Pros and Cons of Android App Development

web developer

The Android operating system has been in the market for several years now. Its popularity has grown ever since its first release, and it supports many smart devices today. Android apps are also popular among Android users with their new and improved features every year. However, there is both good and bad to app development for the Android market. Here are some of them: 

Pros of Android App Development: 

Easy Access to Learning Resources: Learning Android app development is easy because of the availability of resources. A lot of information is available on the internet and can be accessed for free. Google also offers free training for beginners and experts alike. These materials are structured and also have additional video resources, animations and graphics. There are also interactive exercises for developers. The best thing is that web developers for hire can pay a one-time exam cost to take the official exam and receive a Google Developers Certification. 

Simple Procedure for Publication: Getting an app on Google’s Play Store is way easier than the Apple Store. While it takes time for apps to be reviewed and approved, almost all of them make it to the Store unless they violate some of the major content policies. Google does not review apps as strictly as Apple. It is more open to new content and developers can also release a beta version for testing their app before finally publishing it. The process is easy, and there is also no risk of wasting a lot of money. 

Choice of Programming Languages: Android’s two official programming languages are Java and Kotlin. Java is one of the most widely used languages in web development. It is an object-oriented language and is also cross-platform. Expert Java developers for hire are easy to find, and so are Android developers. Kotlin brings in a new approach to coding and facilitates the process of app development. It simplifies everything that is complex in Java and ensures that apps are developed in much less time. 

Independent Hardware: Android is hardware-independent. It is highly suitable for developers because they do not need to worry about the hardware while developing apps. Since Android apps are made using Java, Android development tools like Android Studio, Fabric, Eclipse, and so on can also be used on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Web Developer can also use Google’s revolutionary Flutter platform to develop apps without much hassle. 

Instant Apps: Android’s instant apps are one of its best features. Instant apps can be launched from the Play Store directly without downloading them. They are readily available and are also faster. Users can have access to the app and try it out before downloading it. If the app is a paid one, they can get a preview of it. They are not only easy to access but also easy to build. Only a few configurations and adjustments can turn any Android app into an instant one. 

Cons of Android App Development: 

The Android Market: The Android market is huge but the amount of time Android users spend on their apps is much less compared to Apple. Users also tend to stick to free apps or free versions of paid apps rather than buying them. It is problematic for web developers because they may spend months building an app, but it may not get the targeted number of users. As for the users, Android’s free and easily available apps may mean that quite a few of these are of poor quality and may crash after opening them. 

Security Problems: Android is open-source, and this can be a major security concern. It is easy for hackers to hack Android apps, especially when people do not update their phones regularly. App developers have to conduct complex encryption to prevent their apps from getting hacked. They have to add several security features to protect the apps from malware of any kind. The process is time-consuming and somewhat tedious. 

Copyright Issues: Another common problem that web developers face is regarding copyright. Since Google easily accepts apps for its Play Store, it does not perform thorough copyright checks for these apps. Developers often run the risk of copyright infringement because the Play Store may release an app that has the same features as their app. They may also end up releasing an app that has the same features of an already existing app in the Store. 

Device Fragmentation: Device fragmentation is a primary concern for Android developers because of the number of Android devices available in the market. It is difficult to make an app compatible with all the existing devices, and the app may not perform well in all of them. For this reason, developers have to either limit the number of supported devices or reduce the quality of the app. Developing an Android app becomes difficult when this is taken into consideration. 

App Testing: Testing apps for the Android market is also challenging due to the variety of devices. Devices come in all shapes and sizes, and so it is not just about making them mobile responsive. Developers cannot test an app for each available device and make it available for all. 

Despite all the pros and cons, developing an app for Android can be fun and less challenging. As a web developer, if you follow the latest development guidelines, conduct market researches and make the best use of all the available resources, you can create an app that is perfect for the app store.

New Features in Java 12 that Developers Must Know

Java developers for hire

Some of the great benefits you will get from the new Java 12 features are as follows:

  • Java 12 will make the coding process easier by extending the switch statement and enabling you to use it as a statement/ expression.
  • It will boost the JDK build process by creating a class data-sharing archive through a default class list on the 64-bit platform.
  • It will reduce the garbage collection pause times by processing evacuation work while running the Java threads. It implies that pause times are consistent regardless of the heap size.
  • It will add a suite of micro-benchmarks into the JDK build source code, streamlining the running of existing benchmarks and the creation of new ones.
  • It will do away with any duplicate work necessary with maintaining two ports.
  • It will make aborting the garbage collection process much more efficient for you by dividing the mixed collection group into mandatory and optional parts.
  • It will facilitate the upgradation of the G1 garbage collector to instantly return unused Java heap memory to the operating system when idle.

Even with the prevalence of other programming languages, Java has sustained its widespread popularity since its release 23 years ago. One of the most compelling reasons that makes Java so accessible is its platform-independent nature. A Java program can work on any operating system or computer.

