Is IoT affecting the future of Web Development? Let’s see How
Due to the proliferation of emerging technologies such as Blockchain and AI- companies are in a race to hire programmers and developers for building applications that enhance business processes.
One of these emerging technologies is IoT or the Internet of Things. IoT-based services were one of the most common and largest services delivered by the world’s top software development outsourcing companies in 2018.8.
IoT ( Internet of things ) is a significant topic to discuss in this ERA of online networking. There is no denying that the impact of IoT is immense in all areas whether we talk about software, web development or on people’s lives. In fact, these days everyone is so dependent on the internet.
Businesses are using the internet for communication since they understand that with the help of the internet they can reach all geographical spheres.
It is imperative that all these companies stay constantly updated with the development in smart technologies, about the sensors that can be integrated into technology devices such as consumer durables and mobile phones. After all, these advancements only enhance the impact of IoT on our future.
One major impact of IoT is on the future of web development. Which is what I’ll discuss right now.
IoT and Web Development hold a connection. Confused? Let me show you how.
Web Development includes Front-end Development and back-end development and this is so obvious- it requires this connection for transferring data and showing the user what they want to see.
BUT the question is how IoT affects the future of Web development? Complex IoT raises the bar and sets new challenges every day in Custom Software Development. IoT is affecting not only the consumers but the IoT solutions providers also.
Web Development is a vital part of IoT projects as there are many IoT devices that can display web content such as user interfaces on smart apps, Laptops, wearables, and industrial monitors, etc.
This is exactly where IoT is changing the future of web development. Take an example of Amazon’s Echo with the virtual assistant Alexa. The Alexa virtual assistant is able to search the web via a back-end browser, however, doesn’t use a front-end web for any activity. This is one basic indicator of how the impact of IoT is changing the way we use the web.
The web development processes will get a little more complicated with the proliferation of IoT. The front-end, such as cameras and sensors, will communicate with users while the back-end will store all accessible information. The use of IoT devices will result in information getting delivered quickly without delay in the transmission.
A great example of the same can be derived from the previous example of Alexa. When a user is looking for something on the internet, they can get the information through voice search on IoT devices such as Alexa far quicker than manually searching on a Web browser.
Fact: The number of IoT devices already exceeded our population back in 2008. By 2020 this number is expected to complete 50 billion. A whopping $19 trillion is anticipated as cost-savings and profits from these investments on IoT development.
The web development process will get a little more complicated with the proliferation of IoT. As mentioned earlier, the front-end- such as cameras and sensors, will communicate with users and at the other end. The back-end will store accessible information.
With the use of IoT devices, the information could come from almost any kind of device, and not just from those having screens on them! The information would become accessible through much faster means such as audio. This is how IoT is taking web development to the next level- by making business-customer interaction more seamless, instant and immersive than it was ever before.
Integration of Web development in IoT: Key Points
1. Compilation of large data
IoT web development concentrates more on the system’s scalability and security than conventional web development. Basically, IoT collects real-time data from sensors, then move to the filtration process and transmit particular data to and from the cloud.
Such processes and the high volume of data can cause delays in the network and it’s unacceptable to lose any of this data because of networking issues.
This is the reason why businesses hire IoT developers with expertise in languages and frameworks that facilitate scalable IoT applications. These languages include Angularjs, Laravel, Ionic, Java, C and JavaScript among many others.
There are already many applications built on existing web development programming languages and frameworks.
- Businesses are hiring laravel developers to work on IoT projects. One such example is that of Jewelbots. These are IoT powered friendship bracelets which use the Laravel framework to present valuable information stored by the device into a mobile interface.
- Several companies are implementing custom IoT-powered home automation solutions for their clients through Nodejs and Angularjs.
In addition, it is important to transmit data through appropriate superior protocols for the data transaction in IoT development process. The protocols used include XMPP for real-time communication and AMQP for receiving/sending message-oriented data.
