Web and mobile development is an ever changing enterprise. Staying apprised of advances in technology requires diligence. Even the terminology is constantly in flux; yesterday’s buzzword is passé today.
There’s certainly no one-size-fits-all development solution. Every organization’s needs are different. But let’s take a look at a few widely used and well-received frameworks, tools, and resources that will allow your team to build the website or mobile application that best meets your needs and to then keep on the leading edge. There’s something here for everyone.
Lay a Solid Foundation
The first and foremost consideration for your team’s decision-maker is selecting the proper programming language. And in that regard, we’ve got some sound advice.
Python is an interpreted, high-level, and general-purpose programming language that allows your developers to integrate your systems effectively and work efficiently. Python is easy to understand and implement, with fewer steps than most of its competitors. Once up, the same code can be run across multiple platforms.
Among the operating systems Python supports are Windows, Android, and iOS. It can also be used for the development of APIs of mobile applications.
Django is a free, open source, high-level Python web framework that simplifies web development. It’s fast and scalable and will help your developers avoid common security pitfalls such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, and clickjacking.
Django offers a number of extras for handling common web-development tasks, including user authentication, content administration, site maps, and RSS feeds.
And for mobile design, there’s Django Mobile App Distribution, which allows you to distribute iPhone, iPad, and Android apps over the air to your clients. The Django Admin interface lets you upload and assign apps to users.
Stay Informed
You’ve now built on a solid foundation, but maintaining an optimal website or mobile app requires staying apprised of developments and innovations. Here are some great opportunities:
SitePoint is a learning hub for entrepreneurs, developers, designers, programmers, and product creators. The site offers an extensive library of books and a wealth of courses and tech talks.
For more than 20 years, A List Apart has been providing information on web standards and best practices for coding, content strategy, graphic design, and more, as well as in-depth information on the state of the industry.
The Bulletproof TLS Newsletter is an email list that covers web security news, addressing such topics as reductions in the maximum valid lifetime of certificates and deprecations of old algorithms.
Smashing Magazine offers reliable, useful, practical articles to web designers and developers, including monthly web-development updates.
Developer bills itself as a hub for “the latest news, blogs, comment, strategy, and advice from leading brands and experts across the apps industry.” It’s also a good way to stay informed of industry events.
The Python Bytes blog posts the show notes for the weekly podcast "Python Bytes," allowing you and your team members to browse and select any that look of interest.
And we definitely encourage you to check out our own Developer Access blog.
Then a few other handy tools that are well worth considering …
A quality blog aggregator is invaluable. We recommend Inoreader, which navigates efficiently from your keyboard and has recently added support for email newsletters.
We also highly recommend our Caktus colleague Dan Poirier’s list of favorite technical blogs, including his custom RSS feed, which your team members can subscribe to in their feed reader to follow the blogs that best match their interests.
And Slack offers a number of ways to communicate using channels for threaded conversations to organize your teams, as well as online communities where you can stay current on the most relevant information in your field. You can search for channels in web development or a specific type of coding that you want to learn more about.
Slack also allows you to share code snippets in order to fix bugs, discuss best practices, or brainstorm on potential improvements.
Allow Us to Help
And, of course, you’ve got an excellent resource in all your friends here at Caktus. Our experienced development team would love to partner with you.
Founded by Django developers, we’re web and SMS experts. As we like to say, we listen first, collaborate in person, strive for simplicity, and help you build for the future.
We look forward to hearing from you.
