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How to Optimize Workspace to Improve Developer’s Productivity

How to optimize a developer's workspace

Enhancing developers’ productivity goes beyond giving them the latest gadgets, gift packs, healthy snacks, or gym membership — these help, too. But the workspace is just as crucial. It is, after all, where the development team will spend most of their day. 

The problem: most employers are unaware of how an optimized workspace can enhance the development team’s productivity or how to go about it. 

The good news is that we’ve got the solution and created this guide. We will share how to get the creative juice of your tech whizzes flowing. But first, let’s understand the importance of an optimized workspace for developers’ productivity.

Why is it Important to Optimize a Developer’s Workspace?

workspace

Developers, like most professionals, spend 8 hours at work on average. That’s a third of the day. So, their work environment must be comfortable to get the best out of them. 

When developers are comfortable, it puts them in the right headspace, and they can focus. In the realm of software development, focus cannot be underestimated. 

An optimized workspace for developers fosters innovation and collaboration. Knocking the manager’s door or going to the engineering department for clarification or resources can be awkward—especially if you’re unfamiliar. That’s a problem an optimized workspace with an open office layout can solve. 

In a shared space, employees can build rapport, which increases collaboration. When everyone feels comfortable with each other, they can share ideas, boosting innovation.

Thus, it is clear why creating an optimized workspace can improve developers’ productivity. This brings us to the ‘how,’ which we discuss in the next section. 

How to Optimize a Developer’s Workspace

Optimizing a workspace to boost a developer’s productivity combines the physical environment, technology infrastructure, and the company’s culture. Let’s see how these factors impact creating an optimal workspace for developers. 

Physical environment

Aside from algorithms and codes, the physical setup in which a developer operates influences their success or failure.

Create a comfortable and ergonomic workspace

Developers spend a lot of time writing codes and solving complex tasks in the workspace. Even though most of this happens sitting down, it can lead to muscular-skeletal disorders like muscle strains, carpal tunnel syndrome, back injury, etc. Thus, developers are exposed to many potential injuries, leading to more sick days and lower productivity. 

Designing an ergonomic workspace for developers can significantly reduce these issues. Provide adjustable desks and chairs that provide a good level of support. That means the chair should support their lower back and allow their feet to rest on the floor. The desk should also be comfortable for their arms and wrists. 

Consider multiple monitor screens to manage different tasks. There are special keyboards for coding, such as mechanical, and split. Additionally a mouse pad with wrist support can be beneficial during extended coding sessions. Allow your developers to decorate their space— for example, hanging up pictures or art. 

Also, since developers type for long hours, a voice call app can facilitate seamless communication, reducing the risk of hand strain.

Provide developers with access to natural light and fresh air

working together

Lighting is critical for developers’ productivity and well-being. If it is overly bright or dim, it can cause eyestrain, fatigue, and a loss of focus. The key is to find the right balance. 

LED lighting is widely used today because it can provide bright and more uniform lighting. As a result, it reduces headaches and high strain, which are associated with fluorescent lighting. Another option is to install transparent glass walls, which can open up the space and increase the amount of natural light employees receive.

In 2021, researchers from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health discovered a link between workplace indoor air quality and cognitive function. The study revealed that respondents showed lower cognitive function when indoor air pollution was higher. 

Maintaining a healthy level of humidity — typically between 30% and 50% can keep mites, dust, and other allergens under control. Use air conditioners and dehumidifiers to keep the humidity levels under control. 

Office plants have also been found to improve indoor air quality. Their ability to absorb toxins and produce more oxygen which can be beneficial for your workers, especially if they are in enclosed spaces with limited ventilation. Additionally, replace the air filter frequently and keep your office clean. 

Reduce noise and environmental distractions

Many tech companies use an open-office floor plan, which is great because it enhances collaboration. However, since there are no physical barriers to block the noise, it can lead to distractions. Software development often requires an intense focus and distractions can potentially disrupt a developer’s flow. This, in turn, can lead to delays and reduced productivity. 

Having private rooms where developers can work without distractions can be beneficial. You may dedicate some office space as “quiet zones” where phone calls and chit-chat aren’t allowed to maintain a peaceful and focused environment. 

Another solution is to employ voicemail drops to control the influx of phone calls and minimize disruptions. Noise-cancelling headphones can also help developers suppress distractions and focus on their tasks. 

girl with headphones on

Establish boundaries between work and home space

With the rise of remote work, many developers work from their homes. While this offers flexibility, it can blur the lines between work and personal life — which can be a recipe for decreased productivity and burnout. 

Encourage developers to create a designated workspace within their homes, separate from their living areas. This can be a spare room, a corner of a room, or even just a specific desk. 

A designated workspace ensures developers can mentally switch into work mode when they enter that space — and switch back to their personal life when they leave it.

Technology

The development team needs access to the right technology to work efficiently. 

Provide developers with the latest hardware and software

Outdated or slow equipment can hinder a developer’s productivity and cause frustration. So, invest in powerful computers, high-speed internet connections, and up-to-date software programs. 

This includes specialized tools that cater to their specific needs, such as development environments, version control systems, collaboration platforms, and invoicing software for freelancers. These tools ensure that developers have the necessary resources to excel in their roles.

From a screen share app for remote collaboration to code editors with efficient debugging tools, having the right tools can significantly enhance a developer’s workflow.

Ensure developers have access to the tools and resources they need

Technology is rapidly evolving, and developers always try to keep up. Whether acquiring new skills or perusing an industry publication, access to current information can be beneficial.

These publications or periodicals offer information on the latest technology trends, frameworks, and best practices.

Maintain a curated collection to get the most out of the development team. Regularly update the library with the latest books on frameworks, programming languages, and software development methodologies.

workplace

The same goes for tools. Developers often need to work together, whether it’s through code review, pair programming, or team meetings. Use project management software, version control systems, and communication platforms to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication. It streamlines the development process and fosters teamwork.

Create a system for managing and tracking resources

Most organizations have finite resources. How you oversee them can determine whether or not your development team is productive. Proper resource management and tracking can give you insight into developers’ workflow, availability, skills, and project time requirements.

The obvious solution is to invest in resource management software. This tool comes with features designed to improve resource management and productivity. For example, the time-tracking feature allows developers to log their working hours and track how they allocate their time.

Applying data science methods can also help optimize resource allocation and efficiency. A data-driven approach identifies patterns and trends in resource usage, enabling better allocation and optimization of resources.

Culture

Your organizational culture also plays a crucial role in developers’ productivity. An environment encouraging learning, growth, and open communication produces positive outcomes.

Create a culture that values productivity and efficiency

coworking

A productive work culture boosts morale, fosters collaboration, increases productivity and efficiency —and supports employee retention. 

To achieve this, set clear goals for the development team. Let them understand the metrics by which their work will be measured. This way, they can dedicate their efforts toward achieving those goals. A culture that values productivity will provide developers with the necessary tools, resources, and services, from companies such as Vonage, to help them excel. 

Diversity in your development team is also essential for a productive work culture. With different experiences, skills, and perspectives, team members can bring fresh ideas and innovative solutions. 

Empowering the GenZ workforce, who are often at the forefront of emerging technologies, is crucial for the future of the tech industry. The goal is to create an environment where developers feel safe and supported to take risks and think outside the box. 

Encourage developers to take breaks and recharge

This is especially important for remote development teams. Remote work can result in getting sucked into work and losing track of time. While this may seem harmless at first, in the long run, it leads to burnout and decreased productivity. 

Encourage developers to take regular breaks throughout the day. Staring at a monitor for extended periods can strain the eyes and lead to fatigue. Productivity doesn’t also mean sitting down all day long. 

