The job market is HOT and scanning the crowd for experienced, proficient developers and it is not too late for you to join in. With numerous programming languages floating around it can be hard to decipher which ones are best suited for beginners looking to dip their feet into the pool of coding.

Below is a list of some of the easiest languages gathered through extensive research along with their pros and cons to help you decide which is the right one for you to begin your coding journey with.

1. JavaScript

Not to be confused with Java, this is majorly a front-end development scripting language. Java is a programming language. This language is especially popular with beginners since it has a wide applicability and is dynamically-typed. More than that, it sets you up for learning more complicated languages like C++ in the future.

Used for: Web Development

Used by: Accenture, Google, Warby Parker, Canon and Fitbit

Pros

• Cross-platform compatible
• No compiler
• Gateway to other languages (e.g C, C++)

Cons

• Not a class-based object-oriented language
• Dynamically-typed (untyped)
• Difficult to debug

2. Python

This is a great example of an easy programming language for beginners. Python supports object-oriented, procedural and functional programming. There is huge chunk of the community dedicated to teaching it, making it easily accessible for anyone.

Used for: Web and Desktop Application development

Used by: YouTube, Dropbox, Yahoo, NASA and Mozilla

Pros

• Can be used for both Desktop and Web apps
• Open-source
• Easy to read

Cons

• Requires one to maintain a set naming convention
• Weak in mobile computing
• Has design restrictions- since it is dynamically typed, it requires more testing and has errors that only show up at runtime

3. Ruby on Rails

While Ruby on Rails refers to a framework, Ruby is the programming language that is used under this belt. This is easy to read and a recommended for anyone with sans-programming experience. Ruby is essentially a collection of shortcuts, but is perfect for beginners as many Startups are hiring RoR developers, so even with entry-level experience one can land a position.

Used for: Web App development

Used by: Airbnb, SoundCloud, Groupon, Bloomberg and Hulu

Pros

• Heavily used
• High demand in the job market
• Development takes less time

Cons

• Not as fast as apps written on Java or C languages
• Difficult for scaling
• Consumes more system resources

4. Java

This is one of the oldest programming languages remaining. It is immensely popular and flexible in terms of developing cross-platform. Widely used, Java is object-oriented and a class based language. It is however, slightly more challenging in comparison to beginner level languages. It derives its language from C and C++ which is why many courses start with these languages before moving to Java.

Used for: Web and App development

Used by: Intel, Uber, Spotify, eBay and Yelp

Pros

• Widely used and accepted
• Has numerous resources
• One of oldest programming languages

Cons

• Gets syntax from C/C++ so it could be better to learn those first
• Requires very analytical thinking
• Bigger projects can be hard to compile and build

5. C and C++

These are the best introductory languages to recommend to anyone. They form the basis for languages like Java or other more complicate ones. Learning C and C++ can perfectly position you to get going in the future. Learning and grasping the fundamentals from these languages can be invaluable. It can be challenging for first-timers but if you’re able to overcome this speedbump, the rewards are bountiful.

Used for: Application development

Used by: Google- Android OS Chrome server, Microsoft- Windows, Visual Studio, Facebook- Apache Hive, Apple- OS and largely universities.

Pros

• Gives you an exceptional computer science background
• Great for software and game development
• Good choice for low-level programming

Cons

• Time-consuming for development and maintenance
• Takes several years to master
• More lucrative but has fewer job openings

Here are some online resources to help you get started!

CodeAcademy

Udacity

Coursera

Every programming language has its pros and cons but it is up to you to decipher which one works best for you. These are also some of the most in-demand languages in the market today, so roll your sleeves up and get coding!

Why Use Angular JS?

AngularJS is a structural framework for dynamic web apps. It lets you use HTML as your template language and lets you extend HTML’s syntax to express your application’s components clearly and succinctly. AngularJS’s data binding and dependency injection eliminate much of the code you would otherwise have to write.

