NowComms coding genius Ben attended the annual PHP in London and bought back some nuggets of information. PHP, in case you were wondering, is a open source (everyone contributes) language used to build websites. Read on to discover the three key insights you can use to impress your coding friends.
Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are like super bookmarks for your website. They allow users to place your site on their home screen without the need to download anything from the app store. PWA provides users with a reliable, fast and engaging user experience.
There’s no need to create a standalone app for the Play or Apple stores. PWAs make it easier to develop user experiences without having to learn a new coding language.
When all the criteria are met, Chrome will prompt users to add your PWA to their home screen. This can lead to up four times more user engagement, up to 100% more customer conversions and your PWA will work reliably no matter what the network conditions are.
Allow your developers time to generate tests for their code
Debugging software a day before a project launch can be a nightmare especially when you can’t afford delays. But it’s also important that your clients do not encounter any bugs or broken software. So, why not prepare before a deadline is already set?
Thinking up and creating tests can take a significant amount of time. This is time that could be spent developing version 1.0 of your killer app. But what if you could actually reduce overall development time and launch your app sooner?
When planning your development road-map, make sure you allocate a significant portion of time to testing. Take time at the beginning of development to generate test cases so that you can foresee future issues and solve them now. This not only saves time in the long-run, but can also lead to a more thought-out comprehensive and easier to maintain code. A dedicated testing team member is a vital part of any development team and we recommend a balance of four developers to one tester to ensure the final web project is delivered to the client bug free.
Open Source Software can make you money
The foundations of the internet are built on Open Source Software: from databases, web servers, coding languages and html itself. In fact, Open Source Software is a fantastic case study of how civilisation has progressed through collaboration. Making your projects Open Source or contributing to Open Source projects can really benefit your company. It’s a bold claim, and you’re probably skeptical that doing something for nothing can help you at all, but here are a few points:
- Open Source Software can help you demonstrate a deeper understanding of the project you’re developing for, making you the go-to expert.
- It’s a great addition to your portfolio which will lead to future projects and work.
- It helps you develop a comprehensive understanding of the project, meaning you can contribute new ideas and enhance the project.
- Open Source Software allows you to connect with contributors and communities which can lead to further work.
- Fixing a bug at the source and committing that fix will mean you won’t have to do it every time you (or anyone) uses that product in the future. This saves time for everyone.
- And finally the very altruistic goal of knowing that you’re helping a project that is used by many others.
If you were unable to attend the PHP conference you now have Ben’s three key takeaways putting you in the know. So, now you know what a PWA is, why it’s important to test now rather than fail later and how open source software is more lucrative than you first thought.