Tuesday, November 16, 2021

How To Secure NPM Packages From Getting Hacked?

 

How To Secure NPM Packages From Getting Hacked?

How To Secure NPM Packages From Getting Hacked

In the web development world, using and sharing reusable build-blocks is a common thing. With NPM, adding new open source packages to application is simple and more accessible than ever. There are 1.5  million packages available in the npm registry and up to 90% of the code in modern apps is open source code developed by others. With such a huge number of npm packages it is obvious that hackers can attack with malicious intent. And nowadays lots of developers are claiming that npm packages are getting hacked. So here we came with some best practices for npm package security. Let’s have a look.

Top 7 Best Practices For NPM Security-

NPM logo

1. Use NPM Author Tokens-

When you log in with npm CLI, token is generated for your user and authenticates you to the npm registry. Token eases npm registry related actions during CI and automated procedures like accessing private modules on registry or publishing new versions from build step. Tokens can be managed via npm registry website and using npm command line client. Let’s have a look at the example of using CLI to create read-only token which is restricted to a particular IPv4 address range-

$ npm token create --read-only --cidr=192.0.2.0/24

So as to verify which tokens are generated for user or to revoke tokens for emergencies, you can use npm token list or npm token revoke resp. You must check that you are following this npm security best practices by protecting and minimizing the exposure of npm tokens.

2. Enable A Dependency Firewall To Block Packages At The Door-

Being notified is vital, however most of the time it’s far better to block the awful packages at the entryway. It is recommended to set up a code supply chain which restricts packages from being added to your private registries if they have not been scanned, are insecure or contain specific restrictive licenses.

3. Use Local NPM Proxy-

Npm registry is the largest collection of packages available for all Javascript programmers and is also the home of most Open source projects for web developers. But, sometimes you may have various requirements as far as security, deployments or performance. When it’s true, npm enables you to switch to a different registry:

When you run npm install, automatically it starts a communication with main registry to resolve all dependencies; if you want to use different registry, it also simple-

  • Set npm set registry to set up default registry.
  • Use argument –registry for single registry

Verdaccio registry is a simple lightweight zero-config-required and installing it is also simple with –

$ npm install --global verdaccio

Hosting own registry was never simple. Let’s have a look at most important features of this tool:

  • It supports npm registry format including private package features, package access control, scope support and authenticated users in the web interface.
  • It gives abilities to hook remote registries and the ability to route every dependency to various registries and caching tarballs. You should proxy all dependencies so as to reduce number of duplicate downloads and save bandwidth in local development and CI servers.
  • If project is Docker based, then use of official image will be the best choice
  • As an authentication provider by default, it makes use of htpasswd security, and also supports Gitlab, LDAP, Bitbucket. 
  • It is easy to scale using various storage provider.

It is easy to run:

$ verdaccio --config /path/config --listen 5000

If you’re using verdaccio for a local private library, consider having a configuration for your packages to uphold publishing to the local registry and avoid accidental publishing by developers to a public registry. To accomplish this add the following to package.json:

“publishConfig”: {
  “registry”: "https://localhost:5000"
}

To publish a package, use the npm command npm publish.

4. Ignore run-scripts To Reduce Attack Surfaces-

Npm CLI works with package run-scripts. If you’ve ever run start or npm test, you’ve used package run-scripts also. Npm CLI builds on scripts which a package can declare and allows packages to define scripts to run at particular entry points during the package’s installation. For instance, some script hook entries may be postinstall scripts that a package that is being installed will execute so as to perform housekeeping tasks.

Due to this capability, bad actors may create or modify packages to perform malicious actions because of running any arbitrary command when the package is installed. A few situations where this is a popular eslint-scope incident that harvested npm tokens, and the crossenv incident, with 36 other packages that abused a typosquatting attack on the npm registry.

Apply npm security best practices so as to reduce the malicious module attack surface:

  • While installing packages, ensure to add the –ignore-scripts suffix to disable the execution of any scripts by third-party packages.
  • Hold-off on upgrading blindly to new version, sometimes allow new package versions to circulate before trying.
  • Before you upgrade, ensure to review changelog and release notes for upgraded version.

5. Enforce The Lockfile-


Friday, November 12, 2021

What’s New In Node.js 17?

What's New In Node.js 17

Latest version of Node.js has been officially released. Node.js is now officially available to users, contributors and app developers also. It supersedes Node.js 16 in terms of the current release line of this runtime and now it got promoted to LTS or long term support channel on 26th October. Rather than being a minor update, this release brings some refinements to the runtime, including more promisified APIs, Javascript engine upgrades and OpenSSL 3.0 support. Here we’ll discuss the latest release of Node.js 17 features. Let’s get started.

Also know the amazing Node.js security best practices at- Top 10 Node.js Security Best Practices

What’s New In Node.js 17?

1. New Promise-based APIs-

Node.js promisify its core APIs as a part of its strategic initiative plan. In Node.js 17, this ongoing promisification work is extended to the readline module, mainly used to accept input from command line. New APIs are accessible through readline/promises module. Old way of using readline module in Node.js v16 and earlier involved using callback functions as-

// main.mjs
import readline from "readline";
import process from "process";

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
});

rl.question(`What's your name?`, (name) => {
  console.log(`Hi ${name}!`);
  rl.close();
});

With Node.js 17, now you can use await when importing from readline/promises:

// main.mjs
import readline from "readline/promises";
import process from "process";

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
});

const name = await rl.question(`What's your name?`);
console.log(`Hi ${name}!`);
rl.close();

2. Stack Traces-

Stack traces are important for node.js development companies and each common user of NodeJS runtime. It helps to detect errors affecting an app. Also it reveals the points that causes the errors. In this latest release , Node.js version will be present at the end of stack trace, especially when fatal exceptions force the process to exit. It’s helpful to have this capacity naturally because when somebody analyzes revealed errors, they’ll definitely need to discover the version of Node.JS they’re using. Node.js 17 has a command-line option that allows users and programmers to avoid extra information they don’t require. This line goes “–no-extra-info-on-fatal-exception.”

