications that took a few months can be completed in a few days leading to faster availability of business applications.

Integration feasibility & challenges: Today’s application programming interfaces, or APIs, enable a high level of integration between applications. Integration works seamlessly in many cases. However, when we look at scalability and speed, custom integration is preferred for critical enterprise business applications.

Creating APIs is not easy and requires a better understanding of the IT landscape and related applications. Hence creating significant and sizeable applications will require experienced developers rather than non-technical hands-on low code/no-code software.

Time to market gains: As low code/no-code software replaces conventional hard coding with drag and drop functionality, reusable components, ready-to-use templates, and minimal coding, organizations can deliver applications faster to the market. It, therefore, helps organizations gain a competitive edge and improve productivity.

Performance: The standard view on low code/no-code software is that it focuses on saving time and is effective and successful. However, low code/no-code software platforms are not designed for performance and limit the number of functions one can implement. Moreover, adding new features to an application built using low code/no-code software can get challenging.

Privacy and Security Issues: With low-code/no-code software, there are limitations to configuring data protection and privacy aspects. You do not have access to all the source code, making it challenging to detect any security gaps.

The future of software development

Low-code/no-code software platforms offer many advantages in creating business applications faster. There are some disadvantages to its limitations in coding functions and features. What is the ground situation today with low-code/no-code software platforms?

The State of the Developer Nation 22nd Edition – Q1 2022 report has some interesting insights on the actual usage of low-code/no-code software platforms. Here are some findings:

Who is using low-code/no-code tools?

  • 46% of professional developers use low-code/no-code (LCNC) tools for some portion of their development work.
  • Experienced developers, particularly those with more than ten years of experience, are the least likely to use LCNC tools.
  • Most developers that use LCNC tools do so for less than a quarter of their development work.
  • The Greater China area has the highest LCNC tool adoption rate. 69% of developers in this region report using LCNC tools, compared to the global average of 46%.
  • 19% of developers in North America use LCNC products for more than half of their coding work – almost twice the global average of 10%. This provides strong evidence that these tools can supplant traditional development approaches

Wrapping up

Low-code/No-code tools have great potential and disrupt the traditional software industry but at a slower rate. State of the Developer Nation 22nd Edition – Q1 2022 report shows us fascinating insights.

Experienced developers with ten or more years of experience are less likely to use low-code/no-code tools. It could probably be due to the flexibility that coding offers the experienced developers and their comfort with it. It may also have an angle related to the job security of software developers and the risks of automated LCNC tools taking away significant parts of programming activity. Experienced developers work on complex tasks and the low-code tools are more suited for simple programming tasks, which the experienced hands may find easy to do.

On the other hand, North American developers seem to be progressive in using LCNC products for half of their coding (twice the global average of 10%), showing massive potential for LCNC tools to supplement software development activities. A lot of initiative in using LCNC tools also rests with the software organizations leading initiatives and implementing these solutions. Younger developers may find it easier to automate some parts of coding using LCNC tools and speed up their development activities. 

The adapted LCNC approach each programmer takes to code and develop a feature can come from their learning experience. A younger developer may prefer to use LCNC for about 25% of their development work as they are familiar with using the tools and it is a way of working. An experienced developer may shun the tools as he has always been building applications from scratch by coding and no LCNC tools. 

As technology advances, and pressure to have business solutions quicker build up, organizations will need to use the latest LCNC tools. Developing robust functional and secure software solutions faster to get competitive gains will be a mandate amid the rapid pace of digital transformation. Today LCNC tools are progressing successfully in that direction and programmers irrespective of their experience need to adapt LCNC tools where an opportunity to improve productivity exists.

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Tips

Tips for Choosing a Programming Language for your IT Career & Projects

Tips for choosing

Choosing a programming language can be complicated as many aspects need consideration. You might wish it was as easy as choosing between various flavors of ice cream or pizza. Ask any developer or technical manager to understand what drives popular choices in the tech world. In this article, you can learn what drives a choice of programming languages and the data-driven decisions developers should take to safeguard their careers while ensuring success in the projects they deliver.

