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Top Website and App Development Trends for 2024

February 24, 2024

Growth of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are web apps that utilize modern web capabilities to deliver an app-like experience to users. PWAs load quickly, work offline, can send push notifications, and are responsive across different devices and platforms.

In 2024, I expect PWAs to gain even more popularity for the following reasons:

PWAs offer the best of both worlds – the discoverability and reach of the web combined with the immersive experience of an app. This makes them perfect for businesses looking to reach a wide audience.
Popular frameworks like React and Angular make building PWAs easy for developers.
PWAs are light and load instantly, which improves user experience.
New browser features and web APIs enable more app-like capabilities like push notifications and offline usage.
PWAs are cross-platform and work consistently across desktop and mobile.

Major companies like Twitter, Uber, Flipkart, and Trivago have already adopted PWAs. In 2024, smaller businesses will follow suit once they realize the benefits like higher conversion rates that PWAs offer.

The Rise of WebAssembly

WebAssembly (Wasm) is a binary instruction format that enables near-native performance in web apps. It provides huge performance gains compared to JavaScript and will become more mainstream in 2024.

Here are some key reasons why WebAssembly adoption will increase:

Wasm enables web apps to run computationally intensive tasks like 3D games, VR, computer vision, and speech recognition at near-native speeds.
Popular programming languages like C++, C#, and Rust can now target Wasm in addition to JavaScript. This unlocks new use cases and developers.
Major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari support Wasm. Edge and Node.js are adding support too.
Wasm modules are compact, load faster, and use less power compared to JavaScript.
Frontend frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue are integrating Wasm support, making it easier for developers.

WebAssembly will unlock new categories of web apps in 2024 and blur the lines between native and web.

The Convergence of Mobile and Web

The lines between mobile apps and the web will continue to blur in 2024 as the two converge:

Progressive web apps allow web apps to have key mobile app features like push notifications, offline usage, and app-like navigation.
At the same time, technologies like React Native allow building mobile apps using web languages like JavaScript and React.
Capabilities like camera access, geolocation, and augmented reality are now available on both mobile and the web thanks to standardized APIs.
Mobile web usage continues to rise globally thanks to improving connectivity and powerful but affordable smartphones.
App-like web portals from companies like TikTok demonstrate that the web can now deliver immersive mobile user experiences.

This convergence means developers can target both mobile and web with shared code and skills. Users also benefit from a more unified experience across devices. I expect the lines to blur further in 2024.

The Growth of JavaScript Frameworks

JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue have exploded in popularity among web developers due to the productivity and performance gains they enable. The growth will accelerate further in 2024 due to these key factors:

They provide an efficient way to create complex interactive UIs that sync with backend data. Declarative rendering and component architecture make UI development intuitive.
They have robust ecosystem supported tools for everything from state management to styling.
Their reusable component model fits perfectly with the modular architecture of modern web apps.
They can render on both server and client, enabling faster initial loading.
They can target both web and mobile apps giving developers reuse and portability.

Frameworks will continue to evolve by adopting emerging standards like Web Components. Their growth is poised to continue in 2024 as they become the default way to build web UIs.

The Ascent of Full Stack JavaScript

JavaScript has expanded beyond its client-side roots and can now be used across the entire technology stack. This full stack JavaScript momentum will keep growing in 2024 due to:

High popularity of Node.js on the server which enables the reuse of JavaScript skills and code across frontend and backend.
Common use of JavaScript frameworks like React on both client and server for rendering UI.
Ability to share code and modules across frontend, backend, mobile, and desktop apps.
Large ecosystem of JavaScript libraries and tools for diverse tasks.
Growing adoption in fields like machine learning through projects like TensorFlow.js.

Full stack JavaScript lowers training and coordination costs within product teams. As organizations embrace microservices and decentralized teams, full stack JavaScript will provide a common fabric to bring them together in 2024.

