Category: Tips

As the digital landscape evolves, the hierarchy of top developer roles adopts a pyramid design, with programmers holding the lion’s share at 43.2%. The revolutionary wave of digital transformation and the advent of groundbreaking technologies have substantially increased the appetite for developer roles. These innovative tech breakthroughs are fuelling the need for diverse and adaptable developer capabilities. In this structure, students studying Computer and Data Science represent 15.1%, followed by team leads and architects who account for 9.64% and 9.15% respectively. Capping the pyramid are C-level notches, including IT Managers, forming 8.38% of the total. In response to the rapid influx of emerging technologies, tech professionals are urged to master a range of in-demand skills, thus ensuring an edge in this mutable tech arena. This not only augments their adaptability and earnings potential but also paves the way for ongoing career progression. Additionally, tech professionals looking to stay ahead of the curve could consider ‘cross-training’ – the practice of mastering multiple programming languages. This sort of digital polyglotism can yield a trifecta of benefits: bolstering one’s versatility in an ever-shifting tech landscape, enhancing one’s earning capacity, and setting the stage for sustained career success.

Become a versatile programmer 

Cross-training in multiple programming languages will make you a versatile programmer — one who’s able to avoid the common issue of tunnel vision. Unfortunately, programmers experienced in just one programming language typically get locked into a set way of operating. Problems and obstacles are therefore generally approached in the “one correct way”. However, it pays to remember there are multiple approaches to problem-solving in software development. Just take a look at how different the Go and JavaScript methods of error handling are: 

// Go

err := doSomethingDangerous()

if err != nil {

  fmt.Println(err)

}

Compared to: 

// JavaScript

try {

doSomethingDangerous()

} catch (err){

  console.log(err)

}

Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation. Go’s method, for example, works well for enterprise software development, while JavaScript is more useful for webpage rendering. Ultimately, when you cross-train in multiple languages, you’ll gain a better understanding of each one, which means you can more easily recognize the best approach for solving a problem at hand. 

Keep your skills fresh and relevant

The programming landscape is ever-evolving. An unexpected change can easily make any skill you’ve learned either outdated or, conversely, highly relevant. For example, the once-popular Apple’s Object-C has now fallen out of favour. At the same time, Fortan — the first-ever commercial programming language — recently returned after over ten years out of the spotlight. So, by limiting yourself to skills in just one language, you face a higher risk of getting left behind if that language ever declines in popularity in the future — or if your business simply decides to move in another direction and adopt a new technology you’re not already skilled in. Cross-training will put you in a better position to adapt to the industry’s changing needs as and when they happen and open you up to more opportunities. Yet, although you may realize the importance of cross-training, you may find it challenging to fit it into your busy schedule. Fortunately, eLearning is a simple and convenient way to fit your studies in. Elearning courses primarily offer the benefit of being flexible. The course content is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week — you simply log on and off again as suits your schedule. 

Boost your earning potential

“Tech workers’ salaries can grow as much as 69% as they gain more knowledge and experience”, Bankrate reports. In the case of software development, cross-training in multiple languages is a particularly effective way to boost your earning potential. Recent research into the programming language requirements of job vacancies across Fortune 500 companies determined that not even one business is looking for a new hire proficient in just one language. Rather, a total of four different languages are required on average. YouTube, for example, uses multiple languages: JavaScript on the front-end, and C, C++, Java, Go, and Python on the back-end, while MariaDB, Vites, and Bigtable are used for the database. Similarly, Amazon uses Java, JavaScript, Swift, C++, and Ruby. And, you’ll find the same goes for every other major tech company — they’re all looking for developers trained in multiple languages. So, by cross-training in multiple languages, you’ll easily make yourself a more attractive candidate to major companies and therefore increase your chances of drawing a huge paycheck.  

Sticking to learning just one programming language curbs your growth potential, and also puts you at greater risk of becoming irrelevant later down the line. Fortunately, cross-training in multiple programming languages can help you become a more versatile programmer, keep your skills fresh and relevant, and boost your earning potential all in one.

Developers spend their entire working lives around state-of-the-art technology. Not only do they use it, they create it. When the developer is also the user, it’s likely that their user experience (UX) is going to differ substantially from that of the typical target end user. This divergence can quickly grow into a gaping chasm, a wide gulf between what the end user encounters in working with the technology and what the developer intended in creating it. 

After all, the average developer’s perception of “intuitive design” may well look intimidating, frustrating, and unnecessarily complex to the end user. This is why, ultimately, a developer’s creation will live or die with the user. It’s not about how sophisticated the design is or how advanced the skill set required to build it may be. It’s about how readily your end user can master the technology, and discover, explore, and adopt the tool’s diverse functions. It’s about how your end user feels about the technology when they encounter it for the first time.

That’s why the synergy between developers and the user experience is of the utmost importance. Without this strong nexus between the two, the final product is liable to fail. Let’s examine the synergy between developers and user experience and how you can maximize it for exceptional outcomes.

Minding the Gap

One of the greatest threats to the success of any development project is the UX blind spot that can so easily emerge as developers pursue their own vision of success. This is why UX must remain top of mind at all phases of the development process. 

This requires both discipline and commitment. Integrating UX considerations at every stage inevitably means that linear development is unlikely. The good news, though, is that recursive and responsive design processes, such as those used in Agile development, can be more efficient, productive, and cost-effective. 

The key to this process, however, lies not only in frequent UX testing but also in testing the right things. As a developer, for example, you might be interested in how the end user experiences a particular function, whereas they may encounter unexpected obstacles that take precedence for them. 

