Software development teams are always looking for new ways to make their processes more efficient and productive. In the past few years, there have been major advances in software development tools, which can help teams focus on developer productivity.
In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the biggest trends in software development tools for 2023 that will help teams stay ahead of the curve.
Moving to open-source collaboration solutions that adapt to specific needs
A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer satisfactory when it comes to collaboration tools. Software development teams have become increasingly frustrated that collaboration tools don’t integrate with other tools they use and aren’t a good fit for their workflows.
In 2023, we expect to see development teams turn to open source solutions and purpose-built collaboration tools that fit within existing tools and with technical workflows in mind.
Making team knowledge accessible and sharable
Very often knowledge siloes prevent individuals and teams working effectively and efficiently. This is particularly the case as many development teams are now distributed around the world!
According to StackOverflow’s 2022 Developer Survey*, 68% of developers encounter a knowledge silo at least once a week.
Hunting for the information required takes them out of their workflow, slows down development and becomes a blocker to resolving problems – what most developers like to do best.
This year we will see development teams focussing on sharing the knowledge that team members are continuously gaining. Committing to better process documentation, searchable knowledge databases and knowledge sharing platforms will become more important than ever for the year ahead and beyond.
Leveraging advancements in open-source AI and machine learning tools
We have seen over the past year novel uses of AI and machine learning tools across industries to dramatically enhance teams’ productivity. Software development is no exception.
From AI-based cybersecurity to GitHub CoPilot for pair programming and Hyperautomation testing there are an abundance of tools for developers to utilise.
By leveraging AI and ML to eliminate the time-consuming and ‘boring’ parts of the job, developers will get time (and their happiness) back. Ultimately this will make software development more efficient, reliable, and error-free, and give teams a productivity boost.
Optimizing Platform Engineering instead of DevOps
Undoubtedly the adoption of DevOps tools and processes has led organizations to produce better quality software and happier working environments over the past couple of years. However, with the tech evolution we’re experiencing, DevOps workflows are complex, overloaded and sometimes unreliable. DevOps teams are facing unprecedented challenges as a result. And this is all having a negative impact on a team’s ability to build and release reliable software in a timely manner.
Over the next year we expect to see a shift from DevOps to the optimization of Platform Engineering to help developer teams handle tasks such as writing rules and policies, creating pipelines and writing code. This will increase end users’ productivity and decrease the burden on DevOps and developer teams.
In 2023 we expect to see software development teams using a smarter-approach to unblocking workflows by selecting tools carefully and not just onboarding them with the hope that they’ll make a difference to productivity. This also requires the nurturing an organization’s culture. From empowering developers to problem-solve, to clear documentation and transparent and open communication, a collaborative and safe workspace needs to be developed.
Getting both the tool selection and organization culture right are the key ingredients to keep the development team engaged, innovative and building great products.
