Tag: 2023

Recognizing APAC Tech Pioneers: 2023 Technology Strategy Impact Awards Winners & Finalists

Recognizing the ever-changing landscape of technology and the impact it has on the business environment, we are proud to announce the winner and the three finalists of the 2023 Technology Strategy Impact Awards in the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC).

The companies that have made it this far have excellently executed not just technology but innovative strategies that have driven growth and helped them stay a cut above their peers.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories: Translating Pharma Dreams into Reality

As the winner of this year’s award, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has led the way in using technology as a tool for overcoming conventional industry challenges. A pharmaceutical company with its roots in Hyderabad, India, Dr. Reddy’s has used cloud technology to restructure and streamline its business processes.

The company successfully recalibrated its strategies following the COVID-19 pandemic, strategically aligning its technology to seamlessly blend physical and digital interactions between doctors and patients. Central to its winning strategy are the following pillars:

  1. A technology strategy that drives business value.
  2. A human-centric approach.
  3. Constant talent development.
  4. A platform business model.

AIA Group: Life Made Better

AIA Group is one of the three finalists in the award race. The company is the largest publicly listed life insurance group in the Asia Pacific. At the very core of the AIA Group’s corporate strategy is Technology, Digital, and Analytics (TDA).

Its journey of transformation has led to a paradigm shift in stakeholder digital journeys, an enhancement of its digital infrastructure, and a growth in the analytics-powered data platforms. The transformative pillars of its strategy include:

  1. Focus on stakeholder value.
  2. Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS)
  3. Insights-driven alignment.
  4. Connected ecosystems.
  5. Emphasis on nurturing the right skills.

Macquarie’s Banking: A New Dawn for Digital Banking in Australia

Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services Group, another finalist, is best known for its innovative retail banking and wealth management services. The bank’s major shift towards a future-oriented strategy came a decade ago when it decided to rebuild its tech platform from scratch, focusing on cloud technology.

In 2023, it launched the D3E division that centred on digital, design, data, and engineering. The pillars of its future-fit technology strategy include:

  1. Business and customer value.
  2. Modern technology platforms.
  3. A high-performance operating model.
  4. A customer-focused culture.

United Overseas Bank: Transforming Banking with Data Insights

United Overseas Bank (UOB), our last finalist, is a multinational banking corporation based in Singapore. It has built its technology strategy on the pillars of connectivity, personalisation, and sustainability—an approach that enables it to flourish using data-driven insights and an agile cloud infrastructure. Here are its key strategic dimensions:

  1. Balancing efficiency and effectiveness.
  2. Driving the business with trusted insights.
  3. Embracing adaptive practices.
  4. Forming partnerships for technology and business success.

In closing, these nominated companies have shown what it means to not just implement technology, but to align it with their corporate strategy and business model. Their resilience and commitment to customer satisfaction make them deserving of their places in the 2023 Technology Strategy Impact Awards APAC.

Tags: #TechnologyStrategy #APACAwards #BusinessInnovation #ImpactAwards

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Optimizing TypeScript: Mastering the Power of tsconfig.json Configuration

TypeScript delivers a robust development solution for building complex web applications, providing a strong type system, static analysis capabilities, and superior error-handling features. To fully harness the power of TypeScript and accelerate your development process, understanding the TypeScript Compiler, especially how to configure it optimally using tsconfig.json, is paramount.

This post explores the downside of basic configuration, the importance of enabling strict mode, and a recommendation for an optimal configuration. By conscientiously configuring your tsconfig.json, you will enjoy an optimal developer experience, traversing your code more efficiently and using a better type-checking system.

Default Configuration: The Pitfalls

Upon installation, TypeScript comes with a default configuration. Unfortunately, this configuration may not unlock the full potential of TypeScript as it doesn’t enable many powerful type-checking capabilities.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "esnext",
    "module": "esnext",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  }, 
  "include": ["src"]
}

Such a setup can lead to potential pitfalls around null, undefined, and any data types – effectively reducing the benefits of TypeScript. However, you can resolve these issues by tweaking a few options in the configuration.

Why Enabling Strict Mode is Key

By setting "strict": true in your tsconfig.json, you turn on a deeper level of type checking, providing a greater level of program correctness.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "strict": true 
  } 
}

Strict mode encompasses several sub-flags, including noImplicitAny, strictNullChecks, strictFunctionTypes, and many others. It’s recommended to turn them all on rather than individually. Let’s delve into what each of these means.