Provide opportunities for developers to learn and grow

Always offer developers the chance to expand their skills and knowledge. This can be via paying for courses from reputable online platforms or bringing in experts to conduct workshops and training sessions. Encourage them to attend conferences, webinars, and meetups relevant to their expertise.

Conclusion

Improving developers’ productivity is vital to business success. Optimizing the workspace is a critical step in this process. Creating a work environment where developers can do their best is crucial for maximizing productivity. Focus on improving their physical environment, investing in the right technologies, and supportive work culture.

ryan yee
Ryan Yee – Copywriter 

Ryan is an award-winning copywriter, with 20+ years of experience working alongside major US brands, emerging start-ups, and leading tech enterprises. His copy and creative have helped companies in the B2B marketing, education, and software sectors reach new customer bases and enjoy improved results. Here is his LinkedIn.
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How to Conduct an Effective Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

In today’s digital landscape, it is not a question of if an organization will experience a cyber risk, but when. It is therefore essential for anyone working in information security to be fully informed and equipped when it comes to risk management, measuring, and evaluation. 

A cyber risk assessment is a document of an organization’s process of identifying digital assets, detailing potential threats, determining the likelihood of a data breach, and establishing controls to mitigate those risks. This document works to keep stakeholders informed, support proper responses to identified risks, and provide an executive summary to aid in security decisions. 

Risk assessments are a key part of becoming cyber resilient, but it can be difficult to know where to start. This article will walk you through when and how to conduct an effective cybersecurity risk assessment.

code

When should you perform a risk assessment?

All cybersecurity strategies should start with a risk assessment

A cybersecurity risk assessment is the foundation upon which everything else is built. Engaging in detailed asset management, review, and control-setting practices arms the organization with all the information it needs about its IT landscape and all the associated risks. 

This can be time-consuming, but it is a necessary process. Without this solid foundation of knowledge, organizations may fail to implement the proper controls further down the line.

Yearly assessments keep you informed about potential threats

Most compliance regulations mandate that organizations review their risk assessment at least once per year. Organizations should document this annual review by taking the minutes during a risk assessment meeting to prove their compliance. 

Don’t wait for a reason to do your yearly check. For example, if there was an issue with your outbound call center solutions, it would be preferable to identify the risk early during a routine check, rather than while doing damage control after a customer data breach.

When adopting new tech or systems in your organization

When planning to make any significant changes to your IT stack, it is important to formally review your cybersecurity risk assessment. While the definition of “significant changes” is subjective, it’s best practice to review after introducing any innovative technology which alters your infrastructure and could open your system up to new risks. 

For example, when onboarding new virtual PBX solutions, organizations should review their cybersecurity to make sure no sensitive data will be compromised in the transition to a new method of communication. Similar events triggering the need to review risk would include the addition of a new firewall provider, or the migration of a database from on-premises to cloud.

Following major changes such as mergers or upgrades

Structural changes, such as one company merging with another, can cause increased security risks. With operations in transition, high-value data becomes more vulnerable to threats. In Devsecops IT culture, responsibility for delivering secure software is shared between development and operations teams. 

When businesses merge, then, this becomes a collaboration between the development and operations teams of multiple organizations – allowing more potential for malicious actors to disrupt the transfer and sharing of data. 

It is important, therefore, to conduct thorough risk assessments and identify additional measures which need to be in place during the period of change.

meeting

After security incidents to determine and prevent breach

When a security incident takes place, a risk assessment is a crucial tool. It’s important to investigate root causes and try to get to the bottom of what went on as swiftly as possible. You want to gain a thorough understanding of the specific vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the existing system which allowed the breach to occur. 

These insights will be valuable for the continuous improvement of your security system – they tell you what needs to be fixed to prevent the same incident in future. The risk assessment document will also be useful for legal proceedings, insurance claims, and compliance reports, and for ensuring transparent communication with affected parties.

How to conduct an effective cybersecurity risk assessment

Determine the scope including assets, systems, and data

The first step is about identifying assets and determining the scope of the assessment. Thanks to visibility issues in increasingly complex systems, this is often the most difficult part of the process. For instance, as businesses move from monolithic to microservice architecture (here’s a good monolithic application example), data becomes spread across a larger application comprising multiple independent databases and modular services communicating via APIs. 

Start by listing valuable assets. This includes all devices on the network, company and customer data, and every location which stores, processes, and transmits data. For each one, gather information such as its purpose, end-point users, network topology, security controls, and functional requirements. 

Additionally, you should identify risky users which may increase security risk. You’ll need this comprehensive list of all assets and users later on when making decisions about which assets to prioritize.

laptop and mobile

Evaluate and test infrastructure vulnerabilities and weaknesses

A vulnerability is a weakness which could be exploited to steal data or otherwise harm the organization. Threats include system failure, human error, and adversarial threats like hackers and malware. Organizations must guard themselves against unauthorized access, data leaks, and misuse of insider information. 

But evaluating weaknesses is not just about what “could” happen; it is a realistic assessment of what is most likely to happen based on the current security infrastructure. Vulnerabilities can be found and tested via vulnerability analysis, auditing, and software security analysis.

Classify data based on sensitivity and importance

Now you know which assets you are protecting, and which weaknesses need to be patched. Armed with this information, you can categorize your organization’s data according to its sensitivity and importance. You’re looking for critical data that would have the most significant impact on operations and stakeholders if it was to be compromised – in terms of money, reputational damage, and customer trust. 

You should also keep in mind which data is in the most precarious position, based on the vulnerabilities and weaknesses you have identified. Think about how bad the impact of a breach would be, but also how likely such an event is. 

So, if you had a database valued at $50 million. In the event of a breach, you estimate that at least half the data would be exposed before it could be contained, meaning a loss of around $25 million. 

However, if this is an unlikely possibility – say, a one in fifty-year occurrence, this would be equivalent to losing $25 million every 50 years, which translates to half a million per year. This estimation is extremely helpful when setting the annual budget for your data security program.

Assess your organization’s regulatory compliance

You also need to think about compliance risk: would a data breach lead to a compliance violation? If there are fines or penalties involved, this would be an expensive mistake. Conduct a thorough review of all security operations to identify any areas where you are not fully compliant with necessary regulations. 

One of the reasons compliance is so difficult is that businesses often have data spread across so many devices, storage systems, databases, and networks that it is hard to look at every aspect of the system at once and identify shortcomings. Using a data warehouse, you can access current and historical data from multiple sources in one place for easier insights and reporting.

compliance

Develop a risk mitigation plan for identified vulnerabilities

Based on the data you have collected, create a comprehensive risk mitigation plan. This should include strategies to address each vulnerability you identified, be it technical solutions, process improvements, or alternate measures that minimize the likelihood and impact of a potential security incident. 

Risk mitigation controls are your first line of defense. For vulnerable devices, typical controls  include installing anti-virus software, encrypting data, updating security patch policy and processes, and hardening systems. In terms of storage, processing, and transmission risk, mitigation controls may be things like virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, or network segmentation. 

There are also user access mitigation controls, such as limiting access according to privilege, using role-based access controls (RBACs), implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA), or even passwordless authentication. 

The more specific you can be about the necessary fixes, the better. That’s why the identification stage was important: you should have a detailed understanding of your entire digital ecosystem. For example, best practices when mitigating threats in CI/CD environments will be different to traditional on-premise systems. Understanding these nuances allows for the implementation of mitigation controls specific to the situation.

