But all these changes and the introduction of new methods are aimed at one thing — to enhance the development process and provide better products to the end user.

CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery/Deployment) are such methods that are gaining momentum among developers using DevOps. In this article, we’ll discuss what exactly is CI/CD and how it can help you to develop better products.

What is CI/CD?

Understanding the Terms

Continuous Integration (CI) refers to committing (integrating) the code of individual developers — several times a day into a repository and run an automated test. What this does is, it helps to detect the issues and resolve them at a very early stage.

Continuous Delivery (CD) starts when the CI ends. Once the code is committed by the developers, they are uploaded on the staging server. Here, the application is checked to ensure that it’ll work well on the production server.

Continuous Deployment is a different concept than Continuous Delivery. CD here refers to the deployment of the built directly to the server after the code is committed and passes the test. Adopting Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment enables producing new working software at a faster rate.

Continuous Integration

Traditionally, the developers used to work on isolated features of the application, submit the code and integrate it at the end of the cycle. This lead to spending several hours on tweaking the code and resolving issues to get it working. This task was quite daunting and cost the developers more time, efforts that resulted in deadline pressures. In the development world, this issue is known by the slang integration hell.

That’s when Continuous Integration comes it. It is a practice where developers integrate their code into the main branch of the repository several times a day. The code is then validated by creating a built and running automated tests. This continuous integration of small chunks of the codes — typically several times a day results in a seamless and easy integration that saves time and effort.

Benefits of Continuous Integration

• Automated tests detect bugs at an early stage so that you can ship a clean final product to the customers.
• Continuous Integration makes the release way easier and helps to avoid the integration hell.
• Automated tests can run a number of tests at a time that reduces the overall cost of testing.
• Even the quality analysts can focus on improving the quality of application cohesively rather spending time on testing and finding bugs.

What You Need to Practice

• Maintain a common code repository where the developers can commit code — such as GitHub and Gitlab.
• Automate the build.
• Configure the automated testing on the built package.
• Developers must commit the new code as often as possible typically several times a day.

Continuous Delivery

Continuous Delivery is an extension of Continuous Integration. It is a practice that enables the developer to release the software on the production server with confidence.

Once the code is integrated, build and passes the automated tests, the built is pushed to the mock server. This enables the developer to check the application on the production-like environment and confidently upload it on the actual production environment — ensuring that the software will work well when it reaches to the customer.

To ensure that the software will work well when it reaches the customer, developers must employ the right automation testing tool to maintain a high quality of code throughout the continuous delivery pipeline.  Functionize’s picks of automation testing tools are designed to automate the testing process to achieve faster release cycles without compromising on software quality. The automation of the testing process enhances the reliability and stability of the software in real-world applications.

The main goal of continuous delivery is to make the application deployment seamless, reduce risk and ensure the application will work great in the production environment. With CD, the application is always ready to deploy and there is no last-minute anxiety or urgency. Even the team can be confident about their codebase and can concentrate on their daily development tasks.

Benefits of Continuous Delivery

• Continuous Delivery makes the application deployment painlessly easier and the team no longer have to spend time on the release.  
• It also reduces the risk of deploying the application with bugs as they are detected early on the production-like mock environment.
• Research has shown that CD making the releases easy and efficient reduces the burnout and ultimately makes the team happier.
• Releases can be made quicker and more often resulting in faster customer feedback and improving the product.

What You Need to Practice

• Your continuous integration must work well and the automated tests must cover enough codebase.
• Once the deployment is triggered, it must be fully automated without any need for human intervention.
• Incorporation of blue-green deployment or feature flags so that the incomplete features do not create downtime and affect the users.

Continuous Deployment

While Continuous Delivery makes the codebase ready for the deployment, Continuous Deployment releases it directly to the production server.

Continuous deployment is a practice for application deployment wherein any code commit passing the automated testing is automatically released to the production server and made available to the users. This process of deployment is fully automated without any manual intervention — and the build components that don’t pass the production pipeline are prevented from deploying on the server.

This kind of automatic deployment works great to ship the new components and features of the application and bug fixes quickly to the customers. Users’ feedback is quick as customers stay in the loop with every update and even the team experiences peace of mind as there is no pressure of release date. Thus, ultimately developers can focus more on developing the application and see their work go live.

Benefits of Continous Deployment

• Deliver the new changes to the customers as soon as they are developed.
• You get an early ROI for the new feature as it is available to the users quickly soon after its development.
• Since small chunks of changes are released, it gets easier to fix the bugs.
• There is an incremental improvement in quality in a shorter period of time instead of quarterly or yearly improvements. 

What You Need to Practice

• Incorporation of feature flags is an integral part of the process.
• The changes are released as soon as the code is committed, built and tested. So the quality of the new releases will be highly dependent on the testing.

What is CI/CD Pipeline?

Now you know that CI/CD is the strategies to ship well-tested applications frequently to the customers — and making the development process fast and efficient. However, the success of this discipline relies on a reliable CI/CD pipeline.

A CI/CD pipeline is the structure that automates the steps of the application delivery process.  Since the process is automated, it removes the chances of committing any manual error and provides a quick product iteration. From a high-level view, the CI/CD pipeline includes steps such as — code commit, build, automated testing and deployment on staging and production server.  

(An example of CI/CD Pipeline)

1. Commit

The pipeline starts with a common code repository where multiple developers working on the application commits their code several times a day. Some of the popular and widely used code repositories are  GitHub, BitBucket, GitLab, Beanstalk and SourceForge.

2. Build

Now, the changes are built using a built management system. The source code is combined to build a runnable component of the product. 

3. Automate Testing

In this step, automated tests are run to check the codes. Automated testing plays an important role in the entire CI/CD pipeline and the success of delivering bug-free application depends on it. The code goes through varied tests depending on the complexity and needs of the project. We’ll discuss the type of tests in a few moments. Popular tools for automated testing are Telerik Test Studio, Selenium, Robotium, SoapUI and TestDrive.

4. Deploy

 Once the built passes through the automated tests, they’re ready to be deployed. The deployment can be either on the staging server, where the application is reviewed and additionally tested in the mock environment that is similar to the production environment. Or can be directly deployed onto the production server and made available to the users. Jenkins, Atlassian Bamboo, AWS CodeDeploy and CICircle are the majorly used tools.

