Microsoft & .NETDon't Get Left Behind: Concepts Every Developer Should Know

Don’t Get Left Behind: Concepts Every Developer Should Know

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It continues to get easier to build fancier and more robust applications. Unfortunately, it seems that the expectations from end-users are increasing too. There is more for developers to know. Topics that were just conceptual pipe dreams a few years ago are now making their way into every day applications. Here are a number of concepts that developers need to know about today, or they risk falling behind.

1Don’t Get Left Behind: Concepts Every Developer Should Know

Are you keeping up with the Joneses? As a developer, what topics do you believe will be critical to understand going forward? See if you agree with our selection of topics. Are you already working with each of these?

2Mobile: Phones, Slates, and More…

Mobile. Phones have become small portable computers. iPads are selling in quantities that rival desktops and notebooks. Android has landed and is coming to market on new phones and tablets each week. Microsoft is launching Windows 8 RT and Windows 8 Pro on tablets as well as continuing to battle for the phone market.

Using apps from a phone or slate is now expected. As developers, we have to adapt as well.

3Cloud

The Cloud has been huge marketing hype by the big players in the tech industry. Today, however, that hype is becoming a reality, and thus developers need to take it a little more seriously. It seems that it is time to start paying attention to the idea of using the Cloud simply for storage or for digging deeper into its computing and infrastructure opportunities.

4Connectivity

Connectivity is something to be thinking about as a developer. Most people know expect to be connected to the Internet, to information, or to their applications. Whether via the phone, a tablet, or some other device, people are not expecting to be connected. What’s more, it is now possible to be connected almost all the time. This connectivity will only get better as time goes on.

In an always connected world, how do your applications change? Things such as the Cloud start making a lot more sense when you start assuming connectivity.

5Windows 8

Every developer should understand Microsoft’s Windows 8 – even the Mac and Linux developers. Love it or hate it, Windows 8 is entering the market. If you ignore it, you are simply ignoring what is likely to be the inevitable. As such, understanding the new concepts coming from Windows 8 as well as some of the jargon is important. Windows Store Apps will happen and will sit along side desktop applications. It is better to understand the impact on what you are doing, then to be left behind.

6Open Standards, Especially HTML5

HTML5 is one of many open standards that are evolving. HTML5, however, offers the promise of being able to build applications that can run on today’s various devices ranging from the desktop to websites to mobile slates and phones. More importantly, it can be used to build solutions that can run on iPhones, Android devices, and Windows. This mobile promise is causing the popularity of HTML5 to grow quickly.

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