Provide cybersecurity awareness training for employees

Just as you offer training on more basic IT concepts to answer employee questions such as what is a data warehouse, you should absolutely train your staff on cybersecurity. Don’t let human error be a bigger factor in cybersecurity incidents than it has to be. 

Make sure your teams are up-to-date on the latest phishing scams and best practices to stay safe. Educating everyone on the importance of cybersecurity empowers individuals to keep their own devices secure, supporting and enhancing the overall security posture of your company.

Evaluate the security practices of third-party partners

It is vital to ensure that third-party partners, suppliers, and vendors meet the same security standards as your organization. Assess cybersecurity practices of all external partners, establish clear guidelines, and schedule regular assessments. 

Moreover, with the increasing prevalence of AI in communication industry solutions, it is especially important to access the practices of partners leveraging artificial intelligence. Understanding the associated risks and implementing appropriate security measures is key to safeguarding sensitive information in AI-powered platforms or communication tools.

Maintain records of risk assessments and actions taken

The process of undertaking a risk assessment is valuable, but equally important is the documentation of the process. Businesses need to keep thorough records of each risk assessment, detailing assets, vulnerabilities, mitigation controls, and actions taken. This record is a useful tool, not only serving as a reference for future security risk assessments but also supporting compliance reports and future audits.

Conclusion

By investing the time to identify and document all assets, weaknesses, and mitigation controls, you can be sure to conduct an effective cybersecurity risk assessment. However, this is not a static document. 

You should be continually updating your risk assessment to keep up with the dynamic and evolving risk landscape. Continuous monitoring and improvement are key to remaining vigilant against cyber threats.

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jessica true
Jessica True – Senior Director, Marketing Strategy & Operations, Dialpad

Jessica True is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy and Operations at Dialpad, a modern business communications platform that takes every kind of conversation to the next level—turning conversations into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Here is her LinkedIn.
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Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning Revolutionize Digital Onboarding with Automated Efficiency

Let us discuss digital onboarding which is like the fancy term for how businesses bring in new folks but with a cool twist.

So, imagine the old way with tons of paperwork and slow processes. It is where digital onboarding plays its role.

However, why does this matter?

Well, it is all about making things smoother and quicker. Technology is like the magic wand that transforms the usual and makes it way more efficient.

Now the heroes behind the scenes are called PrestaShop developers. They are like the architects who are building the digital world where everything just clicks.

Digital onboarding used to be a paperwork marathon, but thanks to PrestaShop developer, it is more like a digital dance. They make sure everything flows seamlessly and turn the old-school into a digital masterpiece.

This article is like a journey, where we’ll explore this digital onboarding thing to figure out how tech, especially the PrestaShop developers, turns the regular into something super cool.

So, come along as we dig into this world where technology meets the everyday that are making things not just better but downright awesome!

Keep reading and let us discuss.

Understanding Digital Onboarding

Let us dive into the world of digital onboarding which is like the high-tech way of saying, “Welcome aboard!”.

Definition and Importance:

Digital onboarding is like the tech-savvy version of introducing someone to a new job or place. It is not just a simple welcome but a cool and efficient way of getting people started. You can think of it as the digital red carpet for newbies. It makes the whole joining-in thing smoother and more enjoyable.

Evolution of Digital Onboarding in Various Industries:

Now, let us talk about how this digital welcoming has evolved. It is not just for one type of job or industry. It is everywhere. From big banks to small tech companies, everyone is using it. It is like a universal language for making sure the start of a new job feels just right. You can imagine it as a tech makeover for the old-school “first day on the job” routine and making it fit perfectly in every job and industry.In a nutshell, digital onboarding is like the superhero cape for welcoming people to new places or jobs. It is not just a fancy term but the cool way tech is changing the game that is making every beginning a little more awesome.

Challenges in Traditional Onboarding

Let us take a stroll into the world of old-school onboarding which was like a blast from the past, where everything was done by hand, and paperwork ruled the show.

Manual Processes and Their Limitations:

Imagine a time when welcoming someone to a job meant drowning in paperwork. It’s like doing a complicated dance with forms and signatures, and it is not always smooth. This old way of doing things was a part of what we call traditional onboarding. It had its share of lots of problems as well.

In that traditional world, manual processes were like roadblocks that were slowing down  everything. It was like using handwritten notes in a world where everything’s digital. Mistakes happened and things got lost, delays became the norm. Not exactly the red-carpet welcome we all dream of.

Time and Resource Constraints:

Now, let us just think about time slipping away and resources being used up on all this manual stuff. Time that could be better spent on exciting things is just wasted on paperwork. Resources that could fuel growth are drained by endless administrative tasks. It is like being stuck in a time warp when the world is moving forward. This is why we need to shake things up, moving from the old-school to a digital era where time and resources work hand in hand for a smoother journey.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

It is time now to dive into the world of onboarding where things get a futuristic twist thanks to two cool players called AI and Machine Learning (ML).

Introduction to AI and ML in the Context of Onboarding:

Imagine a future where welcoming new team members is not just a routine but a digital symphony. That is where AI takes the spotlight which is like the tech rockstar making the onboarding experience more personal and tailored to every person.

How Automation Enhances the Efficiency:

Here is the cool part called automation, this is more like having a helpful robot friend. With AI and ML working behind the scenes, this digital assistant makes things smoother and faster. It tackles repetitive tasks, so humans can focus on what they do best which is adding that personal touch where it matters.

In this new era of onboarding, AI is not just a tool. It is the magic wand making things more personalized and efficient. You can get ready for a journey where tech and human touch team up to create an onboarding experience that is not just welcoming but downright extraordinary.

Key Benefits of AI and ML in Digital Onboarding

Let us discuss the benefits of AI and machine learning that are making a positive change In the world of onboarding process.

The Speed and Accuracy Improvements:

Imagine onboarding as a race and guess who just got a turbo boost? Yep, it is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Now, things are not just fast. They are lightning-speed. Back in the days when tasks used to take forever. Now, they are done in a snap. But it’s not just about speed. It is like having a super-smart buddy ensuring everything is spot-on which is like a conductor that is making sure every instrument plays the right note.

Enhanced Security Measures:

Let us chat about security which is the superhero that is keeping your info safe during onboarding. With the watchful eye of AI, it is not just a static shield. This can be like having a security wizard that learns and adjusts things, it remains ahead of any dangers that are turning the onboarding space from a defenseless zone into a secure fortification, all much appreciated to our computerized gatekeeper called AI.

The Personalized User Experiences:

Onboarding isn’t just an expedient and secure issue But it is almost making it feel like its made only for you. Here comes the cool portion called personalized client encounters which is fueled by our computerized buddy, AI.

You can think of an onboarding journey that feels as if it was tailor-made for you which is like a super comfy custom dress. AI makes onboarding not just a routine but an adventurous event that is making you feel not just welcomed but truly understood.

In the onboarding world, AI is not just a helper, in fact it is the superhero making everything efficient, secure, and personalized. This is not just a tool but the enchanting spell turning onboarding into a smooth journey that is tailored for each new team member.

Future Trends and Innovations

It is the time to explore the future trends and advancement in the world of AI and machine learning that is taking the onboarding world to a new level.

Anticipated Advancements in AI and ML for Onboarding:

Let us take a peek into the future of onboarding which is like looking into a crystal ball where the stars of the show are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Get ready for some cool changes coming our way.

Imagine if AI becomes your onboarding buddy, not just doing tasks but predicting what you need before you even ask. It is like having a super-smart sidekick that learns from every interaction that is making onboarding a personalized journey guided by the magic of AI.