(Deployment on the production-like staging server)

(Direct deployment on the  production server)

The entire CI/CD pipeline is automated based on the needs of the project and organization. You can either adopt Continuous Delivery where the changes are uploaded on the mock server and then onto the production server or the highest level of automation — Continuous Deployment, where the changes are reflected in the production server automatically once the code is committed and passes the test. 

Types of Automated Testings

Unequivocally, the key to successful continuous integration and continuous deployment/delivery is automated testing. And without it, there can be no successful CI/CD pipeline. These automated testing are divided into different types that serve their own purpose. The following are some of the tests included in automated testing, though it is not necessary to include every test at once.

• Unit Testing – Unit testing is done to test individual classes or functions.
• Integration Testing – Integration tests make sure that the multiple modules of the applications work well with each other.
• System Testing – System testing tests the entire system in an environment that replicates the real production environment.
• UI Testing – UI testing is performed to make sure the application works great as per the user’s perspective.

Wrapping Up

To wrap up, the ability to deliver the application, new features, components and bug fixes — quickly and efficiently is a necessity to stay ahead in the competition. And CI/CD is one such method that you can employ to meet the demands of modern software, web and mobile development. Once you put it in place and practice the right CI/CD principles, it can reap benefits for both your team as well as the end users.

The post What is CI/CD? An Introduction to Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment and CI/CD Pipeline appeared first on Techuz Blog.

Almost six decades later, employing the reach of the internet, modern devices and highly sophisticated software, its purview of possibility is nothing less than unfathomable. Here in this blog, we’ll discuss what exactly is EdTech and what it holds for the education, society and business.

What is EdTech?

Defining EdTech can be elusive because of its vast use case and constant evolution of technology from time to time. However, it’s not the technology but the aim that defines the true essence of EdTech – utilizing technological resources to improve the education system, pedagogy and ultimately enhancing the learners’ performance.

Or as Investopedia defines:

“EdTech refers to software designed to enhance teacher-led learning in classrooms and improve students’ education outcomes. EdTech is in the early stages of development but it shows promise as a method of customizing the curriculum for a student’s ability level by introducing and reinforcing new content at a pace the student can handle. EdTech is a portmanteau of “education” and “technology.”

Let me give you some examples to make things more clear.

Some Good Examples of EdTech

AI and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence has already made its mark to boost efficiency and productivity in different industries. Even education is one of them.

One of the issues that teachers and educators have been facing for years is providing individual attention to the students in a class of many.

Every student in the class has different learning patterns and even a different pace of grasping things. But since we have been following the traditional model of one-size-fits-all education, individual learning is neglected. Here, artificial intelligence and machine learning have solved the problem. AI enables teachers to understand the learning pattern of each student and tailor the learning experience for maximum efficiency.

In one of the articles, Zishaan Hayath, founder and CEO of Toppr explains – “By leveraging evolved multimedia formats, platforms are allowing students to grasp academic concepts better. The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence gives them the ability to adopt a personalized approach that considers individual unique learning patterns to further enhance a student’s learning experience.”

Thus, Artificial Intelligence has made it possible to understand the learning and thinking skills of the students in a better way and provide a customized learning approach rather than imposing a general one.

AR/VR

Remember the days when students used to understand human anatomy or botany diagrams with 2D pictures? I bet many teachers had put their best efforts to explain these by drawing it on the blackboard.

Well, guess what? Learning these complex things is becoming easier with AR and VR, making things better for both students and as well as teachers.

Although AR/VR are are still in its infancy, its applications and impact on different industries including education is momentous. When talking about the EdTech, we generally use the cliched phrase – “EdTech is talking education beyond classrooms and blackboard”. Virtual reality is manifesting the statement in literal terms.

History classes would no longer be limited to just reading the textbooks, instead, with VR, students can immerse themselves and live the history itself. Even medical students can now practice complex surgery with VR stimulators and the same goes with engineering and dangerous onsite tours.

Many firms are working on it,  EON Reality is one of them. Check their website to know how students can explore the tomb of Tutankhamun or simulate ophthalmic training and more.

(Application to train medical students for a thyroid biopsy procedure – EON Reality)

Gamification

Gamification refers to incorporating gaming principles, elements and experience in a non-gaming activity or domain to improve the user engagement and productivity. Researches have shown that gamification has a positive impact on users. And the same can be applied in educational activities that students find boring and stressful.

Gamified visuals along with gaming principles like reward systems, levels, earning experience points and social collaboration can improve the engagement and retention of the students.

There are numerous applications and platforms using the same principle.  For example, a platform named CueMath is helping children learn math concepts, aptitude and reasoning fluidly with gamified visual of the problems.

Another great example of gamification is one our client – GetLitt, a  gamified book reading platform to encourage reading habits among children. Our designers and developers have incorporated the game-like features that motivate the children to read books and makes the learning fun. We have incorporated features such as:

– Rewards on accomplishment – badges and points

– Connect with compeer readers

– Unlocking levels with each achievement

– Quirky characters and adventure stories to pique interests

(GetLitt – Gamified book reading platform)

Cloud Technology

If you are a Rocky series fan just like me, you would obviously relate to the cloud scene from the movie Creed. It shows cloud technology is pretty widespread these days.

We all use it for storing files, streaming music, videos and more.  It has also revolutionized many industries – from bringing down IT costs and providing scalability to companies and startups to changing the way music was consumed and dispensed. It has even changed education.

Cloud provides several perks to learners as wells as educators such as better accessibility, affordable and flexibility.

Talking about flexibility, students are experiencing flexibility in education at a whole new level. Need lecture notes from the desktop in class? It’s available on multiple devices. Need some literature and resources from the college library? No need to visit there, it’s all there on the cloud.

Even for educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities, cloud technology provides easy management of data and saves a large amount of time and money.

Mobile Learning

The mobile shipment has crossed the two billion mark and will continue to grow in the years to come. What else we see growing along with it are the mobile learning platforms.

And it makes sense because employing the device that is ubiquitous and almost always used can serve as a mobile tutor or an archive of resources.

The list of mobile learning apps in app stores is never-ending. From language tutor apps like ELSA that helps you develop your English speaking skills to apps like Socratic assisting kids to solve the assignments.