The main Angular advantages over its closest rival, KnockoutJS is that there is no need to use observable functions; Angular analyses the page DOM and builds the bindings based on the Angular-specific element attributes. That requires less writing, the code is cleaner, easier to understand and less error prone.

Seeing the growing popularity of Angular JS, we give you 7 reasons why you should also be using Angular JS.

1. Super User Experience

Apart from the main technical reasons stated above, Angularjs is awesome in making the app more visually appealing for the audience. Visualforce pages are created to make the UI terrific and accomplish the objective of making the application aesthetically more appealing. To make the task simple, prebuilt libraries, components and modules are present in the framework that speeds the development time and alongside gives the app a visual bonus as well.

2. Full UI Support

To describe an application’s UI, Angular takes into use HTML which is a declarative programming language. HTML creates a less complicated and more intuitive user interface that is solid unlike other interfaces written in JavaScript. Also, HTML allows you to declare which controllers should be employed for specific UI element so that you can focus more on the look and feel of your app’s UI. Just mention what you want and Angular will take the dependencies in control.

3. Simple Testing

There are certain parts of the application present in Angularjs modules that can be easily be manipulated. With the help of module separation, you are comforted by loading only necessary services and thus smoothly conduct automatic testing. Further, if you stick to ‘one file, one module’ pattern, you don’t have to worry about keeping module loading order to memory. For expert support in building scalable applications, partnering with an angularjs development company Softteco can streamline your development process.

4. Improved Flexibility

Just like directives, filters are standalone functions that distill the data before it reaches the view. These differ from your app and deal in activities like implementing pagination, formatting decimal places on a number and reversing a text string. The filters can be utilized in controllers, services, templates and even directives. These enhance flexibility tremendously and are so resourceful that you can tackle a HTML table without any JavaScript.

5. Backed By Google

As Angularjs has a strong backing of Google, the developers are relieved to be working with a solid code base that will offer complete support to the project. Being an exception to the other common JavaScript application frameworks, which are created by independent hobbyists, Angular is the result of brilliant work by genius Google engineers Adam Abrons and Misko Hevery. This is one of the major reasons why developers use Angular over other JavaScript frameworks like Ember.JS and Knockout.JS.

6. Less Coding

Coders need to spend less time in coding process as AngularJS requires less coding. Without a doubt it is a great deal for developers.

A glance where it asks for fewer codes:

• AngularJS developers community do not require to write their own pipeline

• Its data model is simple and you do not need any getter/setter functions

• Its data-binding feature grants developers to stop giving data manually into the view

• AngularJS is defined using HTML for view to make it more specific

• As directives are separate from app code, other teams can write it without any integration issue.

• Filters allow developer to manipulate the data on the view level without changing any of your controllers

• AngularJS has a built-in dependency injection subsystem useful for developers for creating applications in an easier style including testing process as well.

7. AngularJS Handles Dependencies

Dependency injection is something Angular does quite well. I’ll admit I was skeptical we even needed something like that on the client, but I was used to the key scenario being the dynamic loading of modules. Oh, wait – what did you say? That’s right, with libraries like RequireJS you can dynamically load JavaScript if and when you need it. Where dependency injection really shines, however, is two scenarios: testing and Single Page Applications.

For testing, Angular allows you to divide your app into logical modules that can have dependencies on each other but are initialized separately. This lets you take a very tactical approach to your tests by bringing in only the modules you are interested in. Then, because dependencies are injected, you can take an existing service like Angular’s $HTTP service and swap it out with the $httpBackend mock for testing. This enables true unit testing that doesn’t rely on services to be stood up or browser UI to render, while also embracing the ability to create end-to-end tests as well.

The Chat Bot Revolution

Significant developments in AI and the rapid proliferation of messaging applications have led to the growth of chatbots. We will surely come across a multitude of tasks that are performed and executed through messaging apps and software. It is no wonder that Juniper’s new research finds that chatbots will lead to a cost savings of $20 million in 2017 which will multiply to a whopping $8 billion by 2022.

