June 2019

Java has been in the Android App market for years and is one of the most reputed platforms. But as time has passed by it has been difficult for Java to sustain its position in the market – it is used by millions of app developers and is one of the most used platforms after C and C++. But in 2017, Kotlin was announced as an official language for Android application development. Let’s understand more about these programs.        

What is Java?
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Java is a programming language that has vast open-source tools and libraries to help developers. It is used by most large enterprises because of its flexibility and interoperability – and also because of it its simplicity, robustness and influential approach. Two of the major reasons why Android mobile apps are still being written in Java are because of its architectural OOP paradigm and the massiveness of the code.
Did you know?
Google’s Android operating system uses Java API packages.

​What is Kotlin?
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A general purpose language, Kotlin is a statically typed programming language for Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and JavaScript. The goal of discovering this program was to increase its productivity and the coding experience in a way that’s practical and effective. 

The advantages of using Kotlin, includes the following:

• Enables mixed-language projects
• Improved syntax
• Concise expressions and abstractions
• Reduces excessive boilerplate code

Java vs Kotlin
Java is a widely used programming language but it has its own drawbacks and hence, there is need for a more advanced program like Kotlin. Let’s take a look at how Kotlin can solve these issues:

​Write Less Code
Java requires you to write a lengthy code which means that there is a greater chance of a bug or error to occur, whereas, Kotlin is simple and uses developer friendly coding structures and rules that are not complicated to understand.
Let’s take a look at an example of the “Hello World” program in Java and Kotlin, respectively.

The code in Kotlin makes it easier for developers and helps them save time and cost.

Optimizing the Android Code  
Technically speaking Java was discovered much before Android apps were discovered. On the other hand, Kotlin was discovered so that Android app development goes smoother, faster and is more effective.

Interoperability
A developer can write codes in Kotlin which works flawlessly with the existing Java code. The core purpose of Kotlin is interoperability – by emitting the Bytecode, it allows two languages to work together in the same project.

Checked Exception Feature    
When the complier forces the caller of a function to re-throw an exception or catch one it is known as checked exceptions. This feature is not compatible with Java and cause empty checked blocks. The developers then need to weed out these empty checked boxes from the code to identify a non-existent exception. On the other hand, Kotlin removes these empty checked boxes entirely. It minimizes wordiness and improves the type-safety.

Pros and Cons of Kotlin

Pros:

• Fewer lines of code
• Easier to read and modify code which results in reduced project timelines
• Less surface area for bugs to hide and hence, locating bugs is easier for developers
• Less system failures and crashes
• Easy to learn – can easily switch from Java to Kotlin

Cons:

• Small and new community – hence, limited learning resources
• Kotlin developers are more difficult to find than Java
• Compilation might get slower compared to Java

Pros and Cons of Java

Pros:

• Can run it in a browser or virtual machine, easier to execute
• Modern tools help assemble large projects precisely
• Wide community support
• Flexibility to switch from Java to Kotlin

Cons:

• Longer code
• Takes longer to locate bugs and empty checked boxes

 
Final Thoughts
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We can’t really compare both the languages because they both have an influence on each other. Quite a few Android developers have switched to Kotlin to enjoy the benefits it offers, but there are many Java developers who still prefer to code in a language that they are trained in. The main motive of Kotlin was to be able to become a multi-platform program to give it an innovative outlook.
Kotlin 1.3 has been released with improvements such as mobile scalability – it supports invaluable benefit of code reuse, saving both, time and effort, for more challenging tasks. More and more enterprises are switching to Kotlin, some of which are Pinterest, Twitter, Netflix, Uber, AirBnB, etc.
Kotlin is in all, a more stable and appropriate development option for an Android. It is lightweight and is far less verbose. Some developers believe that Kotlin will take over Java in Android app development, whereas a few believe that they will co-exist without weighing each other out.