The Potential Impact on Business Operations:

Presently, let us have a conversation around what happens when this enchantment spreads. It isn’t almost onboarding; it is like a ripple impact changing how businesses work. You’ll be able to think of commerce operations like a well-played symphony. With AI driving the way, it gets to be super effective, each move calculated with the assistance of keen calculations.

As AI and ML keep getting better, their impact on business operations is like a big, positive wave. It is not just about making onboarding smoother. It is about changing the whole game.

These expected improvements are not just updates. They are like a big shift that is turning business operations into a smart and dynamic success story. The future is not just digital. It is smart, and AI is taking the lead.

Conclusion

The fantastic finale of our travel into the world of onboarding advancement. It is just like the end of an incredible appearance that’s clearing out us with the echoes of how advanced onboarding is changing the diversion.

As we see at this computerized move, it is like a blend of ancient and unused coming together. The complicated ways of manual onboarding are getting a high-tech makeover, much appreciated to the computerized specialists.

The music of speed and precision, top-notch security, and individual touches, all driven by the superhero called advanced onboarding that paints a picture of advance. It isn’t fair to change. it is just like the music coming to its peak that’s an ideal blend of human warmth and cool tech. Within the onboarding world, the end of the AI and ML is like a guarantee that’s bringing a time where each onboarding encounter isn’t a fair schedule but a well-thought-out story.

So, as the appearance wraps up, we deliver a round of praise to this advanced advancement. Advanced onboarding takes the highlight which is turning the regular into a smooth, secure, and personalized execution.

The onboarding story goes on, presently with an advanced touch to guarantee that each unused starting isn’t a fair presentation but an extraordinary involvement.

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Community

Podcast #4 – Designing APIs means adding value to the Digital Chain

In this captivating Developer Nation Podcast episode, host Ayan engages in a comfortable and insightful conversation with Darshan, the founder and CEO of API Wiz. Darshan shares his 15-year journey in the software development industry, touching on experiences with diverse technologies and industries. The genesis of API Wiz emerges from Darshan’s realisation of significant gaps in API management within the developer ecosystem.

APIWiz, developed over four years, aims to revolutionise API management by addressing technical debt and the maturity and collaboration challenges enterprises face. Darshan emphasises the importance of a platform approach, likening it to an integrated assembly line for building cars. The platform, API Wiz, manages the entire API lifecycle, offering enterprises the flexibility to choose their preferred gateway.

Darshan recounts the challenges faced during the inception of APIWiz, including the need to overcome tool sprawl and foster collaboration across departments. The platform’s recent launch, APIWiz 2.0, and the introduction of Astrum for the developer community are highlighted. Astrum allows developers to use the platform for free, demonstrating APIWiz’s commitment to enabling more with less.

Throughout the episode, Darshan’s passion for solving customer-centric and developer-centric problems shines through, making this podcast a must-listen for developers, DevOps practitioners, and anyone interested in the dynamic world of API management. Tune in to gain valuable insights, learn from Darshan’s experiences, and discover the transformative impact of APIWiz in the evolving landscape of software development. Don’t miss out – hit that listen button now!

Listen to other episodes at : https://developernation.net/podcast/

Please share your feedbacks about this episode or the entire podcast in general in our forum thread here.

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Gaming On Linux: All You Need To Know

“`

This blog is originally published on it’s  FOSS by Abhishek Prakash

“`

Can I play games on Linux? What are the games available for Linux? Where to find Linux games? This comprehensive article answers all your questions on Linux gaming.

Can I play games on Linux?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by users who are thinking about switching to Linux. After all, gaming on Linux is often termed as a distant possibility. At least, by some hardcore gamers using another platform to play games.

In fact, some people even wonder if they can listen to music or watch movies on Linux. Considering that, the question about playing games on Linux seem genuine.

In this article, I am going to answer most of the Linux gaming questions that a beginner may have. Some of the potential questions that I’m going to address here are:

  • Is it possible to play games on Linux?
  • What are the Linux games available?
  • Where can you download Linux games?
  • How do you get more information about gaming on Linux?

But before I do that, let me make a confession. I am not a PC gamer or rather I should say, I am not a desktop Linux gamer. I prefer to play games on my PS4 and I haven’t dived into the PC games available or even mobile games (no candy crush request sent to anyone in my friend list). This is the reason you only see a few articles in the Linux games section of It’s FOSS.

So why am I covering this topic then?

Because I have been asked questions about playing games on Linux several times and I wanted to come up with a Linux gaming guide that could answer all those questions. And remember, it’s not just gaming on Ubuntu I am talking about here. I am talking about Linux in general.

linux

Can you play games on Linux?

Yes and no!

Yes, you can play games on Linux and no, you cannot play ‘all the games’ in Linux.

Confused? Don’t be. What I meant here is that you can get plenty of popular games on Linux such as Counter Strike, Shadow Of Mordor , etc.

However, you should not expect a native Linux support for the latest and greatest games – which are typically available for Windows.

The reason, in my opinion, is that Linux has less than 2% of desktop market share and the numbers are demotivating enough for most game developers to avoid working on the Linux version of their games.

Not just limited to the userbase, but not all games work perfectly on Linux. But, there are workarounds (ways) to play a huge list of games and I’ll be mentioning how to do that.

If I have to categorize, I’ll divide the games on Linux into four categories:

  1. Native Linux Games (games officially available for Linux)
  2. Windows games in Linux (Windows games played in Linux with Wine or other software)
  3. Browser Games (games that you can play online using your web browse)
  4. Terminal Games (games you can play in the Linux terminal)

Let’s start with the most important one, native Linux games, first.

1. Where to find native Linux games?

Native Linux games refer to those games which are officially supported on Linux. You just have to download it and hit it to play it without any potential troubleshooting.

Of course, there are a lot of games that officially support Linux – but where do you find them?

Hence, I will list some of the resources that you can utilize to download Linux games.

Steam

steam

Steam is a very popular digital video game store that offers incredible deals on games for Linux (including free games as well). So, it is an obvious source of PC games.

You can explore it to find tons of games ranging from AAA titles to Indie games.

Usually, you can easily find Steam listed in your app center or package manager. But, if you have no clue how to install and use it, refer to my guide below on installing and using Steam on Ubuntu Linux to get an idea.

Install Steam

GOG.com

cyberpunk

GOG.com is yet another platform similar to Steam. Like Steam, you can browse and find hundreds of native Linux games on GOG.com, purchase the games and install them. If the games support several platforms, you can download and use them across various operating systems. Your purchased games are available for you all the time in your account. You can download them anytime you wish.

One main difference between the two is that GOG.com offers only DRM free games. Also, GOG.com is entirely web-based. Unlike Steam, you don’t get a native desktop client on Linux for GOG.com.

GOG.com

Portable Linux Games

portable linux games

Portable Linux Games is a website that offers a good collection of Linux games for 32-bit systems. You can’t run the games on a purely 64-bit system by default – however, you can try following a troubleshooting guide to make it happen.

The downloaded files have all the dependencies (at times Wine and Perl installation) and these are also platform-independent. All you need to do is to download the files and double click to install them.

It’s a great source for gamers who aren’t into the games made by big studios but just want to have a good time playing some games on Linux.

Portable Linux Games

Itch.io

itch.io

Looking for native Linux Indie games? if that’s the case, Itch.io is a fantastic source to find interesting games.

You can find a lot of Indie games for free and can also opt to choose a paid game.

Interestingly, you do not need to create an account to download free games. You can simply head to its page and download the file meant for Linux.

Itch.io

Software Repositories

You can also look into the software repositories of your own Linux distribution. There will always be some games on it.

If you are using Ubuntu, the Software Center itself has an entire section for games. The same is true for other Linux distributions such as Linux Mint etc.

