THE future of web development: key trends in web development 2021

According to Live Internet Stats, there are nearly 1.8 billion websites today. Most users will never visit the lion's share of them. However, each site contributes to new web development trends in 2021. In addition, the number of IT workers has increased significantly over the past decades. It makes it necessary to keep up with the latest changes and trends to remain a competitive employee.

Should note that web development standards sometimes evolve faster than they can be implemented. And developers need to stay ahead of the curve. To this end, it is necessary to follow the trends in web development. What does the future hold in this area?

| Progressive Web Applications (PWA)

Progressive web applications are not this year's phenomenon. However, this technology has attracted the attention of modern developers and investors because of its ability to deliver a high-quality user experience.

What makes PWAs good? Their main task is to allow users to browse websites in the mobile browser with the same speed and comfort as on the computer.

A distinctive feature of PWAs is the ability to send push notifications without downloading additional applications. Push notifications are one of the trends in digital marketing.

PWAs have improved the quality of the following services:

• Uber 

• Twitter 

• Smashing Magazine

• Pinterest

Progressive web applications are changing the way we use the Internet. The fast and load instantly, but they also allow users to use offline services while still performing all the functions of a native application.

Development of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence imitates human behaviour at a high level. It can perform many cognitive functions such as:

• Learning 

• Data collection

• Analysis

Many users are not even surprised that AI  involves to some extent in most sites. It has created a new dimension in the sphere of web development.

| AI in web development.

It means that it is no longer necessary to spend weeks thinking during the development of a functional website. AI simplifies most processes and thus provides a high-quality service.

The most common way to use AI today is to add chatbots to the website. But this is specifically about functionality and user experience. During the site's development, AI is used at almost every stage - starting with deployment and ending with testing.

| WebAssembly

The first thing that should not be compromised when developing a web application is performance. But the limitations of JavaScript make heavy computation slow. It significantly degrades the user experience.

It is one of the reasons for the emergence of WebAssembly. With this technology, you can compile the code of any programming language into bytecode, which runs in a browser.

WebAssembly has the following advantages.

• It is a programming language and platform-independent

• hardware independent

• executes code quickly

• It offers a high level of security

It all boils down to the following triangle: small footprint, cross-platform scripting, and speed. These three components are the key elements of modern web development. That's why a significant portion of web development cases cannot do without WebAssembly today.

| Voice search and navigation

Most of the devices currently around you can hear you. These include smartphones, watches, laptops, and tablets. Many car functions can also control by voice. It's all about the fact that we don't need to use a device as often to perform a task.

Statistics on the use of voice search. Source from

Habits evolve this way. All users expect on a subconscious level that all services offer this option. Web developers need to respond.

Voice search and web navigation are:

Usability;

• high speed in performing tasks

• excellent user experience

People prefer to spend less time typing commands. It is why they are increasingly using voice search. Web development is therefore closely linked to the implementation of such features.

|  Mobile-based approach

Adaptability has long been one of the key trends in web development. But today, it is an automatic part of any website. Because without it, not only does the user experience deteriorate, but search engine indexing also drops.

Today, the focus is on mobiles, not computers. Therefore, one of the trends in web development is to develop website or application functionality specifically for smartphones.

PWA is one such convergence of applications. Another option is AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). These pages load much faster than HTML, making it possible to fill the site with rich animated content.

 Benefits of AMP

• AMP uses in all web applications where users actively use smartphones to access websites.

| Motion design interface

Mobile design is one of the biggest trends in web design. Minimalist design with sophisticated interaction looks good and attracts the user's attention. With motion design, these elements are implements:

• Transitions to the header;

• Graphics

• pop-ups

• drop-down menu

• scrolling

All of this helps you show your unique style and entertain the user, improving behavior factors and administering your web application rank higher in search results.

With AMP, you can implement motion design without losing download speed. So if you want to keep users on your site, start thinking about animation today.

| Serverless architecture

Serverless technologies stem from searching for ways to avoid system congestion, data loss, and expensive development. That's why cloud computing became one of the solutions to replace conventional servers.

How does it help web development?

• It reduces the budget for development and ongoing support

• Strengthens application architecture

• increases flexibility

The most common tasks that can be performed thanks very quickly to serverless technologies are downloading file backups, sending messages, and exporting objects. In other words, serverless architecture is another trend that is dramatically changing the approach to web development.

| RAIL Model

Like most of the trends on this list, RAIL did not come into being today. This concept first appeared in 2015, but it only became popular in 2019. It involves faster page load time and offers exceptional site performance.

What does it involve?

React - Every input will receive an almost instantaneous response.  It will give feedback within 100 milliseconds.

Animation-  The animation provided by two elements: scrolling and dragging. The goal is to complete each frame in 16 milliseconds.

Inactive - It is not necessary to load all elements at once. The first load should be the most critical element of the page that the user wants to consult immediately. The rest of the blocks can be loaded afterward and in the background.

Loading-  Essential elements of the page, such as the navigation bar and home screen, should load in the first second.  It will ensure an experience where the user is not distracted and does not go to another site.

This concept implies immediate feedback, a sense of seamless animation, and fast execution of all actions. The longest time in this concept is 1 second, which is needed to load the first screen. All other activities are performed in milliseconds.

| Single-page apps

Today, it is no longer necessary to be stuck with an approach where each action on the page (e.g., clicking on different buttons) leads to another web page being downloaded from a server.

SPA is one of the trends of recent years that helps prevent seamless communication with the server. It shows better page performance and offers a high level of data protection.

Why are single-page apps gaining popularity? Because JavaScript frameworks will actively increase in 2021. And SPA uses this language for loading content. These apps require no additional waiting time, so users get immediate feedback.

MEAN-React-Vue-Flutter

Most of the above trends cannot implement without a technology stack. However, today there are hundreds of frameworks and libraries. Which of them will be used the most?

First and foremost is the MEAN stack, which consists of:

MongoDB - database management system

js - framework, which provides great functionality for mobile and web apps

js - front-end framework

js - runtime environment, which allows working with both front-end and back-end

In addition, the React library plays a major role. It is often used as a replacement for Angular in the MEAN stack. It makes it possible to implement changes faster and easier, so more and more developers prefer it to Angular.

The relatively young framework Vue has already made its mark on the global market after giants such as Xiaomi and Alibaba switched to it. It is a very compact front-end solution. And it is also often used as a replacement for Angular in MEAN.

And the last popular solution is Flutter for Web. It helps deliver quality work of web apps on any device, so it scores high among web developers.

|Conclusion

It can be challenging to chase trends because they change so quickly. However, most of today's trends didn't originate today. So why not try them on your site?

Remember that despite the changing approaches, technology stacks, and ideas, the main task of web development is to deliver a high-quality user experience. there are many web development companies which can help you in developing the latest web technology.