Technology changes rapidly in today’s digital race, and the chosen language must get future potential to remain in use with strong developer communities, or else organizations can face maintenance and integration issues. Even young developers are keen to know which languages have excellent career potential, so they invest their time wisely.

Young developers may make the mistake of choosing a programming language because it’s trendy and cool. As a young developer, you can avoid these mistakes by referring to various tech forums and authentic sources like Slashdata’s – 22nd edition of The State of the Developer Nation (Q1 2022) that offer insights into popular programming languages and their growth trends.

Choosing a programming language

The choice of a programming language gets intertwined between your career aspirations and work experience. You learn a programming language and need to work on projects to gain relevant industry experience. So as a developer, you need to have a holistic approach to choosing a suitable language.

Choosing a programming language depends on various factors, and you should know all the components to get a better view and then make a choice. A good selection of programming languages will lead to spending less time on scaling, maintenance, and other aspects like security in projects.

Here are some typical questions you must ask when choosing a programming language for a project.

  • Does the programming language have proper community ecosystem support? Is it going to work over the long term? Is vendor support available?
  • What is the type of environment for the project – web solution, mobile, cross-platform, etc.?
  • Are there any infrastructure considerations like new hardware or particular deployment needs?
  • What do the clients prefer?
  • Are there any specific requirements for the programming language’s libraries, tools, or features?
  • Are experienced developers available for the programming language?
  • Are there any performance considerations, and can the language accommodate this performance?
  • Is there a security consideration or requirement for any third-party tool?

It would help if you remembered that irrespective of the chosen programming language, you can write good or bad code with any language. Besides the typical questions above, it’s advisable to consider a few critical factors in-depth before choosing a programming language. In programming, adherence to widely accepted design principles and philosophies is essential.

Some critical considerations driving the choice of a language include the following:

1. Type of application

The type of application varies from complicated embedded firmware to web and mobile. Common programming languages like Java, Python, JavaScript and C# can build different types of applications on various platforms. There are also situations where specific languages work better. With the rise in mobile apps, for example, you would choose Java for building a native Android app or a C and C++ combination for an embedded firmware project.

2. Complexity of applications

Identifying the application’s size and complexity helps determine the choice of programming language. The smaller and simple applications like marketing websites or webforms can use content management systems (CMS) like WordPress that may need minimal programing. On the other hand, complex applications like e-commerce websites or enterprise applications or emerging technology applications like IoT devices or AI-based applications may require Java or C#. As a technical manager, you can be an expert in gauging complexity with various experiences.

3. Organization culture

The choice of Open source technologies vs. proprietary software tends to rest with the organization’s culture and a direction often set by management. All programming languages have a trade-off, and some companies may choose one that is scalable, while others may pick one that has a shorter learning curve and is easy for the developers. Whatever the culture, the priority should be on choosing a language that optimally addresses the project needs. You can easily understand an organization’s choice once you start working on their technology stack.

4. Time to market:

Businesses rely on getting their product to the market early for competitive gains. Choosing new programming technologies and languages is better for a project with longer timelines. You can complete your project faster by leveraging the developers’ existing skills. For example, if you already have an AWS-based cloud environment and relevant team expertise, it will be quicker to work on it than move to another technology environment.

5. Maintainability

Technology stacks have their library ecosystems and vendor support. Choose a programming language with regular update releases that will stay current for some time. Maintaining the codebase is essential, and maintenance costs depend on the availability of developers. For example, as per today’s trends hiring Java, C#, Python, or PHP developers is easy and cost-effective. Organizations can make a data-driven decision by looking at the size of programming language communities from various industry reports from Slashdata.

6. Scalability, performance, and security:

The performance of the application depends on your choice of programming languages. It becomes essential when the development environment has limitations on scaling. Some popular tech stacks with great scalability include Ruby on Rails (RoR), .NET, Java Spring, LAMP, and MEAN.

It would be best if you protected applications from cyber threats. Following the security guidelines are crucial before choosing any programming language for your application. For example, a financial application needs PCI compliance, while healthcare-related applications need HIPAA compliance. Your choice of programming languages must be able to deliver application compliance.