Implicit Any Inferring

The noImplicitAny flag prevents TypeScript from defaulting unknown types to any. This enforces better type safety.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "noImplicitAny": true 
  } 
}

Unknown Type in Catch Variables

The useUnknownInCatchVariables flag provides better error handling. Instead of defaulting all catch errors to type any, they are marked unknown, requiring explicit type checks before usage.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "useUnknownInCatchVariables": true 
  } 
}

Type Checking for call and apply Methods

The strictBindCallApply flag offers better type checking for call and apply methods, avoiding any form of loose typing.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "strictBindCallApply": true 
  } 
}

Strict Types for Execution Context

In JavaScript, the this keyword can be tricky. By setting the noImplicitThis flag, TypeScript ensures that this is always correctly typed, avoiding potential runtime errors.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "noImplicitThis": true 
  } 
}

Recommended Configuration

In conclusion, for advanced type safety and overall code quality, your tsconfig.json should at least have the strict mode and noUncheckedIndexedAccess set to true.

{ 
  "compilerOptions": {
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true
  } 
}

Furthermore, it’s advisable to keep away from some types where possible, such as any, null, and undefined.

Conclusion

TypeScript presents a reliable and robust solution for web application development. A fundamental part of harnessing its potential lies in the understanding and configuration of the TypeScript compiler via tsconfig.json.

While the initial setup may feature a few challenges, the tangible benefits in long-term projects cannot be overemphasized. You gain better control, improved error handling, superior code checks, and a smoother development process.

In the subsequent series, you will learn how to improve type safety and code quality by enhancing TypeScript’s standard library types.

Tags: #TypeScript, #tsconfig.json, #strictMode, #TypeChecking, #WebDevelopment

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Unlock Academic Excellence: Top 5 Efficient Study Habits for High-achieving Students

As a student, you are often inundated with a wealth of information, tight schedules, and high-stake examinations. It can be overwhelming trying to wrangle the perfect study method, but the fact is, there isn’t one. What’s important, however, is using your time wisely and crafting study habits that are individually tailored to benefit you. This blog post will dive into five key study habits that can contribute to your academic success.

Habit 1: Set One Study Goal a Day

Waking up every day with a committed study goal in mind is a great way to strategically use your time. This can be something as simple as reading a particular number of textbook chapters or practicing a set number of exam questions.

Start your day with the question: “What is the ONE thing I am committed to completing today?”

Write this question in big letters and hang it where you can see it immediately after waking up. As you move through your day, ensure you’re constantly working on completing that goal.

Habit 2: Take on Challenging Tasks First

There is no benefit in postponing challenging cognitive tasks till late at night. It’s a common misconception among students that all-nighters equate to more study time. But this is far from the truth.

Your biological clock or circadian rhythm determines at what times you perform best. Your brain’s peak performance for critical, analytical, and problem-solving tasks is usually 2-4 hours after you wake up. During this time, your brain can concentrate maximally, making it the prime time to tackle challenging study tasks.

Habit 3: Break Down Your Day into Short Study Periods

Studies have shown that shorter study periods can enhance focus and effectiveness. Rather than sitting for hours non-stop, try to break your study time into small manageable chunks.

For instance, reviewing study material can be broken into 50-minute increments followed by a 10-minute break. Alternatively, the Pomodoro technique, which consists of 25-minute study blocks with 5-minute breaks in between, can also be beneficial.

Habit 4: Make Summary Notes

Passive learning rarely leads to effective knowledge retention. Therefore, rather than just reading your textbooks, you need to actively participate in learning by making summary notes. This not only improves retention but also supports your cognitive skills.

Your notes should cover key concepts, ideas, and topics relevant to your learning objectives. Using colors to highlight priority concepts and interlinking ideas can make the revision process easier and more efficient.

Habit 5: Use Breaks to Improve Memory

The Zeigarnik effect, a psychological phenomenon, states that we remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. This is because when we start a task and then interrupt it with a break, a task-specific tension is created that can improve cognitive function.

Therefore, intentionally integrate breaks into your study sessions and engage in activities unrelated to your learning during those periods. This will not only relieve you of potential burnout, but it will also harness the power of the Zeigarnik effect to your advantage.

By implementing these five effective study habits, you can considerably elevate your academic performance, minimize stress, and maximize success.

