From Tesla's self-driving cars to up-close shots of planet Mars - it's been an interesting year for innovation almost everywhere you chose to look. Web design and development haven't been left behind, especially with everyone looking to establish their online presence. New technology has meant better tools for web developers and designers across the globe, which has made it easier for them to deliver quality websites for clients within a short turnaround time.
In this post, we check out some of the most outstanding trends that stood out in the world of web development and what to look out for in 2017.
1. Impact of IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to grow by about 31% within the period 2015 – 2019, according to data by Technavio. As a result, everything in the path of this growth will undoubtedly experience unprecedented growth as more devices and objects are connected to the internet. With more devices being connected to the internet, web developers will need to come up with customized interfaces and solutions to help users better communicate with their devices on the internet.
2. Browser-based IDEs
IDEs (short for integrated development environment) are software suites that incorporate different modules for writing and testing code. Notable examples include good old Notepad++, Xcode, and Visual Studio, all of which have been Godsends in the word of web development.
In recent years, there has been a shift to cloud-based IDEs that offer more versatility and simplicity in functions compared to the older generation of desktop IDEs. These usually don't demand any specialized software apart from the browser, which makes things a lot easier for everyone. Cloud-based IDEs make it easy to share or store snippets or complete lines of code, enabling you to code on-the-go.
2016 has seen browser-based IDEs such as CodePen, Codeply, and Mozilla Thimble gain popularity among developers. Next year should see these and other related IDEs take center stage in web development.
3. Ad Blocking
Ads are among the methods you can use to monetize your website or blog. However, most ads often come off as spam and annoying to the site's visitor, which is part of the reason why ad-blocking plugins have grown in popularity over the past few years. For instance, in the UK, about 12 million users have installed ad blocking software and countries like Germany have legalized ad blocking, which has affected revenues for millions of website owners.
Going forward, website developers will be looking to cut down on the impact of ad blockers, including coming up with innovative ways to place ads on websites. Google is always coming up with innovative methods to even the playfield for both websites and visitors, so tighter control is expected from moderators.
4. Mobile Security
As mobile devices become mainstream communication devices, mobile security will become an important issue. Mobile devices are easier to penetrate compared to PCs and other platforms, which makes mobile security an important area for developers involved in mobile web development.
2017 should see concerted efforts from web developers to create more secure websites for mobile.
5. Collaboration in Design
Instant messaging has been around for ages. Most of the elements of many IM apps have been restricted to text and file attachments, for instance, in Google Hangouts. Over the past year or so, however, several IM apps have tried to incorporate elements of live design within IM applications, with the most notable example being Notable. Here, designers and developers can add comments and annotations to the document and share progress and ideas in real time.
Slack, another IM app, is extremely popular with developers. It integrates some of the most popular applications for making a developer's work a bit easier, including MailChimp, Hangouts, and WordPress. We should see more collaborative apps for web designers going into 2017.
6. Advanced Responsive Designs for New Platforms
With new technologies being churned out almost every other day, developers will have to come up with advanced responsive designs to cater for new platforms. For instance, wearable devices such as Google Glass and Apple watch, and VR devices such as the Oculus Rift will need custom responsive designs in order for them to effectively join the fray of interconnected devices. Mobile responsiveness won't be the guiding factor going forward as developers and designers try to develop all-rounded web technologies to connect these new devices.
With new tech coming in from literally every angle, the ability of each device to connect to the web will be a vital component of innovation. Even more important will be the user interface to the web, which is an area web developers will be looking to improve. As we move forward into a new year, it will be interesting to watch new devices being unveiled and the new technologies that enable users to connect to the interweb.