Top 5 Learning and Development Trends 2023

Do you know what to expect in 2023?
If you are still writing your strategy we recommend to include relevant learning and development trends in it.
You don’t need to follow all these trends but as you look through the list, focus on just one of them.

Which one would make the biggest positive impact in your organization?
Let’s get ahead of the curve and take a peek into the latest learning trends:

  1. Virtual and augmented reality for immersive learning experiences.
  2. Increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in learning and development.
  3. Personalization of learning, with a focus on individual learning styles and needs.
  4. Use of microlearning and bite-sized content for on-the-go learning.
  5. Greater emphasis on social and emotional learning to support overall well-being and workplace effectiveness.

Trends come and go! But your own app can become a long lasting brand story. Make it a strong, creative and unique one.

Let’s discuss how to turn your ideas into your own brand app.

Why Flutter is a Good Choice for Your Next Mobile Application Development Project

Flutter is an open source framework by Google for building beautiful, natively compiled, multi-platform applications from a single codebase.
There are a few differentiating advantages of Flutter app development. Let’s look at some of the major ones.

We have asked our flutter enthusiasts to provide their feedback on why they love flutter so much and why they’d recommend this framework above any other for your next software development project, especially when it comes to mobile application development. Here is what they said:

Cross-platform development

Flutter is cross-platform development, in which developers can build attractive apps in iOS and Android platforms contemporaneously.

As a result, Flutter programming is a great choice from cost-savings perspective, as you don’t have to hire two development teams to build a separate application for each of the mobile platforms.

Faster code writing

Flutter code compiles to ARM or Intel machine code as well as JavaScript, for fast performance on any device.

Hot reload

Typically, iOS and Android developers need to write code, then wait for it to compile, and be loaded on the device before seeing changes. But, with Flutter’s hot reload, they can check the effects immediately or without delay.

Reach users on every screen

Deploy to multiple devices from a single codebase: mobile, web, desktop, and embedded devices.

Native performance

Flutter compiles down to native machine code for fast apps and beautiful animations.

is flutter a good choice for web app development

Strong Community

Flutter is supported and used by Google, trusted by well-known brands around the world, and maintained by a community of global developers.

Some of them: Abbey Road, Alibaba, BMW, Byte Dance, Capital One, Dream11, Ebay, Emaar, Grab, Google, Groupon, Toyota, MGM, Nubank, NY Times, Philips Hue, Sonos, Square, Tencent.

Flutter continues to grow, both in usage and in the size of the ecosystem. Every day, more than 1,000 new mobile apps using Flutter are published to the Apple and Google Play stores, along with more usage on web and desktop. And the Flutter package ecosystem now comprises over 25,000 packages, providing further evidence of maturity and breadth.

Always open source

Trusted by a global community of contributors and supported by Google, Flutter is open, transparent, and reliable.

Interested to work with Flutter or apply it to your business idea?

We’ve got you covered! Tell us about the project you have in mind and we will help you turn your idea into reality!

What is MVVM?

Model–view–viewmodel (MVVM) is a software architectural pattern that facilitates the separation of the development of the graphical user interface (the view) – be it via a markup language or GUI code – from the development of the business logic or back-end logic (the model) so that the view is not dependent on any specific model platform.

The viewmodel of MVVM is a value converter, meaning the viewmodel is responsible for exposing (converting) the data objects from the model in such a way that objects are easily managed and presented. In this respect, the viewmodel is more model than view, and handles most if not all of the view’s display logic. The viewmodel may implement a mediator pattern, organizing access to the back-end logic around the set of use cases supported by the view.

MVVM was invented by Microsoft architects Ken Cooper and Ted Peters specifically to simplify event-driven programming of user interfaces. The pattern was incorporated into Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (Microsoft’s .NET graphics system) and Silverlight (WPF’s Internet application derivative).

Like many other design patterns, MVVM helps organize code and break programs into modules to make development, updating and reuse of code simpler and faster. The pattern is often used in Windows and web graphics presentation software.

The separation of the code in MVVM is divided into View, ViewModel and Model:

  • View is the collection of visible elements, which also receives user input. This includes user interfaces (UI), animations and text. The content of View is not interacted with directly to change what is presented.
  • ViewModel is located between the View and Model layers. This is where the controls for interacting with View are housed, while binding is used to connect the UI elements in View to the controls in ViewModel.
  • Model houses the logic for the program, which is retrieved by the ViewModel upon its own receipt of input from the user through View.

MVVM is a powerful architectural pattern that has gained immense popularity in recent years due to its numerous advantages. However, as with any design pattern, it also has its drawbacks. To make an informed decision on whether to use MVVM for your application, it’s important to understand its key features, as well as its advantages and disadvantages. So, let’s explore them in more detail.

Features

MVVM separates the different concerns of an application, making it easier to maintain and scale. Let’s take a closer look at the key features of MVVM and how they can be improved:

  1. Life Cycle State

    One of the key benefits of MVVM is that it helps maintain the life cycle state of an application. The ViewModel can store and manage the application state, allowing the application to resume where the user left off. To improve this feature, we can use the Android Architecture Components like ViewModel and LiveData to persist data and manage the application state effectively.

  2. UI and Business Logic Separation

    MVVM keeps UI components away from the business logic, making the code more modular and maintainable. To further improve this feature, we can use Data Binding to simplify the code and reduce boilerplate. By using Data Binding, we can bind UI components directly to ViewModel properties, reducing the amount of code required to update the UI.

  3. Business Logic and Database Operations

    MVVM keeps the business logic separate from the database operations. This separation of concerns makes the code more testable and maintainable. To improve this feature, we can use the Repository pattern to further decouple the ViewModel from the database. The Repository acts as a mediator between the ViewModel and the database, providing a simple and consistent interface to perform database operations.

