How is Blockchain Revolutionizing the Business Practices and the World?

Ground-breaking technologies keep emerging from time to time and Blockchain is one such out-of-the-box innovation. It was exclusively used for buying and selling Bitcoins some time back, but now it is topping the popularity charts for a plethora of other reasons. So what is so special about Blockchain?

Well, Blockchain solutions exceedingly simplify business transactions, they improve transparency and traceability to a great extent while keeping pace with the speed of running businesses and keeping the costs to a bare minimum. Let’s look at some statistics.

• As reported by ReportLinker, the Blockchain market is estimated to grow by 67.3% between the years 2020 to 2025. It is predicted to go from $3 billion to $39.7 billion in these years.
• Another estimation by Statista indicated that global expenditure on Blockchain solutions from the year 2017 to 2024 is expected to cross the value of $6.6 billion.

These staggering numbers speak volumes about the bright scope of Blockchain and ultimately Blockchain App development services. So, now let us dive deeper into the reasons why this technology is the most talked-about technology today.

Rising Significance of Blockchain for Business

Top-grade Security

In this digital era, data is the most vital asset. For ensuring the security of this asset, for preventing it from fraudulent practices, hacking, leakages, etc., Blockchain makes use of high-end mathematical algorithms. Cryptography is used for adding a security layer to all the data that is stored on the network. On the network, every block carries a unique hash so that the data on the blocks cannot be altered or forged; thus ensuring high-level security.

Better Transparency and Traceability

Transparency and traceability are crucial aspects of Blockchain technology wherein every single detail is tracked. The authorized users or businesses have access to all the updates on the transactions in the decentralized network since the very beginning. Public Blockchain is an example of this. It is transparent in nature. It can also be used by corporate enterprises to allow the end-users to either completely or partially interact with the processes.

Inflexibility

Being very rigid, Blockchain opens myriad opportunities for platforms that require immutable traits to make their systems exceedingly functional. For instance, in supply chain management, immutability gives assurance to businesses that no harm will be done to their packages in transit. Also, this immutability trait ensures that the package information won’t be altered in any condition and the system will be alarmed in case any such activity occurs.

Privacy in Financial Transactions

Many new cryptocurrencies are about to enter the market; Monero, Beam, Litecoin, Cardano, Stellar, Tether, etc. to name a few. These are focused on financial privacy i.e. on keeping the information about their economic ownership highly confidential. No one will be able to gather any information about any individual’s financial holdings.

Diverse Applications and Use-cases

Blockchain has vast and diverse applications and it isn’t confined to any particular sector. Its applications can be found in sectors like:

• Digital Currency
• Global Payments
• P2P Lending
• Digital Rights
• Microfinance
• Remittance
• E-commerce
• Voting
• Ownership
• Intellectual Property
• Escrow
• Smart Contracts
• Healthcare
• Record Keeping
• Wagers
• Debt handling
• Crowdfunding, etc.

Comparatively Budget-friendly

When compared with traditional economic models, Blockchain app development services are inexpensive. Since there is no centralization, there isn’t any need to pay the middlemen. Besides, as there is no centralized authority, the buffer needed to optimally run the network is also removed. Furthermore, it requires very little paperwork, the need for hiring people to manage the paperwork, etc. also gets reduced considerably.

Also, the adoption of this technology will help in the reduction of Support Function cost, IT cost, Personnel cost, Operations cost, data breach-related cost, etc.

Decentralized Services

Decentralized services are required in almost every sector, be it energy management, asset management, or anything else. These services enable people to have unprecedented access to options that aren’t currently available in the market. Blockchain is contributing a big-time in this case.

For example, in the music industry, both- music creators and consumers can participate using truly decentralized services, without any human intervention or need for approval from any centralized authority.

Good Pliability in Usage

Blockchain is a secure technology and is used in various applications, making it flexible for usage to suit varying business needs. Cryptography utilized in the Blockchain is highly beneficial for flexibly executing business transactions.

No Intermediaries Required

In Blockchain applications, mediators or intermediaries aren’t required for any kind of transactions related to digital payments, asset management, insurance claims, stock exchange, land registry, etc.

Integration with IoT

Integrating Blockchain with IoT will help make industrial operations much faster, easier, and secure than expected. Using the Blockchain innovation with IoT, data privacy can be easily managed along with high volumes of data, and ownership protection is possible.

Automates Contracts

Contracts where some conditions or situations are specified for automatically executing a pre-defined task, are called smart contracts. These aim to speed up the execution, reduce costs, and ensure overall security. Blockchain helps in the innovation of these smart contracts as it allows automating predefined action execution.

Blockchain-powered smart contracts are highly applicable in supply chain management, maintaining healthcare data, voting systems, royalty distribution agreements, identity access, understanding of intellectual property rights, etc.

True Digital Freedom

There are several centralized entities that may be offering you connectivity for economic transactions, but they do not provide complete freedom. For instance, your bank has the authority to block your transactions or even seize your account even if you haven’t done anything wrong. On the other hand, Blockchain gives you digital freedom. Since there is no central authority here, you are the exclusive owner of your assets.

Elevated Efficiency

Last but most important, since it provides high-end security, refrains from the involvement of the third parties, saves the cost of any intermediaries, etc. Blockchain is proving highly efficient. The banking sector is especially leveraging this technology at a fast pace.

Blockchain Business Applications in Diverse Industrial Sectors

Transportation and Logistics:

• Blockchain-enabled platforms help in the easy management of documents and thus reducing unnecessary paperwork to some extent.
• Modern customers need same-day and one-hour delivery services. In this case, Blockchain services act as a scalable and instant solution for authentication and tracking of orders.
• With the application of smart contracts, faster and error-free approvals and clearances can be ensured at customs checkpoints. This will drastically reduce processing times for goods.

Banking and Finance:

• Blockchain helps financial organizations to ensure authenticity in their systems and maintain proper data integrity.
• It helps streamline processes and improves overall efficiency in processes like real-time settlement, audit, reporting, etc.
• Blockchain solutions also help in investment management, administration, fund launching, etc.