2. How to play Windows games on Linux?

How to play Windows games on Linux?

There’s a bunch of native Linux games out there. However, most of the popular games available aren’t available on Linux directly. In other words, the latest and greatest games do not support Linux (for the most) and are available for Windows only.

In that case, do we have a workaround to play those games on Linux? Yes, we do!

With the help of tools like Wine, Phoenicis (formerly known as PlayOnLinux), Lutris, CrossOver, and GameHub, you can play a number of popular Windows games on Linux.

Steam Play

steam

If you’re fond of using Steam as your only source of games on Linux, you can easily try the Windows-only games using Steam Play.

Steam utilizes a compatibility layer to directly run a Windows-specific game on Linux. We do have a detailed guide on using Steam Play on Linux – I’d recommend you to explore that to get started with it.

Wine

Wine is a compatibility layer that is capable of running Windows applications in systems like Linux, BSD and OS X. With the help of Wine, you can install and use a number of Windows applications in Linux.
Installing Wine in Ubuntu or any other Linux is easy as it is available in most Linux distributions’ repository. There is a huge database of applications and games supported by Wine that you can browse.

CrossOver

CrossOver is an improved version of Wine that brings professional and technical support to Wine. But unlike Wine, CrossOver is not free. You’ll have to purchase the yearly license for it.

The good thing about CrossOver is that every purchase contributes to Wine developers and that in fact boosts the development of Wine to support more Windows games and applications. If you can afford about $20 a year, you should buy CrossOver for the support they provide.

GameHub

gamehub

We already have a separate article on how to use GameHub on Linux.

But, to give you a heads up, GameHub lets you manage and play games from multiple sources that include Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle.

Lutris Gaming

Lutris is something similar to GameHub but supports a wide range of sources that include Origin, Uplay, Epic Games Launcher, and several others.

It makes it easy for you to play Windows-only games on Linux. And, it is a quite popular tool used by many users. You can also check the official list of games it potentially supports before trying it out.

Phoenicis PlayOnLinux

Phoenicis PlayOnLinux

PlayOnLinux too is based on Wine but implemented differently. It has a different interface and slightly easier to use than Wine. Like Wine, PlayOnLinux too is free to use.

It may not be the best choice among the others mentioned but you can browse the applications and games supported by PlayOnLinux on its database to decide for yourself.

3. Browser Games

Browser Games

Needless to say that there are tons of browser-based games that are available to play in any operating system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac OS X. Most of the addictive mobile games, such as GoodGame Empire, also have their web browser counterparts.

Apart from that, thanks to Google Chrome Web Store, you can play some more games in Linux. These Chrome games are installed like a standalone app and they can be accessed from the application menu of your Linux OS. Some of these Chrome games are playable offline as well.

4. Terminal Games

Terminal Games

The added advantage of using Linux is that you can use the command line terminal to play games as well.

I know that it’s not the best way to play games but at times, it’s fun to play games like Snake or 2048 in the terminal.

To help you out, we have two separate lists of top command-line games and best ASCII games which are pretty easy to install.

How to stay updated about Linux games?

Now that you know where to find the games and how to use them on Linux, the next question is – how to stay updated about new games on Linux?

Of course, we will try to cover major game releases for Linux – however, we at It’s FOSS aren’t completely focused on gaming (as of yet).

And for that, I advise you to follow these blogs that provide you with the latest happenings of the Linux gaming world:

  • Gaming on Linux: I won’t be wrong if I call it the best Linux gaming news portal. You get all the latest rumblings and news about Linux games. Frequently updated, Gaming on Linux has dedicated fan following which makes it a nice community of Linux game lovers.
  • Free Gamer: A blog focusing on free and open source games.

In fact, here are more websites Linux gamers should follow : https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-gaming-websites/

Wrapping Up

I think that’s pretty much what you need to know to get started with gaming on Linux. There are plenty of free Linux games that you can try at the moment.

There’s also a very useful migration guide by the subreddit r/linux_gaming that can help you kickstart your gaming journey on Linux.

It’s time for you to add your input. Do you play games on your Linux desktop? What are your favorites? What blogs do you follow to stay updated on the latest Linux games? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Community Tips

Top Tips to Successfully Write API Documentation

Whether it be a sound system or PC, you’d expect any recently purchased tech to come with an instruction manual for setup, installation, and operation, right? Well, the same goes for APIs. If your development team builds an API, you must write API documentation to guide development teams and end-users through setup and operation.

If you need a quick refresher, an application programming interface (API) is a software intermediary that enables communication between two different pieces of software. 

API documentation is the set of instructions describing how developers can set up, integrate, and use this software to meet specific needs. It should include code samples, functional details, API call examples, and more. 

For third-party apps, 38% of developers cited documentation and sample code as the second most important characteristic of a high-quality API, preceded only by security.

Third Party APIs
Image sourced from Developer Nation

So, how do you write API documentation successfully? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who needs to write API documentation?

Traditionally, the software developers who build the API are responsible for writing API documentation. And it makes sense — the creators of the API have intricate knowledge of how the API works. However, this has its downsides.

Writing is an underrated software development skill that many developers fail to hone. Consequently, they may struggle to write clearly and concisely, leaving the API document full of technical jargon that’s difficult for non-developers to comprehend. Plus, because software developers are so busy developing the API, documentation may be rushed or left until the last minute. 

Instead of burdening developers, many businesses are turning to technical writers. 

With a background spanning both content writing and technical expertise, technical writers understand how to adapt complex technical subjects into easily understandable formats. Using the information supplied by developers, they can write clear, accessible, and engaging API documentation.

For software developers, this is a huge benefit. Rather than waste time writing lengthy documents, they can gear their focus towards API development in alignment with your wider enterprise transformation roadmap. Faster builds, better APIs, and accelerated time-to-value.

But what exactly goes into an API document? Let’s take a look.

What does API documentation include?

Of course, what you include will vary depending on the data engineering platform you use, the type of API that you’re creating, and the use case of the API. But regardless, there are several key pieces of information that every API document needs.

Examples for each API call, parameter, and response

An API document needs to show examples of every API request, response, and parameter. This enables developers to visualize how the API works and understand how to interact with it.

Code samples for popular languages

Code samples give developers a headstart when they’re first using your API. They can copy and paste this code, alter it to meet their specific needs, and refer back to it if they want to utilize a particular feature or remember an endpoint function.

Ideally, you should  add code samples for every language that your API supports. At minimum, you need to include the most popular languages – the top three to date being JavaScript, Java, and Python.

Programming Languages in Q1 2023

Image sourced from Developer Nation

Details of API requests with error message samples

APIs should be configured to display error messages as needed. Your API documentation therefore must include examples of the different types of error messages, alongside an explanation of what they mean and how to resolve the issue.

Top tips to successfully write API documentation

How do you write API documentation that’s accessible to junior and senior developers alike? Here are some of our top tips.

Maintain a consistent style and tone

All good pieces of writing — from novels to technical documents — must maintain a consistent, coherent style and tone. Why? Because if your style and tone are all over the place, readers won’t trust you. They might question your credibility and authority, or become confused and disengaged with your content.

Generally, the tone of API documentation needs to align with its purpose — to inform and educate the reader. So, the tone should be factual and relatively formal to establish authority and credibility. That said, don’t overdo it. A laid-back, approachable tone helps you build a relationship with your reader and provides clarity to your communications.

Remember, consistency is key. Identify your style and tone and aim to maintain it throughout your documentation.

Prioritize clarity over technical jargon

API documentation should be the first point of call for end-user queries. Users should be able to refer to it before they get into contact with your IT helpdesk team or virtual agents. (What is a virtual agent? It’s software that provides an interactive, automated service to end users who have questions relating to your product). 

