The evolving landscape of Web Development - BCA perspectives

Web development has evolved tremendously since the creation of the World Wide Web. From an era of static pages and sites that were a presence for information, today’s sites are centres of business - informing, promoting, selling, engaging, and supporting millions of stakeholders. The journey from html to advanced JavaScript frameworks has been nothing short of fantastic.

The web now caters to a huge audience globally with diverse needs supported by developers who incorporate innovative solutions. The platform has spawned a huge network of businesses, large and small and few enterprises can survive without an online presence. With digital technologies evolving, the web development ecosystem is a rapidly evolving one. Let’s look into some of the new trends in this space.

Mobile-First approach - Responsive Web Design (RWD) is revolutionising website design worldwide impacting the experience of sites across various devices. With the use of smartphones and tablets increasing, there is a growing need for websites to adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions to deliver a seamless user experience. RWD enables this experience whether the user accesses the site on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

It is expected that users will access websites increasingly on a smartphone leading to an increase in organic traffic. Here are some of the emerging trends in the web development space.

Artificial intelligence - AI has arrived. As you know, 2023 was the year of ChatGPT. The biggest tech companies in the world are releasing generative AI technology solutions. AI programmer tools are increasingly becoming part of a developer’s workflows and websites will use an increasing amount of big data and AI going forward.

Low-code and no-code tools - LC:NC tools as they are referred to, are new generation tools that minimize coding while delivering the required functionality in web development.

These tools can help enterprises get into web development with minimum resources on development, and get work done faster. It is projected that the low-code market will get close to US$ 150 billion by 2030.

Internet of Things (IoT) - Touted as the future, this initiative helps connect a range of non-internet connected electronic devices which are network enabled and can send and receive data. While web developers may not be directly into the development of such devices, product development companies provide devices which are internet compliant. Various companies are working on APIs that developers can use to communicate and control over IP.

AI Chatbots - The success of generative AI and LLMs last year has revived user interest in Chatbots. Their use is expected to increase tremendously as they have become more sophisticated and accurate. Also, the opportunities for backend developers is expected to increase considering the complexity of information retrieval, language processing and ML. Developers conversant in Java, R, and Python will be provided with a host of opportunities enabling companies to engage with their customers by deploying chatbots.

Angular 17 and beyond - Angular takes advantage of JavaScript ES6’s features and applications are developed in TypeScript, moving towards a more component-driven architecture. Angular 18.0 is scheduled for release in 2024.

Yarn package manager - Package managers are highly popular tools in the frontend JavaScript communities. Developers find it easier to install, configure, update or uninstall code modules within their applications.

Static website generators - These can create websites from ordinary text stored in files. Advantages include improved speed, security, ease of deployment, and better management of traffic surges. The sites do not handle real-time content or user generated content.

VUI and voice search - Though the technology was available for a long time, voice recognition is poised for a huge surge in the near future and we are not talking about Amazon’s Alexa or smart speakers alone. According to Statista, voice recognition is poised to grow to US$ 50 billion in 2029 from US$ 10 billion in 2021. Generative AI into voice search is the big thing to look forward to.

Here are some BCA Job opportunities relevant to the evolving landscape of web development:

• Web Developer/Designer: Responsibilities include designing, coding, and modifying websites, from layout to function and according to a client's specifications.
• Artificial Intelligence Developer: Responsibilities include implementing AI solutions, developing algorithms, and integrating AI technology into web applications.
• Low-Code/No-Code Developer: Responsibilities include using low-code/no-code platforms to develop and deploy web applications with minimal coding.
• Internet of Things (IoT) Developer: Responsibilities include developing IoT applications, integrating IoT devices with web platforms, and managing data from connected devices.
• Chatbot Developer: Responsibilities include designing, developing, and maintaining chatbot systems for websites or messaging platforms.
• Angular Developer: Responsibilities include building web applications using Angular framework, implementing user interfaces, and optimizing application performance.
• Voice User Interface (VUI) Developer: Responsibilities include designing and developing voice-enabled applications, integrating voice recognition technologies, and optimizing user experiences for voice interactions.

The Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) program at Dayananda Sagar University (DSU) is a 3 year, full time UG program that equips students with the skills to deliver in the highly lucrative Information Technology space. Students learn about data structures, software development, platforms, computer programming, architecture, various web technologies, and languages like C, C++, HTML, Java and concepts and protocols of networking. The University is equipped with advanced infrastructure and modern facilities backed by qualified and experienced faculty, ensuring students are equipped to pursue promising careers on successfully completing the program.