Navigation tools that you’ve worked so diligently to make both intuitive and highly functional will mean nothing if you’ve not scaled the technology appropriately. Thus, while you might see only the elegant design and hours of effort expended to create it, your end user will notice only the painfully slow responsiveness. 

This means that UX testing must consider, and even prioritize, the macro view as well as the micro. If you’re soliciting only user feedback on the functionality and aesthetics of the navigation tool, in other words, you’re going to miss the critical factor that’s undermining your UX. 

Collaboration and Consensus

As we’ve seen, UX, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder, and that means that it’s not enough to rely only on teams of developers and designers to predict the users’ experience. You must collaborate with those outside of the team’s own technology bubble.

Interdepartmental collaboration is essential not only for understanding how your target end user is likely to experience the technology but also for determining what their technology needs are. Effective UX design, in fact, is often a function of the quality of communication between developers, stakeholders, and consumers. 

Marketers, sales reps, and customer service agents are going to have a unique perspective, for instance, not only on what kinds of innovations are needed both within and outside of the organization. They’re going to have their fingers on the pulse of the market and its evolutions because they’re on the front lines, fielding consumer complaints and responding to their requests. 

They’re also working in the trenches, meaning that they have a depth of knowledge regarding your company’s tech infrastructure that even your most experienced developers may not. After all, once you’ve handed the tools off, you are likely to have comparatively little experience with the technologies that they deploy every day. 

Thus, if you want to optimize your UX design process, then you must optimize your capacity to collaborate with colleagues and partners organization-wide. It’s imperative to implement the best collaboration tools, ones that will bring together not only onsite employees but also remote workers, stakeholders, and clients. This will ensure that the feedback you receive on the needs, expectations, and experiences of your target end users will be timely, relevant, and comprehensive.

The Takeaway

Technology isn’t created in a vacuum. It’s made for a specific purpose and to serve a designated target user. But unless and until you tap into that all-important synergy between development and user experience, your technology will simply never be all that it could and should be.

In the dynamic business world, quickly adapting and innovating is key. Integrating agile development and data-driven insights has emerged as a powerful strategy to transform business analytics, fostering a more responsive and informed decision-making process.

Importance of Business Analytics

In the modern business landscape, the significance of business analytics cannot be overstated. It acts as a linchpin, facilitating a more profound comprehension of market dynamics, consumer preferences, and the intricate nuances of operational efficiencies. By leveraging data and analytical tools, organizations can dissect complex market trends, identify patterns, and anticipate consumer behaviours with a higher degree of accuracy. This analytical approach fosters informed decision-making and crafts a roadmap for sustainable business growth, helping firms stay ahead in the competitive market.

Business analytics serves as a robust foundation for strategic planning, enabling organizations to devise dynamic and responsive strategies to market fluctuations. Through the systematic analysis of data, companies can pinpoint areas of improvement, optimize operations, and innovate their product offerings to meet the evolving demands of consumers. It aids in risk management, helping businesses navigate potential pitfalls with foresight and preparedness. In essence, business analytics is a vital tool that empowers organizations to grow and thrive in an ever-changing business environment, steering them towards a trajectory of success and expansion.

The Shift towards Agile Development and Data-Driven Insights

The contemporary business landscape is witnessing a paradigm shift, where agile development and data-driven insights merge to create more resilient and intelligent business models. This shift promises a revolution in how businesses analyze and respond to market dynamics.

The Concept of Agile Development

Agile development, rooted in the software development sector, has transformed how projects are managed and executed across various industries. Learning this advanced software engineering approach is characterized by its emphasis on flexibility, fostering an environment where teams can swiftly adapt to changes without getting bogged down by rigid structures and protocols. Collaboration stands as a pillar in this methodology, encouraging cross-functional teams to work synergistically, harnessing diverse skills and perspectives. By placing the customer at the heart of the development process, agile ensures that the end product is finely tuned to meet the dynamic needs and expectations of the market, fostering more significant customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The agile methodology is renowned for its iterative nature, which breaks down the project into smaller, more manageable work units, often called “sprints.” This approach facilitates quicker adjustments and allows for real-time feedback to be incorporated seamlessly, enhancing the quality and relevance of the output. By fostering a continuous improvement cycle, agile development ensures that teams are always moving forward, learning, and adapting, thereby reducing the risk of project failures and overruns. Agile development stands as a beacon of innovation and efficiency, steering organizations towards a path of success in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

Principles of Agile Development

Agile development principles include customer satisfaction through continuous delivery, welcoming changing requirements, and maintaining a sustainable pace of work. These principles foster a culture of collaboration and adaptability.

Benefits of Implementing Agile in Business Analytics

In the fast-paced world of business, the integration of agile methodologies within the realm of business analytics stands as a transformative strategy. This approach catalyzes quicker decision-making processes, vital to maintaining a competitive edge. By fostering a culture of collaboration and iterative progress, organizations can swiftly respond to market fluctuations, thereby avoiding potential pitfalls and seizing emerging opportunities. Agile practices encourage a continuous feedback loop, which significantly contributes to product quality enhancement. Through regular evaluations and adjustments, businesses can fine-tune their offerings to meet the highest standards of excellence, fostering a reputation of reliability and quality in the market.

The agile approach is intrinsically customer-centric, aiming to align the business objectives closely with the evolving needs and preferences of the customers. This alignment ensures that the products or services resonate well with the target audience and significantly boosts customer satisfaction. By being more responsive to customer feedback and market changes, organizations can create solutions that are both innovative and in tune with customer expectations. This heightened responsiveness, coupled with a commitment to continuous improvement, positions businesses to thrive in a competitive landscape, fostering long-term growth and strong customer relationships built on trust and mutual value.

