From a rise in no code tools to hackers being integrated into the development process, experts are predicting some interesting shifts in software development next year
Software development remains a cornerstone of the global digital economy, being vital for many businesses and services.
In August, a Remote survey found that software developers are viewed as the most important tech jobs of the future, followed by software engineers.
There has also been a focus on open-source software security this year, as major tech companies came together in January to discuss ways to make this software space more secure. This followed cybersecurity threats with global implications, such as the Log4Shell flaw that emerged last year.
Various experts have shared their predictions on some of the key developments the software development sector will see in 2023.
More transparency through SBOMs
As software becomes more interconnected, there is an importance for device manufacturers to focus on their supply chains.
Claroty CEO Yaniv Vardi predicts that these manufacturers will provide deeper levels of “transparency and security across the supply chain” through Software Bills of Materials (SBOM). Vardi said this will lead to manufacturers taking “more ownership in protecting their product lines as a result”.
SBOM is a nested inventory or a list of ingredients that make up software components, according to the US cybersecurity & infrastructure security agency. This agency also describes SBOM as “a key building block in software security and software supply chain risk management”.
Hackers will become part of software development
While hackers can be associated with cyberattacks, many of them also have a “broad, practical skillset” that can make them useful for parts of software development.
That’s according to Alice Rice, the co-founder and CTO of HackerOne that connects businesses with penetration testers and cybersecurity researchers.
Rice believes that both hackers and external code reviewers will become a “more integrated part of the software development processes” in 2023, as more organisations adopt security reviews into their development process.
“As the value of DevSecOps (development, security, and operations) increases, we’ll see the line between hackers and developers blurring as hackers with development expertise become a core element of the software development processes,” Rice said. “There’s a lot of value hackers can bring when it comes to catching security risks earlier rather than later.”
Increased investment in low code/no code
The rise of low code and no code tools has been hailed by some experts as a way businesses can combat difficult issues. For example, ManageEngine’s Rajesh Ganesan said these tools can help tech teams react to talent shortages, shadow IT and technical debt.
Iddo Gino, CEO of API hub Rapid, believes the world is stepping into a “gray zone of API implementation which is far from being great”, due to the rise of APIs as products.
“Companies will start to invest more and more in the form of no code, low code tools that will allow developers to integrate faster with those APIs,” Gino said.
There is a growing interest in the no code market. Earlier this year, Irish start-up Noloco raised $1.4m in seed funding for its platform, which lets companies build internal tools, portals and apps without writing a line of code.
In April, Former IBM researcher Dr Michelle Zhou made the case for a no-code future and discussed how it can help narrow the “AI divide”.
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