What are the differences between front-end, back-end, and full-stack development?

 When it comes to software development, there’s no shortage of titles, surnames, and appropriations in the many job roles associated with the field.

Before we get into the details of full-stack development, it’s best to take a look at the big picture and understand a little bit about each primary role in software development.

Front end developers, for example, focus on the actual presentation of your website, and how the information is laid out in browsers and on mobile devices.

Visual Appeal and Feel: Front End Development

Essentially, front-end developers wish to ensure the best “look and feel” of your website. In the digital battlefield, front-end workers are equipped with an arsenal in the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (the “scripting language”). With these languages, the developer can very efficiently manipulate content on a website to make it appealing and effective to the right audience(s).

Everything you see on a website, such as a layout, positioning of text and images, colors, fonts, buttons, and so on—are all factors that the front-end developer working in web applications must consider in their roles. The “user experience,” for example, is largely dictated by the works of the front-end developer.

The main goal of a front-end developer is to provide the platform for visitors to interact with, a platform that provides and receives information. This means some developers will be well-versed in web design and using software such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create graphics and themed layouts.

Data-Centric Roles: Back End Development

While front end developers concern themselves with all things visual, back end developers concentrate on the creation, flow, and management of data. Some of the processes most often associated with back end development involve creating, editing/updating, and recollecting data.

Common scripting languages include PHP, Ruby, and Python. With these languages, a back-end developer can create algorithms and business logic to manipulate the data that was received in front-end development.

This means that a back-end developer must have the ability to write code, required to receive the information input from the user – and saving it somewhere – like in a database. SQL is the language used for database management, which helps the developer interact with the database.

The Best of Both Worlds: Full Stack Development

Full-stack web developers – good ones, anyway – seek to integrate the best of both worlds in front and back end development.

The phrase “full-stack” quite literally means the full-stack of technology that makes up a website – so the full stack developer is proficient in both front-end and back-end programming languages and frameworks, as well as in server, network, and hosting environments.

Usually, most full-stack developers will have spent many years working in a variety of different roles to get to this breadth and depth of knowledge.

They also tend to be well-versed in both business logic and user experience, meaning they are well-equipped to get hands-on – but can also guide and consult on strategy, too.

Summary

Given this dynamic ability to use the full spectrum of development skills, it’s no wonder full stack developers are in such high demand. 

A full-stack developer has all the keys to the house – there is no door that you cannot open.

It provides unparalleled freedom to simultaneously work on front-end and back-end development and evaluate the capabilities and potential of your website in real-time without having to wait for another developer to review if what you’re desiring is possible or not.

How Can PostgreSQL, The Most Advanced Open Source Relational Database, Benefit Your Company?

 PostgreSQL is free so companies can save money on database license fees

PostgreSQL— a powerful, open-source object-relational database system — uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads. PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems and has powerful add-ons such as the popular PostGIS geospatial database extender.

PostgreSQL is considered by industry experts and developers as the best database in the world—a bold statement backed by thirty years of use and a history of success by companies worldwide. This open-source relational database offers business benefits, such as cost savings, scalability, enterprise security, and automation.

Free and open-source relational database

PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres, is a free and open-source relational database management system emphasizing extensibility and SQL compliance. PostgreSQL has its own license that is largely based on the BSD license. This allows for even greater freedom of use and distribution.

The license applies to the main project code, major contribution extensions, client libraries, connection managers, and most of the associated tools.

Considering the speed that new technologies emerge, maintaining dynamic data systems is crucial in today’s digital environment. PostgreSQL is versatile and expandable, so it can support various use cases with a powerful extension ecosystem, covering different things from time-series data types to geospatial analytics.

Easier and Faster Development

With the advanced and numerous features that come with PostgreSQL, developers can quickly and easily build applications, and administrators can protect data integrity and build fault-tolerant environments. PostgreSQL helps you manage your data no matter how big or small the dataset. For example, you can define your own data types, build out custom functions, and even write code from different programming languages without recompiling your database.

One size fits all database solution

Companies looking for cost-effective and efficient ways to improve their database management systems frequently choose PostgreSQL. As an open-source database solution, PostgreSQL is completely free from licensing restrictions, vendor lock-in potential, or the risk of over-deployment. Expert developers and commercial enterprises who understand the limitations of traditional database systems heavily support PostgreSQL.

Extend PostgreSQL for multiple uses

PostgreSQL has a vibrant community of developers that write ancillary software. This includes plugging in any language and using it to extend PostgreSQL in any way that seems helpful. It allows developers to create their own functions, data types, operators, aggregates, window functions, and other database-related functions.