Education:

• Blockchain systems will improve record-keeping.
• It will help in improving efficiency in the business processes like reducing overhead related to background verification, reducing frauds related to CVs, etc.
• Blockchain will help educational organizations to create effective business models.

Healthcare:

• Blockchain solutions help in drug traceability.
• They help in the incentivization of micropayments.
• These also help in the security of electronic health records and clinical trials data

Supply Chain:

• With improved transparency, Blockchain helps in accurate asset tracking.
• Real-time tracing is another benefit that allows secure transactions and saves the goods from any malicious activities.
• It improves tradability.

Concluding Thoughts:

Like other disruptive technologies like AI, ML, RPA, etc., Blockchain, too, has made its mark and it is going to enhance our lives in phenomenal ways. Industrial sectors like Banking and Finance, Healthcare, Transport, Supply Chain, Trading, etc. are already leveraging the benefits of this technology. This blog was just a glimpse of how Blockchain business applications are transforming the world. There is a lot to come.

I hope this article provided you some valuable insights into how Blockchain technology is helping in various sectors.

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React Native App Development: Benefits, Challenges and Mistakes to Avoid!

 

React Native is undoubtedly one of the most widely used cross-platform frameworks for creating native-like apps. This framework can be easily used for developing brand-new apps from scratch and even in existing iOS or Android projects. So, it is immensely popular and loved by beginners as well as experienced developers. Consequently, the demand for React Native app development services is on the rise across the globe. Here are the top benefits it offers to one and all.

 

Foremost Advantages of React Native app development

 

• Use of JavaScript and easy learning curve, especially for new developers
• Code re-usability for a speedy development process
• Pre-built components and third-party plugins to create feature-packed good-quality apps from scratch
• Creation of performance-based apps with higher reliability and stability
• Technical goodies like modular architecture, declarative coding style, and ‘hot-reload’ feature to enhance the productivity of React Native app developers
• Rich and friendly UI/UX design
• Powerful and knowledgeable community to support
• An easy and direct installation method
• Faster time-to-market
• Creates solutions that allow adaptation to Android and iOS along with smart TVs, VR devices, etc., since it is a cross-platform framework

 

With so many outstanding advantages to offer, this framework has a bright future. But like any other framework, there are several challenges or limitations that are inherently associated with React Native app development. Here we have outlined a few of them.

 

 

Probable Challenges in the React Native App Development Process

 

One of the challenges in this framework is the dependency on native app developers, especially while dealing with complex and heavy computational processes. Another challenge, rather limitation, is that this framework does not support parallel threading or multiprocessing. So the performance of the apps slows down while executing multiple processes simultaneously.

Also, the abstraction layers in React Native have certain limitations. They have a dependency on third-party services and libraries. Finding bugs in abstraction layers is quite difficult; hence resolving them too is time-consuming. Another challenge while using this framework is faced during iOS deployment since testing the iPhone apps on any other testing service except Apple’s TestFlight is quite annoying.

Despite these challenges, React Native is a preferred choice of mobile app development companies for writing robust and natively rendered applications. Moreover, these challenges can be handled well by experienced developers, whereas, a beginner or an unskilled developer tends to make more mistakes.

So, for the development of a flawless end-product, react native developers, particularly the newbies, must have prior knowledge about these probable errors. Let us have a glimpse of the commonest React Native App Development mistakes that could be avoided. during the creation of React Native apps.

 

React Native App Development Mistakes to Avoid

Improper image optimization

 

Image optimization, despite being a crucial step in app development, is commonly ignored by developers. But optimizing the images is necessary for reducing the load time of images. It helps in resizing the images locally and then allows uploading them automatically on the cloud storage like Amazon S3 by the server. After this, the developers get a CDN link that can be returned through the API. This entire process makes the app lightweight and boosts app performance.

 

Presence of console log statements

 

Console log statements allow the React Native app developers to easily detect bugs while debugging. These make the apps glitch-free during app execution stages. These also help to detect the reasons behind the low performance of the apps. But, in case the developers fail to remove the log statements after completion of the debugging process, it can cause blunders. If the logic and the render methods are kept inside the apps, they can lead to congestion in the JavaScript thread and ultimately slow down the app performance.

 

Inappropriate Redux store planning

 

Redux is quite useful in React Native for managing the apps effectively, handling and storing the gathered data correctly, debugging app states, etc. But Redux must be planned well for utilizing it to the fullest, or it may lead to issues, especially in small projects. This is so because Redux demands writing long codes even for the smallest of modifications. So, it isn’t suited much for small-scale projects but is a good choice for larger apps and projects.

 

Inaccurate or wrong project estimation

 

The chances of committing mistakes while estimating for project in React Native are higher for various reasons as given below:

• The layouts and structures of app pages for iOS and Android are different. Also, several common components can be interchangeably used for development but the design of the app in most cases will not be alike. As a result, estimation for both platforms can be different.
• The code to be written in React Native is usually larger as compared to the code required in the development of a Hybrid app on Cordova. In such cases, the assessment of the validation layout also must be considered.
• All the endpoints offered by the backend must be checked. Other vitals like understanding the data structure, connecting the entities, handling the logic, etc. must be considered during estimating the project.

If the React Native developers are not aware of these differences, they can estimate incorrect dates for project completion, leading to hassle in the later stages.

 

Utilization of stateless components

A stateless component means that the components don’t extend any class. These always render the same thing and print out only what is provided to them through props. These are also known as dumb components. But, stateless components can be implemented faster, reduce the amount of boilerplate code to be written, and enable easy testing. In the app creation process, it is advisable to use pure components instead of stateless components. This is so because, for stateless components, rendering happens after the re-rendering of the parent component. But for pure components, re-rendering takes place when a change is detected in the states or props.

