Top 8 Software Development Trends for 2022

“Technology is evolving at the fastest rate in recorded history,” according to internationally renowned HR thought-leader, Dr. John Sullivan.

Indeed, this is shaping up to be an unprecedented year for technology. New software trends arising from the pandemic have and will continue to alter how we work and play. With these dramatic events redefining how the world does business, COVID-19 has accelerated the digital revolution, a trend that will persist through 2022.

The last year was pivotal for the software developer community. With economies across the world severely disrupted, the pandemic triggered massive migrations to remote work setups and online shopping portals. A move that invigorated the software industry. Many businesses scrambled to revamp their IT infrastructure. They also initiated new coding projects to prepare for a post-pandemic environment while seizing opportunities in the process.

Current software development trends include techniques to make marketing and production smarter, as well as leverage big leaps in data storage and delivery. Many of the innovations also involve hardware interfaces, which affect how software developers will go about their coding.

Exciting? Yes. Revolutionary? Definitely. Opportunities? Oh, how many… Let’s check out what 2022 has in store.

AI is the new buzz acronym. Its presence will expand considerably in the coming year. An increasing number of applications include predictive analytics to identify potential customers, speech recognition for call centers and other services, plus robotics in manufacturing and a rapidly expanding range of sectors and that’s just for starters.

Business directories will make more use in the upcoming year of artificial intelligence for analyzing customer reviews to make sure they’re authentic. Companies will increasingly leverage AI to make their websites easier to navigate, more functional, more dynamic. Here, software developers will come to the fore, writing code that works on its own to infer from user behavior what it is they want.

We’ve seen chatbots becoming more pervasive across all sectors, and more jobs will involve writing the code for these. Sizable funds will be invested in AI in 2022 and beyond with this trend turning into an established feature of the software landscape.

AI can even contribute to the production of more software through automated code generation and testing. Artificial intelligence, crucially, will not be limited to e-Commerce or any one area but will positively impact the education, healthcare, and transportation sectors, in fact, entire economies.

In dealing with the ongoing global supply chain challenges, AI can empower firms to predict and manage stock levels, to cite just one important use case. Streamlining this crucial business operational area will cut costs, enabling economies to kick along at a faster pace. Ultimately, AI stands out as arguably one of the biggest technology and software development trends for 2022.

There are more than 10 billion active IoT devices active now, with estimations that the number of IoT devices will surpass 25.4 billion in 2030. This means billions of connected devices managing tasks ranging from assembling products in factories to make our living environments safer and more comfortable.

The impact of IoT will be felt in almost all areas of society including homes, workplaces, and cars. Objects of all sorts will become networked. This trend will require extensive software development efforts to make objects smarter so they can manage themselves and free people to focus on other pressing tasks.

IoT devices will increasingly occur in healthcare contexts. Wearable health monitors, Bluetooth-enabled wheelchairs and hospital beds, tools to share health information, and other health-related hardware will necessitate code for security, functionality, and interactive user interfaces.

When it comes to the global supply chain, the internet of things will make logistics much faster. Packages with the ability to automatically track their own location, temperature, humidity, pressure, and numerous other environmental metrics, communicating the resultant data over the internet.

Goods will be delivered faster and at lower costs. In supply chain management, the internet of things allows for more accurate forecasts. This lets fleet managers adjust operations to maximize process efficiency. In warehouses, the supply chain applications of IoT will highlight how connected objects can boost economies..

The big data market will become even bigger in 2022 as hardware becomes more capable. Additionally, smarter software will empower these services with features like machine learning improving over the coming year.

Smart software will empower big data expansion services with features like machine learning improving over the coming year. [Image Source: Shutterstock]

With faster data processing, big data analytics will reveal how businesses can drive down costs and better determine which products and services to market. In-memory computation can give data scientists real-time answers. The in-memory approach represents a huge step-up over previous big data processing methods that required slower storage. The resultant responsiveness will make big data relevant to more markets.

But, the expansion of big data throughout society has people asking if it’s secure. Financial information and other private data will spread ever farther throughout the cloud. Software development and IT consultancy firms like Growin have the responsibility to produce and maintain secure code on which society can rely.

The automotive industry has embraced big data in a big way and is a great example that illustrates the need for secure code. Applications include the development and manufacturing of products, intelligent transportation, and supply chain management. Big data, if used right, can enhance the safety of our vehicles. The use of big data analytics in the automotive industry is expected to increase to over $5 billion at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 10% over the coming years. Considering the impact on other industries, big data is an explosive trend.

A PWA works somewhat like a combination of a regular web app and a downloaded app. It runs in the browser, but it includes enough features to mimic a full-blown app. These progressive web applications use new features available in modern browsers, while also accommodating the various phone hardware that different users own. The apps run the supported features for each device.