Insights – Slashdata – 22nd edition of The State of the Developer Nation (Q1 2022)

You know the factors that drive the choice of programming languages. Let us look at findings from the Slashdata – 22nd edition of The State of the Developer Nation (Q1 2022). It offers exciting statistics that can help you as a developer know if your skills are up to date or need an upgrade.

JavaScript remains the most prominent language community, with close to 17.5M developers worldwide using it.

Python has remained the second most widely adopted language behind JavaScript, with the gap between the two largest communities gradually closing. Python now counts 15.7M users after adding 3.3M net new developers in the past six months alone.

The rise of data science and machine learning (ML) is an apparent factor in Python’s growing popularity. About 70% of ML developers and data scientists report using Python versus only 17% using R.

Java is one of the most critical general-purpose languages and the cornerstone of the Android app ecosystem. Although it has been around for over two decades, it is experiencing strong and steady growth. Nearly 5M developers have joined the Java community since 2021. 

Data shows that Java’s growth gets fueled by the usual suspects, i.e., backend and mobile development, and its rising adoption in AR/VR projects.

Wrapping up

We hope you have more clarity and data-driven insights in choosing programming languages for your career and projects. We encourage you to regularly read the whole SlashData – 22nd edition of The State of the Developer Nation (Q1 2022) report and stay updated on trending technologies.

Categories
Community

[Live Updates] Prize Winners – 23rd Developer Nation Survey

Developer prize draw winners

The 23rd Developer Nation Survey is live and running full speed and we already have our first winners to announce! Those that were lucky enough to win one of our amazing prizes!

What are the Developer Nation Prize draws?

If you’re new to our prize draws: developers who take our surveys earn 100 points for every new survey completed, plus 10 points for providing their feedback about the survey. And in return they become eligible for benefits and rewards – you can see a full list here.

Now, this is a survey that covers many technologies and participants may choose to participate in different ways. Some of them are members of our Community as well – so they are entitled to additional prizes.

This is why we run several prize draws. In this blog we will be adding all prize winners from our prize draws, so keep an eye on it as it will be constantly updated.

48 hour prize draw

iPhone 13 developer prize draw winner

iPhone 13 – @FergusonTreash of Nigeria

Nintendo Switch developer prize winner

Nintendo Switch – @thienanh2009 of Vietnam

Week 1

$20 gift cards

$20 developer prize draw winners

@WismarR of USA “Thanks”

Dolapo of Nigeria

A. of Croatia

Seona of Australia “Thank you!”

Jeswin of Saudi Arabia “I’m excited to accept this kind gift from developernation. Kindly please help me if I face any issues in redeeming it.”

Eduardo of Uruguay

o**************7@g***l.c*m of Nigeria

c*************9@1*3.c*m of China

SitePoint Premium License

SitePoint premium license developer prize

a*********1@g***l.c*m of Belarus

@adamdevbone of Australia “Thanks so much!”

h**********1@g***l.com of India

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 1

$500 towards your AR/VR project

$500 towards your AR/VR project @JoshuaH47169834 of United States

SitePoint Premium License – Ricardo of Brazil

SitePoint Premium License – James of United States “I’m so happy”

Week 2

Xiaomi RedMi 11 5G developer prize draw winner

Xiaomi RedMi 11 5G – æŽæ–‡ć› of China

$1,000 towards the desktop set up of your choice - developer prize

$1,000 towards the desktop set up of your choice – @marcellusm2 of Brazil

$100 gift card – Neba of Cameroon “I’m really grateful for you choosing me as a winner???”