 

Not verifying external module codes

 

React Native app developers commonly use external modules as this makes the development faster and easier and thus, saves time. But these modules may not work as expected or even break at times. Hence, the developers must read and verify external module codes before using them.

 

Not considering unit testing

 

One of the most common mistakes developers can commit during the React Native app development process is not writing a unit test. The apps can still function irrespective of whether unit tests are conducted or not, but such apps may not provide a great experience to the users and could be less competent in the market. Unit testing enables assessing different parts and functionalities of the apps and ensure they work as expected. It also helps to detect bugs in advance and make sure that the app segments run independently.

Top of Form

Final Words:

React Native has the potential to become “The Best” framework amongst all the available frameworks in the market. It is already being used by big players like Facebook, Delivery.com, UberEats, Bloomberg, Skype, Instagram, Tesla, and many more. It has some downsides as well, but those can be minimized to a great extent if every React Native app development company trains its developers on diligently handling the common mistakes well in advance.

 

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Handy Tips for Mobile App Developers to Optimize Mobile Apps for Better Battery Life!

The battery life of a smartphone is one of the crucial aspects of the mobile user experience, isn’t it?

Users mostly tend to buy the smartphone that promises longer battery life. But despite choosing the best one in the market, phone batteries can drain out and underperform owing to numerous factors. Factors like fast internet connections, speedy processors, thinner phone bodies, brighter screens, etc. badly affect the devices’ battery. But, heavy and unoptimized mobile apps are one of the top reasons that lead to poor battery life. Even a popular app like Facebook is known for draining the battery of mobile phones.

However, there are some remedies that can be useful in resolving this common issue. In this article, we will shed light on those remedies and focus on how mobile app developers and app development companies can optimize mobile apps for better battery life. We will also take you through the downsides of not optimizing the mobile apps. So let’s quickly get started.

Drawbacks of Battery-consuming Mobile Apps on Users and the App Owners

• It may burden the RAM and affect the functioning of the app at times.
• An app that consumes more battery threatens the battery life of the users’ phones.
• Such apps can attract negative reviews on search engines or Play Store/App Store, despite being innovative and useful.
• Such apps can create a bad impression and compel the users to uninstall the app, thus affecting the app owner’s business too.

Noteworthy Tips to Optimize Mobile Apps for a Prolonged Battery Life

There are three important points to remember, as mentioned below:

Making your mobile app Lazy First.

Lazy First Design means finding ways for reducing and optimizing the battery-intensive processes. In this regard, there are some questions that come up and you need to consider answering them while using the CP, the screen, and the radio. Those questions are:

Cut-out Operations: Are there any redundant operations that the mobile application can do without? For instance, can it cache downloaded data rather than waking up the radio repeatedly for re-downloading the data?

Postpone: Are there any tasks that can be deferred by the app? For instance, to back-up the data up to the cloud, can the app wait until the mobile phone is charging?

Coalesce: Is it possible to batch the tasks rather than putting the device into an active state again and again?

So, these issues can be resolved by leveraging some features on the Android platform. Let’s have a look.

Leveraging platform features that helps in managing the battery consumption of the app.

For managing the battery consumption in mobile apps, the Android platform provides various APIs that can be implemented in the apps. Besides, some internal mechanisms are also available in the platform for conserving battery life. These mechanisms include- Doze and App Standby, App Standby Buckets, Background restrictions, Power management restrictions, Testing, and troubleshooting, etc.

Also, Android 9 has made various enhancements to the battery saver mode. Manufacturers of devices can determine the precise restrictions to be imposed. For example, the system applies the below-given restrictions on AOSP builds:

• Rather than waiting for the app to be idle, the system aggressively puts the apps in app standby mode.
• There are some limits put on all the background apps for executing any tasks.
• Network access is restricted to the background apps.
• When the screen of an app is off, the location services would be disabled.

You may have a look at the device-specific power optimizations here.

Utilizing special tools for identification of battery-draining culprits.

Mobile apps can be further optimized by making use of special platform tools. These tools help to identify specific areas of the app that consume more battery so that those areas can be worked upon for successful optimization of apps. For Android, these tools include Battery Historian, Profile GPU Rendering, etc. These can also be used to resolve the areas identified in the Lazy First design.

Final Words:

Modern-day smartphone users are very particular about adding apps to their phones. If they find that a certain app is draining their battery too much, they may choose to delete the app even though it is one of their favorite apps. So, every mobile app development company must consider this and optimize mobile apps for better battery life and thus, increase the chances of their app not being uninstalled. The aforesaid tips would be of great help in this case.

If you want to create a new-age mobile app and have an influential idea in your mind, discuss it with our team at Biz4Solutions! We will partner with you to architect an advanced mobile app with our robust mobile app development process.

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Key Factors affecting the Cost of React Native App Development!

The first set of questions that cross the mind of every aspiring entrepreneur planning to develop a mobile app are:

Which app development framework is profitable and most widely adopted?

What are the factors that influence the development cost?

What is the approximate cost during various stages of the project?

Well, React Native framework is one of the most viable options for developing applications. Its unique capabilities in comparison to the Native development options are:

• Code-sharing ability across multiple platforms
• Ability to craft responsive and fast-loading apps
• Availability of pre-built and reusable components
• Faster time-to-market
• Involves lesser resources and smaller teams

As per a developer survey conducted by Statista in 2020, “React Native is the most popular cross-platform framework used by 42% of the software developers around the globe.”

Now, you must be curious to know about all aspects concerning the development cost in React Native projects! Read along to gather insights on the factors affecting the React Native app development cost and also get a rough estimate of the expenses incurred during each stage of the project.

Factors affecting React Native Application Development Cost

The Design of the App

A well-devised app design is necessary to stay competitive. Devising a well-articulated user flow, well-timed animation, and smooth transitions for navigating between screens, enhances user engagement; but turns out to be super-expensive. Nonetheless, React Native App design costs lesser than that of Native apps; as only one app with cross-platform compatibility needs to be designed.