The Rise of Data-Driven Insights

Data-driven insights refer to deriving meaningful information from large data sets to inform business decisions. This approach relies on data analysis and interpretation to guide strategies and actions.

Importance in Business Analytics

In business analytics, data-driven insights can provide a competitive edge by better understanding market trends, customer preferences, and operational efficiencies. It allows businesses to decide wisely based on factual data.

Case Studies: Successful Implementation of Data-Driven Strategies

• Company X: Leveraged data analytics to optimize their supply chain, resulting in a 20% increase in efficiency.
• Company Y: Utilized data insights to enhance customer experience, significantly boosting customer retention rates.

Integrating Agile Development and Data-Driven Insights

The Need for Integration

Integrating agile development and data-driven insights is essential to foster continuous improvement and innovation. It allows for a synergistic approach to business analytics, where insights drive agile processes, leading to more informed and effective strategies.

Strategies for Successful Integration

• Collaborative Teams: Creating cross-functional teams that work collaboratively to analyze data and implement agile strategies.
• Feedback Loops: Establishing feedback loops to gather data and adjust strategies accordingly continuously.
• Training and Development: Investing in training programs to develop skills in agile methodologies and data analytics.

Tools and Technologies Facilitating Integration

• Big Data Analytics: Software tools like Hadoop and Spark facilitate the analysis of large data sets.
• Project Management Tools: Tools such as Jira and Trello help manage agile projects effectively.

Case Studies

Company A: Transforming Business Analytics with Agile Development

Company A adopted agile methodologies to streamline its business processes, improving product development cycles and customer satisfaction.

Company B: Leveraging Data-Driven Insights for Business Growth

Company B utilized data-driven insights to identify new market opportunities, leading to significant business growth and expansion.

Comparative Analysis: Success Stories and Lessons Learned

A comparative analysis of Companies A and B reveals the potential of integrating agile development and data-driven insights in transforming business analytics, offering valuable lessons for other organizations.

Challenges and Solutions

Identifying and Overcoming Challenges

Organizations face challenges integrating agile development and data-driven insights, including cultural resistance and data management issues. Strategies such as change management and continuous training through data analytics courses can help overcome these challenges.

Strategies for Effective Implementation

• Leadership Support: Gaining support from leadership to drive the integration initiative.
• Pilot Programs: Implementing pilot programs to test and refine the integration strategies.

Expert Opinions and Advice

Experts suggest a phased approach to integration, focusing on building a culture of collaboration and continuous learning.

Future Trends

Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning

The future of business analytics is poised to be shaped by advancements in predictive analytics and machine learning, offering new avenues for data analysis and insight generation.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Business Analytics

Artificial intelligence is set to play a profound role in business analytics, offering automated and intelligent analysis of data and facilitating more informed decision-making.

The Future of Agile and Data-Driven Business Strategies

The integration of agile and data-driven strategies promises a future of more responsive and intelligent business models capable of swiftly adapting to changing market dynamics.

Conclusion

Integrating agile development and data-driven insights offers a transformative approach to business analytics, fostering a culture of innovation and informed decision-making. As businesses venture into this integrated approach, they stand to gain from the synergies of agile methodologies and data-driven insights, paving the way for a more resilient and competitive business landscape.

Developing real-time engagement applications where users interact with each other using live audio, video, and text is a really complex challenge. It requires a lot of time and effort to build out the infrastructure and logic to support these features. The biggest challenge is to have your infrastructure be reliable, scalable, and low latency to deliver the best user experience.

At Agora, we’re solving this problem for developers at scale. Agora’s Software-Defined Real-Time Network™ provides the broadest range of coverage throughout the world (200+ countries), while delivering high-quality with ultra-low latency (400ms or less). To make leveraging the Agora platform easy for developers we offer easy to use SDKs for Android, iOS/macOS, Windows, Web, Electron, Flutter, React Native, Unity and more. With our SDKs you can build and deploy your real-time engagement application in a matter of hours instead of days.

Getting back to the topic for this blog, how does one build a video conferencing app with Agora and React? Agora recently announced a new beta SDK for React. We’ll look at how it works with a simple demo app.

Getting Started

Creating an Account with Agora

• Sign up for an account and log in to the Agora Console.
• Navigate to the Project List tab under the Project Management tab
• Create a project by clicking the blue “Create” button.
• When prompted to use App ID + Certificate, select App ID only.
• Retrieve the App ID, which will be used to authorize your requests while you’re developing the application.

Note: This blog does not implement token authentication, which is recommended for all RTE apps running in production environments. For more information about token-based authentication in the Agora platform, see this guide.

Setting up a React Project

The source for this project is available on GitHub, you can also try out a live demo.
To follow along, scaffold a React project using Vite:

1. Ensure that you have installed Node.js LTS and NPM.
2. Open a terminal and execute npm create vite@latest agora-videocall — — template react-ts
3. This creates a folder named “agora-videocall”
4. Navigate to the project: cd agora-videocall
5. Install the dependencies: npm i agora-rtc-react agora-rtc-sdk-ng
6. You can start a dev server by running npm run dev

Time to Code

We’ll start in the App.tsx file. Since this demo is going to be really simple, we’ll create all our components in the same file. Let’s start by importing the dependencies we’ll use in our application.

import { useState } from "react";
import { AgoraRTCProvider, useJoin, useLocalCameraTrack, useLocalMicrophoneTrack, usePublish, useRTCClient, useRemoteAudioTracks, useRemoteUsers, RemoteUser, LocalVideoTrack } from "agora-rtc-react";
import AgoraRTC from "agora-rtc-sdk-ng";
import "./App.css";

