Real Time Software Development By An Individual Programmer
In the 21st century, the software development services are getting shorter while the requirements list is getting longer
. Coping with these issues and learning to adapt and thrive within these constraints is going to become critical to long term success. This article discusses the custom software applications to improve communications between business divisions, departments, partners, vendors and customers.
Tools Recommended to Cope With Changing Demands
The standalone developer needs to be prepared to cope with these changing demands and needs to be able to stay on top of their game.
Some of the tools recommended include:
Mastering tools of communications such as XML,
Mastering tools of presentation such as HTML, and
Keeping an eye out for new tools of communications that can benefit organizations.
One additional thing is that the standalone developer offering software development services must develop a platform on which his/her applications can be built.
Mastering XML
XML is a powerful medium for transferring information between systems, people, departments, etc. It is becoming the standard for data communications and will become omnipresent throughout the software development process.
Why XML is so important in real-time enterprise?
XML provides the ability for new software systems to quickly consume data from other software systems. This capability makes software development more efficient by eliminating many common data transformation and data definition tasks which are typically necessary when interconnecting systems.
Mastering Tools of Presentation
With the growth of Internet and HTML, more focus must be put on how the web is being used to present information to users. Web browsers have advanced quite a bit from the early days of text only browsing and these advancements continue; and this calls for custom software applications.
Beyond the web browser, technology is providing more and more ways of communicating with our clients/users. PDAs, cell phones, email and IM are all being used to deliver critical business data to clients. New technologies revolutionize our ability to communicate with users and clients. Coping up with these advancements brings these technologies to our employers and enhance their communication systems.
Build a Platform
Having a code base enables us to build many of our applications. This platform includes data representation, data persistence, data validation, workflow management, some form of security mechanism and appropriate presentation capabilities.
Importance of a Platform
It is the only way for a developer to produce software with ever increasing feature sets and still maintain high quality of the overall product. A platform helps to implement features which are beyond simple application feature sets, but enhance not only the specific application, but enhance the ability to continue to deliver high quality results.
Features beyond basic custom software application feature sets include:
Diagnostic logging that is both automated and can be supplemented with application specific messages.
Instrumentation of data flow.
Tracing of database activity.
Enhanced data persistence services such as change detection, change history, transactional management.
Pooling services to enhance scalability.
Auditing of user activity.
Expression evaluation.
Advantages of Building a Platform
Quicker delivery of product.
Prototypes replaced with "limited edition" applications.
Easy to implement.
Testing of new applications and features is typically simpler because many core features are pre-existing.
Testing of complex applications is typically simpler due to diagnostics logging, instrumentation, tracing, etc.
Developing more scalable solutions is easier.
Core functionality is typically used quite heavily and therefore tested quite thoroughly.
Application-specific work.
Disadvantages of Building a Platform
In some cases, a platform prevents you from achieving desired results. Platforms require more thought process and will require that the code used within the platform be thoroughly tested and engineered for maximum performance, scalability and memory footprint which are often conflicting requirements. Platforms must be engineered to provide maximum benefit to applications using the platform while placing the fewest requirements on the design of that application.
Conclusion
From the above, it is clear that the real-time enterprise is forcing changes in the way individual developers work. We can benefit from this trend by providing valuable services to our employers and to our industry. In my opinion, software developers must have a desire to learn more and continually increase their skills.
by: Holly Maxted
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