Many of the most significant web development applications and systems around the globe are developed in Java. Amazon, Google, Android, Experian, Atlassian, Twitter, eBay, and Netflix are just a few examples from the long list of famous companies that use Java. With the six-month release schedule for Java, the development community can expect new and better features for web developers at an accelerated rate.

The latest version of Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) is JDK 12, as described by JSR 386 (Java Specification Request) in the Java Community Process. Currently, JDK 12 is in the Release-Candidate Phase stage. It consists of eight features, with a few enhancements and additions introduced since Phase One. The comprehensive feature set is frozen. However, the stabilization repository, JDK/jdk12, is transparent for P1-P2 bug fixes. With approval, the late enhancement requests stated in the JDK Release Process.

Java 12 features you are surely going to get are as follows:

  1. Switch expressions (JEP, 325).
  2. Default CDS archives.
  3. Shenandoah.
  4. Microbenchmark suite.
  5. JVM constants API.
  6. One AArch64 port, not 2.
  7. Abortable mixed collections for G1.
  8. Promptly return unused committed memory from G1.

Switch expressions (JEP 325)-

With Java 12, the beta switch expressions will improve coding by extending the switch statement, enabling developers to use it as either a statement or an interpretation. It will allow both the forms to use either the traditional or simplified scoping and control flow behaviour. It will simplify the code and make way for the use of pattern matching in a switch. Java developers for hire are enhancing the Java programming language to use pattern matching to resolve several issues with the current switch statement. The enhancements include default control flow behaviour of switch blocks, default scoping switch block, and switch working only as a statement. In Java 11, the switch statement tracks C and C++ programming languages. It uses the fall-through semantics by default. The traditional control flow is beneficial when writing low-level codes. The error-prone nature will soon outweigh its flexibility as the switch is in higher-level contexts.

Default CDS archives (JEP 341)-

The ultimate goal is to improve the JDK build process by creating a class data-sharing archive via the default class list on the 64-bit platform, effectively removing the need to run <code> Java -Xshare: dump</code>. The goals for this feature is to Improve the out-of-the-box startup time, and to get rid of the need to run -Xshare: dump to benefit from the CDS.

Shenandoah: A low-pause-time garbage collector (JEP 189):

Shenandoah is a garbage collection (GC) algorithm that guarantees low response times. It reduces the GC pause times by doing evacuation work along with the running Java threads. With Shenandoah, pause times do not depend on the size of the heap. Pause times will be consistent, no matter the size of your collection. A 10 MB or 10 GB heap should have the same pause time. It is an experimental feature and is not a part in the default OpenJDK build.

Microbenchmark suite (JEP 230):

This feature adds a suite of microbenchmarks to the JDK source code and simplifies both the running of existing microbenchmarks and the creation of new ones. It has the foundation in the Java Microbenchmark Harness (JMH) and supports JMH updates. It makes it simple for developers to run current microbenchmarks and add new ones to the JDK source code. It quickly tests the JDK performance based on the Java Microbenchmark Harness (JMH). It will support JMH updates and consist of an initial set of approximately 100 benchmarks in the suite.

JVM constants API (JEP 334):

JEP 334 introduces an API modelling the key class-file and run-time artefacts. The API will include classes like ClassDesc, MethodTypeDesc, MethodHandleDesc, and DynamicConstantDesc. This API helps tools that manipulate classes and methods.

One AArch64 port, not two (JEP 340):

Java 12 will only have one port for the ARM 64-bit processors. The purpose is to delete all arm64 all sources related to the port while maintaining the 32-bit ARM port and 64-bit aarch64 port.

It will shift the focus to a single 64-bit ARM implementation and eliminate duplicate work that is essential to maintain two ports. There are two 64-bit ARM ports in the current JDK 11 implementation.

Abortable Mixed Collections for G1:

This specific feature makes the G1 garbage collector abort the garbage collection process more efficiently by splitting the mixed collection set into mandatory and optional parts. By allowing the garbage collection process to prioritize the obligatory set, G1 can meet the pause time goal more often. G1 is for multi-processor machines with large volumes of memory. Due to its increased performance efficiency, the G1 garbage collector will replace the CMS garbage collector. One of the main goals of G1 Garbage Collector is to meet a user-supplied pause time target for the collection pauses. The G1 opts for an analysis engine that selects the amount of workload to process during a collection. The produced result is a set of regions known as collection set. As soon as the collection set is established and the group has started, then G1 will collect all live objects in collection set’s regions without a halt. If G1 finds out that the collection set selection selects the wrong number of areas repeatedly, it will transform into an incremental way of processing mixed collections set by splitting the group of to-be garbage collected regions into two parts – mandatory and optional parts. 