The Agora React SDK provides a set of hooks and components to manage the state of your application and to render the video call interface.
In our App, let’s initialize a client object from the Agora SDK and pass it to the useRTCClient hook. The client object represents the local user in the video call. Passing the object to the useRTCClient hook makes it available to the rest of the application (and hooks) by using a React Provider. We’ll add this in a bit, first, let’s set up our application state:

const App = () => {
  const client = useRTCClient(AgoraRTC.createClient({ codec: "vp8", mode: "rtc" }));
  const [channelName, setChannelName] = useState("test");
  const [AppID, setAppID] = useState("");
  const [token, setToken] = useState(null);
  const [inCall, setInCall] = useState(false);

• channelName: Represents the name of the channel where users can join to chat with one another. Let’s call our channel “test”.
• AppID: Holds the Agora App ID that we obtained before from the Agora Console. Replace the empty string with your App ID.
• token: If you’re using tokens, you can provide one here. But for this demo we’ll just set it as null.
• inCall: A Boolean state variable to track whether the user is currently in a video call or not.

Next, we display the App component. In the return block, we’ll render an h1 element to display our heading. Now, based on the inCall state variable, we’ll display either a Form component to get details (App ID, channel name, and token) from the user or display the video call:

return (
    <div style={styles.container}>
      <h1>Agora React Videocall</h1>
      {!inCall ? (
        <Form
          AppID={AppID}
          setAppID={setAppID}
          channelName={channelName}
          setChannelName={setChannelName}
          token={token}
          setToken={setToken}
          setInCall={setInCall}
        />
      ) : (
        {/* Videocall here */}
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

To create the video call component, let’s first wrap it with the AgoraRTCProvider component, this accepts a client returned from the useRTCClient hook and makes it accessible down the tree. You should add this at the top level of your video call.
We’ll create a <Videos> component next, to hold the users’ videos, passing it our props from before. We’ll also display an End Call button that ends the call by setting the inCall state to false:

return (
    <div style={styles.container}>
      <h1>Agora React Videocall</h1>
      {!inCall ? (
        <Form
          AppID={AppID}
          setAppID={setAppID}
          channelName={channelName}
          setChannelName={setChannelName}
          token={token}
          setToken={setToken}
          setInCall={setInCall}
        />
      ) : (
        <AgoraRTCProvider client={client}>
          <Videos channelName={channelName} AppID={AppID} token={token} />
          <button onClick={() => setInCall(false)}>End Call</button>
        </AgoraRTCProvider>
      )}
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;

Video Component

We destructure the props to access the AppID, channelName and token.
The Agora React SDK also gives you useLocalMicrophoneTrack and useLocalCameraTrack hooks, these create and set up the local microphone and camera tracks respectively. Since the process to create these tracks is asynchronous they also give you a loading and an error state along with the tracks.

function Videos(props: { channelName: string; AppID: string; token: string }) {
  const { AppID, channelName, token } = props;
  const { isLoading: isLoadingMic, localMicrophoneTrack } = useLocalMicrophoneTrack();
  const { isLoading: isLoadingCam, localCameraTrack } = useLocalCameraTrack();

We can use the useRemoteUsers hook to access the other (remote) users that join our video call. This hook gives you an array of objects, each object represents remote users in the call. The array is like your React state that gets updated each time someone joins or leaves the channel, we’ll use this to render our UI and keep it in sync with the form of the call:

 const remoteUsers = useRemoteUsers();

We can use the usePublish hook to publish the local microphone and camera tracks. You can pass in an array of tracks you want to publish to the channel, these tracks can be subscribed and viewed by other users who join the same channel.

 usePublish([localMicrophoneTrack, localCameraTrack]);

To start the call we need to join a room or a channel. We can do that by calling the useJoin hook and passing in the AppID, channelName, and token as props.

useJoin({
    appid: AppID,
    channel: channelName,
    token: token === "" ? null : token,
  });

We can access the remote users’ audio tracks with the useRemoteAudioTracks hook by providing it the remoteUsers array. This hook automatically handles subscribing and unsubscribing to the user tracks as your component is mounted and tracks are available.

const { audioTracks } = useRemoteAudioTracks(remoteUsers);

To listen to the remote users’ tracks, we can map over the audioTracks array and call the play method for each available track:

 audioTracks.map((track) => track.play());

We’ll check if either the microphone or the camera is still loading and render a simple loading message:

const deviceLoading = isLoadingMic || isLoadingCam;
  if (deviceLoading) return <div style={styles.grid}>Loading devices...</div>;

Once the tracks are ready, we can render a grid with videos of all the users in the channel. We can render the user’s own (local) video track using the LocalVideoTrack component from the SDK, passing it the localCameraTrack as the track prop:

return (
    <div style={{ ...styles.grid, ...returnGrid(remoteUsers) }}>
      <LocalVideoTrack track={localCameraTrack} play={true} style={styles.gridCell} />
      {/* Remote videos here */}
    </div>
  );
}

We can display the remote users’ video tracks using the RemoteUser component. We’ll iterate through the remoteUsers array, passing each user as a prop to it:

return (
    <div style={{ ...styles.grid, ...returnGrid(remoteUsers) }}>
      <LocalVideoTrack track={localCameraTrack} play={true} style={styles.gridCell} />
      {remoteUsers.map((user) => (
        <RemoteUser user={user} style={styles.gridCell} />
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

These components are unopinionated so you can style them as you like.