And then there is another sphere of apps such as Udemy, Coursera, Udacity and more that caters metric tons of certified courses ranging from programming, designing, cooking, photography, literature to philosophy.

Whether it be using AI to analyze the student’s pain points or using the immersive experience to providing a better comprehension of the subject, EdTech holds immense potential for the education.

Why EdTech is important?

EdTech is more than merely changing the education material from books to digital form. In fact, it is enhancing the age-old education system by improving the pedagogy and learning process that ultimately results enhancing the human race.

Making Learning a Lifelong Process

The concept of acquiring knowledge at school and applying it at the workplace seems to be obsolete. The reason being – learning is not something to be left behind after completion of school or college but it is a lifelong process. In fact, in this rapidly changing competitive world, irrespective of age, it becomes imperative to keep on updating your skill sets.

And EdTech is making this concept of continuous learning possible. Whether it be updating knowledge and skills for better employability, casual learning for hobbies and personal interest or even reskilling for a career change Edtech is at the disposal.

A report by KPMG and Google states online education is the primary source of learning between the age group 21 to 50+.

(Online education being used for learning – Reskilling, corporate training, and hobbies. Source – KPMG)

Bringing Down the Cost

The cost of education has massively increased these days. And the cost of textbooks is contributing a major part in it.

According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of textbook rose by 88% between 2006 and 2016, which way more compared to increase in tuition fees and housing cost, i.e. 63% and 50% respectively.

(Consumer Price Index for tuition fees, college textbooks housing at school between 2006 and 2016)

A survey by Cengage, an EdTech firm, revealed that on an average a student in the US spends $1,200 annually on textbooks. The same survey also reported that 43 percent of students have skipped meals and 31 percent registered for fewer classes to save money for the books.

This cost can be brought down with digital course materials. These digital resources not only saves cost on publishing but also allow far-reaching distribution among learners. Moreover, digital resources are easy to update and revise.

EdTech has also enabled students to attend the classroom remotely as many colleges have adopted virtual learning. This further reduces the cost of the commute for the students and even space for the collages.

Technology is playing a major part in bringing down the cost of ever-increasing education. Whether it be the cost of delivering education or cost of building the school or colleges itself.

Democratizing Education

One of the most noteworthy benefits of EdTech is that it is democratizing the education. Ages ago, a good education was something available to royalties or a certain wealthy class of society.

Since then, we have put many efforts to enable access to a high quality of education to everyone. However, still, the wealth and geographical location are breeding the same discrimination. Schools in a remote village have an inferior education compared to that of a well-funded one in a developed city area.

EdTech holds the potential to change this. With EdTech, a high standard of education can be catered everywhere. The schools in underdeveloped regions of Africa can have the same level of educational content as available for the renowned school in developed countries. And even the online platforms and mobile learning apps can provide certified courses from reputed universities.

What EdTech Holds for Start-ups?

Edtech is getting enormous. Enormous not only in terms of influence on education but also in terms of money.

The global EdTech and e-learning market is projected to grow at 5.08 percent CAGR by 2022 making the total worth a whopping $243 billion. Yes, that’s $243 billion, a billion with a ‘b’.

Observing this massive growth even the investors are lured to fund EdTech startups. The global EdTech Investment in 2017 reached skyrocketing $9.5 billion funding 813 EdTech companies. In 2018 EdTech shattered its previous records with $8.24 billion in investment in the first half itself, funding a total of 437 companies.

EdTech companies seem to fit in the shoes of the Uber and Airbnb, to be the next unicorn startups. China-based education startup Yuanfudao is reported to raise a whopping $250 million from Tencent.

Even the Indian EdTech giant BYJU is in talks to raise $200-300 million in funding from General Atlantic and Temasek Holdings.

The reason for this exponential growth? High demand of the EdTech products.

The number of K-12 students in Asia is 600 million. An average family in Asia spends 40 percent of the total income on education-related product and service.

As per the report by KPMG, in India alone, 280 million students are expected to enroll in schools by 2021. This means that there will be high demand for primary and secondary online supplemental education.

But it’s not just the students, even working professionals consists of a large amount of user base. These professionals have surged the demand of reskilling and online certificate category.

There’s an unfathomable pool of opportunity in the market and if there’s a good time to penetrate – it’s now.

Wondering How to Get Started?

If you are an entrepreneur looking to play your part in enhancing the education, it’s obvious that you’ll need a technical partner, a mobile and web development company to develop your state of the art software and resources. And Techuz can help you with all your project needs from design to development, testing, deployment and beyond. Feel free to contact us for any queries.

The post What is EdTech and What it Holds for Education and Startups? appeared first on Techuz Blog.

In fact, a report by indeed.com shows that full stack developer is among the elite job title in terms of salary and growth opportunity. Certainly, being a full stack developer in this overheated development realm is a shiny tag to have.

But what’s the reason behind all this buzz? And if everyone wants to hire a full stack developer, does it mean that the demand for specialized developers is diminishing? We’ll discuss this in detail. But first…

What the Heck is “Full Stack Developer”?

In software and web development, there are front-end developers who develop the client-side application, a few backend developers who built the server-side application and those developers who are capable of working on both sides.

These developers employ their skills at different stages of the project – from developing an app that runs in the user’s browser to building business logic at the server side and can even manage the database. These developers are known as full stack developers.

The term “full stack” refers to a collection of varied stacks, where stacks are the collection of different technologies required to develop a project. Thus, the one who can work on different stacks as per the requirement of the project is called a full stack developer.

The technologies included in the stack can be diverse. It takes into account many factors such as project needs, budget, scale, time, complexity and more. As a full stack developer, one must have sound knowledge of different programming languages, frameworks and databases.

Here are different technologies and skills. A full stack developer is desired to have at least one or two from each.

1. Markup languages – HTML and CSS

2. Programming Language – JavaScript, Java, PHP, Python and Java

3. Frameworks/Libraries –  Angular, React, Vue, Node.js, Laravel and Ruby on Rails

4. Content Management System – WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento and PrestaShop

5. DataBases – MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL

6. Version Controlling Systems – Github and Gitlab

7. Deployment: AWS, Google Cloud and Azure

Why Everyone is Looking for Full Stack Developers?

Whether it be a startup or an established multinational behemoth, developers who can build an application from the scratch and resolve the issues at different stages are worth in gold. The following discusses the same.

