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Tag: web developers

  • Low-Code Has Taken Development by Storm. Why Not the Web?

    Low-Code Has Taken Development by Storm. Why Not the Web?

    For more than a decade, development tools increasingly have made their way into the hands of less-technical people. On the web in particular, we’ve eliminated the webmaster as the middleman with content management systems and moved progressively toward a model where non-technical users could assemble their own sites with little to no coding experience of their own.

    Fast forward and today, the terms “no-code” and “low-code” are used to describe this idea. Furthermore, no-code and low-code tools have been on a decade-long rise, with an increasing impact on the web. Examples include:

    While this has been a strong, decade-long market trend, we’re only at the beginning. This trend won’t stop until new website experiences are automatically generated and optimized by machine learning.

    Trends Driving the Low-Code and No-Code Movements

    According to Wave, “In our survey of global developers, 23% reported using low-code platforms in 2018, and another 22% planned to do so within a year.”

    Major market forces driving this trend include a talent shortage among developers, with an estimated 1 million computer programming jobs expected to remain unfilled by 2020 in the U.S. alone. What’s more, the developers who are employed are often overloaded with work and struggle with how to prioritize it all. Some of this burden could be removed by low-code and no-code tools, allowing marketers and other non-technical professionals to do some of the development work themselves. In addition, the fact that technology has permeated every aspect of our lives, from our smartphones to our smart homes, has driven the need for more people to become creators.

    “As creating things on the internet becomes more accessible, more people will become makers. It’s no longer limited to the <1% of engineers that can code, resulting in an explosion of ideas from all kinds of people,” said Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt, in a blog post.

    In other words, the supply of web creators must keep up with the demand for more digital experiences across more channels.

    But this does not only apply to individuals. Consider this: The typical large organization has to build and maintain hundreds of sites. These organizations need to build, launch and customize sites in days or weeks, not months. Today and in the future, marketers and other non-technical stakeholders can embrace no-code and low-code tools to develop websites rapidly.

    Abstraction Drives Innovation

    As predicted in my middleman blog post, developers won’t go away. Just as the role of the original webmaster has evolved with the advent of the CMS, the role of web developers is changing with the rise of low-code and no-code tools.

    Today, developers tend to focus on creating next-generation digital experiences that require new and emerging technologies not yet available in no-code solutions. In the process, they help invent and build new technologies such as React, Vue.js, etc.

    Successful no-code approaches abstract away complexity for web development. This enables less-technical people to do things that previously only could be done by developers. When those abstractions happen, developers can move on to the next area of innovation.

    Such abstractions are a good thing for both developers and non-technical website creators. When everyone is a builder, more good things will happen on the web. I was excited about this trend more than 12 years ago and remain excited today. I’m eager to see the progress no-code and low-code solutions will bring to the digital world in the next decade.

    — Dries Buytaret

  • 5 Questions to Ask Remote Web Developers

    5 Questions to Ask Remote Web Developers

    Great web developers are waiting to be hired. Your company could seize upon the opportunity—but only if you’re willing to be patient, dedicated and a little creative.

    Don’t scare away qualified remote web developers with a few poorly worded questions or a mistimed probe. Ask direct and concise questions that can help you understand the candidate.

    Be sure to include the questions listed below to ensure you’re interviewing a remote web developer to the best of your ability:

    1. Have You Worked Remotely Before?

    Remote work is different from many traditional forms of work. For a company to properly manage a remote web developer, the web developer must have a solid understanding and knowledge of remote working environments.

    If an exceptional web developer candidate hasn’t telecommuted before, it doesn’t bar them from the pool of qualified candidates. However, it is easier to onboard and retain remote web developers who have had the experience of working remotely beforehand.

    2. Are You Familiar with Popular Web Development Frameworks?

    Remote web developers, like any other web developer, must stay abreast of the latest trends and advancements in the web development field. To master their craft, they must keep a running knowledge of the latest tools, frameworks and web programming languages.

    An experienced web developer should, at the very least, be aware of a large and robust framework such as Bootstrap. They should be able to explain how the framework works, why web developers use it (it’s much better to utilize a framework to save time, in most cases) and the drawbacks of utilizing a premade framework.

    3. How Much Experience Do You Have with Web Programming Languages? Are You Familiar with Server-Side Languages?

    Every web developer should be proficient in HTML and CSS. Scripting languages such as Angular.js, Express.js and JSON are important, too. JavaScript adds interactivity to websites. HTML acts as the skeleton and CSS acts as the design.

    Preferably, an experienced remote web developer candidate will have three to five years of experience with these languages.

