THE TREND
DATA STREAMINGStop thinking about Netflix. We’re talking about
data streaming which... okay, Netflix is, but in a
limited way. Data streaming is becoming – and
is about to become even more – important,
with data gathering in businesses a core part
of the DX strategy. But streamed data isn’t
easy. There’s bounded data, which exists in
totality and should only be computed once it
has all been gathered, and unbounded data,
which continues to collect in a theoretically
endless stream. Those two entities need
to be managed alongside each other, as well
as balancing computational capacity in a
sensible manner.THE SOFTWARE
APACHE FLINKFlink is difficult to describe, either as
an application, or as a runtime or as an
architecture. But its massive computational
brain will take multiple data streams
and organise them into workable data
snapshots – easier said than done, hence
the complexity. Its functionality is also
critical for automation of event-driven
applications, where activity is triggered by a
certain data state. The Apache Foundation’s
Spark should also get an honourable
mention in large-scale data processing.THE TREND
NO CODE / LOW CODE
It’s an appealing prospect, but no code /
low code (NCLC) is big business, particularly
when it comes to the swathes of middle-
ranking companies who can’t invest in
expensive integrations that require teams
of engineers writing bespoke code. The
theory is simple: NCLC is less customisable
than custom development, but it can be
tuned by the relative layman to produce
comparable results to the more costly
solutions available to those with deeper
pockets and more complicated needs.
Perversely for something that manages to
work almost magically, it’s also prized for
its lack of smoke-and-mirrors coding which
appeals to technologically naive managers.
THE SOFTWARE
BUBBLE
When it comes to NCLC, Bubble has it
locked. An intuitive drag-and-drop interface,
twinned with basic logic patterns makes
producing HTML more like a computer game
than a development task. For the doubters,
Bubble has a tool on its website allowing
the casual browser to edit the company’s
own homepage. There’s a huge amount of
customisation available and Bubble will also
host and deploy, eliminating the need for
further partners.
AI & DATA ANALYTICS
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