Full Stack Developer in Startups

The journey of a startup from bootstrap to an established lucrative brand is not simple. There are enormous struggles that entrepreneurs face climbing uphill. And one of them is lack of fund. This makes it imperative for the owners to utilize the available funds judiciously.

As a result, startups cannot afford to have a developer with single expertise; they prefer someone with varied skills, someone who has the ability to tackle and solve more than one problem, a generalist – a full stack developer.

Specialists might be unparalleled in their single domain but for many startups running short of funds, they might work as just one trick pony.

Even some startups outsourcing the development to control operational expenses look for a web development company that has full stack developers in their team. This ensures that the developers working on the project have a better understanding of the whole project and can address any issue effectively when needed.

In one of the articles by Times of India, Subhendu Panigrahi, co-founder, Venturesity explains that  Full stack developers find more relevance in end-to-end product development startups or companies with smaller teams. “Since they have knowledge and experience in front-end and back-end coding, their insights help enterprise more”, he further says.

Full Stack Developers in Huge Companies

Albeit funds may not be a major issue for the market juggernauts such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, Uber, SpaceX or Apple, they tend to admire and hire the full stack developers.

Travis Addair, a former software engineer at Google explains on Quora:

“Google hires almost exclusively “full stack” engineers.

If your job title is “Software Engineer” at Google, it’s assumed you’ll be capable of writing a MapReduce job that indexes unstructured data into a database, standing up a server that reads and writes to this database and creating a web application that lets you view the results.”

This means that the multinational behemoths not only need specialists for the projects but also developers who can understand and develop the project holistically.

Further, many companies looking for managers and executives rely on internally promoting their employees. They need employees who are capable of managing teams of different departments and here full-stack developers who can comprehend the situations – both front and back end are the best fitting for the new role

These are few of the concrete reasons on why the full stack developers are in such a high demand. But this raises the question of whether the demand of specialist developers is diminishing?

What About Specialists?

It may seem that full stack developers are taking over the web development scene and someday they may take over the specialists too. However, one thing that’s worth mentioning is that although full stack developers are comfortable working on both the ends, they are not the masters of both the domain. In fact, in an industry where every day new frameworks are introduced and technologies are updated, it impossible to master everything.

For this reason still, the specialists are needed to carry on the detailed tasks of the project.

According to the indeed.com, the average annual salary for full stack developers in the United States is $111,644. While that of front-end developers averages fairly at $108,218 and that of backend developers is even higher – $125,029.

(Average yearly salary of Frontend developers in the US)

(Average yearly salary of Backend developers in the US)

The grass is even greener for the developers who are proficient in programming languages like Python, JavaScript and Ruby. On an average, a python developer annually earns $125,984 followed by JavaScript developers at $127,781 and Ruby developers at $129,278.

(Average yearly salary of Python developers in New York)

(Average yearly salary of JavaScript developers in New York)

(Average yearly salary of Ruby developers in New York)

Final Words

The idiom  “Jack of all trade” used for someone who is good at multiple skills resonates very well with the web development industry. A developer with a diversified skill set who can adapt to the project needs is considered more valuable for the project or company. And as we are gradually moving to a software dependent world, full stack developers who can handle the projects holistically will have a significant importance in the web development industry.

Hope you enjoyed reading it. We are Techuz, a web development company with a team of skilled developers. Feel free to contact us to know how our full stack developers can do wonders for your project.

The post What is a Full Stack Developer and why Everyone Wants to Hire one? appeared first on Techuz Blog.

Software Development Model plays a significant role in the success of any project. Selecting the right SDLC model in accordance with the project needs ensures the timely delivery and quality development. On the flipside, an unsystematic and unplanned approach of developing the web application or software may have a miserable end.

Thus, this breeds the need for selecting the best fitting Software Development Methodology in compliance with the product and project needs. And today, we’ll discuss one such Software Development Life Cycle model – Spiral Model.

This SDLC model seems to be confusing for many. But in this blog, we have explained it in the simplest way possible. Even if you are unaware of any technological terms, by the end of this blog you’ll get clear of what is the Spiral Model Software Development Life Cycle and how does it work. This blog will cover the following:

What is Spiral Model?

The spiral model was first introduced by Barry Boehm in 1986 in his paper – A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement as an iterative and risk-driven model of software development.

It is one of the most preferred Software Development Life Cycle models for large and high-risk projects. The entire process of development is divided into four different stages which keep on repeating until the entire project is completed. These stages are Determining objectives, Evaluating risks, Developing the product and Planning the next phase. This entire process is represented in a spiral diagram and thus known as the spiral model.

(Diagram of Spiral Model described by Boehm)

It is also known to be based on evolutionary development as the primary and important features are defined, developed and deployed first and then other necessary features are added with each the spiral or phases of the project.

The spiral model of Software Development is also known for being quite flexible as the process of defining objectives, analysing risks, development and planning are done separately for each phase of the project. It also caters room for enhancements with each iteration of the project. Moreover, it is highly risk-driven as the success of the project depends upon the proper risk analysis. So, it is imperative to have a special risk analysing expertise at each phase.

Understanding Each Quadrant of the Spiral

(Different quadrants of Spiral Model)

As you can see the figure above, the spiral model contains four different quadrant (stages) from which the web development process passes through repeatedly.

#1. Determine objectives, alternatives and risks

#2. Evaluate alternatives and resolve risks

#3. Development and testing

#4. Plan next phase

#1. Determining objectives, alternatives and constraints

(Figure – 1st Quadrant )

This is the initial stage where all the requirements are collected, objectives are defined, constraints are evaluated and different alternative solutions for the development are proposed. This is the first and foremost stage of each repetitive cycle.

#2. Evaluating alternatives, identifying and resolving risks

(Figure – 2nd Quadrant )

At this stage, all the proposed alternative solutions are evaluated and the best is selected for the development. Further, risks that can hinder the success of the projects are identified and strategies are formed to mitigate or entirely remove these roadblocks. Once everything is done, prototypes are built at the end of this stage.

#3. Develop, verify next level project

(Figure – 3rd Quadrant )<

The third quadrant is where the designing, development and testing of the web application happens. All the necessary development, using the selected technology and solutions are performed at this stage and with each iteration, a new and better version of the application is created.

