This Is What’s Trending in Web Development in 2020

Consumer expectations change rapidly making business owners reinvent the wheel all the time. This particularly affects web development sphere, and it is constantly evolving these days. To stay ahead of competitors, it is important to follow the latest trends and know the technologies that power the process of web app creation. They can open up new prospects and help create disruptive products and solutions.

Web developers also watch out for new updates in the industry. There is no denying that it helps them to stay on top of the game to provide relevant solutions based on project requirements. Let’s examine the current trends in web development and define which technologies you should use for your next big thing.

Top Web Dev Languages

Let’s turn to StackOverFlow Developer survey 2019 to get an idea of the mainstream languages that power web development. Javascript leads the pack with roughly 70% of respondents using the technology in their projects. It is a firmly established tool that comes with a large set of libraries, frameworks, and a vast tooling support. Javascript is currently in tech stacks of numerous startups and established companies, like Uber, PayPal, and Netflix.

Python is the next hot topic in the web development world. The hype around this language shows no signs of slowing down in this year, with more and more projects involving Python for various aims. Be it web or desktop apps, machine learning and data science, Python shines in making fast and reliable software products.

Java and PHP are also trending among professional developers in 2020. Despite being 20+ years on the market, Java’s popularity is not decreasing. It is a fast and secure tool for creating scalable applications with complex business logic. As for PHP, this language proves its worth in high-performance applications and websites with high traffic. This language powers the most widespread CMS out there, which accounts for the majority of eCommerce websites. So PHP will potentially continue to occupy strong positions in 2020.

Ruby on Rails is also a noteworthy opponent among other web development languages. Although it doesn’t power tech stacks of renowned companies, the language is rather popular among startups. It ensures fast prototyping – letting you create an MVP at a blazingly fast speed.

Top Web Dev Frameworks

Web development frameworks resemble each other in many ways, even though they are implemented in different coding languages. This is probably not surprising, because they solve the same problems for developers. However, each framework has different approaches and methods and handles development tasks in its own way.

Let’s refer to the StackOverflow survey once again. The data suggests that Angular.js, React.js, and Vue.js are among the most preferred frameworks among professional developers. Both Angular.js and React.js are associated with large corporations – Google and Facebook. Vue.js, in turn, is an open-source framework that boasts much support from individual contributors.

It might be the case that the rivalry between the three above mentioned frameworks will continue in 2020 and even further.

Single-Page Apps (SPAs)

SPAs has become the silver bullet for those willing to create seamless user experiences in 2020. This is especially useful for eCommerce websites as such apps come with less interruptions for online shoppers. On the other hand, web developers have less friction with coding and deploying software products. This happens because SPAs don’t deal with complex navigation and hierarchy – all the data is available within a single scrolling experience. Moreover, Single-Page Apps get reloads only once on any device, which helps to achieve fast loading times and thus attract more leads.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

As the number of mobile users continues to grow, businesses try not to miss opportunities hiding there. That is why they turn to Progressive web applications to enhance their brand and move web experiences into mobile. PWAs are the websites that have functionality similar to mobile apps. Their task is to increase conversion and facilitate the use of websites on user devices.

Such apps are gaining momentum in 2020, since they don’t take up space on the device, allow you to engage users at any time, regardless of the Internet access and provide an interface identical to convenient mobile apps. That is why more and more companies are starting to implement such a technology in their web development projects.

Chatbots

This technology has been there for a very long time. But its quality left much to be desired, as many bots could give incorrect or irrelevant answers at all. However, consumer expectations have shifted, with almost half of online users willing to approach companies via live chat. This fact has recently had a major impact on web development – more and more companies are investing in the technology to enhance user experiences.

Now, modern chatbots learn by processing and remembering even the most unusual use cases. This allows you to greatly facilitate the user experience and simplify the work with both the website and the chatbot application. Many virtual assistants have also learned to perform certain functions. It is likely that the performance of chatbots will become much more efficient and faster in 2020.

Voice Search Optimization

The rise of virtual home assistants that perform commands based on voice recognition has fueled interest towards Voice Search Optimization. Most companies are scratching their heads, thinking of how to integrate voice commands into their websites.

The shift to mobile-responsive websites can help implement that feature. In fact, the quarter of mobile users prefers to use voice search on their devices. Obviously, the generation that doesn’t want to spend time typing search queries has evolved to continue disrupting the way we see traditional websites.

As the technology matures, we will probably see more and AI-based voice search optimization practices in 2020.

Summing Up

It takes much effort to develop a great website that will respond to user expectations and make you win your competition. Foresee the changes and learn to adapt to them. I hope that the list of trends and the most popular technologies provided in the article will help you navigate through the complex and ever-changing web development landscape. Is there anything important I’ve missed? Feel free to leave a comment below!