As a very unique year slowly comes to an end, experts are here again to predict the most promising trends in the app development industry. In this article, we will discuss the cutting-edge software technologies, programming languages and other areas that I believe are going to gain more power in the software industry battle next year

1. Native App Development

It’s no surprise that this approach will gain momentum, especially in the banking/fintech industry, multimedia products and other areas with increased demand for flawless performance on mobile devices, reliability, quality and security. Native development provides enhanced user experience and outstanding performance when these parameters are a priority.

2. The Internet Of Things

The rise of IoT is not going to stop in 2021. Smart home systems, Bluetooth trackers, car gadgets, point-of-sales beacons, IoT devices for manufacturers and plants, smart wearables for healthcare and fitness. This is just a handful of possible use cases for internet-of-things technologies. IoT should be mixed with AI and big data for maximum productiveness, but it remains highly trendy. According to a 2018 Bain and Co. report, “We expect the markets for IoT hardware, software, systems integration, and data and telecom services to grow to $520 billion in 2021, more than double the $235 billion spent in 2017.”

There definitely will be more implementation opportunities that will help people improve their quality of life. More affordable and effective IoT devices will change most industries. As for IoT software development, I think IoT engineers from all over the world should improve their programming skills to write code for energy-efficient connected devices.

3. Human Augmentation

Human augmentation is a set of technologies that is used to enhance, replace or complement the natural abilities of people. Human 2.0 technologies exist in the form of implants built into the body, such as devices to restore sight or hearing, or external devices and tools, such as exoskeletons to improve natural capabilities. New technologies and use cases are on their way to significantly improving human lives, and the technology we’ve seen from things like Google Glass is just the beginning.

4. Big Data

Big data computation is still among the top trends and investment opportunities. In 2021, a significant part of the job is going to be carried out by the tools that process everything in memory right away instead of storing data after each calculation. Batch processing frameworks are going to be in demand, especially when it comes to social media data, documents and text analysis, and clickstream media. I believe big data will be used to facilitate climatic change research and search for new medical cures, and it will be used for a more natural language processing and easier data governance. However, cybersecurity in this area will remain a challenge.

5. Artificial Intelligence Expansion

Despite being a buzzword, used both correctly and incorrectly, AI is still a top technology and will become more powerful, affordable and widespread. Deep learning, machine learning, speech processing and more are going to be used more in ecommerce, healthcare, education and entertainment apps. AI is what helps businesses and organizations provide more personalized experiences for customers, and this trend will continue in a more cost-effective manner next year.

6. Continuous Integration And Deployment

This practice is aimed to cut down the cycle of feature delivery, make bug fixing more frequent and effective, and allow more flexibility and experiments in software development. Continuous delivery means apps get into production for thorough testing, while continuous deployment updates them automatically. As the code is added to a shared repository, it is tested so the delivery is accelerated. It enables software development teams to continuously improve functionality and deliver products faster. No wonder more software development companies will implement this approach in their work.

7. Progressive Web Apps

When comparing websites to web apps, the former ones are easier to access, while the latter can provide broader functionality and top performance due to embracing platform-specific hardware support. Still in their infancy, progressive web apps have become a valuable compromise between easy access and five-star performance. Users get a full-fledged and full-screen experience with less data usage and shorter loading time. They transfer the app-like features into the browser window, thus marking a revolution of web development. A lot of world-renowned platforms — including Forbes, AliExpress, Pinterest and Twitter — already make use of PWA adoption. To my mind, they are going to dominate the market of web products in 2021.

8. Low-Code Development

Previously, it took large, dedicated teams of software engineers and architects to create any type of digital solution. It used to be very expensive and barely available to medium-sized businesses. However, the low-code development trend is here to simplify complex programming languages and provide access to a coding miracle to more specialists. Low-code platforms have the necessary potential to revolutionize the software market, avoid a lot of manual work, and provide simple interfaces to help people build new apps at a low investment of money, time, and specific skills.

9. Cross-Platform And Hybrid Development

For some industries or application types, cross-platform development becomes a major time-saver and facilitator. So we cannot say that only the development will be mostly native in 2021. The common back-end code base for mobile platforms can be a compromise between functionality and time to market. Back-end code shareability with the native rendering engine (as in the case of cross-platform development) will achieve impressive results at a reasonable investment in the coming year.

Takeaway

I believe new programming languages will appear at the forefront of software engineering next year. You can also expect to see new technologies appear and some of the 2020 buzzwords vanish. Software development is a highly competitive industry that impacts every sector — it will only continue to grow and become more diversified.