It’s here that we come to the crucial point. Does the widespread popularity or increased usage of these bots point at a specific opportunity? Does it actually talk about a trend that’s going to rule the tech arena in future? Finding answers to these crucial questions is what we plan to do with this blog!

The recent developments in the world of chat bots

Chat bots have come a long way from just being communication aids to integrated messaging software. Companies are taking a keen interest in providing services and solutions around this technology. Cases in point –

1. Microsoft’s own bot framework to allow development of chatbots
2. Facebook acquires Wit.ai
3. IBM acquires Cognea

App usage recession

There’s no denying the utility of apps even till this day! Dynamic, highly functional, and innovative applications have completely transformed the way people work and do business. However, things began to change from 2015. Apps weren’t the ‘hot’ property anymore as the app market was struck by severe recessive forces.

If we refer to what Google has to say about this, we will find that an average user has nearly 36 applications on his smartphone. However, 80% of those apps aren’t used regularly. That explains the situation quite clearly. If you want your app to get noticed and used on a daily basis, it has to be relevant and rank amongst those few apps which find applications in day-to-day functioning. While social media apps are the most popular ones, it is the gaming applications that follow suit.

The emergence of Chatbots

What we need to find out is how chat bots are different from apps? Are they reincarnations of an application or distinctive entities? Let’s take a look!

Businesses today share one point of similarity. Each of them strives hard to ensure 100% satisfaction for consumers. Whether it’s a small-scale business or a huge venture, customer service and support are critical to its growth and development. It is here that chat bots enter into the scene. Every consumer or buyer will wish to gain personalized experiences while associating with a brand and chat bots can make it happen for them.

What’s the future for chatbots?

We can’t depend or rely on technologies entirely when it comes to ensuring 100% customer satisfaction and support. Human intervention is always necessary. However, chat bots ensure logical, transparent, and clear communications. You will have them right within your applications, and no matter what you speak will get recorded. So, there’s no chance of ambiguities or confusions.

As far as the current market trends suggest, chat bots are heading towards a bright future. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and wait for the final results!

Integrating CRM & BI

Gartner expects that CRM software revenues will touch $37 billion this year. Imagine the massive volume of customer information available to businesses worldwide. This gigantic explosion of customer data has the potential to put you firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to building brand reputation, personalizing your marketing campaigns to the tastes and preferences of your customer, and reducing customer churn.

However this won’t happen on its own. You will need the insight generation prowess of BI to be plugged in to your CRM solution. Together, BI and CRM analytics can support your organization to find correlations, which would allow you to determine patterns and trends in customer data.

How CRM and BI are driving modern marketing?

• Pricing Consideration

Big data helps you to do away with outdated practices. Exploiting the loads of data available from customer interactions enables companies to price a product correctly. BI can help manage dynamic pricing to improve revenue generation, with the use of real-time inventory and supplier data and correlate it with financial forecasts and customer behavior analysis.

• Decision Making

With CRM data, BI can help unlock various trends around marketing. You get to serve your customers based on their personas, buying behavior, and industry influence. This way you can engage better with them and influence their opinions in favor of your brand.

• Effective Customer Care

With the huge volume of data available with your organization, you can personalize your marketing messages and outreach programs for maximum potential of success. With BI, you can craft multi-channel marketing techniques. This in turn, increase customer engagement, prompt upsell/cross-sell, and improves customer retention.

How CRM can use BI

• Better Data = Better BI

Once the CRM application is synced with a BI solution, you can extract gold-level insights to aid your decision making. If the input CRM data is clean and appropriately consolidated, you will be able to generate intelligent and useful data. The reverse is also true. Hence, CRM data that is maintained diligently can lead to better BI and actionable insights. This can be achieved by incorporating rigorous processes to consolidate the multiple databases in the CRM application.

• Evaluate what you need

The next step is to describe where you are, on the CRM-BI planning and deployment metric. Focus on what supports your business and what impacts your customers. You need not be overwhelmed by fancy BI and analytics technologies if they don’t suit your business objectives.