App Categories

The business requirement for each kind of application vary and so the elements like feature set, the number of real-time users, security considerations, etc. are different for each category of apps. Naturally, the development cost differs as per the number and type of intricacies employed. For instance, simple apps like calendars, calculators, etc. will involve lesser developmental costs as compared to complex, feature-rich apps like mCommerce or customized apps. The reason is integrating more features takes much longer than usual.

App Complexity

The entire mobile app development process usually takes about one week to six months to get completed. The time-to-market, as well as the developmental cost, is directly proportional to the level of complexity, number of functionalities, and the ingenuity of the features. For instance, a project involving the development of a simple app or MVP costs less and is much quicker to execute. Contrarily, a complex application possessing new-fangled features takes longer to develop and incurs more expenses.

All apps are categorized into three levels: High complexity, Medium complexity, and Low Complexity. The factors that determine the level of complexity are as follows:

The Architecture of Deployment Model: For backend development, you can either opt for the Custom approach or BaaS. The custom approach allows the React Native development companies to get the desired mobile architecture tailored to their specific needs; whereas those employing BaaS, have to function using a ready-made backend architecture.

Developing the Admin Panel: Admin panel enables app owners to efficiently manage the React Native app: keeping track of the app’s activity, viewing statistics, and updating the content without developer intervention. The more features you integrate into the Admin Panel, the higher the app ranks in the complexity chart.

Integrating third-party plugins: Integrating third-party plugins is necessary to make an app more user-friendly. These plugins allow the app to interact with other app’s functionality for simplifying processes such as login and payment. However, such integrations are more complicated to implement using React Native app development as compared to Native development.

Utilizing the Device’s built-in features: The new-age tablets and smartphones are decked up with advanced features like GPS, Bluetooth, Barometers, Nearby, etc. which can be linked to an app for enhanced performance, thereby increasing the app’s complexity.

Adding in-app purchase: Most of the popular applications these days possess the ‘in-app purchase’ feature for accelerating ROI. So, app creators are tempted to include this feature, making the app more complex.

Integrating the app with Enterprise or Legacy System: A React Native app can either be a standalone or an integrated one. A standalone app functions independently without being integrated into your system and so is a budget-friendly option. But, the apps that are integrated within any of your enterprise/legacy systems; involve a series of complexities like third-party APIs, extensions, host system modifications in the app, etc. resulting in a more expensive development process.

User Login/Authorization

Crafting applications that do not need any type of user login/authorization and user authentication, involve lesser costs. Contrarily, an app providing these functions incurs more costs as it needs to undergo the process of role-based checks, set by developers. Moreover, the app’s complexity increases, as both the system development team and the app development team of the enterprise need to invest efforts for flawless development and deployment of the application.

Add-ons to the App

The React Native framework enables the creation of captivating apps. But, if one intends to develop a customer-centric app, that app has to be integrated with Social media channels or provided with other custom add-ons. These additional elements push up the expenses. Nevertheless, the need for add-ons depends on the preferences and requirements of clients.

Hardware Dependency

Certain applications like the IoT-powered ones need to be connected with different kinds of hardware. The more the hardware dependency of an application, the greater is the cost of development. Furthermore, utilizing React Native to create an app with hardware connections is more complicated as compared to the Native approach.

App Distribution Expenses

An app is usually deployed via distribution channels and each channel possesses a different pricing policy. The developer license cost charged by stores like the App Store or Google Play is somewhere around $100. Additionally, some apps require permissions from the host, concerning aspects like adherence to security policies, compliance of standards, etc.

Expertise, Size, and Location of the Development Team

The expertise of React Native app developers and the size and location of the development team define the project cost to a considerable extent. Take a look!

The hourly rate of experienced and skilled developers or a huge development team will be much higher, but they are capable of handling complex projects. Hiring freelancers, on the other hand, is a highly affordable option, but the work quality is often compromised. Therefore, opt for freelancers if your project is a simple one, with a flexible completion deadline and you have budget constraints. But, in the case of a complex project with a specified timeline, it is advisable to partner with a React Native App Development Company. Again, high-cap development firms will charge more as they have set high standards in the market. However, a mid-cap app development firm will be a good option to go for; as their hourly rate is comparatively lesser – 41 USD (approximately); and they are more open to executing innovative app ideas.

Besides, the rates vary as per the geographical location of the React Native app Development services you have hired for project execution. The hourly rates are higher in places like Australia, Europe, and North America and comparatively lower in places like Latin America, India, and other Asian countries.

React Native App Cost estimate

Here’s a rough estimate of the app development expenses through various stages.

• The discovery stage – validating app idea, competitive analysis, deciding the target audience, creating the roadmap – generally costs less than $ 5,000.
• Wireframing and prototyping including the creation of visual presentations and lo-fi sketches consume 40 – 50 hours approximately.
• The design and development stage comprises major functions like UI creation and implementation, front-end, and back-end development, testing, etc. As such this stage involves 50% to 70% of the overall developmental expenses.
• Maintenance and support post-launch – bug fixes, updates like revamping the design to keep up with changing trends, adding new features, etc. – are essential for user engagement and retention. This stage accounts for about 20-25% of the total development cost.

Key Takeaway:

The aforesaid insights on the advantages of React Native app development, the cost estimate, and the factors affecting the project cost will help you to choose the right option as per your specific requirements.

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What are the Best Practices to be implemented in an Angular App Development Project? - Part I

Angular is one of the most popular MVC pattern MVVM frameworks of the 21st century. Developed by Google, Angular is significantly used for building dynamic mobile, web, desktop apps using TypeScript, and HTML.  The initial version of Angular was Angular JS. AngularJS development had created ripples in the software world when it released. Furthermore, this proactive team kept releasing updated versions at regular intervals to keep up with changing times.  Recently, its latest version Angular10 was released in the market which created a buzz in the software world.