$50 gift cards

$50 gift cards - developer prize draw winners

Cyrus of United States “Thank you”

@theddiya of Nigeria “Thank you for it”

Emilian of Romania

n********l.g*****a@g***l.c*m of Portugal

@doddsy5544 of Australia

h*********d@g***l.c*m of Indonesia

z********i@f*****l.c*m of China

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 2

$30 gift cards

J of Canada

R of United Kingdom

Gajendran of India

Week 3

Nintendo Switch

Armeiro of United States “I am euphoric the first time I win something for sharing my ideas and my profession “

$20 gift cards

$20 gift cards for developers

h**.a*****@g****.c** of United States

m**********@m**.c** of South Africa

RĂ©my of Belgium

J of Spain

Hamilton of Australia

n********@g****.c** of Philippines

w*******@b************.w****.w*** of China

e*****.l*********@g****.c** of New Zealand

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 3

$20 gift cards

Ian of Canada

p********@i*****.c** of Greece

Muhammad Dinar Aulia Rahman of Indonesia

Week 4

Docker 12 Months Pro Plan

s*********@y****.c** of India

$100 gift cards

c**************@g****.c** of Mexico

Godwin of Nigeria

$50 gift cards

j****************@g****.c** of Philippines

d*********@g****.c** of Poland

s*****************@g****.c** of Colombia

$20 gift card

m***********@g****.c** of South Africa

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 4

Amazon Echo Dot 4th Generation

Joe of USA

Week 5

Tick Tick Premium License

j********************@g****.c** of Philippines

Amazon Echo Dot 4th Generation

Justin Revilleza of Philippines

$20 gift cards

t***************@g****.c** of South Africa

d***********@g****.c** of Philippines

4********@q*.c** of China

p************@g****.c** of Poland

j******@g****.c** of South Korea

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 5

$100 Gift Card

b********@g****.c** of South Africa

Week 6

Tick Tick Premium License

GSS of India

Pluralsight Skills Standard 2 Months Subscription

Pluralsight 2 months subscription prize

Nikilosa of Jakarta

Skillshare 3 Months Subscription

Skill share 3 months subscription prize

v*****.s*******@g****.c** of India

Notion Personal Pro License

Roman of Mexico

VIVO Black Height Adjustable 32 inch Standing Desk Converter

a******.1*.a******@g****.c** of Argentina

Smart Plug

s**********************@g****.c** of Colombia

$50 Gift Card

e*********@h******.c** of Mexico

e***************@g****.c** of Mexico

Jorge of Spain

2****************@g****.c** of India

$20 Gift Card

éˆŽæœšæœ‹ć’Œ of Japan

$10 Spotfiy Voucher

t**************@g****.c** of Mexico

State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw – Week 6

Apple Air Tag

s***************************@g****.c** of Brazil

$30 Gift Card

s*********@g****.c** of Greece

Week 7

Amazon Echo Dot 4th Generation

s***********@g****.c** of India

Apple Air Tag

j*********@h******.c** of South Africa

$100 Gift Card

Michal of Czech Republic

$20 Gift Card

1********@m******.c** of United States

i*************@g****.c** of India

Community Prize Draws

Developers with 801+ points

Devices:

Samsung Galaxy S22 – @mouseannoying of UK

iPhone 13 – Lynton of Belgium

$50 Udemy or Gumroad gift card

Paschal of Nigeria
Thomas of Singapore
Michael of United States
Panji of Singapore
Deepam of India
VĂ­ctor of Mexico
Adrian of Malta
Christopher of Philippines
R of Brazil

Swag

A of UK
Brad of USA
Charlie of Australia
A of Ukraine
Geoffrey of Canada
Ashley of UK
V of USA
Thomas of Cyprus
Richard of United Kingdom
Nicholas of Trinidad & Tobago
Dean of Australia
Laborde of USA
Brian of USA
Alexandre of Belgium
Jignesh of India
Daniel of United Kingdom
Mike of United Kingdom

$15 gift card

Jonathan of Australia
Brian of Canada
Michael of United States
James of USA
LĂ©o of Sweden
Tsvetomir of Bulgaria
Ioannis of Greece
Mikael of France
Akhil of India
Matīss of Latvia
S of Germany
Bledi of Albania
Stefan of Germany
Rodney of Canada
Thassilo of Germany
Andrew of United States
Vitalii of Ukraine
Andrejs of Latvia

What happens now

We’ve reached out to winners directly by email. If you recognise your email address but believe you haven’t been contacted yet, you can contact us here.