For this reason, API documentation needs to be clear and accessible for both beginner coders and seasoned developers. 

Prioritize simple, plain language over technical jargon. Avoid fluffy, long-winded descriptions in favor of to-the-point explanations. And use short, easily digestible sentences to improve document clarity.

Organize content with clear headings

Another way to improve clarity is to organize your content with clear headings. Readers should be able to quickly jump to the section of the document that they need without having to trawl through mountains of text.

hands on keyboard

The easier it is for users to navigate your document, the faster they get the answers to their questions – and the more likely they are to continue using your API.

Offer step-by-step guides for a quick start

Quickstart guides teach users how to use your API straight away by providing step-by-step instructions for common scenarios and functions. 

Start by identifying the most common use cases for the API. From there, walk users through how to use your API to complete specific tasks, providing code samples for each scenario.

Implement effective versioning strategies

The accuracy of your API documentation is heavily dependent on your versioning strategy. If you make a change without documenting it — even if it’s a minor update — your end user can experience significant issues.

Create an effective versioning strategy by implementing the following actions:

  • Automate the process using an API documentation tool that can read source code changes and update documentation in response.
  • Communicate in advance when updates are going to happen.
  • Allow for backward compatibility so that users can still use old versions of your API.
coding

Proofread and double-check for typos

While the odd typo might feel like no big deal, spelling mistakes and grammar errors can ruin the reader experience. It can make your documentation difficult to understand, resulting in misunderstandings that reduce the quality of your document. It may even turn users off your business completely.

After writing your documentation, perform a thorough proofread. As a best practice, get someone other than the person who wrote the document to do the proofreading, as even the most experienced writers can fall victim to typo blindness.

Emphasize the use of security measures

As well as communicating the security skills and measures that developers can utilize to reduce the risk of data breaches, you also need to practice what you preach. In your API documentation, assure end users that you prioritize data privacy by emphasizing security measures such as:

  • Authentication and authorization
  • Access controls
  • SSL/TLS encryptions and signatures
  • API gateways
  • Vulnerability testing
  • Regular security updates and patching
  • Activity monitoring 
  • Remote access controls — click here to learn more about implementing secure remote PC access. 

Encourage user feedback and contributions

Your API documentation shouldn’t be a static document. That is, it should be regularly maintained to ensure that it’s consistently meeting the needs of your end users. 

Encouraging users to provide feedback and contributions can help you do this. It can bring to light information in your documentation that might be missing, inaccurate, or difficult to understand.

Feedback can be collected in a variety of ways — email surveys, website forms, phone calls, and so on. But you don’t even need to ask for feedback and contributions directly.  Using AI virtual assistant technology, you can discover the sentiment around your document, identify frequently asked questions, and illuminate potential contributions. 

For example, if lots of users are contacting your virtual assistant to ask what a specific error message means, it may be that you need to tweak this section in your API document to make it clearer for your readers. Or, it might be that you’ve missed the error message completely and need to add it in. 

Overall, it’s a reliable way to gather actionable feedback without pestering end users for contributions.

In Conclusion…

If your API doesn’t come with comprehensive documentation, nobody will be able to use it to its full potential. Even if your API is created for internal use only, poor documentation can cause significant issues for developers who rely on your API to perform critical operations.

To avoid misunderstandings, confusion, and churn, write API documentation that follows the best practices laid out above. Clarity and consistency are key, as is using quickstart guides and specific examples to walk users through the common use cases for your API.

Jenna Bunnell – Director, Field & Strategic Events, Dialpad

Jenna Bunnell is the Director for Field and Strategic Events at Dialpad, an AI-incorporated cloud-hosted unified communications system that provides valuable call details for business owners and sales representatives. She is driven and passionate about communicating a brand’s design sensibility and visualizing how content can be presented in creative and comprehensive ways. Here is her LinkedIn.
Categories
Community Tips

The ABCs of Technical Writing

technical writing


As developers, we have either had to write or read a technical article or documentation. What do you look for when you write/read an article? Is it the length of the article? Is the balance between theory and examples? In this blog, we will find out what makes a good article and how to write an effective one.

What is Technical Writing?

Before we dive right into tips and tricks for writing an influential article, let us understand what technical writing means and why we need it. To go by definition, technical writing is the practice of conveying complex technical information in a clear, precise, and understandable manner, often to inform, instruct, or guide an audience. Whether you are an individual developer or a professional technical writer, the goal is the same – Education.

Technical Writing Must-Haves

Now that the goal is defined, the next step is to work on actionable points to develop the concept for the article.

Here are some points that we should consider while writing the outline:

  • Clarity: Avoid jargon and overly complex language.
  • Conciseness: Avoid unnecessary filler content and get the information your readers need. Use bullet points, headings, and other formatting techniques to make content scannable.
  • Visual aids: Visuals, such as diagrams, charts, and screenshots, can help clarify complex concepts and make your documentation more engaging.
  • Accuracy: Ensure all technical information is accurate and up-to-date.
  • Consistency: Maintain terminology, formatting, and style consistency throughout your documentation.
  • Organization: Add a logical flow. Organize information in a way that guides the reader through the document effortlessly.

Tips to Write Better

Using the above must-haves, you should write an outline. Once that task is completed, writing the content is next.

Here’s some tips to make your content better:

  • Purposeful writing: Define a specific goal in mind while you start writing
  • Use of simple language: The purpose of a technical article is to explain a concept to the readers; using complex language will only push developers away. 

Things to have in your article:

-Using simple sentence structure  

-Using directives

-Breaking paragraph after every thought

  • Defining your target audience: Defining your target audience helps you decide the level of content. For example, if your target audience is beginners, it is better to write an introductory article with a simple example to follow.
  • Adding frequent checkpoints: To ensure you have your reader’s attention till the end, add checkpoints. For tutorials, you can use screenshots in between, and for leadership blogs, you can use questions/ discussions in between
  • Avoiding too many links: Adding links can help readers with more context, but you should avoid using too many. Instead, have a resources section with all the necessary links.

Using simple examples: Examples that do not require complex setups and are easy to follow

Resources

To perfect the article, we should always look up articles or docs that work well and are liked by the developer community.

Here’s a list of my favorite documentation:

  • Vercel: The developer journey in Vercel docs is very well-defined
  • Appwrite: Maintains consistency and caters to all levels of developers.
  • MongoDb: Uses the right amount of visuals and is very concise.

Categories
Community

Language Communities – An update

Language Communities

The choice of programming language can greatly influence the roles, projects, and general opportunities that a developer has. Languages are a classic subject of debate and represent the foundation of some of the strongest developer communities. Tracking language use is not just for developers however; languages and their communities matter to toolmakers too, as they want to ensure they provide the most useful SDKs.

It can be challenging to accurately assess how widely a programming language is used. The indices available from sources like Tiobe, Redmonk, GitHub’s Octoverse report, and Stack Overflow’s annual developer survey are great, but offer mostly relative comparisons between languages, providing no sense of the absolute size of each community.

The estimates here look at software developers using each programming language; across the globe and across all kinds of programmers. They are based on two pieces of data. First, is SlashData’s  independent estimate of the global number of software developers, which was published for the first time in 2017. SlashData estimates that, as of Q3 2023, there are 38.9 million active software developers in the world. Second, is the Developer Nation large-scale, low-bias surveys, which reach tens of thousands of developers every six months. In these surveys, SlashData has consistently asked developers about their use of programming languages across 13 areas of development. This gives a rich and reliable source of information about who uses each language and in which context.

