With each passing year, software tools become more sophisticated and developers have more languages and tools to choose from than ever before. See what was big news in 2008 and what to expect in 2009 from cloud development platforms, mobile application development and the increasing acceptance of dynamic languages for Web development.1. Cloud development platforms bloom
Google App Engine, Microsoft Windows Azure, Amazon, Salesforce.com
and others have entered into the cloud space in force. What must
developers do to program to the cloud?
2. Microsoft gets serious about software modeling
Microsoft releases its "Oslo" modeling strategy, joins the Object
Modeling Group and pledges support for UML. Microsoft long held an
indifferent if not hostile view of the Unified Modeling Language, but
has now done an about face and is supporting modeling big time, and
supporting UML in the Visual Studio 2010 toolset.
3. Mobile app development gets huge
Android, Windows Mobile, iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, name your
platform. Mobile app development is where the action is. The next step
is making it easier to build apps that run on more than one platform.
4. Dynamic languages take off
Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, Python, et al, see mainstream use. Ruby is
used in all kinds of social networking and Web 2.0 environments,
however, taking shots for not being as scalable as some other
languages. Meanwhile, PHP, Python and others see their use on the rise
in the enterprise.
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