#4. Evaluation and plan for the next phase

(Figure – 4th Quadrant )

This is the last stage of the spiral where the developed project is evaluated and new plans are formulated for the next phase.

What are the Benefits of the Spiral Model?

Flexible

This SDLC model is highly flexible as changes can be incorporated during the later iteration of the development.

Risk Management

With the spiral model, risks are analyzed at each and every phase of the product before moving forward. This helps to overcome or mitigate the possible risk.

Customer Involvement and Feedback

Customers are involved in each phase of the project until the project is completed. Thus, feedbacks can be collected to improve the next version of the project.

Perfect for a large project

The spiral model is considered to be the most preferable software development life cycle model for large and complex projects.

What are the Drawbacks of the Spiral Model?

Expensive

The spiral model can be quite expensive as it requires a high level of expertise for risk analysis. Even the projects take a huge amount of time to develop that can spike the overall expenses.

Quite Complex

The spiral model is comparatively more complex than other SDLC models. There are many phases, each passing through different quadrants that increase the amount and efforts and documentation process.

Time Management

One of the disadvantages of the spiral model is the time management as the number of phases are unknown.

Wrapping up

Why implementing the spiral model to your Web App Development is a good idea?

At the time when the spiral model was introduced the software applications prevailed but with the ever-increasing influence of web technologies, the web applications took over. Now, the applications are catered over the web which is highly functional, flexible and can provide the user with the utmost sophisticated features. These web applications can be as simple as a calculator but could also get advanced and feature-rich like “Google Analytics”. Thus, selecting the Spiral Software Development Lifecycle for your complex web-based application could reap you more benefits.

So, when you must use the spiral model for your web application?

As one of the leading web development company, we have been developing complex web apps for more than half a decade now. We recommend you to use the spiral model for your project if:

– The project requirements are not clear or complex

– For a large and long-term project

– Edits and updates are to be made during the development process

– When the risk is medium to high

The post What is Spiral Model? A Simple Explanation of Spiral Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) appeared first on Techuz Blog.

Employers get high efficiency, specialized knowledge and reduced cost. A survey has even proven that remote hiring boosts the efficiency and caters more productivity to the business. While workers get the convenience and freedom to work from anywhere.  A  win-win trade for all!

However, whether your team is in-house or working remotely, proper communication, collaboration and monitoring of the work are essential. It makes sure your project is going in the right direction and delivered on time. And to do that, there are a variety of collaboration tools available in the market. We have created a list of best remote team management tools that will help you get maximum results.

Collaboration Tools for Business

1. Slack

Slack is one of the most used instant messenger and collaboration tools for business to manage remote projects. It is used to send direct messages, group chats, screen sharing, voice or video calls and even team calls of up to 15 members. Slack also helps you to keep your work tools well organized. Slack directory integrates more than 1500 apps such as google drive, dropbox, SalesForce, Github and more into  Slack.

And the best part is that most of these amazing features are available for free. However, if you wish to augment the experience and need even better features, a standard plan is available for a mere $6.67/month per active user.

2. Skype

Skype is a universally accepted name when it comes to video calling, whether it be personal or professional. It’s simple, quick and convenient. Skype does its primary function very well, i.e. video calling between you can your team. However, there are several other handy features that make Skype one of the best collaboration tool for business. For instance, Skype Interview. It provides in-browser real-time code editing and running that makes it easier for you to evaluate and hire remote web developers.

(Skype Interview with live code execution, in-browser group call and syntax highlighting)

3. Trello

Trello is another one of the most used team collaboration tools that allow you to organize all your tasks at one place. You can create the tasks, projects, to-do lists and more. It also allows you to create different boards and add specific tasks that are shown on each board as a card. One thing that most people admire about Trello is it’s UI that makes everything available at a glance.

Trello can be a replacement for annoying traditional emails. All the members of the team can view their assigned task from the task card and discuss it over there.  At Techuz, we use Trello to handle our team workflow, assigning tasks, manage the development schedule and even for brainstorming the ideas. The basic version doesn’t cost you a penny yet offers you to create unlimited boards, lists, cards, checklists and more. The paid version of Trello starts at just $9.99/month per user.

4. Google Drive

While developing your project, you’ll need to share several documents and files with your remote team. Sending and receiving documents, spreadsheets, presentations, revising it and storing could be a daunting task. Here, Google Drive comes as a saviour. It allows you store the documents and media on the cloud and share it with the team. Google Drive also comes with inbuilt tools that allow you to create Doc files, Spreadsheets and Presentation from your browser itself with real-time editing and sharing. The storage is free up to 15 GB but you can upgrade to 100 GB for just $1.99/month.

5. ProofHub

ProofHub is another renowned project management tool that comes with some good functionalities for effective team management.
The SaaS-based tool solves major project challenges of planning, collaboration, organization and delivery.

ProofHub is packed with all the essential as well as some interestingly sophisticated features that simplify the remote team and project management. The list of features includes group chat, online discussions, proofing tool for collaboration, built-in notes, files and also some third-party integrations that keeps everything organized. The tool comes with two pricing options Essential and Ultimate Control with 14 days of a free trial. The good part is there is no cap on the number of users.

5. Time Doctor

Time is an important factor one must consider while managing the remote team. You need to make sure that the project is delivered on time without any delays as well as you get maximum productivity for each hour you pay. But since the work is outsourced and you are not present on-site, it is difficult to monitor the time they spend on your project. Here, Time Doctor, a time monitoring tool can be quite useful.

Time Doctor accurately tracks the time of the project by recording the time spent on each task. It even takes screenshots at regular interval to let you know what task the team members are working on at that moment. Time Doctor costs $9.99/mo  and comes without any contracts or cancellation fee. You can even try it for free for 14 days before buying it.

6. Jira

Jira is a project management tool from the makers of Trello – Atlassian. While Trello focuses more on collaboration and connecting team members, Jira is an advance tool for project management providing some sophisticated features. Its official website says it is the #1 software development tool used by agile teams. And our experience says, of course it is! Our web developers have been using Jira for various projects. It is a perfect project management tool for web development companies as it allows you to create and distribute tasks among the team members, plan sprints, track the work and provide real-time visual reports. It costs flat $10/month for up to 10 users and additional $7/month per user for 11-100 users.