Tags: #EffectiveStudyHabits, #AcademicSuccess, #TimeManagement, #ActiveLearning

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Decoding Frameworks’ Evolution: The Impact on Web Performance & SEO

In recent years, the conversation around web development frameworks and their effect on performance has taken center stage. At the heart of this conversation are several key players and topics worth understanding, such as Zach Leatherman’s views on web frameworks and performance, Google’s role in shaping the conversation, as well as insights from various industry experts.

The Impact of Web Development Frameworks

Zach Leatherman, the creator of 11ty and a software engineer at Netlify, believes that JavaScript has played a significant role in the development of many web frameworks. Presently, there is a paradigm shift from using frameworks as a one-size-fits-all solution towards a more tailored approach based on specific needs.

Leatherman argues that previously, many frameworks aimed to be a silver bullet, attempting to solve all use cases simultaneously. This unidirectional focus, however, has resulted in reduced performance. The present trend, according to him, is to resolve these use cases in a more laser precise way or on a smaller scale. This, he believes, will lead to improved performance.

Google’s Role in the Framework Frenzy

Google’s contributions to the world of web development have been crucial. Their focus on core web vitals through tools such as Lighthouse, has driven the importance of performance to higher prominence in the community.

Previously, the majority of frameworks were centered around single-page applications (SPAs), which were the go-to model for development. But “it’s a big tent”, as Leatherman puts it. There are numerous types of sites being built, and multiple frameworks can cater to these different use cases effectively.

Understanding Your Audience with Fred Schott

Fred Schott, the creator of Astro, emphasizes understanding the discrepancy between the circumstances of developers and the average user. Often, the product looks great and fast to developers, but it is the users who suffer because it takes a long time to load on their devices, in their network.

This is where tools like Google’s Lighthouse shine. It is an open source, automated tool for measuring the performance and quality of websites. It helps developers empathize with the user by linking performance to SEO, subsequently making it real for not just developers, but also for business people.

The Framework Evolution with Jessica Janiuk

Jessica Janiuk, core team member of Google’s Angular, opines that frameworks have evolved based on the changing needs of the web over the years. Now, there’s a shift in focus towards performance and the consideration of which frameworks can meet specific performance needs.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right JavaScript framework shouldn’t be centered on what’s popular, but should be based on the specific needs of the project. As Sara Vieira, creator of axo, puts it, beware of the “WordPress syndrome” where the framework is used beyond its intended purpose.

It’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the frameworks you’re working with and to adjust your choices accordingly. As Zach Leatherman suggests, developers should do their due diligence and ensure they understand what the framework they’re adopting is intended to be used for.

Similarly, Alexandre Chopin of Nuxt.js and NuxtLabs urges recognizing that platforms are crucial and should be part of the evolution.

The world of web development is vibrant, dynamic, and fast-paced. Frameworks are part and parcel of this landscape. A greater understanding of how they fit into the ecosystem will enable all of us to create faster, more efficient, and more impactful web experiences.

Tags: #WebDevelopment, #JavaScriptFrameworks, #WebPerformance, #WebVitals

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Top API Testing Tools to Boost Software Efficiency in 2023

In the realm of software development, API testing holds a pivotal role in determining the efficiency, functionality, and security of API-based interactions. With the help of API testing tools, this process becomes more straightforward and effective. Here’s an in-depth look into API testing and its tools for the year 2023.

What is API Testing?

API testing is a procedure employed by developers to scrutinize the functionality, effectiveness, and security of APIs. In this process, developers simulate sending traffic to the API similar to when it becomes accessible to actual users. Through this mock-load, they observe the response and behavior of the API to ascertain its readiness for integration.

The Three Facets of API Testing

API testing can be broadly categorized into three main types:

Unit Testing (Component Testing)

This is the most rudimentary level of API testing, focusing on individual parts of the code or functions. The purpose here is to ascertain the accuracy of certain functionalities within the API in isolation.

Integration Testing

Integration testing involves scrutinizing the interactions between different components of API. The primary objective is to ensure harmonious and expected functioning of these elements when combined.

End-to-End Testing (Functional Testing)

End-to-end testing involves overlooking the entire functionality of the API, testing it in a setup similar to real-time user interactions. This kind of testing ensures the API functions optimally as a whole, providing the desired output.

What is an API Testing Tool?

API testing tool is essentially a software designed to simplify the development, testing, monitoring, and management of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). It simplifies the process of API development and aids in API testing to ensure optimal functionality.