Promptly return unused committed memory from G1 (JEP 346):

The primary purpose of this feature is to improve the G1 garbage collector to immediately return Java heap memory to the operating system when inactive. To achieve this goal, during low application activity, G1 will periodically create or continue a concurrent cycle to check the complete Java heap usage. It will make it return unused Java heap parts to the operating system immediately. When under user control, there will be an option to perform a full GC to increase the volume of memory returned.

Raw string literals (JEP 326) removed from JDK 12:

Raw string literals were proposed as a preview feature of Java 12 but were later dropped. Its future release is currently postponed and is being revised. 

This was all about the new features in Java 12. Hope you find this article informative. Also Read about, what is the future of web development in the artificial intelligence era?

Is PHP the best choice for web development in 2020?

 

Hire a PHP developerAmong the majorly popular websites that use PHP are Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Flickr, and Tumblr. PHP is convenient and has several useful libraries, along with detailed and comprehensive documentation, and most importantly- a vast community. Even if it is one of the oldest programming languages, it is one of the most reliable ones and considers it to be classic. Not just 2020, PHP is not likely to lose its relevance and popularity even in the upcoming decades. 

The following are a few dominant reasons that explain why PHP will be the best choice for your web development projects in 2020:-

  1. Open-Source & Cost-Effective: PHP is open-source, and hence, you will not need to pay anything for using it. PHP helps you keep web development costs quite low and easily affordable. You will come across no paid updates. Also, there is no cost involved in the maintenance of PHP. You will only have to hire a PHP developer and get your website built.
  2. Easy & Simple: PHP is very easy to learn and understand. The code is clean, organized, and not complex at all. You will also appreciate the syntax quickly. Knowledge of coding in any language will be sufficient to learn to code. PHP comes with a short learning curve, making things easier for new PHP developers in terms of learning and using PHP as a scripting language.
  3. Easy to Integrate: PHP does not depend on any external platform. You can run it smoothly with Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix. Developers can independently use PHP and also integrate it with other languages, without any requirement of re-development. The web applications that you build with PHP are suitable to run on any platform and web browser smoothly. PHP supports all the critical servers that include Apache, Netscape, Microsoft IIS, and also any personal web server. You will never have to worry about getting access to any specific platform or server while working with PHP.
  4. Extremely Fast: You will find several programming languages that are fast. PHP, Java, Python, .Net, Ruby, are all examples of the fastest programming languages in the market. PHP is among the fastest of them all. The applications that you build with PHP have a much quicker loading time in comparison with other programming languages available. Users will not face difficulty while using PHP applications, even with a slow internet connection. PHP takes only a little time to connect queries to the database, making websites load really fast.
  5. Easy to Edit: When developers are working with PHP, they will have to write fewer codes for executing specific tasks than other programming languages. Also, you can easily edit an already written code in PHP. You can write clean codes and update and edit them when required, without having to face any problem. 
  6. Stability: PHP comes with several frequent updates and fixes. It makes PHP a highly stable programming language among all other languages that are available. With every new version of PHP that has been introduced, PHP has continued to become more stable and reliable. Any web developer for hire with over two years of experience in the field of web development will consider PHP to be one of the best server-side scripting languages.
  7. Easy Maintenance: The PHP framework facilitates the automatic maintenance of codes. PHP comes with the Model-View-Controller architecture, which enables easy separation of files for various specific modules. Since PHP is very easy to maintain, the PHP programmer will not have to spend much time on the maintenance and can solely concentrate on writing the codes for creating the website.
  8. Security: PHP comes with the best security features among all other programming languages. It has underlying security measures providing protection against malfunction and virus attacks. So, if you want to build a highly secure website, PHP will be the best and most convenient choice for you. The high security of PHP is one of the main reasons behind online store management systems like Joomla and OpenCart being built on PHP. 
  9. Easy Testing: Testing is a very integral part of the web development process, but you will not want your developer to spend all their time on testing to make things perfect and full-proof. PHP facilitates easy and fast unit testing. Hence, with PHP, developers can write test cases and perform checks. It automates several testing tasks that generally need additional coding when executed on other frameworks. 
  10. Robust & Reliable Support: PHP is open-source and actively present in the web development market for the last 26 years and comes with a vast and robust community that tackles almost every other issue faced by a developer using PHP for developing websites or web applications. A PHP developer will always get answers and solutions to their queries and problems if they go through the PHP forums and Q&A sites just once. The official PHP website consists of more than sufficient documents that will help the developers to sort any issues they face with the PHP features/ framework, while they are working. Also, the updates are released regularly for providing an improved development experience.

Conclusion:

By now, you are already aware of the several significant reasons and factors that make PHP the best option for web development projects in 2020. The natural learning, robust support, stability, flexibility, reliability, security that PHP comes with outshines almost all the other server-side programming languages. 

PHP stands as the most widely used server-side language, and we don’t see any chances of PHP losing its popularity anytime soon. It has a record of more live websites than all other server-side scripting languages combined.