Over the past six months, SlashData’s methodology has specifically been redesigned for estimating the overall usage of each programming language across all areas of development. This was done so, in order to correct for imbalances introduced by development areas contributing more or less than they should to the overall usage of each language. In this chapter, we have retroactively applied our more robust methodology to our historical data as well. Hence, here you are presented with updated language community estimates from the last two years using improved estimation methods. 

“JavaScript widens its community size lead”

JavaScript continues to take the top spot for programming languages for the sixth year, with roughly 22.5M active developers worldwide. The language’s dominance is unlikely to be challenged in the near future, as its continued growth in recent years has led to a lead of 5M or more developers ahead of the next closest languages, Java and Python. An important factor in its projected continued popularity – JavaScript’s large community is not dependent on any one software sector. More than half of developers across all software sectors in any capacity – either as a professional, hobbyist, or student – report using JavaScript. Even in sectors where it is not a popular language, for example, IoT devices, we still observe that one in five developers use it.

“22.5M Developers worldwide use Javascript as it continues to be the most popular programming language”

Java and Python remain close to one another in second and third place, with 17.5M and 16.8M developers, respectively. Following a gap of roughly 8M, come C++ and C#; each with around 10.3M and 10.2M developers, respectively, to round out the top five languages. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Lua (1.6M) and Ruby (2.3M) have the fewest users among the language communities we trace. In the latter half of this chapter, we examine select user trends and provide analysis of various community dynamics.

“Dart and Rust grew at an average annual rate of more than 30% in 2023”

JavaScript’s dominance appears as though it will continue as its growth over the past year has outpaced its closest competitors, Java and Python. The 10% annual growth in the number of JavaScript users is noteworthy, considering the communities’ already substantial size. It is, however, below the year-over-year growth of the global developer community as a whole – which, between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, we estimate to be 16%.

As anticipated, we observe the most dynamism in the smaller language communities. Dart and Rust grew at a rate considerably faster than the overall developer community in the last 12 months. Dart was the fastest-growing language community in 2023. It expanded its community by roughly 33% over the past year. Its popularity is partly due to its association with the Flutter framework, which enables developers to target multiple platforms – mobile, desktop, web, and embedded – with their apps from a single codebase. While Dart is still somewhat of a “niche” community, it is currently estimated that it has just under 3M global users.

Rust, on the other hand, has enjoyed slightly more mainstream acclaim compared to Dart and over the past year has grown by just under a million users to around 3.5M. This growth amounts to a 31% increase from 12 months ago. However, with many large software companies using Rust for its safety features and performance, among other reasons, its continued future growth is all but certain. 

Finally, while the annual growth rate of Swift, 21%, is below that of Rust and Dart, the consistency it has shown in attracting new users is one of the factors that make the language community noteworthy. As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the language, its speed and ties to Apple – its creator – suggest that the in-demand language will continue to grow into the future. Swift’s growth, however, is linked to Objective-C’s stagnation as it now serves as the go-to iOS language. 

In 2022 and 2023, Objective-C’s community growth has been below that of the growth of the developer community worldwide. Hence, while Apple continues to support the language, with no updates planned from Apple’s side, we do not anticipate a growth in users in the coming years.  

Objective-C, however, was by no means the only language community that has not experienced growth in 2023. We estimate that Ruby, Lua, and C all have retained communities that are relatively consistent in size over this past year. 

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Community Tips

An Ultimate Guide to Web Application Security

web application security

“If one thinks that they know it all about cybersecurity- this discipline was probably not explained appropriately to them.”- Stephane Nappo

With the rise of information technology, businesses have to opt for digital transformation. They leverage best-in-class web development languages to create applications that cater to the unique needs of users. Such apps gain traction and reach a wider audience from all over the world. 

But that traction can be harmful as it also attracts hackers. They exploit the weak aspects of the web application security or the vulnerabilities of your app to steal valuable dat a. This can cause some serious damage to business and their customers. 

More and more cybersecurity breaches are happening even in the government and large business organisations. The scale of harm such attacks inflict is only getting bigger. And in a time when eCommerce is booming, every customer and online store is at risk. Every digital payment system and its users are at risk. So what to do now? 

Business owners and developers need to implement measures that safeguard various aspects of web apps. Therefore, we present to you an ultimate guide on web application security.

Here, we will go through the basics of the concept, its importance, how it works and what best practices you can implement for its success.

What Is Web Application Security?

If any vulnerabilities are present in your app then cybercriminals can easily exploit it. Therefore, it becomes necessary to form web security policies for the protection of your apps. It helps you apply the best security measures like multi-factor authentication, maintaining privacy status and user state, WAFs, cookies validation and more. 

The purpose behind implementing these best practices is to validate all the user inputs. The purpose here is to identify the source of the user input and check if it is malicious or not. The input will be processed only if it is confirmed that it won’t be a security threat to the app or its data. 

Along with strengthening the security of their apps, users also need to keep an eye out for online threats that might corrupt their personal computers. If you are someone who works from home then nothing can provide you enough security than an anti-virus application. 

You have to identify the potential threats, formulate a strategy to handle them and follow it strictly. We will provide you with a few best security practices for your web apps but before that, we need to know why web app security is so important and how it works.

Importance of Web Application Security

From online shopping to digital banking, web apps are dominating in almost every field. But the popular ones also become an easy target. They are proficient at finding and exploiting the weaknesses or the vulnerabilities of the web app may it be in open-source code, a design flaw, access control, APIs or third-party integrations.

Attacks commonly targeted towards web applications include: 

  • Insecure deserialization
  • Cross-site scripting
  • Brute force
  • Cookie poisoning
  • Sensitive data disclosure
  • Credential stuffing
  • SQL Injection
  • Session hijacking
  • Formjacking injections

How Does Application Security Work?

Any approach you take to secure your web app will be about addressing any specific weakness or vulnerability. Web App Firewalls are utilised to monitor and filter the web traffic between an app and its users. This helps in defending against various cybersecurity attacks. 

These firewalls are configured with policies that help in determining which traffic is safe and which could pose a threat to the app. WAFs can do a phenomenal job of blocking malicious traffic. The purpose here is to prevent malicious traffic from reaching the app and accessing its confidential information.

Web app security best practices

1. Attack your website

The best defence is to attack. No, you don’t have to attack your attackers but your application. Knowing how your enemy thinks will provide you with the best protection. And your enemy thinks of attacking your web app. 

You can implement all the best security practices and tools you want but nothing can prepare you like actually simulating the attacks. An attack makes the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of your app visible.

You can hire experts to run such attacks in an isolated environment. It is to prevent inflicting any harm on business processes attached to the apps. You can do it for yourself but unless you are a cybersecurity expert, you won’t be able to do it effectively and hence you won’t get any good information from this approach. 

Non-technical people, beginners and amateurs can’t completely understand how security protocols work and where they fall short under attack. Therefore, you need to conduct various cybersecurity attacks like sensitive data leaks, XSS, broken authentication, DNS spoofing, SQL injection, CSRF and more under the supervision of an expert.

2. Invest in an SSL certificate

A Secure Socket Layer certificate will encrypt the data of your app and pass it through a protected network. This prevents hackers from seeing or intercepting it. 

Your app might have sensitive business and user information like usernames, passwords, addresses, bank details, credit/debit card details and more. Getting an SSL certificate will hide all that data from the attackers. 

Google has announced that every web app must have an SSL certificate if it wants to rank higher in its search engine results. 