    It’s also important to ascertain whether the web developer you’re interviewing has the ability to code the back end of websites. Do they know how to set up a database? Do they understand how to store values in a website’s database?

    4. Which Content Management Systems Do You Use?

    A content management system (CMS) helps streamline organizing, adding and managing content for a website.

    One of the most popular CMS is WordPress. Web developers leverage CMS to utilize built-in structures and architectures to create dynamic blogs and alluring corporate websites.

    Setting a website up with a CMS also makes it easier for writers, marketers and designers to tweak already-developed websites. They can add content without needing the web developer to intervene.

    5. Are You Comfortable with Regular Phone and Video Meetings? Do You Have Experience with Telework Software?

    Remote work has unique challenges. One of the most challenging aspects of working remotely is maintaining communication. Miscommunication can occur more easily for remote workers, so it’s important that you keep communication lines open and stress the importance of speaking clearly and confidently.

    It’s much better if a candidate already has experience with telecommunication software such as Zoom, Skype or Slack. Knowing how to interact via these technologies will lessen the chances of miscommunication in telework environments.

    Conclusion

    How you conduct a remote web developer interview is entirely up to your organization. There are several methods for conducting technical interviews, telework interviews and startup interviews. Each one of them is effective in a unique way; very few are ineffective or harmful. Adding a few questions to your interview script could help make whichever strategy you employ more effective.

    Ask remote web developers about their experience working remotely. Remember to ask about experience with certain telework software programs and telecommunication applications. On the technical side, be sure to ask about programming skill, familiarity with web frameworks and their experience with CMS.

    Companies that seek to hire remote web developers should take note of the interview questions listed above. By asking these five questions, interviewers can gain a great deal of insight into a web developer candidate’s habits, passions and challenges.

    Using these interview questions should make the vetting and hiring process easier for everyone, helping interviewers assess a candidate’s adaptability, experience and dedication.

    — Anthony Coggine

  • Why Hiring Top Web Developers is a Good Idea

    Why Hiring Top Web Developers is a Good Idea

    Web developers are a great addition to every organization. Having your own web developers to help you create web applications and websites can be invaluable to companies of every size. If you happen to be a software development team, they are indispensable members of your team.

    Because web developers are in such high demand, hiring the best of the best can be an extremely expensive endeavor. However, hiring them is more than worth the investment, as web development is one of the most valuable activities of any company, especially tech companies and web design agencies.

    With top web developer talent, you’ll surely make more than your initial investment. Investing in quality is always a sound decision, especially for software teams, where a lack of expertise can spell doom for the end product.

    Facilitating Communication

    It’s good to have a team of both frontend and backend web development specialists. The top web developers can help specialists with weak points or blind spots. They can help other, less-experienced members of the team implement a piece a source code, an algorithm or a create a better-optimized database.

    Premier web developers have extensive knowledge and experience with web development, which can help other members of the team better communicate their concerns with other specialists.

    With an in-depth understanding of web development, they know how to translate backend issues to frontend specialists, greatly facilitating communication and collaboration.

    Improving Team Morale

    The best web developers aren’t only technically adept, they are also great communicators, collaborators and leaders. They know how to speak empathetically, compassionately and honestly and openly. They are active team members who voice concerns, questions and comments in a way that everyone can understand.

    When communication and collaboration are facilitated and when constructive criticism is encouraged, team morale is impacted postively. When team morale is boosted, productivity increases, miscommunication decreases and passion for the project can be revitalized. Talented, team-oriented web developers can provide your team with extra motivation and much-needed mentorship.

    Bringing Perspective

    The top web developers have the experience necessary to bring in a fresh perspective to organizations of all sizes. The best web developers likely have worked on extensive projects for important clients, encountered a great deal of strife and come up with unique solutions to intimidating problems.

    While attracting top talent isn’t an easy thing to accomplish, it is worth the time and effort it requires. Young companies, especially tech startups, can benefit from bringing experienced web developers onto their teams.

    Exceptional web developers can act as managers, mentors and liaisons for young, sparsely populated companies. The most experienced web developers can inject knowledge, quality and direction to small companies.

    Keeping a Consistent Pace

    The best web developers maintain a consistent pace, leveraging lean and agile project management principles to do their job to the best of their ability.

    One big mistake young companies commit is biting off more they can chew. It’s a good idea to keep a steady, consistent pace. If your team is using Scrum to help maintain pace with sprints and project retrospectives, experienced developers can be of great use.

    Their experience can help the team establish a successful sprint schedule, helping other team members get acclimated to turning in project deliverables in a consistent and sustainable way.