API Testing Tool: Selection Criteria

Several factors contribute to the selection of an appropriate API testing tool:

  • Provision for seamless integration with CI/CD pipelines.
  • Capacity to perform simultaneous random tests.
  • User-friendly interface with easy navigation options.
  • Prompt response time during operations.
  • Availability of comprehensive API documentation.

Top API Testing Tools in 2023

Following is a list of the top 9 API testing tools that would take over the market in 2023:

1. SOAPUI

SoapUI is designed specially to test REST, SOAP, and GraphQL APIs. It offers a comprehensive API testing solution with a user-friendly graphical interface. It enables the execution of automated functional, regression, and load tests.

2. Test Studio

Test Studio by Progress Telerik offers an easy-to-maintain user-friendly testing solution. It seamlessly integrates RESTful APIs into various environments, paving the way for efficient API testing.

3. Postman

Postman is a top-notch API testing tool compatible with Linux, MacOS and Windows operating systems. It includes a whole array of features that aid in creating functional, integration, and regression tests efficiently.

4. OWASP ZAP

OWASP ZAP, designed for security testing of web applications, helps in identifying and preventing security vulnerabilities.

5. REST Assured

REST Assured, designed for RESTful APIs, caters to developers familiar with the Java programming language. It simplifies API testing by providing a convenient syntax.

6. Apache JMeter

Apache JMeter, primarily for users with Java experience, excels in performing functional and performance tests for REST and SOAP services among other APIs.

7. Rapid API

Rapid API, a versatile API testing and monitoring tool, supports deep functional testing for REST, SOAP, and GraphQL APIs.

8. Karate DSL

Karate DSL is a leading tool for API testing, offering a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for software testing.

9. Google Apigee

Google Apigee provides a comprehensive set of features for designing, monitoring, testing, and securing APIs. It offers a great deal of flexibility to manage API features efficiently.

Conclusion

API testing holds great significance in the software development process, and it offers numerous advantages over end-to-end testing. However, it does pose a few challenges and complexities associated with API testing tools. The ideal way to go about it would be understanding what type of API testing tool aligns the best with the given set of requirements and employing it correctly.

Tags: #APITesting, #TestingTools, #API, #SoftwareDevelopment

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Top 5 Frontend and Backend Technologies for Optimized App Development

In the world of app development, both backend and frontend developers need to stay updated with the latest trends of technologies and frameworks to ensure efficient and faster development. But keeping up with the pace of evolving tech trends can sometimes be challenging. So, here we are, taking a closer look at the top five backend and frontend technologies that can boost your development process and enhance the overall app development.

Frontend Development Technologies

Frontend developers are responsible for the overall look and feel of a website or app. Here are the top technologies they employ:

1. React

React is a JavaScript library widely adopted for creating user interfaces. By facilitating the creation of reusable components, it makes the development process significantly more efficient.

  • Pros: Large and active community, compatibility with other libraries, increased efficiency with reusable components
  • Cons: Reliant on third-party libraries, lack of conventions.

2. Angular

Angular enhances the design architecture and facilitates MVC architecture implementation, making it a favorable option for developers.

  • Pros: MVC Architecture Implementation, enhanced design architecture, extensive modules.
  • Cons: Complex and verbose, limited SEO options, lack of detail in CLI documentation.

3. Vue.js

Vue.js, similar to React, allows for the creation of reusable components. With its easy learning curve, it is becoming increasingly popular among frontend development services.

  • Pros: Easy integration with other technologies, Lean and simple.
  • Cons: Less extensive community, language constraints, and no streamlined approach.

4. Next.js

Next.js helps create server-rendered React applications. With its excellent performance and SEO capabilities, this framework is gaining traction among frontend development services.

  • Pros: Excellent performance, great SEO, superior user experience.
  • Cons: Steep learning curve for developers.

5. Gatsby

Gatsby is a JavaScript framework for building static and progressive web applications. It boosts SEO and performance while providing a rich set of plugins and APIs for handling various frontend tasks.

  • Pros: Fast page loading speed, SEO efficiency, Future-proof, Active community.
  • Cons: Regular content update required, no plug-and-play functionality, scaled-down WordPress-style plugins.

Backend Development Technologies

Backend developers are responsible for creating the website or application’s server-side logic and data management. The top backend technologies are:

1. Node.js

Node.js is a fast process for web tasks with a robust tech stack and scalable for microservices.