Why Low-Code Platforms Need DevOps Integration

Low-code development platforms have historically lived outside mainstream DevOps toolchains. Teams could build applications quickly but then struggled to plug those apps into standardized CI/CD pipelines, automated testing suites, or release management workflows. OutSystems addressed this gap directly with a set of new capabilities announced in a 2017 platform release, aiming to make low-code a first-class citizen in enterprise DevOps practices.

What Was Announced

The release package included six distinct additions:

• Enhanced LifeTime Deployment API
• Microsoft Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) Integration
• Jenkins CI/CD Server Integration
• A new Test Framework
• Automated Visual Text Merge
• LifeTime DevOps Advanced Deployment Options

Enhanced LifeTime Deployment API

The LifeTime Deployment API is OutSystems’ programmatic interface for managing the full application lifecycle. The enhanced version allows DevOps teams to manage apps, modules, environments, and deployments directly through API calls rather than requiring manual interaction with the LifeTime management console. This is a foundational capability: without a robust API, pipelines cannot be automated end-to-end.

Teams can use the API to trigger builds and manage releases through external orchestration tools, which is what makes the VSTS and Jenkins integrations possible.

Visual Studio Team Services and Jenkins Integrations

Connecting OutSystems to VSTS (now Azure DevOps) and Jenkins means that platform teams no longer need to maintain a separate, manual deployment process for low-code applications. A pipeline that already handles microservices or traditional application deployments can include OutSystems app releases as pipeline stages.

Paula Panarra, General Manager at Microsoft Portugal, commented on the collaboration: “As organizations seek to drive digital transformation, they may adopt low-code platforms that accelerate delivery of enterprise applications. Collaborating with OutSystems is a win-win for organizations embracing DevOps and balancing the need to innovate with the need to maintain legacy applications.”

For Jenkins users, this integration allows OutSystems deployments to be triggered as part of a Jenkinsfile-based pipeline, subject to the same gate checks, approvals, and rollback logic applied to any other application in the pipeline.

New Test Framework

Automated testing is a non-negotiable component of a mature CI/CD pipeline. The OutSystems Test Framework introduced support for:

• BDD Framework Tests – behaviour-driven development scenarios enabling collaboration between business analysts, QA, and developers on shared acceptance criteria.
• UI Tests – automated validation of front-end application interfaces.
• API Testing – verification of service contracts and integration points.
• Mobile Testing – test coverage for applications delivered on mobile platforms.

This breadth of testing coverage is significant because it brings low-code applications closer to the quality gates expected of traditionally coded software. Without it, organizations may be reluctant to include low-code apps in a continuous delivery workflow where automated quality validation is a hard requirement.

Automated Visual Text Merge

Merge conflicts are a common friction point in team-based development. OutSystems introduced an automated visual text merge tool specifically for JavaScript and CSS scripts embedded in low-code applications. The tooling lets developers:

• Visually compare conflicting script versions side by side.
• Merge changes and resolve conflicts within the platform UI.
• Reduce the manual effort required during conflict resolution in parallel development workflows.

For teams working with multiple developers contributing to the same application, this capability reduces the bottleneck that conflict resolution can create and helps maintain deployment velocity.

Advanced Deployment Options in LifeTime

The updated deployment options feature an improved user interface that simplifies searching for and selecting applications to be deployed. This supports more flexible deployment workflows, allowing teams to target specific apps or modules rather than deploying everything in an environment simultaneously — an important capability in larger portfolios with independently releasable applications.

The Strategic Picture

OutSystems CEO Paulo Rosado framed the release in terms of removing adoption barriers: “OutSystems wants all organizations to take advantage of the development speed of low-code — this is fundamental to them achieving their digital transformation goals. Where organizations have an existing investment in DevOps tooling, we want to break any barriers to entry and make it easy to add our platform into their toolchain.”

The underlying message is that low-code speed is only useful if the applications produced can be governed, tested, and deployed with the same rigour as any other enterprise software. By integrating with established tools like Jenkins and VSTS and exposing a full deployment API, OutSystems made a practical argument that low-code does not have to mean low-discipline in delivery practice.

Key Takeaways for DevOps Teams Evaluating Low-Code

• API-first matters. An enhanced deployment API is the enabling layer for everything else. Evaluate any low-code platform on the completeness and stability of its programmatic interfaces before assessing integrations.
• Toolchain compatibility reduces organisational friction. Supporting Jenkins and VSTS means platform teams do not need to learn a new toolchain or maintain a parallel pipeline for low-code applications.
• Test coverage must match the application’s risk profile. BDD, UI, API, and mobile testing coverage ensures low-code applications are held to consistent quality standards.
• Merge tooling for non-traditional assets is underrated. JavaScript and CSS conflict resolution is often an afterthought in low-code platforms; having it built in reduces delivery bottlenecks.