That’s all the code we need to build a video conferencing app with Agora and React. Here’s what the final code looks like:

function Videos(props: { channelName: string; AppID: string; token: string }) {
  const { AppID, channelName, token } = props;
  const { isLoading: isLoadingMic, localMicrophoneTrack } = useLocalMicrophoneTrack();
  const { isLoading: isLoadingCam, localCameraTrack } = useLocalCameraTrack();
  const remoteUsers = useRemoteUsers();
  const { audioTracks } = useRemoteAudioTracks(remoteUsers);

  usePublish([localMicrophoneTrack, localCameraTrack]);
  useJoin({
    appid: AppID,
    channel: channelName,
    token: token === "" ? null : token,
  });

  audioTracks.map((track) => track.play());
  const deviceLoading = isLoadingMic || isLoadingCam;
  if (deviceLoading) return <div style={styles.grid}>Loading devices...</div>;

  return (
    <div style={{ ...styles.grid, ...returnGrid(remoteUsers) }}>
      <LocalVideoTrack track={localCameraTrack} play={true} style={styles.gridCell} />
      {remoteUsers.map((user) => (
        <RemoteUser user={user} style={styles.gridCell} />
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

Form and styling

For the sake of completeness, here’s what the Form component looks like:

function Form(props) {
  const { AppID, setAppID, channelName, setChannelName, token, setToken, setInCall } = props;
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Please enter your Agora AppID and Channel Name</p>
      <label htmlFor="appid">Agora App ID: </label>
      <input id="appid" type="text" value={AppID} onChange={(e) => setAppID(e.target.value)} placeholder="required"/>
      <br /><br />
      <label htmlFor="channel">Channel Name: </label>
      <input id="channel" type="text" value={channelName} onChange={(e) => setChannelName(e.target.value)} placeholder="required" />
      <br /><br />
      <label htmlFor="token">Channel Token: </label>
      <input id="token" type="text" value={token} onChange={(e) => setToken(e.target.value)} placeholder="optional" />
      <br /><br />
      <button onClick={() => AppID && channelName ? setInCall(true) : alert("Please enter Agora App ID and Channel Name")}>
        Join
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

Conclusion

That’s all it takes to put together a high-quality video conferencing app with the Agora React SDK. We’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what’s possible. You can add a ton of features like virtual backgrounds, selective subscriptions, waiting rooms and so on. Learn more by visiting the docs and our API reference.

We’re looking for feedback on how we can improve the SDK in this beta period. Please contribute by opening issues (and submitting PRs) on our GitHub repo.

As a cybersecurity professional, you know the significance of foreseeing attacks, identifying issues, and fortifying a defence. You are capable of program management, planning, and analysis. You have the knowledge, qualifications, and experience required to complete the task. But what if the performance of the personnel of the enterprises and organizations you assist in protecting depends on their actions? You must be able to connect with them.

A cybersecurity team must explain to these individuals the significance of recognizing potential cyber dangers. In cybersecurity, having a strong IT team is very important. Businesses that have not made investments in cybersecurity are at a significant risk. Your capacity to defend them against cyber dangers depends on your skill, knowledge, and intelligence (IQ).

However, emotional intelligence (EQ) is crucial as you collaborate to educate your clients’ enterprises about cyber-attacks and the essential defences. Your emotional intelligence (EQ) reflects how well you can control your emotions and comprehend those of others. Your team dynamic will be enhanced, and you’ll perform better in the cyber battle by raising your EQ. Here are five ways that improving your EQ will benefit you.

Improve Team Motivation

IT specialists are needed by businesses and organizations for more than just cybersecurity. For cybersecurity, they want a group of enthusiastic IT specialists. You are aware of the value of your work. You are aware that ransomware attacks leave crucial enterprises incredibly exposed.

These assaults serve as a constant reminder of how valuable you are. You and your group maintain the required systems. Every business you service relies on you for both defence and offensive. You must possess motivation. Sure, learning to code effectively is crucial, but gaining a high EQ can boost your confidence and keep you interested in finding solutions and preventing problems.

You are inspired to progress when actively involved in your task. Being driven makes you more alert and prepared for anything. Your company’s brand is set when everyone on the team is motivated.

Boost Morale

The morale of your workforce fosters self-motivation. The impact of EQ improvement on your mentality is one way it might boost morale. Low self-esteem is correlated with low morale. Gaining emotional intelligence skills and increasing self-awareness also boosts your confidence. Businesses you guard look at their defensive team for both intelligence and confidence.

You frequently collaborate with others. Morale has an impact on people. To explain to staff members why it’s crucial to develop strong passwords, for instance, requires effective cybersecurity people skills. Employees are typically the first line of protection against cyberattacks. They must be vigilant for viruses, attentive when handling passwords, and skilled at spotting phishing emails.

They will benefit from your team’s work and your positive attitude as they strive to succeed. You’ve undoubtedly spent money on schooling and certifications to improve your ability to accomplish your work. If you make an investment in raising your EQ, the reward will be considerably higher. You can enrol in coaching or read about techniques to improve your emotional intelligence and increase your success. 

Help Find Weak Areas

One of the cornerstones of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. You will be a valuable addition to any firm and to your team if you can recognize your shortcomings, the vulnerabilities of your team, and the weak spots in a company’s defence. Working on your EQ helps you develop that emotional muscle on a personal level to use in the workplace. 