But to meet the high-end requirements of modern-day users, it is essential to not only use the next-gen framework like Angular but also follow a certain set of standard development practices. So in this blog, we have enlisted some of the top Angular app development practices that developers can learn and follow. But before we get started, let us have a quick look at the benefits of following these practices, rather tips.

Noticeable Benefits of Following the Angular Development Best Practices

• Helps in Creating a Clean Code
• Aids in Maintaining the Coding Standards
• Helps in Minimizing the Developmental Time
• Ensures a Minimal Score on the Bugs and Issues
• Ensures Improved Performance of the End-product
• Makes Code Management and Debugging Easier

Highlights of the Top Angular App Development Practices

Rules to follow for Angular Coding Styles

Following certain standard coding styles instead of the common styles during Angular app development can ensure the writing of simple and adaptable code and a good user-experience. Here are the rules to be followed for Angular coding styles:

• The code per function shouldn’t exceed 75 lines
• The code per file should not exceed 400 lines
• It is good to declare the values of variables with ‘const’ if those values are intact
• While sharing feature area for all slider components, developers should use a custom prefix
• You can use shortcuts for files with similarly naming conventions. For instance, you may use hero.component.ts|html|css|spec for naming different files with the same names
• In case you usually prefix the names for database, table, field, etc., avoid this practice for Interface names like AbastractShape and iShape
• Apply single responsibility symbol to services, components, and symbols since it allows creating a more readable and cleaner app format.

Best Security Practices in Angular

Security is of utmost importance in any application. In Angular, security lapses can result in a dangerous threats, for instance, cross-site scripting. This issue can result in the passing of controls on the client side resulting in the alteration of the web pages. For avoiding such attacks, the developers should be aware of some security practices in the Angular framework as mentioned below:

• Maintaining the Angular Libraries on Regular Intervals
• Updating Angular libraries for every new update from Google
• Preventing the XSS cross-site security issues

For doing this, it is necessary to consider the measures like DOM sanitization service, Offline template compiler, sanitization and security contexts, context security policy, etc. These will help to keep the attackers away from client-side apps ensuring higher security.

Routing in Angular and related Practices to Consider

Routing in Angular is performed to either display or hide components as and when needed by the users. Routing makes the components available for the development process whenever required, thus reducing constant trips to the server. However, bad routing practices can result in disorganized Angular apps at some point. So, for ensuring these issues don’t exist, the developers need to understand some basics about adding templates and components into the app along with the appropriate functioning of the routes. Have a glance at the best practices concerning Angular routing:

• Developing the routes module wise
• Routing with lazy loading
• Organizing routes guards
• Lazy loading routes with Preload

Preventing Observable Memory Leaks

Unlike any other framework, Angular, too, has observable memory leaks. Observables are of great use in Angular as they help in streamlining important data. But at the same time, leaks in observables can cause critical issues in mobile app development. Please follow the below-mentioned tips to avoid these leaks:

• Use ‘async pipe’: these are built-in attributes that come in handy when the developers need to mark the components for emitted values. Also, they unsubscribe automatically from observables and thus prevent unnecessary memory leakages.
• Use ‘take(1)’: This is an operator that allows you to get the data just once and helps to easily avoid memory leaks.
• Use ‘takeUntil’: This is another operator that should be used when you wish to monitor second Observables and destroy the subscription; once the Observables gets completed or emits the value; thus, preventing the Observables to be leaked.

Usage of Template Directive

In Angular, ‘ngFor’ comes as a built-in template directive and is used for building new templates in the applications for every item. So, the Angular developers can rather use ‘trackBy’ directive every time they use ngFor. So, instead of rendering the complete DOM tree, ‘trackBy’ will help in creating customized and unique identifiers for every item.

Utilizing the most powerful accessibility tool- Angular CLI

Angular Command-Line Interface (CLI) already follows all the standard practices during Angular app development. It eases out the development process. It helps to test, debug, maintain, and deploy the applications. So, the developers should use it for developing an initial-level structure for the Angular app. They must use Angular CLI for the generation of new modules, directives, services, components, pipes, classes, etc. while creating any files and folders, instead of doing it manually. The usage of this interface decreases JavaScript fatigue and complexity.

Here is a detailed blog on other vital tools used in Angular for creating an outstanding application.

A Few Other Recommended Practices

• Naming Conventions for readability and maintainability
• Maintaining the folder structure properly
• Utilizing service workers for ensuring that the apps become highly responsive
• Isolating all the API hacks in one place
• Breaking down the larger components into multiple smaller components
• Ensuring proper documentation of code, every variable, and the methods used
• Using state management libraries for managing state transitions

In our upcoming blog, we will explain these practices in detail and also include some more tips and practices that all the Angular development services should follow. Also, here is our blog on the “Potential mistakes that developers must avoid during Angular development!”

Key Takeaways:

For designing a comprehensive application that becomes lucrative as well as popular, it is essential to implement the best developmental methods. So here, we have mentioned some of these methods which are tried and tested by the experienced Angular developers who have worked on versatile projects for years. Every Angular/Angular JS app development company should consider these tips and train their developers beforehand to refrain from any major mistakes in the projects.

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Top 10 apps built using the Flutter Framework!

The Flutter framework, launched by Google in 2017, has gained a lot of traction in the developers’ community within a short period and has emerged as one of the best options for cross-platform app development. That happened due to the bestselling capabilities that Flutter comes with, which include:

·        Creating applications for various platforms with minimal code modification

·        Possessing reusable blocks of UI, and similar built-in widgets for creating complex applications

·        Wrapping a web view within a native application

·        Expedited development with hot-reloading feature

·        No reliance on OEM

·        Usage of Dart- an advanced, object-oriented language

Likewise, there are several other benefits that Flutter offers. So, numerous business brands across diverse domains have leveraged the goodies of Flutter app development services to craft ground-breaking app solutions.

This article enlists the top Flutter applications that have garnered unprecedented popularity. The following information would prove handy for all the would-be app creators.