2. Dynamic User Interfaces
IoT systems usually collect a large amount of data and display lots of analytics and infographics. That is why dynamic UIs suit complex IoT applications perfectly while dealing with multitasking because it allows generating portlets or pages dynamically. UIs support interaction of the user with the IoT system. They display relevant insights from collected data and helps to manage networks.
3. Security & Privacy
Why IoT web design is so much focused on system security?
Every technology has one drawback and so does IOT. This drawback is that interconnected IoT devices can become huge in numbers and thus an entire network could become vulnerable if even a single device has a security loophole. Not all type of IoT devices could possess the same level of software security. This provides an opportunity to hackers and they could potentially crack web-connected patterns.
This is why initiatives such as the OPEN WEB APPLICATION SECURITY PROJECT (OWASP) were developed to address drawbacks in IoT ecosystems. The OWASP project was initiated in 2014 and has been incremental in helping manufacturers, IoT development companies, IoT developers, enterprises and even consumers become aware of vulnerabilities in IoT systems.
To assure data security, expert IoT developers usually create advanced user authentication and user access management. It makes sure the data and communications within the network are secured through encryption.
4. Strong backend design
A fine backend receives & transfer the data and helps users interact with the device in seamless ways. IoT makes sure the communication between the user and IoT devices should be seamless. Every device has various capabilities, commands and data that operate exactly as per the users’ inclinations.
In fact, the entire philosophy around the implementation of IoT devices in an organization should be to make operations seamless. Got a component running out of stock in your inventory? Have an IoT system make an order to replenish it instantly.
Need to save time and energy in managing lighting systems in your office? Have IoT systems use motion sensors to control lighting and save time spent in controlling them manually!
Strong back-end architecture help deliver these above-mentioned needs without hiccups. Some of the current IoT back-end systems are at times, embarrassing. But trends indicate that this won’t be the same in the coming years.
The future of IoT in web development
Now that we’ve seen where we are, it’s only reasonable to ask what is coming next. Now we have a fair bit of an idea of how the impact of IoT will change the future of web development. While we can’t make any statements for sure, future projections have shown some surprising numbers.
1. One such surprising statistic comes from Cisco who says that only .06% of things that could be connected to the internet currently are. That leaves a lot of room for growth obviously.
2. But on the other hand, Looking forward to 2025- McKinsey has estimated that IoT has the potential to drive improved productivity to the tune of $36 trillion in operating costs across multiple industries including healthcare, mining, and manufacturing.
3. As of today, approximately 61% of companies leveraging IoT are hiring Nodejs Developers and Angularjs developers for working on innovative projects for the front-end web in amalgamation with IoT.
Latest IoT trends in web development
Here are some of the latest IoT trends in brief:
1. According to the IoT developer 2018 survey, Java, C, and JavaScript are the top 3 languages for building IoT solutions.
2. While Java and C are commonly used for programming devices and gateways, JavaScript is the one oriented towards web development.
3. JavaScript frameworks are also popular in IoT. Apart from Node.js, IoT developers are also using Johnny-five.io, Zetta.js, Cylon.js and Nodered.
IoT will leave the future of web development completely focused on the back-end
This is the prediction you came here for. With the proliferation of IoT devices, users of both commercial and personal applications are able to connect to the web seamlessly even without screens, or monitors that seemed to be the norm until now. Indeed, IoT is set to tremendously impact the future of web development.
With an increasing focus on back-end architecture, security and centralization in IoT- we’re headed towards a future where web development will be all about the back-end.
Why? Because the IoT devices itself are set to replace the front-end soon. Emerging UI/UX trends indicate that we’re moving away from screens; towards a world where our interactions with electronic devices would be based on gestures and voice.
Think about the IoT devices of today- Alexa, Google Assistant, the myriad IoT sensor networks powering industrial IoT applications. These are powerhouses of data, which will be crunched by analytics programs at the back-end. As far as user interaction goes, the only place where conventional front-end web development & design would be needed would be at the monitor of a data scientist.
For businesses of today, my only suggestion would be to embrace the change and invest in IoT development solutions that leverage web development at the back-end to deliver seamless solutions to end-consumers.