PostgreSQL also provides some hook functions that allow developers to extend the database without having to go to programming extremes. The ability to assimilate any feature of any other language is unique to PostgreSQL.

Developers can follow the standards, keep up with changes, and update PostgreSQL while it’s life — all of these tasks can be performed for free.

Performance and scalability for large databases

PostgreSQL supports large database systems where data authentication and read/write speeds are critical. PostgreSQL enables performance optimizations typically found in proprietary database technology, such as geospatial support and unrestricted concurrency. This makes PostgreSQL extremely efficient when running deep, extensive data analysis across multiple data types.

Broad language support

Due to its compatibility and support of multiple programming languages, PostgreSQL is considered one of the most flexible databases. Popular coding languages such as Python, JavaScript, C/C++, Ruby, and others offer mature support for PostgreSQL, allowing developers to perform database tasks in any language without generating system conflicts.

Business Continuity

In the event of a disaster, a business must maintain continuous operations. Enterprises need a sustainable solution to ensure that production databases remain available at all times. PostgreSQL offers high availability of services through either asynchronous or synchronous replication methods across multiple servers.

The benefits of open source developers collaborating and working together to create scalable and sustainable solutions for your enterprise can help your business grow and adapt to new technologies, while supported by the skilled and knowledgeable database developers. Another major economic benefit is the no-cost use of PostgreSQL which includes its own license, allowing companies to save money on database license fees.

Charter Global Client Spotlight: Successful conversion from a licensed database to an open-source database.

A Charter Global client converted its Oracle database to open source, license-free PostgreSQL.The client experienced several benefits from the conversion and significantly reduced its license costs by one million dollars.

What is Open Source Software?

Open source software is the public code anyone can see and change. Software developers can use “source code” to alter how the application works. If someone has access to the source code of a program, they can change how the software functions overall.

 

Open source software is for anyone to use, change, or share. It can encourage collaboration and learning within the software industry. Open source code is not typically very specific, allowing people to use it for a broad range of projects without needing to spend unnecessary time writing code that has already been written.

 

Many developers use open source software solutions because it enables them to build applications quicker by leveraging source code already written. Open source software is has a community of people that use and change the code in different ways – for those wanting to learn more, being a part of this community is a great way to watch other ways of thinking and building applications.

 

From a business’s standpoint, using open source software means that others can go in and tweak the software, allowing for better security and performance. If you believe your business could benefit from Charter Global, give us a call today!

Why Machine Learning Should Matter to You?

In recent years, machine learning has taken the world by storm as more people attempt to automate processes and build their data faster. As a method of analyzing data, machine learning development allows companies to learn from the information they are able to gather without using much human interference. With the artificial intelligence being exposed to more and more data, they can adapt, learn, and produce decisions based off of that data.

 

As the world grows and changes, being able to analyze the trends in the market and wants of its users is absolutely crucial for a company to be on top of their industry. Machine learning services, therefore, is incredibly important. In fact, almost every single industry is using machine learning in some capacity.

 

Machine Learning Frees Your Employees

 

Machine learning lets your employees learn new skills that they would not have had time for otherwise. Rather than analyzing extensive sets of data for hours at a time, employees can focus more on things that artificial intelligence is unable to do for the business (things that fluctuate or that need human interaction in to work). Using machine learning, you can also take out the human error that can occur as well.

 

Using Machine Learning Allows You to Stand Up Against Competitors

 

Automating your processes and analyzing data with machine learning can help you do things quicker and more efficiently than your competitors. Some companies even analyze public information about competing firms with their AI, as it can clue them in on what steps that company might be taking in the future. Complex problems are suddenly turned into simple ones as data trends that were previously undetectable, are easy to find with machine learning.

 

Scale with Machine Learning

 

With the added time your employees have and the extra money your company will save by using machine learning, scalability is much more attainable. Problems that could not be solved before, are now made easy with AI and allow you to focus on combined solutions to streamline business – and in the end, scale your business.

 

When a company can improve their productivity, efficiency, and the processes by which they make decisions, they are exponentially better prepared to handle more work. As the company scales, their machine learning continues to adapt alongside the business and provide more solutions. Charter Global can help you implement a Machine Learning development strategy specific for your application and business. Call today to set up a free consultation.

How to leverage MVP to get your product to market quickly?

Minimum Viable Product (MVP), is a strategy used for quick product development. As businesses are continuously trying to find ways to compete in the marketplace, using Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Strategy is a way to get applications created using feedback from its users as fast as possible.

 

While many businesses want to try out new ideas, they also do not want to spend a fortune on development when there isn’t a guarantee that it will take off. MVP allows businesses to fully develop their idea quickly without cutting corners. Using this strategy helps to build a solid all-encompassing plan quickly before the product is fully developed.