Provide Conflict Resolution

Any team will inevitably experience conflicts, especially in high-stress industries like cybersecurity. If you focus on your emotional intelligence, you’ll be able to function more effectively under pressure independently and in a team 

Gain the Trust of Companies and Organizations

Businesses rely on you to impart knowledge and assist in constructing a defence that safeguards them so they can focus on what they do best. It’s true that people are more interested in how much you care than how much you know. Another component of a high EQ is empathy. When you establish an emotional connection with someone, they will trust you more.

If you suppress your emotions in formal contexts, it could be challenging to accomplish this. The secret is to develop the ability to express the right emotions at the right time without letting them control you. Being empathetic shows those you work with that you care about your work and their problems. You can increase your reputation as a trustworthy cybersecurity expert by doing so.

Final Thoughts

High-IQ people frequently underestimate their emotional intelligence. You will work better with your team and provide better services to businesses if you improve your EQ. For example, you can raise your EQ by reading or enrolling in coaching. A high EQ will help in increasing motivation, boosting morale, spotting problem areas, settling disputes, and fostering trust. To become a better leader and cybersecurity professional, you should put time into raising your emotional intelligence (EQ).

As organizations increasingly embrace Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) methodologies to accelerate software delivery, security in these environments becomes a paramount concern. 

The fast-paced nature of CI/CD pipelines can inadvertently introduce significant vulnerabilities, exposing software systems to potential cyber threats.

To mitigate these risks and safeguard critical assets, adopting secure coding practices is crucial. In this article, we delve into the best practices for fortifying CI/CD pipelines against threats and vulnerabilities, empowering development teams to build and deploy software with security at its core.

Understanding the Risks in CI/CD Environments

Common Threats and Vulnerabilities in CI/CD Pipelines

1. Code Injection Attacks

Code injection attacks, including SQL injection and Remote Code Execution (RCE), are among the prominent risks in CI/CD environments. If not appropriately addressed, malicious actors can exploit vulnerable code to tamper with data, execute unauthorized commands, or gain illicit access to critical systems.

OWASP Top 10 reports that code injection remains a concerning issue, accounting for 19% of reported vulnerabilities in web applications.

2. Insecure Dependencies and Libraries

CI/CD pipelines often rely on third-party libraries and dependencies to streamline development. However, libraries that are not up-to-date or from unverified sources might contain potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious individuals.

3. Insider Threats and Privilege Escalation

Insiders with access to the CI/CD pipeline can inadvertently or maliciously introduce vulnerabilities. Privilege escalation is a concern when users are granted excessive permissions, enabling unauthorized actions within the pipeline. According to a recent Insider Threat Report, 68% of organizations experienced insider attacks in some form, emphasizing the importance of robust access controls.

4. Configuration Issues and Secrets Exposure

Misconfigured CI/CD tools and environments may inadvertently expose sensitive information, such as passwords and API keys, to unauthorized parties. 

5. Lack of Security Testing and Monitoring

Failing to incorporate security testing and monitoring in CI/CD pipelines can result in undetected vulnerabilities and prolonged exposure to threats. A recent survey revealed that only 40% of organizations conduct security testing throughout the development lifecycle.

Secure Coding Best Practices for CI/CD Pipelines

Code Review and Static Analysis

1. Importance of Peer Code Review

Peer code review is a fundamental practice in CI/CD environments to identify and rectify potential vulnerabilities early in the development process emphasizing the importance of CI/CD security from the outset. Studies show that peer review can detect up to 60% of defects and significantly reduce the number of security issues in software.

2. Utilizing Static Code Analysis Tools

Security sit in early-stage software development can be significantly enhanced by leveraging static code analysis tools. Static code analysis tools automatically scan the source code to identify security vulnerabilities and coding errors. The use of such tools can reduce the number of security defects by up to 85%.

Implementing Proper Authentication and Authorization

1. Secure Access Control Mechanisms

Robust authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and strong password policies, bolster the security of CI/CD pipelines against unauthorized access attempts.

2. Role-based Access Control (RBAC) 

RBAC ensures that users have the appropriate permissions based on their roles, limiting their access to only necessary resources within the CI/CD pipeline.

3. Least Privilege Principle 

Adhering to the least privilege principle grants users the minimum level of access required to perform their tasks, reducing the potential impact of a compromised account.

For example, a CI/CD pipeline administrator is given only the necessary permissions to manage the pipeline infrastructure. This limits the scope of an attacker who gains access to the administrator’s credentials, minimizing the potential damage.

Managing Dependencies and Third-Party Libraries

1. Regularly Updating Dependencies: 

Regularly updating third-party libraries and dependencies helps to patch security vulnerabilities and ensure the use of the latest features.

2. Validating and Verifying the Integrity of External Libraries

Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of third-party libraries before integrating them into the pipeline safeguards against supply chain attacks.

3. Using Trusted Sources and Repositories

Relying only on reputable and trusted sources for third-party libraries reduces the likelihood of introducing malicious code.

Instead of downloading libraries from random websites, developers should use official repositories and package managers like npm, Maven, or PyPI, which are more secure and continuously monitored for vulnerabilities.

Secrets Management and Configuration

1. Storing Secrets Securely 

Storing sensitive information, such as API keys and passwords, in secure, encrypted storage systems prevents unauthorized access.

2. Encryption and Decryption of Sensitive Data 

Encrypting sensitive data in transit and at rest ensures that even if intercepted, the information remains unreadable to unauthorized entities.

3. Techniques to Avoid Hardcoding Credentials

Avoiding the practice of hardcoding credentials directly into the code helps prevent accidental exposure.

For example: A developer utilizes environment variables or configuration files to pass sensitive data to the application during runtime, reducing the risk of accidental leakage through version control systems.