  4. Easy to Understand and Read

    MVVM is designed to be easy to understand and read. The ViewModel acts as a mediator between the View and the Model, making it easier to reason about the code. To further improve this feature, we can use the SOLID principles to keep the code clean and maintainable. By following SOLID principles like Single Responsibility and Dependency Inversion, we can create code that is easy to understand and maintain.

Now that we have explored the key features of MVVM and how they can be improved, let’s take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of this architectural pattern.

Advantages

  • Maintainability

    The Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architecture pattern has become a popular choice for building software applications, and for good reasons. One of the key advantages of MVVM is its maintainability, which allows developers to remain agile and continuously release successive versions quickly. This is due to the clear separation of concerns within the architecture, making it easier to modify and update the codebase without affecting other parts of the application.

  • Extensibility

    Another benefit of MVVM is its extensibility. The architecture enables developers to add new pieces of code or replace existing ones without requiring significant modifications to the overall system. This makes it easier to scale and evolve the application over time, adapting to new requirements and changes in the market.

  • Testability

    Moreover, MVVM promotes testability by separating the business logic from the view layer, making it easier to write unit tests against the core logic. This not only improves the overall quality of the codebase but also reduces the likelihood of introducing new bugs during the development process.

  • Transparent Communication

    Finally, the transparent communication between the layers of an application is another advantage of MVVM. The view model provides a clear and concise interface to the view controller, which populates the view layer and interacts with the model layer. This results in a transparent and seamless communication between the different layers of the application, making it easier to understand and maintain the codebase.

In conclusion, the advantages of MVVM make it a great choice for developers who want to build scalable, maintainable and extensible software applications. Its clear separation of concerns, testability and transparent communication between layers, make it a powerful tool for building high-quality software applications that can adapt to changes in the market and evolving business requirements.

Disadvantages

Like any software architecture pattern, MVVM also has some disadvantages that developers should consider before adopting it. Here are a few of them:

  1. Learning curve: MVVM can have a steep learning curve for developers who are new to the pattern, which can lead to longer development times and potential mistakes during implementation.
  2. Increased complexity: While MVVM promotes separation of concerns, it can also increase the complexity of the application due to the added layers of abstraction. This can make it harder to debug and maintain the codebase.
  3. Overkill for simple UIs: For simple UIs, MVVM can be considered overkill, and using a simpler pattern or approach may be more appropriate.
  4. Designing the ViewModel: In larger applications, designing the ViewModel layer can be challenging, as it needs to handle multiple use cases and be flexible enough to accommodate changes in the future.
  5. Debugging complex data bindings: MVVM relies heavily on data binding, which can make debugging more difficult, especially when dealing with complex data bindings.

Despite these disadvantages, MVVM remains a popular and powerful architecture pattern for building software applications. Developers should weigh the pros and cons carefully and choose the architecture pattern that best fits their specific use case and project requirements.

Native Mobile Applications – Pros and Cons

What are Native Apps?

Native apps are mobile applications developed for a specific mobile operating system that are coded in a platform-specific programming language. Simply put, for iOS we usually use Objective C or Swift, for Android we use Java and for Windows phone we use C#.

As native apps are specially designed for a specific platform, they take advantage of operating system features. It has access to device-specific hardware, software, the features that are available on the device such as a GPS, camera, one touch pay and figure print.

Similar to other application approaches, native apps have their own positives and negatives. Although native apps are often preferred over web apps, they’re expensive to build and require consistent maintenance. So to decide whether or not native apps are worth the investment, companies must carefully analyze the pros and cons of building or using one.

Let’s get started!

Advantages of Native Apps

Speed

Native apps, as we mentioned, are designed specifically for certain platforms, they are native to the platform. As a result, they function faster. Even apps with high processor usage will work without hassle. Many elements come preloaded. The user data is received from the web rather than the entire application, and since they work with the device’s built-in features, they are speedy.

Offline Work

Internet is not a must in native apps. They can partially function in offline mode. Therefore, in situations where there is no internet connectivity, certain native apps’ functionality can still work.

Full Functionality for Users

As native app works on the operating system of the device, it is able to make full use of the capabilities that are available to it. Whether it’s an address book, GPS functions, or even push notifications, the native app can become something that integrates cleanly into the user’s daily experience.

Superior Level of Performance

Games and other interactive games choose the native approach because they require low latency levels. This allows even the most processor-intensive apps to be able to be successfully used on a regular basis. Even for devices with different screen sizes.

Availability

Users can easily find and download native apps from the App Store or Google Play. Many device manufacturers also partner with native app developers to include specific apps for the initial boot-up of the device. Plus, the apps are completely tested by the stores before the approval.

Disadvantages of Native Apps

Cost

The overall cost involved in the development and maintenance is considerably higher, especially for native apps that work on multiple platforms. Even a substantial amount is needed to maintain the app. But still, native apps pay back in the long run.

Expensive Development

The programming used in native apps is a difficult process as separate developers are needed for each platform. Moreover, it is not an easy task to develop native apps, so you should find talented developers. As a result, native app development requires more labor, which means more time and more money.

Time Consumption

As a native app is targeted to a specific OS, it requires more time to develop for every single platform. So developers need to write specific codes for iOS, Android etc. As a result, to provide a quality product, the overall development time is longer.

The pros and cons of native apps show that it can be a beneficial and profitable experience if the negatives are properly countered. Considering these key points you’ll be able to decide whether to build a native app or to find other best decisions for your business.

Looking to develop a custom mobile application? Contact us.

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