Software Development: The Top 10 Trends Of 2020 and Beyond

"Predictions are hard to make," Shantanu Narayen once said, "especially about the future."

Tough or not, to see what lies ahead in the software development environment, we are looking deep into the new year. It is time for organizations to catch a glimpse of the vision for where software R&D practitioners are bringing technology with 2019 on the books and 2020 kicking off. Here are ten developments in software development that we expect will take over the industry in 2020.

1. The Forecast Looks Cloud-ier

Since the 1950s, cloud computing has been around, but it has only emerged as a mainstream choice for the masses in the past decade. Its popularity rapidly gained momentum, and cloud services accounted for $229 billion in revenue per year by 2019.

The cloud is expected to start rising at an even faster rate. Enterprise-level enterprises are expected to begin to hyper-scale, switching from multi-cloud options to Omni-cloud. In breaking down cloud barriers, the Kubernetes platform and the Red Hat OpenShift model would lead the way, helping to make data more portable and workloads more mobile. In short, prepare to see the walls within the clouds broken by both niche businesses and Fortune 500s.

2. Python Will Enhance Its Competition

Computer languages are still increasing, developing, and changing, but there is no doubt that Java, for the top spot, has already been edged out by Python. The robust growth of Python is expected to continue into 2020 and beyond.

Python is easy to learn, making it enticing to beginners, but it is strong enough to build top-shelf pages. Perhaps most importantly, Python helps you automate all the boring bits from a developer's perspective. There are even other explanations for Python's dominance-it is the language of machine learning and data science, and an extensive global community supports it. For the near future, accessibility, competitive advantage, and community support would make Python the lingua franca of computer science.

3. The Online World Is Getting Multi-Experiential

In favor of a multi-experience environment, the two-dimensional computer world consisting of a keyboard, mouse, and screen are dropping out: computing using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (VR) (MR).

Users would increasingly demand multi-sensory, multi-modal experiences to be had. In particular, retailers can take advantage of new opportunities to allow consumers to experience goods before buying. Expect to see visual merchandising, co-creating, and the hybridization of "clicks-and-bricks" in which online channels and on-site showrooms work together.

4. Human Intelligence Will Boost Smart Spaces

It was all very 2019 for smart cities, smart houses, digital workspaces, and wired factories. Expect human intelligence to incorporate into such smart spaces this coming year. Wearable technology is about to grow in both popularity and power, and you will begin to see more high-tech implants. Research into useful AI, which utilizes robots' emotional intelligence, will take off. It will become more popular to use smart social spaces to support people with dementia and other disabilities.

5. Expect More of Tensorflow 2.0

In the deep learning and neural network fields, Google and Facebook will hold their lead roles. The market will be spearheaded, particularly by Google's Tensorflow 2.0, an open-source framework for designing and incorporating large-scale AI and Deep Learning Models. Facebook's PyTorch Deep Learning library is also going to do well. Both are likely to undergo massive growth, but Tensorflow enjoys a more significant community than PyTorch, giving the upper hand to Tensorflow.

6. Blockchain gets more convenient

The days of cryptocurrency's exclusive affiliation with blockchain are already over. Most of the general public realizes today that blockchain provides far more than transfers of digital currencies. Expect new start-ups to launch ever more realistic blockchain implementations in 2020. Proofs of concept will become MVPs and will continue to evolve platforms. The blockchain will be used by more and more organizations to store data, control supply chains, and avoid fraud.

7. The Robots Are Taking Over Security

AI is going to have a more substantial hand in cybersecurity in 2020. The number of individuals who can provide cybersecurity services continues to lag behind the need for one thing. On the other hand, more businesses see security as the importance of AI.

The Reinventing Cybersecurity with Artificial Intelligence study published in 2019 by Capgemini found out that 61 percent of businesses state that they can not detect breach attempts without AI technology. Of these companies, 48 percent expect their cybersecurity budgets for AI to increase by an average of 29 percent in 2019. AI holds the key to cybersecurity's future.

8. Autonomous Things Shape the Future of Work

Gartner refers to as "autonomous things" to become more relevant as companies are increasingly seeing technology adoption rewarded with business growth. Expect other enterprises to invest in machine learning, distributed systems, and web-based teams. In some industries, AI may replace humans at a rapidly growing rate. In contrast, others will expect robots and humans to work side-by-side or hand-in-glove to improve efficiency, productivity, and personalization.

Verizon and Amazon Web Services announced a new alliance in December 2019 to offer 5G edge cloud computing to help consumers develop new apps, access internet-of-things capabilities, and developments with the net new value. This collaboration would significantly extend edge computing and make it more widely available.

9. The No-Code Movement in Numbers and Impacts Would Swell

People want goods themselves to be created. It is that quirk of human nature that a few years ago made WYSIWYG platforms so famous. As manufacturers rely less on complex code, more and more companies collaborate to build what they need for themselves with customizable management platforms. Remember that it took four days for one person to build NotRealTwitter, a clone of Twitter, and that was nearly seven years ago. Expect the no-code campaign to take off like crazy in 2020.

10. Edge Computing May Edge Out More

Edge computing relocates the production of sensitive data to the edge of the network, allowing computers to capture and process data in real-time. For large autonomous things, such as self-driving cars, edge computing is essential. The edge also reduces lag time, restricts signal-to-noise ratio, and frees up space for data storage in the cloud, more technically.