7. InVision

InVision is one of the best prototyping and wireframing tools. It allows you to create beautiful prototypes for mobile and web applications. But, one thing that makes it highly utilitarian for remote team management is its collaboration feature – InVision Freehand. You can invite your remote team to work on your prototypes and collaborate with the UI/UX designers, developers marketing and content team. It is just like a whiteboard where the team can share the ideas and feedbacks with their comments and sketches about wireframes, design plans and prototypes. The standard subscription plan starts at  $99 per month for a team of five members. However, it is free for a single user.

(Source)

Final Words

Anyone looking to hire a remote team must be overwhelmed with the list of amazing tools available in the market. Most of the tools are free and some of them are available at a nominal price but the return on the investment is worth every penny. Ultimately all these tools will make the remote team management simple and efficient. Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed it, you may also find these tips on hiring the remote web development team useful. And if you are looking for a remote team to work on your project we’ll be more than happy to assist you. Feel free to contact us to hire remote web developers in India.

The post Best Collaboration Tools to Effectively Manage a Remote Team appeared first on Techuz Blog.

If we talk about Vue.JS, the initial release was launched in February 2014 but its stable version was released on March 2018. However, even before it’s first stable release it had already grabbed the attention of developers and got the popularity in the market due to the benefits like flexibility, simple integration methods and two-way communication.

How Much Does a Website Cost? A Detailed Guide for Website and Web App Pricing

List of Top 9 Website Developed using Vue.JS

Let me share my knowledge on some of the industry giants which has considered Vue.JS for their business case and implemented whole website/partial modules of the website using Vue.JS.

#1. 9gag

9gag is a social networking website similar to Facebook with the newsfeed categories like Hot, Trending and Fresh categories. They have used Vue.JS for front-end to make it lightweight and highly responsive. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 164.63M visitors in July 2018.

#2. Behance

Behance is one of the widely used websites by the Graphic designers to showcase their talents across the world. They has used Vue.JS as a front-end programming language. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 49.29M visitors in July 2018.

#3. Nintendo

Nintendo is a gaming console website from where gamers can buy their favorite games. Nintendo has made a choice to use Vue.JS for the front-end. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 37.92M visitors in July 2018.

#4.  Chess

The online gaming website Chess.com has used Vue JS as a part of the front-end development for some of the website modules. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 35.10M visitors in July 2018.

#5. Gitlab

Gitlab is a web-based version controlling repository for the source code which has several membership options. The individual/organization can select one based on their requirement. It is developed using Vue on the front-end. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 22.11M visitors in July 2018.

#6. Wizzair

The airline company Wizzair is using Vue JS for their official website to manage flight, hotel and cab booking. Along with that, the user can check-in, manage the boarding via website and lot more. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 20.28M visitors in July 2018.

#7. Font Awesome

Font Awesome provides icons and social logos for both web and desktop application. They allow to download the basic icons offline as well you can purchase advanced icons. They have used Vue JS on the front-end to make the website faster. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 11.48M visitors in July 2018.

#8. Laravel

The official website of Laravel uses Vue JS on the front-end and even while installing the Laravel, it takes Vue JS as a default front-end language since it’s lightweight and simple to integrate. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 7.91M visitors in July 2018.

#9. Laracasts

Laracasts is a kind of Netflix for those who are looking to learn Laravel. It has multiple courses to learn various modules of Laravel. It’s developed using Vue JS. As per the statistics of SimilarWeb, it has 5.67M visitors in July 2018.

Looking for an Experienced Vue.JS Development Company?

Your search is over here! Techuz is one of the best Vue.JS development company that has proven experience in building feature-rich websites using Vue.JS framework.

The post Top 9 Websites Built using Vue.JS appeared first on Techuz Blog.

That may sound amazing and you would probably want to jump off to develop your own e-commerce website or an online store, right?

But wait there! No matter how great your product is, no matter how high demanding it is among your customers and no matter how dexterous is the web development company you hired, if you neglect the most important part of an online business, i.e. integrating the right payment gateway, you may not get the results you are looking for. It’s just like building a swanky store without an efficient billing counter.

Payment gateways are quintessential for any e-commerce store. While an ideal payment gateway seamlessly processes the payments, accepts all major cards and processes international transactions, it also provides convenience to the customers and reassures the trust while they provide their card details.

In this article, we have listed down the popular payment gateways you should integrate with your e-commerce or online store for smooth transactions.
However, first let’s understand what exactly is payment gateway and how does a payment gateway work?

What is  Payment Gateway and How Does it Work?

In simple terms, a payment gateway is a service that authenticates and processes the money transaction between you and your customer. What happens under the hood is that it exchanges the information between the customer’s bank account to the seller’s web server and the receiver’s bank and validates the payment. Check the following infographic for a clear idea on how the payments gateway work.

Now let’s check the list of best payment gateways.

List of Top 10 Payment Gateways

1. PayPal

Paypal is indeed one of the most popular payment gateways out there. Even if a layman who has no idea about payment gateways, he would have definitely heard about PayPal and probably know what it is used for. It has been facilitating websites with online payment processing since last two decades and has 218 million active customer accounts, with more than 17 million merchant account. That’s a huge number! Another amazing part that augments its awesomeness is the simple pricing structure. No startup fee, no termination fee and no monthly fees. It charges flat on each transaction made online.

Key Features

• Trusted brand
• Flat-rate pricing per transaction
• Different plans available as per the needs

Price

• U.S – 2.9% of the transaction amount + USD 0.30
• International Transaction – 4.4% + fee according to the currency

Suitable for

If you are looking for a reliable name, quick and easy integration and have no developer background, PayPal is a perfect match for you.

2. Amazon Payments

Inviting all big names to the party, but didn’t list down Amazon? That’s ridiculous! The multinational behemoth is one of the most trusted brands in the world and no doubt when they launched their payment gateway in 2007, it received a huge success. Amazon Payment also referred as Amazon pay is packed with some amazing features. Thanks to Amazon Login and Pay by Amazon. Using the Login and Pay with Amazon, merchants can provide personalized service by using the customer’s details such as name and email address. It also provides fraud protection service for free, protecting your business with any kind of fraud transactions.

It is among the payment gateways that are easy to integrate along with offering enough options to integrate custom API at a competitive price. It accepts all major networks but doesn’t handle PayPal, ACH or Bitcoin transactions.