Examples of Game-changing Flutter Apps across Diverse Domains

Advertising: Google Ads

This popular application, available on both- iOS and Android, is a necessary tool that helps businesses to manage their ad campaigns effectively. Entrepreneurs can create ad campaigns that allow them to market their services in a better way and expand their customer base without any hassles. Google Ads not only features an impressive design but also enables the users to obtain a host of information with just a few taps on their smartphones. Entrepreneurs using this app enjoy the following benefits:

·        Viewing their ad campaign statistics like the number of clicks, impressions, conversations, etc.

·        Receiving real-time alerts

·        Managing bids on campaigns

Finance Sector: Birch Finance and Cryptograph

Birch Finance deals with credit card rewards and assists users in managing and optimizing their existing cards. It guides the users to find the card that is best suited to them based on their spending pattern, helps them to track their expenditure across all accounts, and also provides various options for earning and redeeming rewards.

Cryptograph informs users about the most recent data and figures concerning 1,600+ cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin, etc. Using this app, users can view the charts on Exchange rates, select as well as add coins to Favorites for easy tracking, and many more such functions.

Healthcare and Fitness: Coach Yourself and Watermaniac

Coach Yourself is a fitness, healthcare, and meditation app that focuses on the wellness and personal development of users. One of its unique selling points is that it helps users perform meditation to enhance mental health and usher in positivity.

With Watermaniac the users can track the amount of water consumed daily. The app empowers users to set a daily goal regarding water consumption, save the history of every drink taken throughout the day, and receive customized notifications that remind them about drinking water.

Lifestyle: Reflectly

Reflectly, is an AI-empowered lifestyle app with an alluring dashboard, using which the users can create their personal journal. It sends the users a new set of questions every day, for identifying their lifestyle, stress levels, thoughts, and inhibitions. Users can pen down their thoughts and feelings. The app aims at gauging the users’ state of mental being and provides them handy advice on how to cope up with their existing problems.

Social Networking: Hookle, KlasterMe, and Pairing

The users of the Flutter app Hookle, enjoy the facility of sharing posts, monitoring social activity, and most importantly, managing several social media accounts in a single place. One can compose posts and publish them, monitor activities through multiple channels at one go, customize the posts as per the social media channel, etc.

With KlasterMe, users can discover amazing content and also create their page with fresh content to share with others. It supports different kinds of content like articles, blogs, videos, photographs, polls, forums, etc.

Pairing, the dating app connecting singles, comes with an easy-going and intuitive interface. It is a safe option to pick as the connections and matches made, involve the real-life user community.

Entertainment: Hamilton Musical

Using this Flutter-based app, one can stay tuned to the up-to-the-minute happenings in the world of Broadway musicals, like new videos, news concerning music, and tour schedules. The users can also buy merchandise and take part in Hamilton lottery contests. One of the most notable special offerings of this app is its Karaoke system that allows users to sing their favorite numbers.

eCommerce: Xianyu by Alibaba

The mobile app Xianyu created in Flutter, by the China-based tech giant Alibaba, functions smoothly on Android as well as iOS. It is appealing, speedy, and easily understandable. It connects buyers with retailers under one single ecosystem. Xianyu has been downloaded more than 50 million times and claims that there are 10 million active users daily. Alibaba already had a pre-existing app with millions of users, but for a smoother UI/UX and a time-saving solution, the Xianyu team opted for the Flutter framework.

Transportation:  SG BusTracker

This navigation app provides commuters with real-time information about bus schedules like the arrival time, nearby stops, as well as seating availability in them.

Real Estate: Realtor

This Flutter app enables the users to have real-estate information at their fingertips. It not only allows you to effortlessly, find, sell or buy property, but also helps in other related tasks like calculating mortgage.

Bottom Line

The aforesaid examples indicate that the Flutter framework can not only create disruptive solutions regardless of the industrial sector but also fetch humongous profits for businesses.

If you too would like to harness the potential of this outstanding framework and looking for a reliable technological partner, contact Biz4Solutions today! We are a prominent Flutter app development company with rich experience in creating success stories for our global clients.

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Noteworthy PHP Development Tools that a PHP Developer should know in 2021!

Hypertext Preprocessor, commonly known as PHP, happens to be one of the most widely used server-side scripting languages for developing web applications and websites. Renowned names like Facebook and WordPress are powered by PHP. The reasons for its popularity can be attributed to the following goodies PHP offers:

• Open-source and easy-to-us
• Comprehensive documentation
• Multiple ready-to-use scripts
• Strong community support
• Well-supported frameworks

However, to leverage this technology to the fullest and simplify tasks, PHP developers utilize certain tools that enhance programming efficiency and minimize development errors. PHP development tools provide a conducive IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that enhances the productivity of PHP Website Development.

The market currently is overflooded with PHP tools. Therefore, it becomes immensely difficult for a PHP App Development Company to pick the perfect set of tools that will fulfill their project needs. This blog enlists the best PHP development tools along with their offerings. A quick read will help you to choose the most befitting tool for your PHP development project.

Top PHP Development tools

PHPStorm

PHPStorm, created and promoted by JetBrains, is one of the most standard IDEs for PHP developers. It is lightweight, smooth, and speedy. This tool works easily with popular PHP frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, Zend Framework, CakePHP, Yii, etc. as well as with contemporary Content Management Systems like WordPress, Drupal, and Magento. Besides PHP, this tool supports JavaScript, C, C#, Visual Basic and C++ languages; and platforms such as Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. This enterprise-grade IDE charges a license price for specialized developers, but is offered for free to students and teachers so that they can start open-source projects. Tech giants like Wikipedia, Yahoo, Cisco, Salesforce, and Expedia possess PHPStorm IDE licenses.

Features:

• Code-rearranging, code completion, zero-configuration, and debugging
• Support for Native ZenCoding and extension with numerous other handy plugins such as the VimEditor.