Take for example, predictive analytics. With CRM data you can add a lot of value to behavioral intelligence and come up with personalized marketing tactics to improve cross-sell and upsell of products

• Plan and grow

You CRM and BI system integration needs to be well-thought of in order to work seamlessly and deliver expected outcomes. You may have constraints of budgets or time, but no rushed implementation can yield the results you are expecting. Hence the integration needs to be a well-planned affair.

CRM applications have the power to work with BI and provide you with a 360-degree view of the customer. Only a word of caution – just because you have the resources with a shiny new CRM-BI solution, don’t go to the extreme and target customers repeatedly in a way that will put them off your brand forever.

The Digital HR

SAP ERP is proven to improve the productivity of the business, lower down the cost and helps in making the strategic business decision. Its new version upgrade released in 2016 makes it more powerful and robust than before. By integrating SAP, you can streamline and automate a major portion of the core HR processes. Right from workforce management and payroll processing to recruiting and time and attendance, SAP seeks to bump up employee engagement in your organization.

Features of SAP

SAP ERP is one of the most powerful enterprise planning software available in the market today. Though it has many competitors in the market, still it has managed to retain its most popular and sought- after position. The main reason behind its popularity is its ability to sync together different business operations in an efficient way. Once installed, it can integrate human resource, customer relationship data, finance, business sales and services, procurement and logistics easily.

How does it affect HR process?

“Human Resource isn’t a thing we do. It’s a thing that runs our business.”

Human resource department is the backbone of your organization. This department has to manage different kinds of data like payroll records, personnel files, administration, compliance records, etc. The SAP HCM (Human Capital Management) module helps you to automate the core HR services.

Some of the ways SAP HCM has a lasting impact on your HR function include –

• Consolidate the HR data

SAP helps to consolidate and streamline the core HR and payroll processes with its cloud- based technology. The insightful reports further help to develop and execute strategies that ultimately benefits the business.

Apart from that, streamlining the legal and corporate compliances at the local level helps to provide the best results for the business.

• Find and manage talent

One of the primary functions of HR is to recruit the right candidate for the job. SAP helps to find, source and manage all kinds of external talent, including independent contractors and flexible talent pools. With its cloud based technology, talent optimization has become easier than before.

• Improved productivity and ROI

Now, there is no need to worry about significant HR data as SAP solutions help to keep it at a single place. This in turn, help a business man to focus on its core activities and neglect the other areas to the concerned department.

• Have a clear picture of your workforce

With a single HR system record; a business can have a clear picture of its entire workforce. Based on that he/she can drive workforce planning (“planning how many people together can help to achieve the results?”, “what’s the revenue from a single employee?”, “is ROI on human capital greater than ROI on working capital?”)

• Amazing reporting capabilities

In a traditional HRMS, reporting is based on the manual feeding of information by HR staff. This leads to inaccuracy and errors creeping in. With SAP HCM, the entire process is automated. Also the rich interactive reports that management uses is accurate and up-to-date. Users can also create custom reports easily without the need for deep technical knowledge.

With these benefits, the SAP HCM module comes across as a real value booster for your organization’s HR functions.

Xamarin- The Developer’s Best Buddy

It is highly likely that your user base will be using multiple operating systems to download, view, and use mobile apps. Be it iOS, Android, or Windows, your company needs to create separate apps for each OS type. The immediate disadvantage for your company is apparent – late time to market and prohibitive costs make this a loss-making proposition

This is where cross-platform app development comes in as a savior. Apps from cross-platform development platforms like Xamarin are compatible with mobile, tabs, iPads, iPhones, and Blackberry. Now that’s an amazing USP to pitch to any customer organization, right?

Why Xamarin?

Xamarin is a technologically advanced cross- platform mobile app that offers the user native like experience. It also provides the developers advantages like fast coding, cost-efficiency, and a lot more. No wonder that Xamarin has emerged as a hot platform with 1.4 million developers across 120 countries. It is the favorite for 15,000 companies in diverse fields like hospitality, energy, and media.