  • Pros: Robust tech stack, fast process for web tasks, scalable for microservices.
  • Cons: Unresolved bottleneck issues, primitive tooling, poor dependency management.

2. Python

Python is widely recognized for its flexibility, scalability, and extensive libraries.

  • Pros: Flexible and extensible, Large Community, extensive libraries.
  • Cons: Some design and security issues, high memory consumption, slower than compiled language.

3. Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails rapidly creates web applications and is widely used by small startups and large corporations.

  • Pros: Enhances efficiency, active community, an abundance of libraries.
  • Cons: Necessity for regular updates, high cost for errors, performance deficit of boot time.

4. Express.js

Express.js is known for its quick app development and easy integration of third-party services.

  • Pros: Fast app development, easy integration of third-party services, easy to learn.
  • Cons: Poor security features, unhelpful error messages.

5. Django

Django, a Python-based framework, is known for its content management and fast processing.

  • Pros: Better content management, rapid development, robust security.
  • Cons: Monolithic, not suitable for smaller projects, may result in slow websites.

Keeping up with the ever-evolving trends in both frontend and backend development can be taxing but ultimately rewarding. By keeping in the loop with these technologies, you can enhance your efficiency as a developer and stay competitive in the market.

Tags: #frontenddevelopment, #backenddevelopment, #webdevelopment, #appdevelopment

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Transform Front-End Testing Failures into Learning Experiences for Better Web Development

In a rapidly evolving tech environment, becoming proficient in front-end testing is essential for any developer aspiring to provide high-quality and seamless user-friendly web applications. Irrespective of the experience level, facing errors, failures, or surprising results which slow down the progress during testing is part and parcel of any developers’ journey. Although it initially seems frustrating, these challenges can be turned into learning opportunities. This blog post intends to provide valuable tips and good practices that help developers turn such testing obstacles into precious educational experiences.

Understanding the Testing Process

The first step to learn from front-end testing mistakes involves understanding its process and purpose. Often misconstrued merely as a process of checking if the code works, testing is much more than that. It’s a way to ensure that the written code meets the specifications, project requirements, and user expectations. Additionally, it helps identify and fix any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities that might imperil the functionality, performance, or security of the web application. Hence, testing is not a one-time task; rather it is a continuous iterative process that involves designing, planning, executing, analyzing, and reporting tests.

Choosing the Right Testing Tools

Picking the right testing tools that cater to your needs is an integral step to learning from front-end testing failures. Many types of testing tools are available such as unit testing tools, end-to-end testing tools, integration testing tools, accessibility testing tools, performance testing tools, and more. Each type comes with its pros and cons and specific use-cases. Choose a tool that fits your project scope, complexity, quality standards, and your preferences. It’s necessary to understand your chosen tool’s functions, features, and documentation and learn how to use it effectively to maximize the outcomes.

Adhering to Testing Best Practices

Following good testing practices can help avoid common pitfalls or errors. Writing concise and clear test-cases catering to all the scenarios, expected results, inputs, and outputs of the application is a proven practice. The test-cases, test suites, test variables, and test files should be given meaningful names and should be well-structured, which ensures easy findability, readability, and maintainability. It’s critical to follow the coding standards and conventions set by your team, project, or company. Frequent use of comments, standard formatting, and indentation enhance the readability of your code. Automating the frequent running of your tests can speed up and simplify the testing process.

Learning from Test Results

Leveraging test results to understand the root cause of mistakes is a must. Use debugging tools to inspect and change your code. Logging tools help to monitor and record events, actions, and errors during the testing process. Reporting tools give a comprehensive visualization of your test results and findings. Use metrics to measure and assess your testing performance, code quality, and testing coverage. Feedback loops facilitate discussions about test results with project stakeholders or team members which leads to better learning.

Test Fixes Implementation and Verifications

The fifth step involves implementing and verifying your test fixes. Use version control and branch tools, code review and peer review methods, regression strategies, retesting, and feedback loops. This assists in tracking your code changes, validates them before merging, ensures that bugs are not introduced anew, and keeps your stakeholders informed about your actions.

Keep Learning and Improving

Testing is an ever-evolving field. Staying informed about new technologies, trends, and practices in front-end testing is crucial. Seek new techniques and tools to enhance your skills and accept constructive feedback. Lastly, keep challenging yourself with different test cases to keep learning and improving.