Security Testing and Quality Assurance

1. Incorporating Security Testing in the CI/CD Pipeline

Integrating security testing tools into the pipeline enables continuous security checks throughout the development lifecycle.

For example: A CI/CD pipeline includes automated security testing, such as SAST (Static Application Security Testing) and DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing), to detect and address vulnerabilities early in the development process.

2. Automated Vulnerability Scanning 

Automated vulnerability scanning tools help identify security weaknesses in software components, improving overall security posture.

Before each deployment, the CI/CD pipeline automatically runs a vulnerability scanner to identify any known vulnerabilities in the application’s dependencies and libraries.

3. Fuzz testing and Penetration Testing

Fuzz testing and penetration testing help identify potential weaknesses and security flaws by simulating real-world attack scenarios.

Conclusion 

Securing CI/CD pipelines through robust coding practices is not just a choice; it is imperative for modern software development. As evidenced by the prevalence of code injection attacks, insider threats, and insecure dependencies, the risks faced by organizations today are both persistent and dynamic. 

To stay ahead in the cybersecurity landscape, organizations must integrate secure coding practices at every stage of the CI/CD pipeline. By conducting peer code reviews, utilizing static code analysis, enforcing proper authentication and access controls, and managing dependencies with care, teams can significantly reduce the attack surface. 

By recognizing the vital role secure coding plays in ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of software, organizations can foster a culture of security awareness among developers. 

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Setting up a new Raspberry Pi Board can be daunting without a monitor and keyboard, Once you flash a new image of the Operating System – Raspberry Pi OS or similar, the next obvious step is to boot the Pi, log in to it and access the terminal over SSH. But for a headless setup, i.e. without a Monitor and Keyboard, it’s not that straightforward. The same goes if you’re using a lite image of the OS (without a Desktop Environment). For SSH to work, you first need to get your board on your home network, even if you manage to create an ad-hoc network between your Pi and workstation, the SSH is disabled for security reasons. 

There are two simple ways to sort this out, and we’ll look into it one-by-one 

#1 The Simple Way: Using the official Raspberry Pi Imager, 

Raspberry Pi’s official flashing utility can be downloaded from here . This tool allows you to pick the OS image you want to flash. It also has a setting page where you can enable SSH and add credentials of your home router WiFi SSID and password. All this information is baked into the OS image during the SD card flashing process.

#2 The Ninja Way: Underneath the hood 

While the Raspberry Pi Imager way works pretty straightforward, for the ninja user, it’s important to understand how this all works underneath the hood. So the job of the flasher programmer is to partition your SD card into two segments – BOOT and the Root File System (rootfs) of the raspberry pi. This is how typical how Linux distributions are stored. 

The boot partition holds all the essential files used during the booting process, including the bootloader, and the rootfs partition holds the primary filesystem of the Linux operating system. Now let’s add settings for our WiFi connection and enable SSH on the raspberry pi board the ninja way. 

Once you flashed a new operating system, the SD card shall be auto-ejected, so re-insert the SD card, and you shall see a partition named BOOT mounted on your system. Create a new file in the root folder of the boot partition with the exact name – wpa_supplicant.conf. In this file add following using your favourite text editor or terminal: 

“` code-block

This information shall be used by “wpa_supplicant”, a utility used by Linux distributions like Debian to connect to wifi networks. After the boot is complete, it’ll scan for WiFi networks nearby and connect to your SSID and password you supplied. 

Don’t worry about supplying your password in plain text, after the boot, this file will be removed automatically.

Now to enable SSH, which is disabled by default for security, just create a new empty file with the name ssh in the root directory of the boot partition. Use the terminal command to create this file 

And that’s it, your raspberry pi will be connected to your WiFi network and ready to accept incoming SSH connection requests, and all this is done without ever connecting your board to a monitor and keyboard – Headless. 

Test your SSH connection from your workstation open the terminal, and type:

and you shall be logged in.

Found this tutorial interesting? Read more about the latest trends in Embedded System development in our previous blog here and take your embedded projects to IoT using MQTT via this blog here .

 Currently, there are 6.9 billion people with access to smartphones and at least some form of internet worldwide. This means that, when developing an app, you have a potential audience of well over 80% of humankind.

Now, while it’s unrealistic to expect any app to pull these numbers (even Instagram is used by “just” 2.35 billion), the tipping point past which your app can no longer function as before is far closer than you assume.

To make matters worse, it takes just a couple of (very) dissatisfied users to ruin your rating and leave enough bad reviews to ruin your app’s reputation. This is why you must ensure that your app is scalable and resilient. Here are the top six strategies to help you with that.

1. Horizontal scaling

When structuring your servers, vertical scaling makes the most sense. After all, upgrading the server, you’re already using or starting with an impressive server (the one that gives you room for growth) is intuitive. The problem is that this system is not the most reliable. Instead, horizontal scaling, where you add more servers instead of improving a single one, might provide you with more value.

Horizontal scaling is impressive because it will allow you to withstand much higher traffic. For an app developer, having more users is the optimal end goal, so not having a plan for success simply makes no sense.

Horizontal scaling improves performance, and it’s much more cost-efficient. Adding a server sounds expensive, but it offers you flexibility and simplicity. After all, you can add more servers as you go. This means you don’t have to start too ambitious (like with vertical scaling). 

Most importantly, you have the privilege of isolating services from one another. This way, you gain a lot of resilience because a flaw, a failure, or an attack on a single service won’t compromise the rest. This also makes troubleshooting a lot easier.

The biggest challenge of horizontal scaling is achieving data consistency; however, there are more than a few ways to overcome this. 