Key Features

• Trusted Brand
• Easy integration
• Low international charges
• Features using Amazon Login and Pay

Price

• US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• International Transaction – 3.9% + $0.30

Suitable for

Amazon Payment is ideal for any online business starting out and looking for a reliable payment gateway.

3. Stripe

Launched in 2010, Stripe is relatively a new payment gateway. However, when it comes to popularity, it overshadows its two-decade-old competitors. Now you must be wondering what makes it so popular? Stripe is way more than just a payment gateway. It was made keeping the developers in mind and to provide superior customization for the e-commerce website. Anyone with a developer background looking to create exceptional experience can make it possible through stripe. It also has the best documentation that you may need to implement stripe in vivid use cases. Stripe also provides some overwhelming products according to your business needs. For instance, Stripe Connect for marketplace platforms and Stripe Billing for a recurring business model. Wondering who all are using this amazing service? Just to name a few- Lyft, Postmates, Doordash, TaskRabbit, Deliveroo, Slack, Kickstarter and Pinterest.

Key Features

• Best developer and marketplace tools
• Vivid and detailed documentation for developers
• Ideal for international transactions
•  Flat-rate pricing

Price

• US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• International – Additional 1% + (1% currency conversion fee, if applicable)

Suitable for

Stripe is recommended for the companies looking to create a customized experience. Usual for the large companies who can employ the developers in the house or hire web development companies for their project. However, if you are a small enterprise looking for a simple payment solution, there are better options on the list.

4. PaySimple

PaySimple is one of those payment gateways that provides rich features such as customer data collection, automating billing and invoice, built-in reporting and more. It is also considered as the best choice for the service industry, However, all these features come at a price. If the price is not a concern and you are looking for a feature-rich payment gateway, then Paysimple is the one for you. However, if you are a small business, just starting out or need a cost-efficient payment gateway, you can go with the others on our list.

Key Features

• Ideal for service industries
• Billing and invoicing automation
• Built-in in reporting to monitor cash flow

Price

• US – Per transaction fee 2.49% + $.09 + Monthly fee depending on your plan (Pro: $49.95 and Enterprise: $99.95)

Suitable for

Suitable for mid-to-large sized businesses where recurring and billing automation is required as well as those who need an online customer database.

5. Square

Another payment gateway that is a combination of cost-effectiveness and features is Square. Formerly known as Squareup, it was known for processing card payments on smartphones. However, in past years it has been providing payment processing software services to help businesses grow. It is a great option if you are looking for a payment gateway for your online as well as offline store. One of the most amazing features of Square is it’s online dashboard that allows you to monitor sales, generates reports and manage inventory that helps you to run your business smoothly. And all this at no extra cost.

Key Features

• Perfect for low-volume business
• Perfect for the online/offline transaction
• Full of tools and features at no extra cost

Price

• US – 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction.

Suitable for

It is an ideal payment-gateway for low-volume merchants looking for online and offline payments.

6. Braintree

Braintree is a Payment gateway by PayPal that offers a high level of customization at an effective price. It is ideal for merchants with developer experience allowing them a high level of customization to their e-commerce site. Another feature that makes it ideal for your business is its low international transaction charges, i.e. 1% currency conversion fee. It also provides special pricing for nonprofit organizations. Though Braintree is not a name that you frequently hear while talking about payment gateway yet it is a huge company with more than one billion transactions per quarter. The developer-first approach, backed by PayPal and flat price rate per transaction makes it one of the best payment gateway today.

Key Features

• Decent developer tools
• A PayPal company
• Low International charges

Price

• US – 2.9% + $0.30 and 2.2% + $0.30 for nonprofit.

Suitable for

It is suitable for companies with available developer resources and for those business processing lots of international transactions.

7. Authorize.net

Authorize.net is the oldest payment gateway provider on our list. Established in 1996, it has the reputation of being most secure and reliable. And this is the one feature that makes it so unique. Authorize.net comes with Advanced Fraud Detection Suite that improves the fraud detection on your site. However, it is also known for being expensive. It charges a monthly fee of $25 for the same and a one-time setup fee of $49. If you are a small business and have low volume transaction, you must consider other options. However, is perfect for mid to large enterprises looking for extra security.

Key Features

• High level of security and fraud protection
• Multi-currency support
• One of the oldest and most trusted payment gateway

Price

• US – 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• Authorize.net have special price for American Express: 2.3% for transaction below $75, 2.79% for transaction between $75 – $,1000 and 3.19% for for transaction above $1,000
• Set up fee- $49/mo
• Monthly fee- $25/mo

Suitable for

Suitable for mid to large sized business looking for extra protection.

8. Adyen

One thing what Adyen can really brag about is its list of prestigious clients. Just name the corporate behemoths and you’ll realize they are already on the list. Uber, NetFlix, LinkedIn, Spotify, Evernote, Crocs and more. Recently even eBay announced its plan to replace PayPal with Adyen as their default payment gateway. This star-studded list of clients is itself the advocate of Adyen’s reputation and service. One of the factors that make Adyen an ideal payment gateway is that it accepts more than 250 payment methods. It is even ideal for international payments as it supports more than 150 currencies.

Key Features

• Trusted by big names
• Perfect for international transaction
• Suitable for mid to large scale business

Price

• Adyen is considered to be the best for international transactions and has a list of different pricing for different places. You can see the whole pricing in here.

Suitable for

Adyen has been providing services to the big players and if you are a mid to large size business or even small business but has to deal with lots of international transactions, unequivocally, Adyen is perfect for you.

9. Bluepay

BluePay was established in 2002 and since then it has been a leading payment processing service provider in the US and Canada with 21 billion transactions annually. Handling such a large number of transactions, Bluepay understands the importance of customer satisfaction and solving their queries. Thus it provides an amazing in-house customer service available 24×7. It also provides a range of features like recurring billing & invoicing, interactive voice response (IVR) and fraud protection. However, it is quite pricey and comes with an early termination fee of $295, though the price is not mentioned online on their website.

Key Features

• Excellent customer support
• Developer tools
• Full of rich features

Price

• Fixed 15/month + transaction fee depending on the plan you purchased.

Suitable for

Business looking for a feature-rich and secure payment gateway. However, if the price is a concern, there are better options on the list.