If you are considering to take that big step and train your developers on Kotlin or if you are simply considering if the switch from Java to Kotlin is a wise option, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers or App Development team on: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

The beauty of the digital age is making the world smaller and making everything available with just a few clicks of the button. Big or small tasks are being completed with the use of Apps or websites. It is believed on an average, people spend at least 4 hours on their phone, daily.
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Source: https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/are-you-on-your-phone-too-much-average-person-spends-this-many-hours-on-it-every-day.html

An app makes it easier for companies to connect with and drum up additional interaction and business from customers. Most businesses have developed or are in the process of developing user friendly apps to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Consumers today are more demanding due to the digitally changing nature of the market and for any business to survive, they need to address these demands.
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What are Push Notifications?
A small message, which is sent to a user, when they are not on the application is a push notification. This notification can be sent anytime and anywhere as long as the user has given the app permission to send the same.
After an app is initially downloaded, a user will receive a number of prompt messages to accept and give permission. These permissions vary as they depend on the app and its purpose and most businesses implement user-centric notifications to ensure the customer journey is strategically customized.

​Why are User-Centric Push Notifications Important?
Competition is getting more and more aggressive in the mobile world and companies can no longer be complacent about the number of app users they have. Now it is important to integrate and become a part of the user’s daily routine.
User-centric push notifications are the foundation of any great marketing strategy. They are a great way for brands to successfully reach out to its users and create meaningful interactions which increase user engagement and retention. It helps a brand rise above the din and build a strategic and personalized relationship with the user. 

 

• User Segments

Not every notification being sent is relevant to every user. Segmenting the audience gives the company the chance to ensure the information being received is valuable to the user.The users can get segregated into separate segments based on:

• Behavioural patterns.
• Locations
• Interests
• Level of user involvement

This makes things easier for the company and developer while organizing notification campaigns. Thus, making it possible to convey the right message to the right target audience and making the campaign more successful.
Source: https://www.mobiroller.com/en/blog/the-benefits-of-push-notifications-in-business-apps/
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• Test Rigorously

The best way to make something better is to keep testing it. This is critical to ensure the message being sent to the customers is effective as a small change can make a huge difference in the strategy. However in order to test and benefit from the results, the testing messaging needs to be done with speed and determination.
The A/B test method has proved effective where two versions of one message is sent to a small sample segment of users and the message which generates more traffic and revenue would be the strategy to follow. Simply offering a discount or announcing a sale isn’t always enough and it’s not necessary that the users would act as predicted. Hence testing everything before sending it out to users is also important.
The A/B test is a crucial part of the user-centric push notification strategy and it is important to develop ideas on what kind of content would be needed to improve on the notifications to increase user involvement. 

Winding Up
Everyday, users get useless notifications from multiple apps to a point where it can get annoying, which leads people to delete the app. Hence it is important to design notifications which are useful and relevant to the users as they are tools which can be used to communicate directly with the users and promote engagement.
Source: http://babich.biz/how-to-create-mobile-notifications-that-users-actually-want/
Mobile is all about making every message count and user-centric push notifications can add real value to the users’ lives and are imperative to improving the brands outreach and revenue. A misguidedly developed push notification strategy may cause the app more harm than good giving way for competition to monopolize the market.
If you would like to discuss creating a user-centric push notification strategy for your company, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app Development team on: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

How Does DevOps Work?
In a DevOps model, the development and operations teams are no longer separate or “siloed”. These teams merge and form a single team where the developers are involved right from inception to testing and deployment.
In some instances, quality assurance and security teams are also integrated with development and operations where by archaic manual processes get automated and fast. The technology and tools used help companies evolve applications in a quicker and more reliable manner. All in all DevOps helps to increase a team’s velocity in launching as well as modifying products.
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How Should You Implement DevOps?

Understanding the business value of DevOps has been simple, but developers are now focusing on how best to implement it. This is said to be slightly more complicated as the number and types of problem domains differ greatly from one problem domain to the next. The types of processes and tools that developers and operations professionals can apply differ a great deal as well.
Source: https://techbeacon.com/devops/7-steps-choosing-right-devops-tools
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In today’s volatile market, DevOps practices are more important than ever, in part because of the growth of the Internet of Things, leading to an increase in pressure to deliver apps faster. It is the age of rapid releases and cultivating a DevOps strategy is in the best interest of businesses.
In Canada alone, people spend about $2500 a year on apps. The demand for mobile app development has grown more than five times and organizations need to evolve in order to have the capacity to deliver them.
Source: https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/11/28/canada-annual-mobile-app-spend-2018-study/

The DevOps teams need to be developed over time, much like agile practices are integrated into the company teams. A successfully integrated team has a common desire to improve, integrate and develop operations, processes and systems.