Functions:

• Provides live editing support for the leading front-end technologies like JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, TypeScript, Sass, CoffeeScript, Stylus, Less, etc.
• It supports code refactoring, debugging, and unit testing
• Enables PHP developers to integrate with version control systems, databases, remote deployment, composer, vagrant, rest clients, command-line tools, etc.
• Coming to debugging, PHPStorm works with Xdebug and Zend Debugger locally as well as remotely.

Cloud 9

This open-source cloud IDE offers a development eco-system for PHP and numerous other programming languages like HTML5, JavaScript, C++, C, Python, etc. It supports platforms like Mac OS, Solaris, Linux, etc.

Features:

• Code reformatting, real-time language analysis, and tabbed file management.
• Availability of a wide range of themes
• In-built image editor for cropping, rotating, and resizing images
• An in-built terminal that allows one to view the command output from the server.
• Integrated debugger for setting a breakpoint
• Adjustable panels via drag and drop function
• Support for keyboard shortcuts resulting in easy access

Functions:

• With Cloud 9, one can write, run and debug the code using any browser. Developers can work from any location using a machine connected to the internet.
• It facilitates the creation of serverless apps, allowing the tasks of defining resources, executing serverless applications, and remote debugging.
• Its ability to pair programs and track all real-time inputs; enables one to share their development eco-system with peers.

Zend Studio

This commercial PHP IDE supports most of the latest PHP versions, specifically PHP 7, and platforms like Linux, Windows, and OS X. This tool boasts of an instinctive UI and provides most of the latest functionalities that are needed to quicken PHP web development. Zend Studio is being used by high-profile firms like BNP Paribas Credit Suisse, DHL, and Agilent Technologies.

Features:

• Support for PHP 7 express migration and effortless integration with the Zend server
• A sharp code editor supporting JavaScript, PHP, CSS, and HTML
• Speedier performance while indexing, validating, and searching for the PHP code
• Support for Git Flow, Docker, and the Eclipse plugin environment
• Integration with Z-Ray
• Debugging with Zend Debugger and Xdebug
• Deployment sustenance including cloud support for Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS.

Functions:

• Enables developers to effortlessly organize the PHP app on more than one server.
• Provides developers the flexibility to write and debug the code without having to spare additional effort or time for these tasks.
• Provides support for mobile app development at the peak of live PHP applications and server system backend, for simplifying the task of harmonizing the current websites and web apps with mobile-based applications.

Eclipse

Eclipse is a cross-platform PHP editor and one of the top PHP development tools. It is a perfect pick for large-scale PHP projects. It supports multiple languages – C, C++, Ada, ABAP, COBOL, Haskell, Fortran, JavaScript, D, Julia, Java, NATURAL, Ruby, Python, Scheme, Groovy, Erlang, Clojure, Prolong, Lasso, Scala, etc. - and platforms like Linux, Windows, Solaris, and Mac OS.

Features:

• It provides one with a ready-made code template and automatically validates the syntax.
• It supports code refactoring – enhancing the code’s internal structure.
• It enables remote project management

Functions:

• Allows one to choose from a wide range of plugins, easing out the tasks of developing and simplifying the complex PHP code.
• Helps in customizing and extending the IDE for fulfilling project requirements.
• Supports GUI as well as non-GUI applications.

Codelobster

Codelobster is an Integrated Development Environment that eases out and modernizes the PHP development processes. Its users do not need to worry about remembering the names of functions, attributes, tags, and arguments; as these are enabled through auto-complete functions. It supports languages like PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS and platforms such as Windows, Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mac OS, Linux, and Mint.  Additionally, it offers exceptional plugins that enable it to function smoothly with myriad technologies like Drupal, Joomla, Twig, JQuery, CodeIgniter, Symfony, Node.js, VueJS, AngularJS, Laravel, Magento, BackboneJS, CakePHP, EmberJS, Phalcon, and Yii.

Offerings:

• It is an internal, free PHP debugger that enables validating the code locally.
• It auto-detects the existing server settings followed by configuring the related files and allowing one to utilize the debugger.
• It has the ability to highlight pairs of square brackets and helps in organizing files into the project.
• This tool displays a popup list comprising variables and constants.
• It allows one to hide code blocks that are presently not being used and to collapse the code for viewing it in detail.

Netbeans

Netbeans, packed with a rich set of features is quite popular in the realm of PHP Development Services. It supports several languages like English, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Brazilian, and simplified Chinese. Its recent version is lightweight and speedier, and specifically facilitates building PHP-based Web Applications with the most recent PHP versions. This tool is apt for large-scale web app development projects and works with most trending PHP frameworks such as Symfony2, Zend, FuelPHP, CakePHP, Smarty, and WordPress CMS. It supports PHP, HTML5, C, C++, and JavaScript languages and Windows, Linux, MacOS and Solaris platforms.

Features:

• Getter and setter generation, quick fixes, code templates, hints, and refactoring.
• Code folding and formatting; rectangular selection
• Smart code completion and try/catch code completion
• Syntax highlighter

DreamWeaver

This popular tool assists one in creating, publishing, and managing websites. A website developed using DreamWeaver can be deployed to any web server.

Offerings:

• Ability to create dynamic websites that fits the screen sizes of different devices
• Availability of ready-to-use layouts for website development and a built-in HTML validator for code validation.
• Workspace customization capabilities

Aptana Studio

Aptana Studio is an open-source PHP development tool used to integrate with multiple client-side and server-side web technologies like PHP, CSS3, Python, RoR, HTML5, Ruby, etc. It is a high-performing and productive PHP IDE.

Features:

• Supports the most recent HTML5 specifications
• Collaborates with peers using actions like pull, push and merge
• IDE customization and Git integration capabilities
• The ability to set breakpoints, inspecting variables, and controlling the execution

Functions:

• Eases out PHP app development by supporting the debuggers and CLI
• Enables programmers to develop and test PHP apps within a single environment
• Leverages the flexibilities of Eclipse and also possesses detailed information on the range of support for each element of the popular browsers.