It’s a simple technique that ensures the users of the Google search engine that the websites they will visit through search results will be completely secure. Now, if you want to provide a payment system on your app then you will need to obtain the PCI licence and for that, you need to have an SSL certificate. If you are wondering that with such importance, an SSL certificate might be expensive, then you are mistaken. It only costs around $8.00/year. 

3. Read and educate

Hackers can be lethal if your staff isn’t well-educated on the subject of cybersecurity. An educated staff is tough to fool even with social engineering attacks. 

You can get updates on the latest trends and technologies through popular blogs and YouTube videos. Your information must help you gain an edge over hackers. Uneducated users can easily fall victim to even non-targeted attacks.

4. Backup your data

Cyber attacks won’t come with a warning and they won’t even give you time to react. So, you have to regularly back up your data. It ensures that even if you lose against an attacker, you won’t lose your data. They might take down your site but if you have maintained a data backup, you can go live within a few hours. 

Now, where to back up your data? It is highly recommended that you use cloud-based storage devices. They are comparatively safer and are easily available in addition to hard drives which can be stolen or corrupted easily.

5. Scan your website

Attackers make malware scanner-proof but if you use quality scanners then you can detect and quarantine the threats that would have otherwise gone unnoticed and caused some serious damage. 

Therefore, on a regular basis, you must scan your entire website, maybe once a month to stay clear of cyberattacks. But threats are not always injected directly into the web apps, they might emerge through your computer too. Therefore, scanning your app alone is not sufficient, you must also scan your computer regularly. 

Scanning your web applications will help you find and remove potential threats and vulnerabilities.

6. Keep your software up to date

As your staff needs to stay updated with the latest trends, your software also needs to be updated. If you leave it be, your software will slowly become outdated and such apps can be easily compromised. 

Therefore, if you want to keep the attackers at bay, you have to keep updating your web apps. In some platforms, updates are done automatically, but some apps demand manual updates. 

So, look out for your app and update it regularly. Only an updated app can protect sensitive information from attackers.

7. Manage your passwords

Some people tend to forget complex passwords because it would be careless of us if we wrote them down somewhere. What if the attacker can get a hold of it? Well, every now and then, you can keep changing your passwords. But many people hate that too. 

Also, setting an easy password is not an option because it will be easier to crack. Now, you can apply constraints on your app while users set their passwords. It will help them set a difficult password. 

It advises users to utilise different characters, symbols and numbers to make a strong password. It is said that setting a 14-digit password is good as it makes it difficult to guess with brute force and bots. 

In addition to a strong password, a user can implement two-factor verification to strengthen the security of the application.

A 4-6 digit code is sent to the user for two-step verification. Only after entering that code, the user will be authorised to use or access the app. If after multiple attempts, the user fails to provide the authentic code, the app would automatically block the IP address of the user.

Final Thoughts

The online marketplace has become highly competitive. We won’t know which means a hacker would use to attack your web apps. It is the duty of the owner and the developer to fortify every wall, as the attack might come from any front. 

First, you have to secure the weak and vulnerable sections as we discussed in this blog. It will prevent them from exploiting any opening to your fort. 

Advanced arsenal can be of big help as the hackers also use modern attacks like DNS spoofing, CSRF, SQL injection, DDoS, and XSS. You not only need to know how these attacks work but also need to have advanced technology to nullify those attacks. 

I hope the insights provided in this article are helpful. Still, cybersecurity is a vast topic, and every app is a different case. Know your web apps well, know how they can be attacked and know how you can defend them. That’s the gist of the security best practices.

Categories
Community Tips

Elevating Your Code with Inclusive Design Principles

Elevating Your Code with Inclusive Design Principles

Web designers are essentially translators with artistic and creative objectives. They take design concepts and translate them into a programming language that various software can understand. This language or code in turn becomes the basis for a specific computer or web function.

In this way, web designers drive the creation and function of the digital programs and applications we use daily. They are directly connected to making the platforms that will allow others to access content, order products, check financials, connect with friends, and much more. Since these functions are valuable to such a wide user base, inclusion is a prominent concern of web designers today. 

Let’s dive into inclusive web design principles, how to integrate them, and why they ultimately benefit all users. 

Inclusive Design Principles

Inclusive web design goes beyond simply adhering to accessibility standards. Accessibility, according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), focuses on the nondiscriminatory user experience (UX) of people with disabilities. It ensures people with disabilities can equally access, navigate, and interact with web content. Inclusive design takes a more broad and overarching stance. 

Inclusive web design, sometimes referred to as universal design or design for all, partners with the situational discrepancies of diversity to ensure people from all backgrounds can utilize web resources. It is founded on the principles of accessibility, usability, and diversity or inclusion. To reach all audiences, it takes into account physical or cognitive accessibility, computer access, computer literacy, culture, age, education, and more. 

In action, these inclusive design principles have the power to benefit all end users. A great example is when Facebook focused on accessibility and usability by including video subtitles and captions for its video content in 2015. By 2016, according to Digiday, 85% of video views were happening with the sound off. Captioned videos not only helped users with auditory impairments but also users in myriad environments.

Integrating Inclusive Design Principles

One way to start integrating inclusive design principles is to do an accessibility and usability audit of your website or project. This is a simple way to check for synergy between developers and their UX since it’s easy to lose connection with what a general end user’s experience will be while designing. There are even web accessibility audit checklists that can be downloaded for use if you are unsure where to start with assessing your design. 

Testing your website or project with real end users is a vital next step to integrating an inclusive design. You must gather a diverse pool of users with varying abilities and backgrounds. Then focus on how your UX design is meeting user needs by analyzing their website journey. You can do this analysis through interviews, surveys, sitemaps, A/B testing, eye tracking, and other testing methods. Tests should reveal a non-biased picture of a site’s usability. 

Once you have audited your site and tested it for inclusion, you will need to address any discrepancies. This can be as simple as redoing code to add contrasting colors or include more descriptive image text, or it can mean a complete overhaul of your website. If it seems daunting, consider utilizing a UX design course to gain hands-on experience designing code with UX at the forefront. Gaining additional learning is an excellent way to elevate your coding to be more inclusive.

Benefits of Inclusive Web Design

Inclusive web design is useful to everyone. Intuitive design, contrasting icons, keyboard compatibility, voice-to-text, descriptive images or icons, and other coded elements serve every end user, regardless of their demographic. Essentially, inclusion should lead as the standard for designing universally beneficial web applications. 

Inclusive design is not only useful to most users; it is essential to those with temporary or long-term disabilities. According to the World Health Organization, over 2 billion people in the world live with a disability. Individuals who rely on assistive technology can only access about 10% of the websites on the internet meaning 90% of websites don’t meet minimum WCGA requirements. Since inclusion is built on the principle of accessibility, simple inclusive design structures make a world of difference to the billions of users who currently can’t access common online content. 

Inclusive design also benefits elderly users. According to the American Psychological Association, by 2060 the number of people over the age of 65 is expected to double to 98 million. Inclusive design can make technologies that help older adults — like banking applications, telehealth services, medicare websites, smart sensors, and more — accessible to this growing demographic. This benefits millions of users who may need navigation, visual, or auditory assistive technologies to access imperative online functions. 

Conclusion

Web designers utilize code to create the digital interfaces and functions that we use daily. In this role, they’re responsible for making applications accessible to a large group of real end-users. Inclusive web design — guided by the principles of accessibility, usability, and diversity — has the power to do just that. You can integrate it by auditing and testing a site or project and then altering the code to fit the UX needs of a diverse user base. 

Inclusive design principles in action benefit all users with more useful and easier-to-navigate functions. They are also essential to people with disabilities and older adults. In this way, inclusive design can elevate your code by making it more accessible and thereby valuable to your end-users.