Features that make it worthwhile for developers

• With Xamarin apps become easy to update

One of the greatest benefits of Xamarin is its ability to make the required changes and updates in a relatively easier manner. The new features (support for pre-compiled screens, preview support for Universal Windows, Android Material Design) provide the user a truly native experience to the users.

• Xamarin has a huge user base

Xamarin has a huge community base. Community expertise and availability of anytime support lower down the complexities involved in the project and make it successful. Therefore, it is a current preferred app development platform for app developers.

• Provides seamless integration

For third party interface, API is important and Xamarin is capable of binding various API and UI using its different technologies. Moreover, it has a portable class library that enables the developers to share code across the different mobile platforms in a hassle-free manner.

How does it benefit the web developers?

Xamarin makes the task of web development easy and stress- free. Here’s how:-

• It offers the benefit of C#

Managing code for cross- platform apps is not a cakewalk. The task requires domain knowledge and expertise with native mobile app development. Fortunately, Xamarin supports C# language for programming, which itself is a native language for Microsoft operating system. It helps to utilize the advantages of native UI and access to device- specific features. It also enables native performance, thus, driving up the user experience of a mobile app user.

• OS-agnostic app logic

Multiple app logic components like web service calls, input validation, and backend- frontend interaction are coded just once in C#. As much as 2/3^rd of this code can then be used across multiple mobile OS. This helps in providing advantages in terms of shorter development cycle, lesser iterations due to bugs and errors, and faster time to market.

Developers are increasingly relying on Xamarin for their cross- platform mobile app development needs. In an age where Gartner predicts almost 268 billion app downloads in 2017, cross- platform app development through Xamarin is certainly the correct path to take for developers and business owners alike.

The Industrial Internet of Things

With automation storming the gates of  the manufacturing sector,IIOT is set to stake its claim in a much more impactful manner. IIOT is dynamic in the truest essence and is moving forward in a way that none of us imagined it would. Encouraged by Cloud Computing: Analytics, AI and Machine Learning have taken a prominent role in the industries today. It is no longer a doubt that IIOT is in the right gear and is now a proven game changer and not just a theoretical concept.

“What companies are hoping for is that they can get to a higher level where they have an opportunity to rethink their products,” Frank Gillett, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research explained.

We are constantly trying to scale new peaks in technology an din the process we have realized that IIOT will soon be a pivotal technology. Our team has gone the distance and captured the essence of IIOT. Here, we bring to you in a two part blog series, the trends we foresee with inculcation of IIOT.

1. Digital Twins: Much is being discussed about this innovation. It surely is unique in its approach and needs to be explored intensively. Every time there is a new product designed, it takes a lot of time to actually test the product and further fix the issues based on the shortcomings found. However, with this innovation, the wastage of time can be minimized. The innovation allows to create a digital copy which can used for simulation and testing purposes in a virtual world and then further commit to the production accordingly. One of the biggest benefits in using this is the fact that the previous details stored in the system can be used to gauge the performance and ascertain the related shortcomings and expected resources. Also, the data gathered real-time is applied for analytic activities which helps in improvising the overall product life cycle. The digital twin makes closed-loop design a feasible option throughout the life cycle of the product.

2. Edge computing: The growth of edge computing is now enabling devices to think on their own without having to depend on any instructions from an external source. It enables them to independently gather data, sort, filter and most importantly allows them to analyse and interpret the data for further action. The devices are capable enough to perform a particular set of tasks on their own along with communicating with other devices autonomously. The availability of the Edge devices and various networks are slowly bridging the gap and making operational technology easier. The attempt now is to connect these devices to the cloud systems so that businesses can perform better and make production processes smarter. Edge machines will have the intelligence to perform tasks on their own and hence can automate most of the industry processes.