Given that people can use progressive web apps instantly on practically any device, and can also install the apps if desired, there’s an obvious appeal. As such, large businesses are embracing PWAs to engage with customers more meaningfully than through traditional websites but more easily than through download-only apps.

Progressive web apps cost less to design and develop as the same code runs on any device. Businesses have measured customers spending more time and money through PWAs, driving further adoption. These apps can work offline or online and users can find them in app stores or on the web.

Web technologies have evolved over recent years, providing developers with the tools to design ever more interactive apps. The JavaScript language that powers many progressive apps has acquired more features that support the relatively complex structures these apps require, all within a web browser.

A byproduct of the pandemic is the rapid reliance that businesses have on cloud technology. Remote work has become mainstream, resulting in the widespread use of cloud services to boost productivity.

People need to share documents, spreadsheets, code, media, and other data with each other. Numerous public and private cloud offerings have become core parts of many industries’ technology use.

Spending on development and infrastructure for the cloud is rising sharply. Public cloud infrastructure alone attracts over $100 billion of investments annually. With billions more dollars expected to be pumped into the cloud in 2022, software developer and IT consultant jobs will be in big demand.

Putting software in the cloud expands its availability and recovery capacity; both useful advantages. Cloud services also offer long-term cost savings and much smaller initial expenses in comparison to on-premise computing.

The pandemic has triggered overnight and massive shifts to the hybrid work model, boosting cloud use. In transitioning to the new normal post-pandemic, businesses will continue to hire remote workers. The cloud will thus develop into a key piece of infrastructure. As critical as our road and utility infrastructure is, so too will our dependence increase on the cloud.

With low-code development, people use simple visual tools to produce software rather than programming from scratch. Critics have, in a sense, long considered low-code “beneath” them, but COVID-19 has accentuated the demand for additional programmers.

Low-code development requires less preparation than does traditional programming. As such, this trend enables more people to contribute to the code base. Having more developers available makes organizations more nimble as it enables them to focus on core areas like customer service, for example.

A business can have employees from any department build low-code apps. This allows the dedicated engineers to work on more technically demanding code. As a result, low-code will power a growing percentage of externally facing apps as well as render internal processes more efficient.

Over the next few years, low-code may even surpass traditional code in popularity. By simplifying the process of programming, this approach brings the business and technology sides of an organization closer together. Personnel can meet business goals with technology for software development that anyone can use.

Biohacking, wearables, and other human enhancements will make people more capable (and safe) at work and at home. Construction, manufacturing, and mining firms have already started using smart clothing and accessories to make their employees more productive.

Construction companies, for example, can equip their personnel with hard hats, safety vests, and additional wearables that automatically detect worksite threats and health concerns. People who have to lift heavy objects at work can use exoskeletons, which support the extra weight. Each of these human enhancement technologies incorporates a combination of hardware and software. Programmers write instructions to handle the incoming streams of information necessary to make the equipment function safely.

Some additional areas of human enhancement include sensory implants and prosthetic limbs that can aid people with medical problems. For instance, a hearing-impaired individual may have a device that not only increases sound volume but also interfaces with the nervous system intelligently.

In an ever-increasing digital world, the next generation of wireless is here. The 5G standard supports transmission rates of 10 gigabits per second. This technology will become more widespread in 2022, enabling a myriad of other technologies including the internet of things.

The speed of 5G rivals wired connections, so this innovation will have mobile data offering a compelling alternative for people and businesses to use as their main internet service. Software for mobile devices will become capable of using new features that would not have been viable before, growing the market for software developers.

The 5G network already being rolled out, should reach billions more people soon, replacing the now-dominant 4G cellular networks. As well as being much, much faster, 5G also can better handle crowded areas with many devices connected. We will increasingly consider 5G the go-to mobile data standard.

To keep up with these revolutionary software development trends that offer almost limitless opportunities, it’s crucial to have a committed and experienced partner by your side. Seasoned developers bring with them not only their extensive technical capabilities but also the reliability and agility needed to tackle any project and ensure the desired outcome.

Hiring skilled developers through an agency takes the guesswork out of recruiting. At Growin, we train and manage a team of experts who can work with you to develop enterprise-grade solutions. With software developers who have notched up hundreds of thousands of combined project hours, you’re assured high-quality and secure code for your specific needs. Whether you looking to manage a software team or a custom solution, Growin handles it all so you don’t have to.

Contingent workers are becoming the new normal and for good reason: They deliver affordable quality, on time, and on budget. Ready to turbocharge your software development processes? Reach out to us and let’s start 2022 the right way!

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