10. WePay

WePay is another excellent payment gateway allowing seamless and secure online payment processing. Established in 2008 as an alternative to PayPal, it has been recognised as the best payment gateway for crowdfunding and is used by crowdfunding giants like GoFundme and Fundly. Not only crowdfunding but it is also proven to be effective for different business and fulfilling their needs. Even the charges are pretty standard and similar to it competitors.

Key Features

• Quality marketplace tools
• Good developer tools
• Allows you to customize the e-commerce experience

Price

• US – 2.9% of the transaction amount + USD 0.30

Suitable for

It provides a perfect suiting API for crowdfunding platforms, though it is ideal for other business too.

Wrap Up

Now you know the top 10 payment gateways that you can integrate with your e-commerce platform. Some of them are quick and easy to integrate while some of them may need some developer experience providing you with a customized experience. However, the lack of developer experience should not stop you from getting your own e-commerce store. There are many web development companies that would love to do it for you! This is the time when the tools and services have made web development and online business easier than ever. So why not take the advantage and built your e-commerce empire? Thanks for reading!

The post Top 10 Payment Gateways you Should Integrate to Your Web Application appeared first on Techuz Blog.

Similarly, healthcare is one of the industries that has been revamped by mobile app development. Initially, healthcare mobile apps were used for interaction between doctors and patients, record management, billing, etc. But in 2018, revolutionary technologies such as artificial intelligence, AR/VR and blockchain are taking the healthcare app development scene to a whole new level.

So, what are the healthcare app development trends in 2018 and how these trends are transforming the industry?

Here you go.

#1. Artificial Intelligence is Making the Process Smarter

When Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled Google Duplex at Google I/O 2018, jaws were dropped and eyes were raised. Now, the personal assistant in your pocket can book an appointment at the saloon or even reserve a table at the restaurant. And the fascinating part is that the bot can understand and stimulate utterly natural conversation just like a human. Well, this is just a personal assistant and application of AI in healthcare has unfathomable potential and possibilities that can make our life easier.

Since Google’s machine learning API TensorFlow and Nervana System’s deep learning have been open sourced in 2015, AI in HealthCare has been widely used compared to other sectors, says a report by CB Insights. These advance machine learning algorithms and AI used in healthcare apps are helping to diagnose diseases, monitor and analyze health, manage records, predict risks and much more. This has ultimately made the process smarter, reliable and easier for the doctors as well as the patients.

#2. Privacy and Security with Blockchain

In 2018, Blockchain became a household name. It made several headlines, made its way in the LinkedIn bios, everyone is talking about it and is considered to be a new paradigm that will change the world.

We have already witnessed its success in finance and technology, but its use-case is not just confined to it. We can observe various industries adopting this technology and healthcare is one of it. The fact that your data in blockchain is immutable and tamperproof makes it ideal for storing and securing the medical data.

Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger, not a centralized one. So, any changes occurring in the data is to be authenticated by each party in the network. This means the data altered by one has to be validated by all the parties. This makes it tamperproof. Not only that, but it also allows maintaining confidentiality by controlling access to the parts of the distributed data. It means you can control who can see what part of the data. Thus, it protects the privacy of the patient’s data.

#3. Wearable Devices for Better Tracking and Analysis

The use of wearable devices has upsurged in last few years. A report by Statista has forecasted the revenue from the sale of wearable device amounted around 26.43 billion US dollars in 2018 which is expected to grow by $73.27 billion US dollars in 2022. This shows people are using these devices more than ever. These wearable devices are equipped with smart sensors that help the users to track their activities, exercise, blood pressure, heartbeat, etc. It not only helps the users to stay healthy but even the doctors can collect and analyse the data of the body functions for better treatment.

Related: Mobile App Development Trends in 2018

#4. Telemedicine App for Remote Expertise

Though the concept of Telemedicine is not new, the advancements in communication technology have indeed made it easier. Now, patients can get medical expertise 24/7, remotely from anywhere via telemedicine app installed on the phone. This has made it convenient for the patients to get medical prescription and check-ups without seeing the doctor in person. According to a report by Statista number of patients using telehealth is constantly increasing. The total number of telehealth patients worldwide in 2013 was 0.35 million which is forecasted to grow by 7 million in 2018. While another report says that the telemedicine market is expected to grow over 40 million dollars by 2021. The number depicts the popularity of telemedicine and it will continue to offer the treatment for the chronic condition of the patient regardless of time and location.

(Source – Statista)

#5. Enhanced  Learning and Treatment with AR/VR

AR/VR is the new trend in gaming, web and mobile app development. These technologies are considered to elevate the user experience to a whole new level. But the blending the digital content into human’s physical life is not just confined to provide a pleasurable user experience. Leveraging AR/VR in the healthcare industry can provide some extraordinary benefits to the healthcare providers as well as the patients. For instance, training and learning experience for doctors can be enhanced with AR/VR. A huge portion of our brain is dedicated to spatial memories that make the information easier to understand. Thus, AR/VR can help doctors and trainees to come out of the textbooks and understand the complex human anatomy in an engaging and interactive way.

But that’s not all.

And AR/VR in healthcare can even improve treatment quality. Healthcare industry is constantly working to reduce the pain and surgical incisions to the patient’s body during the surgery and improve the quality of treatment. Currently, surgeries are performed by using endoscopic cameras and the visuals are displayed on a monitor. So, the surgeons have to multitask by keeping an eye on the screen while performing the surgery. But the process can be made more focused on AR/VR glasses, keeping the visuals in front of the surgeons, reducing any mistakes and providing better treatment.

(Source – ScienceNature Facebook Page)

Wrap up

There is no doubt that the new technology in healthcare mobile apps will change the industry. Knowing these trends can help you to incorporate the latest technology into your app to serve better. However, just knowing these trend is not enough as you must be well versed and have in-depth knowledge of these technologies. As a top mobile app development company in India Techuz has been serving its clients with highly sophisticated mobile solutions. So if you are looking to develop a feature-rich and high-end healthcare mobile app, do not hesitate to contact us. Innovation in Open source technology helped the develope advanced software. Here, you can review Top Custom Software Development Company which uses the open-source technology for development.

The post Healthcare App Development Trends that will Revamp the Industry in 2018 appeared first on Techuz Blog.