Wrap Up

In conclusion, the frustration that comes with front-end testing mistakes is a stepping stone to learning valuable lessons. Understanding the testing process, choosing the right tools, adhering to best practices, learning from your test results, implementing and verifying fixes, and continuous learning and improvement are ways to capitalize on these experiences.

Tags: #FrontEndTesting, #TestingTools, #LearningFromMistakes, #ContinuousImprovement

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Recognizing Future Tech Innovators: İşbank, PKO Bank Polski and Schneider Electric as Forrester Tech Finalists

The world is witnessing an increasingly growing trend of corporations adopting advanced technology strategies in their business models. In recognition of this phenomenon, Forrester’s Technology Strategy Impact Award aims to celebrate organizations which have integrated future fit technology strategies into their operations to drive customer satisfaction and business growth. Let’s delve into the accomplishments of these companies.

The Elite Entries: İşbank, PKO Polski Bank, Schneider Electric

This year’s finalists have shown a remarkable ability to adapt to trending business needs, harnessing technology to meet the demands of their customers and employees creatively and resiliently. Spearheading this year’s finalists are İşbank, PKO Polski Bank, and Schneider Electric.

İşbank: Pioneering the Bank of the Future

As Turkey’s largest private bank, İşbank has been a vanguard in digital transformation. With its impressive motto, “the bank of the future”, the bank has introduced an expansive IT and digital vision that cultivates an inclusive, participatory approach to banking.

Their technological advancement extends to innovative platforms for banking, engagement with ecosystem collaboration, superapplications, and novel employee engagement models. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), İşbank aims to cultivate digital immunity, enhance operational efficiency, and generate a resilient infrastructure.

Furthermore, İşbank is at the forefront of Turkey’s sustainable economic transition by joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. They launched the app Forest for the Future, a gamechanger mobile banking and tree planting platform that encourages users to reduce their carbon footprint.

PKO Bank Polski: Harnessing Technology for Value Creation

As a leading multinational banking institution, PKO Bank Polski has crafted a unique IT and digital strategy that emphasizes operational, digital, and technological development. Their mission is to remain prepared for future uncertainties, focusing on innovation and sustainability.

Their presence in various metaverse platforms for official gatherings, events, job fairs is the testament to their dedication to stay in sync with the latest technology trends. Moreover, PKO Bank Polski fosters innovation through a platform that collaborates with startups and fintechs, extending the reach of modern technology. Agile and customer-centric culture coupled with reskilling initiatives like PKO Cloud University and the Academy of Agility facilitate the smooth achievement of the company’s provocative visions.

Schneider Electric: Growing a Future Fit Partner Ecosystem with Platforms

Schneider Electric, a French multinational enterprise, excels in providing digital automation and energy management solutions. With a vast partner ecosystem, the company has seamlessly integrated platforms, AI, and data into its technology backbone, the EcoStruxure Platform.

Schneider Electric Exchange, an open collaboration platform, fosters co-innovation with a user base of over 70,000, accelerating digital transformation for efficiency and sustainability. The success of Schneider Electric is synonymous with the success of its partner network, whose power is amplified by the integration of platforms, AI, and data.

With these extraordinary entries leading the way, the future of technology strategies seems promising, and exciting times lie ahead for businesses and customers alike.

#Tags: #Technology #Innovation #Sustainability #BusinessStrategy

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Revolutionizing API Test Generation with Natural Language Processing: NLPtoREST

In an era where software systems are becoming increasingly critical, testing their functionality becomes paramount to deliver reliable and high-quality products. The concern becomes more pronounced when it comes to RESTful services, which are commonly documented using OpenAPI specifications. OpenAPI has two types of information embedded in its specifications: machine-readable and human-readable.

Machine-readable information has been extensively used for automated testing, but unfortunately, the human-readable part remains underused, despite it having the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of test generation.

Let’s Talk About NLPtoREST

Understanding the necessity of harnessing the power of the human-readable part of OpenAPI, a new approach has been proposed – NLPtoREST—an automated method that uses natural language processing techniques to assist REST API testing. It operates by extracting additional OpenAPI rules from the human-readable part of the specification and enhancing the original specification accordingly.

How does it work?

The NLPtoREST methodology has been designed to be simple yet highly impactful. Given an API and its specification, it extracts extra OpenAPI rules from the human-readable segment and augments the original specification by adding these rules to it.