 

Using a traditional development strategy could lead to feature issues within the product and how customers use it. If the right key features for customers are not built in from the beginning, the product is useless – and MVP understands that. Rather than working in the short view of a plan, MVP works as a long term solution.

 

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) can save time, effort, and money on not overthinking the launch of your product. Once the product is out to the market quickly, MVP allows the ability to start making changes to the application to serve its customers. Not only will the early adopters benefit from getting it quickly, but late adopters will notice the improvements and specific features newly built-in based on earlier feedback.

 

This type of feedback is often what shows the direction the product needs to go in. As early adopters respond to the development, businesses will learn whether the product needs to be completely re-engineered or simply tweaked.

 

If you believe your application development could benefit from a MVP strategy, don’t wait and regret not using it from the beginning. Through this strategy, you can quickly receive feedback to improve your product.  Finding the right Application development company is crucial in getting your product to market – and it’s a decision you should not take lightly. Charter Global can help you find cost savings in a development strategy specific to your application and business. Call today to set up a free consultation.

Why Your Startup Needs a Software Development Company

How a startup functions and expands on opportunities is a distinguishing factor on whether the business will take off or not. Those that are resourceful and smart about their financials while also knowing when to take risks in order to shake the market often find themselves growing at a fast pace – especially in the technology industry.

 

Although the competition in this field is quite fierce, the benefits can be numerous (which is why it appeals to so many people). One of the main reasons people are afraid when creating a startup is the number of large corporations already within the industry. What often runs through their mind is that they just don’t know how they will keep up with the budget of multimillion-dollar businesses when they only have limited seed money to work with. Luckily for startups, outsourcing is a great way to be able to create cutting edge software without needing a big bank account.

 

Software development companies are well equipped with all the team members, state of the art equipment, and knowledgeable experience startups wouldn’t be able to have on their own. Being able to use an outsourcing company not only saves startup money in the long run but can also give them opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise.

 

When collaborating, often a software development company and a startup can grow with one another. While the startup has no obligation to keep the outsourcing company after a project is completed, each application development allows each of the businesses to learn the best way to communicate and work with each other. At a certain point, it might even be hard to use a different outsourcing software development company as the original one will have already known so much about the goals and missions of the startup from the very beginning.

 

Startups that use software development outsourcing teams are often able to quickly create software and can evolve faster than other businesses. With the agile methodology that most IT outsourcing software development teams work by, problems within the outsourcing software development company are solved rapidly as they come up shortening the timeline compared to traditional development processes. Instead of focusing on the end product, there is more focus to create a streamlined application as fast as possible to get it in the hands of users – so that the team can then work off of the feedback they receive from there users.

 

If you are thinking of creating a startup or if you are an existing startup, give Charter Global a call to see how we can help you with your software development company needs.

Wireframing to Create Content Requirements

Wireframing is one of the first steps to creating a beautiful and seamless website or application. Much like how you create a to-do list in the morning every day for work that narrows down the scope of what you need to do, creating content wireframe decide how someone will use your application when they find it (what pages they will use and how they will get from one page to another).

 

Everyone knows that in order to have a successful design, putting content as the number one priority is key; After all, content is king.

 

Valuable content is what brings your customers to you. When you have uniquely helpful or interesting content, it makes wireframing that much easier. With that creating content wireframe in mind, you can structure your application. Instead of focusing on specific blocks of design at a time, you shift the focus to the flow of content and how a reader will digest it.

 

It’s important to note that while creating content wireframe decides the precedence of the content, it does not decide exactly how the design will flow. To determine what specific content will be required for a wireframe, the following steps should be considered when building:

 

1. Choose the top content topics that are deemed to fit within the main focus of the website or application. Don’t worry about the actual content pieces themselves – but more about what content is going to be most important to your audience.
2. Visually layout the most important to the least important content. If it helps, you can do this in Illustrator to build off of!
3. Now use these pieces to design your page or portion of the application.

 

As you can see, this is quite a simple process. Wireframing to create content requirements acts as the bridge between a library of content and the actual wireframe of the design itself. However, instead of worrying about content pieces and how they would fit into the design later, it puts content first.

 

In using creating content wireframe requirements, designers are better able to see what other content might be able to fit into a design interchangeably. Since keeping a design completely static won’t attract a returning audience, being able to give content requirements based on ideal information flow is a great way to remember the main strategy behind the application itself (instead of getting lost in the design aspect). If you are having trouble creating an application with your content, it might be time to call Charter Global to see how we can help your project with a solution approach and specific deliverable schedule.