2. Work on load balancing

Previously, we’ve talked about the imperative of working on multiple servers. Without load balancing, this would be like having five rooms in a home and spending 90% of the time in a single one. With the help of load balancing, you can evenly distribute this and get the most out of the servers you’re using.

There are numerous load-balancing techniques:

• Hardware load balancers: This is the simplest form of load balancing since it relies on having a device that distributes traffic when it reaches a certain load.

• Software load balancers: This is a part of the application stack. These are virtual machines that act in a similar way to hardware load balancers.

• Content delivery networks: A content delivery network is located in different locations. This caching service is scattered across the globe to provide you with an even higher service resilience. 

The best thing about load balancing is that it’s incredibly scalable. This is why the sooner you start doing this, the better results you will face. When your audience outgrows your current capacity, you can provide consistent performance across peak hours. 

More importantly, load balancing boosts the availability of your application. This means that, in the scenario where one of the servers falls, your app will not be completely unavailable. You’ll try to avoid this worst-case scenario at any cost.

3. Use mobile IP proxy in research and testing

As a web developer, you have to do a lot of research. Now, some of this research will be unavailable due to geographical restrictions. This is why you must use a mobile IP proxy while researching.

While doing research, you’re assuming a role of a customer, which means that various competitor platforms you’re researching target you based on your history. Because your research patterns may take you to the most unexpected places, the experience you get when you try to emulate the customer experience will be all but authentic.

It’s also worth mentioning that mobile IP proxy helps you avoid being blocked or flagged. Some platforms will do this if you make too many requests, which is sensible from their standpoint but may seriously slow down your research. 

Then, there’s the issue of load testing and scalability. You need to see how the platform will behave when accessed through a different IP, especially one using a different locale. This way, you test whether the experience provided by your app gives a consistent experience.

Finally, you can avoid captchas and bot detection measures by rotating IP addresses. Sure, this is not a huge problem, but it’s a slight annoyance that you can easily bypass with the right approach. 

4. Embrace asynchronous processing

Imagine a scenario where you plan a five-course meal at a restaurant but refuse to order all the meals simultaneously. Imagine waiting until you finish the first course only to request the second, the third, and so on. It would be inefficient, waste everyone’s time and cause a massive hold-up in the operations. 

This is what synchronous processing is like. It’s a system where you make one request at a time and must wait for the current task to be completed to move to the next one. It will slow down the application process and make your audience perceive your application as slow and inefficient.

The solution is asynchronous processing, which makes all the necessary requests without waiting for previous tasks to finish. Since modern apps and servers running them can run multiple processes in the background, there’s no good reason not to use all this computing power.

The benefits of this process are numerous:

• Improved responsiveness

• Reduced latency

• Scalability

• Parallelism

In other words, you improve your app in all fields, directly contributing to a superior UX.

Most of these tasks are achieved through asynchronous APIs, background tasks, and non-blocking I/O libraries. The latter performs network communication without blocking the main application thread. 

5. Look into auto-scaling

Real-time demand will consistently change. Even in video game apps, you have peak times on servers. In the past, some games tried to handle this by adding a user queue. This is hardly a technique that would work in web applications. Instead, you must create a system with enough elasticity to handle increased traffic.

More importantly, you need a system capable of efficiently managing these resources and automatically adjusting to the increased demand.

The way this functions is quite simple – you have a system that monitors the application’s performance across all users. Instead of allowing the service to slow down during peak, the system would utilize a cloud-based environment to improve CPU utilization quickly. This can be set to happen as soon as the number of incoming requests passes a certain threshold. Even here, you need the right strategy. 

If we compared this to naval combat, it would be like firing your cannons seconds before the enemy vessel enters your range just because you know the shell will take a while to reach the target. In other words, you need to develop an in-depth understanding of your traffic patterns and create a system that will instantly respond (far quicker than a human-issued command ever could).

This way, you will get the optimal cost-efficiency, availability, and, most importantly, optimal performance.

The key, however, lies in finding the right auto-scaling triggers. The most effective ones are usually: 

• Incoming traffic

• CPU utilization

• Response time

The last one is a bit imperfect because, from a user’s perspective, it’s reactive rather than proactive. 

6. Double down on performance testing

Previously, we’ve discussed using an IP proxy to test how your platform behaves when accessed from different locations. However, this is not the only metric that you should test. You must also test the following:

• Load

• Stress

• Endurance

• Spike

• Scalability

• Volume

Besides determining the subject of your tests, you must also figure out the KPIs you’re looking into.

• Response time: The most important aspect of user experience is response time. People hate using laggy apps. Chances are that they’ll switch to an alternative, provided that there is one.

• Concurrency: Users only assess your app’s performance from their personal experience, which may vary based on the time of day when they access it. With scalable development, you’ll be able to achieve a pretty similar consistency around the clock. 

• Error rate: Does the app break often? What are the odds of requests failing? Sure, people are more tolerant of this, but if your response time is slow, restarting the app or trying again will be even worse.

In the end, you can see how these KPIs stack. A poor response time can make a critical error exponentially worse. This is why you can’t afford to ignore a single problem. 

With the right strategy, your web applications will be more scalable and resilient

By Srdjan Gombar

Ultimately, you want to prepare for traffic growth and use as many resources as you need. Finding this balance is difficult but not impossible. This will determine your app’s functionality and the cost-effectiveness of your entire project. 

Veteran content writer, published author, and amateur boxer. Srdjan is a Bachelor of Arts in English Language & Literature and is passionate about technology, pop culture, and self-improvement. His free time he spends reading, watching movies, and playing Super Mario Bros. with his son.