3. AR/VR: As reported by Fast Company, it is the first time that investment in AR and VR companies has topped $1 billion in any year. The piece notes that “almost $800 million of the $1.1 billion investment in AR and VR this year went to one company: Magic Leap, but $300 million has already gone to smaller companies in the AR/VR services, hardware, advertising, distribution, and entertainment markets.” AR/VR is now being used for simulator-based training development that will impart the exact material on plant operations for the fresh employees. Mixed Reality technology such as Microsoft HoloLens are bringing experiences that are as good as real and making a difference that is striking and outstanding. This trend allows organisations to create their own virtual spaces that reflect their workspaces and helps the employees understand what they have to do in real-time. This experience is considered much better for training since the employees get to experience an almost real situation of their everyday work and is easy to develop skills that they lack since they understand the real environment.

4. MQTT:  MQTT is a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) data distribution technology that reduces network bandwidth consumption and is apt for remote sensing and control. The latest version is MQTT Version 3.1.1  which encourages SCADA system to access IIOT data. Since the technology is light-weight,  it is recommended for remote locations. It is a publishled protocol where information is enabled  by Edge devices. Clients are connected to the Broker and the information is passed on accordingly. With the subscription model whoever is connected gets to share the details as and when there is anything new updated on the system.

The future seems interesting!

Stay tuned for this blog where will discuss more trends in Part 2 of the blog.

Tech innovations are revolutionizing human lives in ways more than one. With the advent and emergence of smart technologies, we don’t even need to put too much of physical efforts into doing something. Artificial Intelligence or AI happens to be one of those smart innovations. It’s vision for human beings and a new avenue for technological advancements. Innumerable people across the world are embracing this ubiquitous technology, thus shaping up their dreams in every which way!

It’s here that we come across some of the most crucial data. Stats suggest that by the end of 2020, a whopping 85% or more consumer interactions will take place without human beings. That clearly explains how innovative and disruptive technologies like AI are stepping into the business landscape!

From the healthcare sector and business arena to tech landscape and insurance industries, AI is surely making its presence felt and how! Today, we will take a look at what AI can do for the insurance industry.

Identifying existing issues

Conventional and traditional modes of process handling in the insurance industry have led to severe problems. Insurance belongs to the service sector where customer satisfaction is a prime necessity and not simply a choice. Before you leverage the power of AI, take a look at some of the critical issues plaguing the insurance sector.

• Claims handling
• Fraud detection
• Pricing problems

With AI systems, insurance professionals can deal with these critical problems. On that note, it’s high time to know how AI revolutionizes this particular sector.

1. Claims management

Managing insurance claims is a tedious job. However, AI can make your work easier than ever! With Artificial Intelligence systems, insurers will have the opportunity to deal with bulk data. Here are some of its effects:

• Automated claims handling
• Fast-track claims processing
• Reduced processing time

These benefits will help insurers deliver numerous projects within the shortest time span.

2. Detecting Frauds

While handling claims, insurance officials have to deal with fraudulent cases too. AI systems help you identify specific data patterns, thus finding out fraudulent claims. Since machine learning or ML is a highly significant part of Artificial Intelligence, insurance officials can use it to detect fraudulent issues and identify repair costs.

3. Customer experience and marketing

We all know that insurance services are integral parts of the service sector. Quite naturally, customer experience and consumer interactions are of paramount significance. AI systems and technologies will help you identify specific consumer profiles thus creating customized insurance plans for them.

Insurers can enjoy access to crucial data and information about consumers. Most importantly, they can find out whether a person is receiving appropriate insurance coverage or not.

4. Welcome chat bots

Consumers might have a lot of questions while taking a policy. Virtual assistants can take care of their queries and provide effective answers to each one of them. Some of the insurance companies offer chat bots that display human behavior.

From resolving complaints to analyzing customer behavior, chat bots can perform a multitude of functions.

Parting thoughts

Artificial Intelligence has created new avenues for growth and development in the insurance sector. If you are a seasoned player or a newcomer in this arena, it’s high time to welcome the change!