The Red Hat-IBM acquisition could mean a crossroads for open source creators’ business needs

It is an endearing image for anyone who falls in love with the idea of open source technologies. You have an idea, work hard at it and then eventually give it life, making sure anyone can build with it – and more importantly, build upon it and improve it. Yet, ultimately, bills still need to be paid and mouths fed.

This may have entered the minds of some developers as the news of Red Hat’s...

1 November 2018 | Development Tools

Exploring the organisational change required to take Agile to the next level

Everyone wants to do and be agile – but with greater maturation, are there issues in how it comes about? A few noises of late suggest structural changes need to be made.

In April, software provider CollabNet released its latest State of Agile Report, noting as one of its three themes that agile adoption is growing within organisations both more widely and deeply. This publication duly reported on it,...

3 September 2018 | Approaches

Java and JavaScript continue to dominate enterprise development landscape

Java and JavaScript remain the dominant languages in the enterprise developer landscape – but with more agile ways of working coming to the fore, they certainly won’t be exclusive going forward.

That’s the verdict of the Cloud Foundry Foundation in its most recent report focusing on the top languages for enterprise application development.

23 August 2018 | Development Tools

Python creator steps down after almost 30 years in charge

It is safe to say Python enjoyed a remarkable 2017 – but 2018 may be a testing year for the language’s community as a leadership crisis looms.

Guido van Rossum, the author and for 30 years the BDFL (Benevolent Dictator for Life) of Python, has stepped down from his role citing issues with pushing out the most recent PEP (Python Enhancement Proposal).

“I would like to remove myself entirely from the decision process,” he wrote. “I’ll still be...

13 July 2018 | Languages

Jakarta EE aiming to focus on cloud-native Java after developer consultation

What do enterprise developers want? A cloud-native Java, according to a new consultation from the Eclipse Foundation.

The study, which polled more than 1,800 Java developers – 44% of whom categorised themselves as senior developers with a further 24% as architects – put cloud-native as an ‘imperative’ for enterprise Java going forward.

‘Two critical gaps in Java EE are now top priorities for Jakarta EE’, the foundation notes – lest we...

25 April 2018 | Cloud

Agile initiatives expanding in the enterprise – but lots more work to be done

Agile is expanding within the enterprise – but there is plenty more that can be done to improve organisational initiatives. That’s the key finding from enterprise software development firm CollabNet. In the company’s latest State of Agile report – the 12th iteration – which collected almost 1,500 responses from various industries in software development, 97% of respondents’ organisations practiced agile development methods. Of that number, 52% said that more than half of their...

16 April 2018 | Approaches

Firefox foils Facebook data-flinging with new Mozilla container extension

If you’re worried about what data Facebook may or may not be collecting after the Cambridge Analytica revelations, the good people at Mozilla have a workaround.

Facebook Container Extension, an extension of Firefox’s multi-account containers, enables users to browse Facebook while isolating identity into a separate blue tab, meaning users can play all the quizzes they like – this reporter assumes it is still a thing – without fearing that the API will send data...

28 March 2018 | Developer

Larger companies more likely to be using continuous delivery methods, research finds

New data from DigitalOcean on developer opinion has gleaned interesting insights; company size is likely to dictate usage of continuous delivery solutions, while vendor lock-in and professional support were primary roadblocks for the rise of open source software adoption. The figures come from the company’s latest quarterly report, Currents, around developer trends in the cloud, which polled almost 6,000 respondents. The larger the organisation, the more likely you are to use a CI/CD...

27 March 2018 | Approaches

Developer argues Apple could shutter Series 0 support for latest watchOS iteration

Usage of the Apple Watch Series 0 continues to decline - so much so that one developer argues Apple should dispense with it altogether when the company launched the watchOS 5 operating system.

The figures come from David Smith, an independent iOS developer whose apps include Pedometer++ and Sleep++, the latter being focused primarily on the Apple Watch with both apps in the top 200 in the App Store for health and fitness.

Smith says the Series 0 first generation of Apple Watch...

19 March 2018 | iOS

Developers finally realising importance of DevOps workflow, new research says

DevOps is no longer a ‘nice to have’ to improve workflow for developers and software professionals, according to the latest study from software provider GitLab.

The company – whose mission is to provide software which supports the entire DevOps lifecycle – polled 5,296 software developers, CTOs and IT professionals, finding two in three say DevOps is a ‘tremendous time saver’ in the development process. 65% say the DevOps workflow saves them time...

8 March 2018 | Development Tools