The already existing testing tools can then utilise the enhanced specification for smarter and better test case generation. However, it’s worth noting that rule extraction can sometimes be inaccurate due to the intrinsic ambiguity of natural language, or mismatches between documentation and performance. To counter this, NLPtoREST has integrated a validation process to eliminate any false rules.

Why does it matter?

The addition of the validation process and the ability to use the enhanced specifications in existing testing tools without modifications give NLPtoREST a substantial advantage over other API testing methods. It enables test generation tools to perform better, making it an invaluable tool for IT professionals.

Studies speak volumes

Empirical studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the rule extraction and validation approach and to understand the impact of the enhanced specifications on REST API testing tools. The results were quite promising. It was noticed that NLPtoREST could extract numerous relevant rules with high precision, which significantly improved the testing tools’ performance.

Wrapping up

API testing plays a critical role in ensuring the reliability of software systems. Novel approaches like the NLPtoREST, which cleverly combines natural language processing techniques to improve test case generation, can have a strongly positive impact on IT industry standards and performance.

Tags: #API #Testing #RestAPI #OpenAPI #NLPtoREST

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Shifting Paradigms: Transition from Microservices to Serverless Computing in Software Development

In the ever-evolving landscape of software development, we often face various challenges while dealing with traditional 3-tier architecture applications. Issues may range from setting up servers, installing operating systems and necessary software, managing servers, designing applications with high availability and fault tolerance, and managing load balance – each of which may result in additional expenditure on infrastructure resources.

Understanding the Journey

Monolith applications, despite their comprehensive nature, have certain drawbacks – they are highly dependent, language/framework dependent, pose enhancement difficulties and scalability issues. In order to counter these shortcomings, there has been a shift towards microservices and serverless architectures.

What is Microservices?

Coined by James Lewis and Martin Fowler, microservice architectural style refers to when a singular application is developed in the form of a suite of small services, each of which runs in its individual process and communicates with each other through lightweight mechanisms such as HTTP resource API. Minimum centralized management of these services allows them to be written in multiple programming languages and different data storage technologies can be leveraged.

The Leap Towards Serverless Architecture

Ironically, the term ‘serverless architecture’ doesn’t imply the absence of a server. In fact, your application continues to operate on a server, but the distinction lies in server management and creation – you aren’t responsible for it. The serverless providers take care of everything while you focus solely on the code.

Although a serverless application shares characteristics with a microservice, it isn’t identical. While a microservice is larger and could encompass single or multiple functions, a serverless application depends on an event-driven function which consists of a small, specific code fragment.

Breaking Down Serverless Computing

Serverless computing has become the trendiest architecture in the software industry today. This architecture liberates developers from the responsibility of server and backend infrastructure management. Also, by adopting serverless compute service, developers can build loosely coupled, reliable, and scalable applications with ‘faster time to market’.

Essential Serverless Design Principles

In order to leverage serverless computing effectively, developers must adhere to its fundamental design principles:

  • On-demand execution: Serverless functions execute code only when necessary.

  • Stateless single-purpose functions: These facilitates improved debugging and testing as they are small, separate, units of logic.

  • Push-based, event-driven pipeline: This implies that each function performs a specific task driven by events.

  • Heavy and powerful front-end: Here, any static front-end can interact directly with the cloud services.

  • Use of third-party services: Helps sustain scalable applications that require high-bandwidth pipelines or use complex logic.

Conclusion

Serverless architecture is a crucial paradigm: it enforces more efficient scaling, is highly available, easily deployable reduces latency time and cost. Moreover, developers have more time for core development due to the reduction of infrastructure maintenance responsibilities.

Nonetheless, this paradigm shift isn’t devoid of its challenges. From a business standpoint, since serverless architecture is managed by external providers, there’s less control over server-side, increasing risk involvement. Not to mention, adopting a serverless provider necessitates addressing vendor lock-in. From a developer’s standpoint, handling and implementing functions for large applications might be time-consuming. Moreover, management of numerous functions might be challenging, risking the creation of mini-monoliths. Along with this, reliance on third-party providers for monitoring and debugging tools is unavoidable, this often leads to a dearth of operational tools.

That said, the acceptance and success of serverless architecture are hugely dependent on the business requirements rather than simply on the technology. When used appropriately, serverless can indeed do wonders.

Tags: #Serverless #Microservices #SoftwareArchitecture #AppDevelopment

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