DevOps Best Practices

DevOps is gaining attention and businesses worldwide are adopting and implementing this ideology for successful ventures. In order to consider this, a company would need to keep in mind that the core to a successful integration is having automated testing and deployment, while still maintain continuous feedback for improvement. 

Let us look at the following 7 step guide for successful implementation of DevOps:

1. Understand Your Infrastructure and Start Small: Trying to make drastic changes in the organization at once would be a recipe for disaster. A company has its own culture and it cannot be changed overnight. Hence experts have recommended to cautiously start with a small project or team that would benefit from the DevOps practices.
This will help the company analyse the benefits and lay the foundation for the future DevOps efforts. The company can also evaluate what is causing problems in their development or deployment processes and based on this can recommend necessary solutions.
An early win can also help build team confidence and set an example for others to follow. The project allows management to ensure it processes adopted are meaningful and beneficial to the business.

2. Focus on Culture and Invest in Tools: As mentioned earlier, DevOps is about a cultural change and simply investing in automation will not give sufficient benefits or desired results. The trust and collaboration built between development and operations teams are the tools needed to achieve the goal.
Technology alone cannot solve problems. Tools are imperative for DevOps to be successful but they will not do any good alone unless there is a tremendous cultural change. Business objectives, communication and, above all, trust need to be emphasized before investing in technical solutions.
In order to encourage communication, a company must have necessary tools to allow everyone to see in real time how the project is progressing. The tools being used by teams must also be able to deploy and integrate together as together they are supportive and helpful in making DevOps a success.

3. Deploy Automation Technology: The level of automation chosen largely determines the nature of the development environment as well as production needs. The right tooling can go a long way in ensuring the latest codes are production ready and deployable.
Source: https://www.comakeit.com/blog/practical-implementation-of-devops-step-by-step/

In DevOps, any technology that helps automate processes is always helpful. Automation tools not only simplify the process of configuring, monitoring and maintaining infrastructure, they also help deploy applications faster. This also helps reduce the problems at the deployment stage. It is important to know that automation is a large part of the practice but not the entire point of this process. 

4. Speed of Deployment: Usually development teams which deliver at the fastest cycle time are said to enjoy the highest business satisfaction. These teams also deliver the highest quality of software. Increasing the speed of deployment is one of the key goals in DevOps and in order to achieve this goal, companies often deploy technology which provides speed.
Along with this technology, agile development techniques also need to be implemented for organizations to keep in mind that these techniques are merely a means to achieve the final goals like faster deployment and better support of the business processes overall.

5. Increase Feedback from Operations: Only giving attention to the development side of DevOps is not sufficient. In order to optimize the benefits and increase efficiency the company needs to increase communication and collaboration within operations as well as with operations and the rest of the organization.
This helps development team to elevate delivery pipeline with amplified feedback as opposed to automated delivery and sub-optimization.

6. Establishing KPIs to Monitor Success:A clear framework needs to be outlined before taking on DevOps practices which show its true value for the organization. For any business to know if the transition or changes they have adopted are successful or beneficial, they need to keep an eye of key performance indicators.
Similarly to know if DevOps has a positive impact, a company simply needs to monitor the company KPIs. True value of these practices would be better leverage and agility of the technology to support business operations and hence the strategies need to have a quantifiable impact on the business KPIs.

​7. Change the Business Process to Match the Development Pace:  When changes are made in any part of the organization, other parts will also get affected. It is important to keep in mind the bigger picture to ensure the business process are aligned with the new pace being set by DevOps.
For example, the marketing company would need to step up and focus on the higher number of product launches and quicker turnaround times. Without adopting new processes, the internal teams would not be able to keep up with these more frequent launches. Collaborating with other departments is imperative to ensure the principles behind the DevOps philosophy are beneficial for the company.
Source: https://www.datamation.com/applications/9-best-practices-for-devops-1.html

To Sum Up
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Software and the internet have changed the world we live in. Everything from industries to shopping to banking to entertainment. Companies are constantly interacting with their customers via apps on all sorts of devices and businesses need to make optimum use of this technology to deliver the best experience to their customers.
Despite a lack of a standard definition, it is safe to say that DevOps is a journey and not a destination. While most organizations are moving towards implementing these practices, they need to keep in mind it is a long term process with constant experimentation with new tools and processes.
If you would like to discuss DevOps tools and how they can benefit your organization, you can contact our App Scoop development team on: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html.