Every year one of my friends (@Muhammed Hilmi Koca) in developer community in Turkey curates some insights about software development trends. Lots of skilled and experienced colleagues shares their ideas and thoughts. And thanks to my friend, this year he also shared some spot for me to share some of my ideas.

Even if the original full text is in Turkish, I really suggest you to try to check. There are really good insights.

I also wanted to share mine as translated in my blog. So here are some thoughts about upcoming software development trends…

I believe that 2024 will be a year where artificial intelligence is scrutinized in the software world, and it will begin to be utilized more efficiently. Over the past 3-4 years, we have endeavored to understand the advancements in artificial intelligence methods and tools with a bit of amusement. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves by creating visuals and texts with “Generative AI” solutions… We also experienced that artificial intelligence tools are able to generate code at a very proficient level. With 2024, I anticipate that artificial intelligence tools will become a more significant player in software processes.

I anticipate that processes will strive to become more efficient by starting to prefer or incorporate artificial intelligence in “code review” processes or “re-factoring” requirements. There are already companies attempting to integrate tools like GitHub Copilot into their code integration processes…

As these steps begin to materialize, in the medium term, companies may start integrating language models tailored to their own code inventories into their code development processes. I believe that resolving a business requirement through artificial intelligence will enable companies or organizations to address their needs while maintaining their own standards.

Programming Languages

I believe there is now a more informed approach to programming languages or platforms, with an awareness of their advantages and use cases. We no longer defend a language or platform to the death as we used to. Right? Or do we still defend them? 🤦🏻‍♂️Oh, I hope not… I also believe that programming languages have reached a certain level of maturity. Innovations are now introduced regularly according to real needs. Consequently, I believe that the most suitable solution can now be chosen according to the specific requirements. However, I sense that the Rust language, which has gained more attention in the last 2-3 years, will stand out more this year in terms of needs, performance, and resource usage. (Note to self: Finish reading the O’Reilly Programming Rust book already)

No Code

The inclusion of artificial intelligence in the game will draw a little more attention to “no code” tools. Although as programmers we may still not find them very reliable, the involvement of individuals who do not know programming in the game with “no code” tools will not only begin this year but also lead to other developments in the medium term.

Cloud

“Cloud Platforms” have now become the “default”. The ease of access to platforms and the maturity of services will maintain the position of cloud platforms in the software world. However, I think the “cloud exit strategy”, which is always on the agenda due to costs or global conditions, may gain a little more importance. Also because of some business sustainability requirements and regulations having or being able to have some alternatives will be important topic. “Cloud-native” solutions to eliminate platform dependency will still be a hot topic in 2024 and should be…

We’ve been talking about IoT for a long time, but honestly, nothing has turned out the way I imagined. The Covid period affected the integration of 5G to some extent and consequently slowed down the interaction opportunities between devices, I think. However, the increasing popularity of VR and AR glasses(again) will underscore the interaction between the virtual world and the real world, and so IoT solutions will start to become more visible.

Prompt Engineering

I started with artificial intelligence in the post, and I’m ending with artificial intelligence. With 2024, I believe that “prompt engineering” competency will begin to gain importance for programmers. Artificial intelligence will not replace the jobs of programmers, but I think programmers who can interact more easily and consciously with artificial intelligence will be one step ahead. I anticipate that this awareness will gradually be sought in job advertisements because questions asked to AI tools or expressions shared with them affect the quality of the expected results. Perhaps it’s a bit utopian, but I believe we’ll see it happen…In 2-3 years having a good skill to know about prompt engineering for AI tools is going to be important as knowing a software development principle.

Until we meet again, happy coding…