    Conclusion

    The best web developers on the market are difficult to attract. Hiring dedicated web developers requires organizations spend the time and money carefully to find, vet and hire the best in the business.

    Why are the best web developers worth the investment? They can enrich your organization with their expertise, their talent and their communication skills. It’s important to remember that the top developers are not only technically but also socially gifted. They exhibit leadership skills, easily communicating ideas and encouraging collaboration.

    If your organization is looking to hire a web developer, seek out top-caliber candidates, especially if your company is young or understaffed. While you may not believe you can afford the best web developers at this junction, it’s well worth the risk to invest in them.

    — Anthony Coggine

  • Image Management 101: The Web Developer’s Guide

    Image Management 101: The Web Developer’s Guide

    How understanding the user experience can help web developers in managing images effectively

    Online experiences have in many ways supplanted in-person experiences. Today, no one would hesitate to buy a luxury watch online instead of from a jewelry brick-and-mortar store. But as these online experiences become the norm, user expectations for a seamless and “in-person like” customer journey have increased as well. When customers buy that watch, they expect to see every gleam of precious metal and stone that proves its worth before they add it to their shopping cart. This can only happen with the highest quality visual imagery that kindles an emotional connection.

    But getting these high-quality images from the photographer’s camera to the shopper is a bigger challenge than most understand. Web development teams often receive raw photographs in obscure formats, or high-resolution files designed to preserve image quality to nearly microscopic detail; but these files will undoubtedly impact site performance due to sheer size.

    Speed and quality are often at odds in the web development process as companies embrace the need to provide richer and richer online experiences. Web developers need to master the best ways to deliver site performance while balancing marketing needs.

    Optimizations Based on User Experience

    Developers need to understand how image optimization can impact the user experience. No one disputes the goal of delivering images with the best quality possible to end users, but the part that is challenging is how subjective and wide the range of “best quality possible” can be.

    First, it’s important to note that quality can vary depending on whether a content delivery network (CDN) is used to deliver images, the connection speed and device used. For example, an overclocked gaming desktop with a hardwired, high-speed internet connection with images served from local servers is going to provide a drastically different experience than a smartphone overdue for an upgrade on a roaming signal. Also, delivering desktop images to mobile devices can result in site latency and user frustration due to over downloading. On the flip side, delivering images intended for mobile devices to desktops will result in pixelated images that will displease viewers.

    As for devices, different screen sizes mean different viewing experiences. A wide shot on a website viewed on a computer screen will show more detail than a 2-by-5-inch phone. For example, a scenic shot of a hotel with a beach in the background may clearly show the hotel name on a computer screen but be too small to make out on a mobile device. But since more and more people are using mobile devices to access digital content, it will benefit web development teams to ensure images serve their intended purpose with focus points and zoom capabilities.

    Delivering Based on Insight

    Once developers know their objectives in terms of user experience, they need a plan to deliver this experience at the highest possible quality. As mentioned above, the highest quality image does not necessarily translate into the highest quality experience; therefore, it’s important for developers to configure their delivery systems according to varying user needs. Developers can start by collecting accurate information about their users and how they access content. In addition to network conditions and screen size, the user experience can be impacted by what browser, operating system and device visitors are using. Collecting real user data can provide the insight needed to deliver the right quality and size image to the right user.

    To make matters more complex, many browsers and device environments have native image formats that differ from standard formats such as .png or .jpg. For example, Apple computers and devices support JPEG 2000, while Microsoft has a proprietary format called JPEG XR. These formats offer better image compression for delivery, meaning that web teams can use higher quality images without sacrificing faster load time or bandwidth. However, the fact that they are limited to specific environments requires web teams to create all the variant derivatives, store multiple copies and develop the logic to deliver the correct format to the appropriate browser and operating system.

    Automation All Day, Every Day

    Web teams and developers can benefit from automating their image optimization decisions given the challenges they face when delivering images, such as various combination of internet speed, screen size, device performance, operating systems and browsers. Automation to CDN cloud providers can also offload the decision-making logic (which can be CPU heavy) away from the main server, speeding up overall response times.

    Developers also need visibility into how images load and display on user devices. This means their job is not done after delivery. Having this level of insight will help identify bottlenecks and prioritize images for optimization. Automation services that have this option will be best positioned to help web teams.

    Web developers are faced with increasing pressure to meet aggressive marketing priorities. Quality and performance may seem at odds, but by taking stock of all factors that go into image requirements, web teams and developers can build websites that deliver stunning image-driven user experiences without sacrificing quality.

    — Charles Choe