We’re already on the hunt for prizes for our next global survey, so if you’re not a winner this time, there are more chances to win in our future surveys.

To ensure that you are notified when our next survey is live, sign up. Don’t forget to make sure the survey notification option is ticked.

Special Thanks

We could not have brought all these prizes to you without our sponsors Florin Pop, CertNexus and SitePoint for donating prizes to the survey! Also thanks to our goody bag sponsors Buildable, CodeGym, Coil, CertNexus, Florin Pop, Kamon, Kentico, Linode, and Manning Publications. Are you a company interested in giving away a prize to developers in our next survey? Get in touch!

Categories
Community

Developer Nation Community, turning the page to a new chapter [New job opportunities included]

Developer Nation Community

The Developer Nation Community is definitely not new. It goes back to a long time ago, when communities were not as much in the spotlight as they are today. Our mission has always been to keep its ears open to the voices of software creators and share back data and insights from our global surveys.

Over the years, we have worked on several initiatives to grow and engage our community and – no complaints – we have managed to win the hearts of thousands of software creators around the world.

This is why we are now very excited to be taking the Developer Nation Community to its next level.  And let us give you a quick tour of what we are working on currently. 

A value proposition that is closer to what software creators expect from us. 

We have always championed the importance of being data-driven when making decisions. And this is even more crucial when decisions are tied to one’s professional career and growth. To that effect, we have shaped our mission accordingly. Thus, we will focus on helping developers be their best and we will do that by helping them answer burning questions such as :

What software developer careers are out there? 

Which ones have the most demand? 

What skills or formal training should I acquire? 

How can I become more productive and efficient?

We are aiming to create a space where software creators can set the right foundations for their career,  learn how they stack up against emerging software development trends,  get tips and discover opportunities for professional growth as well as plan wisely their next moves.

Investing on people

To be able to support our community members and keep true to our mission we have decided to invest in a new Community Team and this is why we are currently recruiting for two roles. We are hoping that by bringing in more people we will be able to build on the value we can bring to our community while focusing on having an even more personalised relationship with them.  We would love it if these roles were to be filled by existing community members, so if you take a look at the job descriptions and you feel you are up for a new challenge, we would like to meet with you.

On the people front, we are also very excited to announce that Vanessa, our current Developer Advocate, will take up a new challenge as our Developer Success Executive. She will continue to listen to developer feedback, and work with the Developer Committee, and her mission will be to focus on prizes and benefits for software creators in our community.

Community Lead

As our first Community Lead you will have a significant impact on designing and executing the Developer Nation Community strategy – one of SlashData’s strategic priorities. You will grow, engage and motivate a global community of software engineers focusing on providing them with resources that will help them grow in their career journey and plan their next move.

We are looking for an avid communicator who loves engaging with developers, has excellent organisational skills, and has a solid tech background. They should have at least 1-2 years of experience in community building, growing, and/or engaging roles and will be very fluent in English – both written and spoken.

Apply here

Developer Advocate

As the Developer Advocate you will be a key part of the future of this global community of developers coming together to learn from each-other, share experiences, creating content with the aim to help developers grow in their careers, foster relationships between senior developer mentors and mentees, and connect developers globally with major technology platforms.

You will engage and motivate a global community of software engineers making sure to constantly provide them with content in various formats as well as engage in conversations to help them grow in their career journey and plan their next move.

Apply here 

  • A community-led approach

The next chapter of the Developer Nation community will come with a wide range of initiatives. Would you like to be among the first to get involved?

  • Content contribution

We are open to all types of formats (podcasts, blogs, videos, webinars, Twitter space discussions etc) as long as the topics resonate with our mission and comply with our values.

  • Events and meetups

We will soon go into the space of organising events for the Developer Nation community. If you have any ideas or would want to be part of them, please reach out and we can brainstorm together!

  • Mentorship

Are you in need of a mentor or perhaps you are a particularly skilled mentor? Or do you just want to help? In any case, this is a great opportunity to be part of a grassroots initiative where the community is actively engaged in peer support. 

For all of the above and also for anything else you wish to share with us please drop us a line at community[at] developernation.net