Final Verdict:

I hope this blog has given you clear visibility of the popular PHP tools used for web development and will guide you through selecting the right set of tools for your upcoming project.

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How to integrate Stripe Payment Processing into React Native Applications?

One of the vital segments of React Native development is the payment integration process and this blog is all about that.

Well, making online payments through the web or mobile apps is a common practice today. As a result, millions of apps have the payment processing feature embedded in them. Various payment gateways like PayPal, Braintree, Stripe, Expo, RazorPay, AWS Amplify, etc. are used for this purpose. Out of these, Stripe is one of the most widely used and fastest-growing gateways.

Stripe Payment Services is also being extensively used in a diverse range of React Native apps and is a preferred choice of several React Native app development companies worldwide.

So let us have a glimpse at what Stripe is, its working mechanism, and the step-by-step methodology to integrate it into the React Native applications.

What is Stripe?

As discussed earlier, Stripe is a popular payment gateway or a payment processing platform founded in 2010. It is used by individuals or businesses- small or large, for accepting payments via credit and debit cards, recurring payments used for subscriptions, sending payouts, and also process automated clearing house (ACH) transactions. It also serves as a third-party payment processor and supports various payment methods such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, Masterpass by Mastercard, Wechat Pay, Microsoft Pay, etc.

Stripe is quite easy to integrate due to the availability of easy-to-use APIs. Also, it provides the facility of banking, prevention from frauds, technical infrastructure, etc. that is needed for operating the on-line payment systems. A large number of eCommerce solutions are using Stripe. Currently Stripe powers the payment processing for some of the well-known brands including Lyft, Pinterest, Blue Apron, Under Armour, etc.

Working Mechanism of Stripe in React Native Apps

Let us understand how Stripe works in React Native apps with a pictorial representation.

• A payment is initiated in the frontend of a React Native app. Details like card number, expiry date, CVV, etc. are sent to Stripe.
• In case of valid details, a token is sent by the Stripe server to the app.
• After this token is received on the app, payment information along with token information has to be sent to your backend server. Your backend server will communicate with the server of Stripe along with the token and payment details.
• After successful completion of payment, Stripe sends the transaction response to the backend server.
• Then the backend server sends the payment success response to the app.

Stripe and React Native development

Stripe can be implemented in the frontend of the React Native apps in two ways as mentioned below:

1. Integrating the Stripe SDK for Android or iOS
2. Using a 3rd party library like Tipsi-stripe

Both of these methods have their share of pros and cons. The Tipsi-stripe library can be easily implemented and works smoothly. But as of now, Stripe has not ‘publicly’ approved the React Native library from Tipsi. But Stripe’s SDK’s is considered a smarter choice when one is looking for maximum compliance in a production environment.

How to implement Stripe?

Note: Here we have considered the Tipsi-stripe library for integration of Stripe. Also, version 0.60 of React Native was used. Also, we considered a Firebase server for the backend part.

Step 1: Creation of Stripe Developer account and getting the API keys

For creating the account, visit Stripe.com. Note that the services provided by Stripe are limited to certain countries. After account creation and registration, you will land in the Stripe Dashboard. Then go to Developer Tab > API keys for accessing the keys. Ensure that for viewing the ‘Test Data,’ you ON the toggle. All the development tasks must be carried out with ‘Test Data’.

‘Publishable key’ is used to connect the react native app with the Strive Native SDK or Tipsi-stripe library. This key is used for generating a token. ‘Secret key’ is used in the backend for the actual payment processing, where your server makes a connection with the Stripe server using this secret key. After testing the process, you may toggle to ‘Live keys.’

Step 2: Development of a React Native app for integrating Stripe

For developing a basic app, ensure that you are equipped with all the pre-requisites pertaining to the React Native framework’s official documentation. Now create a blank app and run it in a simulator or device. The default start screen will appear on the simulator or device. You may use the user interface of the Tipsi-stripe library because it supports all kinds of payment options viz. Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc.

Step 3: Integration of the Tipsi-stripe library for the generation of token

Install Tipsi-stripe package for integrating Stripe functionality into your react native app. Now, set up your Podfile for the integration of appropriate pods in iOS apps and then run pod install. Then set up the Xcode project, link the Tipsi-stripe package against your Xcode project, this will install all dependencies related to CocoaPods. Import the library in your app for the generation of the token. Now initialize it with the Stripe credentials which you will get from Stripe Dashboard. The Publishable key is used for generating token only. Now replace the Publishable key with your own key.

To generate the token, the ‘paymentRequestWithCardForm’ method can be used from the library. This method will open the card details Stripe form. User will receive a token from the Stripe after entering the card details in the above form.

Step 4: Creation of Firebase function or any other backend server

For completing the payment, we can create a Firebase cloud function (or any other backend server) and execute it using REST calls from your app. This function will interact with the Stripe server and successfully complete the payment. The sub-steps involved in this process are as follows:

• Create a Firebase project and cloud functions.
• In the appinstall Firebase tools.
• Connect your React Native development environment to the Firebase console.
• Developing a Firebase function for making payment requests. This function accepts request object from the app, then sends the request of payment to the Stripe server and returns the response from Stripe to the application.
• Testing the Firebase Function internally using firebase serve, as external API calls are allowed by Firebase only for paid accounts.
• Deploying Firebase Function to live server.

Step 5: Connection of the app with the deployed live Firebase server and completion of the payment

The final step involves making an HTTP call to the Firebase function and completing the payment request using the generated token. In this way, payment processing happens in the React Native apps using the Stripe gateway.

Bottom of Form

Concluding Lines:

In this blog, we learned that there are two important sections in the Stripe payments- frontend for the tokenization process and backend for the payment requesting and completion. The Tipsi-stripe package is used for the frontend part and any server can be used for the backend part. We have gone through the significant steps involved in this process which will be very helpful to React Native developers and every React Native app development company aiming to design top-notch apps with a sleek payment processing feature.