The Evolution of Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid cloud – combining private on-prem infrastructure with public cloud services – will keep evolving in 2024 as organizations aim to find the right balance between control and agility. Some key developments will be:

Using public cloud for ephemeral workloads while keeping core systems on-prem. This takes advantage of cloud elasticity while retaining control over critical systems.
Hybrid Kubernetes clusters spanning on-prem data centers and public cloud to unify container deployment across environments.
Hybrid CI/CD pipelines combining self-hosted runners and public cloud build services.
Data replication and synchronization across cloud and on-prem private cloud databases to reduce latency.
Unified monitoring, logging and identity management across public cloud and private cloud.

The hybrid model provides the best of both worlds – enterprise grade control and security combined with public cloud agility and innovation. This evolution will continue in 2024.

The Democratization of Artificial Intelligence

Advances in AI and explosive growth of data are making AI capabilities accessible to enterprises of all sizes in 2024.

Open source machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch make training ML models approachable outside the tech giants.
AutoML tools automate time-consuming tasks like model selection, hyperparameter tuning saving time and expertise.
Low code ML platforms allow building models using intuitive graphical interfaces without coding.
Pre-trained models and model marketplaces enable plug-and-play adoption of AI by removing upfront training costs.
Cloud hosted ML services like Amazon SageMaker break down ML barriers for smaller teams.

These innovations will fuel wider AI adoption across industries. Expect deeper incorporation of AI in apps and services in 2024.

The Growth of Multicloud

Organizations are increasingly adopting multicloud – use of multiple public clouds by the same organization – for greater flexibility and bargaining power. This trend will grow further in 2024 driven by:

Desire to avoid vendor lock-in and take advantage of unique services on different clouds like AI, containers, serverless.
Need for redundancy and disaster recovery across cloud providers.
Leveraging strengths of different clouds – for ex. AWS for infrastructure, GCP for AI, Azure for Windows environments.
Regional presence and compliance requirements demanding use of local cloud providers.

Multicloud management complexity is being addressed through unified tools by third parties. As the ecosystem matures, multicloud provides the ultimate flexibility that forward-looking organizations demand.

The Surge in Low Code platforms

Demand outstripping supply for developer talent is fueling the rise of low code platforms that enable application development with minimal coding. Their growth will accelerate in 2024 as:

Intuitive visual interfaces empower non-developers to build apps addressing bottlenecks.
Integration capabilities allow incorporating data and functionality from existing systems.
Enterprise-grade capabilities like permissions, governance, security are built in.
They can target web, mobile, desktop clients and leverage innovations like blockchain or AI.

While not a substitute for professional developers, low code platforms will empower IT and business teams to be more self-sufficient. They provide an agile way to develop apps tailored to their requirements.

The Expansion of Web 3.0 and Blockchain

Web 3.0 based on blockchain technologies like decentralization, cryptography, and token-based economics will gain more traction in 2024 through:

New blockchain platforms that improve scalability, security, and energy efficiency over first gen blockchains.
Growth of decentralized apps spanning finance, social media, gaming, content creation, DNS, digital identity.
Wider embrace of blockchain and tokens by mainstream businesses and artists.
Convergence with AI fields like machine learning, predictive analytics, and recommendation engines.
Consumer interfaces like crypto wallets and DEXs that abstract blockchain complexities.

While still early, Web 3.0 technologies have crossed the chasm and offer a paradigm shift in how applications are built and monetized. Adoption will keep growing in 2024.

The Rise of DataOps Culture

Organizations are increasingly adopting an agile DataOps culture that aligns data management with business objectives. Key drivers in 2024 will be:

Treating data as a product delivers business value and not just a byproduct.
Tighter collaboration between data engineers, analysts, and business teams in data lifecycle.
Infrastructure automation and CI/CD pipelines make data provisioning agile.
Metadata, observability, and quality built into data infrastructure.
Decentralized self-service access to data democratizes analytics.

DataOps enables continuously aligning data analytics and ML with changing business needs. Organizations that foster a DataOps culture will gain competitive advantage from faster data insights.

Final Thoughts

These technology trends showcase that we are at an extremely exciting time for digital innovation. The barriers between web, mobile, and native continue to crumble. Powerful new capabilities are being built into web standards at a rapid clip. Data and AI are transforming software across industries. Startups have access to enterprise-grade infrastructure. Web 3.0 promises to revolutionize digital economies. For developers and organizations that stay ahead of the curve, there are massive opportunities in store ahead in 2024 and beyond.