3. OpenSSL 3.0-

Now, node.js includes OpenSSL 3.0, particularly quictls/openssl, upgraded from OpenSSL 1.1.1.    OpenSSL 1.1.1 will reach the end of support on 2023-09-11, means before proposed End of life date for Node.js 18. Hence, it has been decided to include OpenSSL 3.0 in Node.js 17 to provide time for user testing and feedback before the next LTS release. Among all of the new features in OpenSSL 3.0 is the introduction of providers, of which FIPS provider that can be enabled in Node.js. OpenSSL 3.0 should be mostly compatible with those provided by OpenSSL 1.1.1, we can anticipate some ecosystem impact because of strict restrictions on the allowed algorithms and main issues.

In app with Node.js, if you hit ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error, it is somehow similar to that your app or module you’re using is using an algorithm or key size that is no longer allowed by default with OpenSSL 3.0. New command line option, –openssl-legacy-provider, has been included to revert to the legacy provider as a temporary workaround for strict restrictions..

For example-

$ ./node --openssl-legacy-provider  -p 'crypto.createHash("md4")'

Hash {
  _options: undefined,
  [Symbol(kHandle)]: Hash {},
  [Symbol(kState)]: { [Symbol(kFinalized)]: false }
}

4. V8 Is Upgraded To v9.5-

Node.js came with an updated V8 engine of Javascript to V8 9.5 in Node.JS 17. If you’re working with Node.js 16, programmers can rely on V8 9.4 meaning that latest one available on the previous version of runtime. Apart from performance-related tweaks and improvements, this new version brings some extra supported types for “Intl.DisplayNames” API and Extended options for “timeZoneName” in another API which is – “Intl.DateTimeFormat”.

5. Deprecations And Removals-

Node.js 17 comes with some removals and deprecations. Important one is deprecation of trailing slash pattern mappings that is not supported in the import maps specification.


Thursday, November 11, 2021

What’s New In Angular 13?

What's New In Angular 13

Angular is a web framework developed by Google and Angular 13 is one of the most organized pre-planned upgrades for typescript-style web framework Angular. According to the techies, Angular 13 claims to be 100% Ivy. The latest version comes with error message improvements, better integration, deployment providers, pure annotations and so on. If you’re not aware of new features of Angular 13, then this blog is for you. So let’s find out what’s new in Angular 13.

Also know the angular best practices at- Top 10 Angular Best Practices To Follow

New Features And Improvements In Angular 13-

Angular logo

1. 100% Ivy-

The creators of Angular development services wanted to enable quality improvements in dynamic components. Considering this, API has been simplified. New API removes ComponentFactoryResolver with ViewContainerRef.createComponent without creating associated factory. Let’s have a look at how the components were created with previous version of Angular.

@Directive({ … })
export class MyDirective {
    constructor(private viewContainerRef: ViewContainerRef,
                private componentFactoryResolver: 
                        ComponentFactoryResolver) {}
    createMyComponent() {
        const componentFactory = this.componentFactoryResolver.
                             resolveComponentFactory(MyComponent);
    
        this.viewContainerRef.createComponent(componentFactory);
    }
}

Here’s how new API code can become.

@Directive({ … })
export class MyDirective {
    constructor(private viewContainerRef: ViewContainerRef) {}
    createMyComponent() {
        this.viewContainerRef.createComponent(MyComponent);
    }
}

2. Improvements To The Angular CLI-

Angular now supports the use of persistent build cache by default for new v13 projects. The valuable feedback from [RFC] Persistent build cache by default  led to the tooling update which results in nearly 68% improvement in build speed and more ergonomic options. In order for existing projects that have been upgrading to v13 to enable this features, programmers can add this configuration to angular.json:

{
   "$schema": "...",
   "cli": {
       "cache": {
           "enabled": true,
           "path": ".cache",
           "environment": "all"
       }
   }
   ...
}

ESBuild also sees some performance improvements in this Angular 13 release. We introduced esbuild, that now works with terser so as to optimize global scripts. Also, esbuild supports CSS sourcemaps and can optimize global CSS, also optimizing all style sheets.

3. Changes To The Angular Package Format (APF)-

Angular Package Format (APF) has been streamlined and modernized to serve better. To streamline the APF in v13, older output formats were removed including View Engine specific metadata. So as to modernize it, it is standardized on more modern JS formats like ES2020. Libraries that were built with the latest version of APF will no longer need the use of ngcc. As a result of these changes, library programmers can expect lean package output and faster execution. Updated APF support Node package exports. This helps developers form inadvertently depending on internal APIs that may change.

4. Improvements To Angular Tests-

Here are some improvements to TestBed that does better job of tearing test modules and environments after every test. Now the DOM is cleaned after each test and programmers can expect faster, less memory-intensive, less interdependent and more optimized tests. Let’s have a look at how it can be configured for complete test suite through the TestBed.initTestEnvironment method:

beforeEach(() => {
   TestBed.resetTestEnvironment();
   TestBed.initTestEnvironment(
       BrowserDynamicTestingModule,
       platformBrowserDynamicTesting(),
       {
           teardown: { destroyAfterEach: true }
       }
   );
});

Or it can be configured per module by updating the TestBed.configureTestingModule method:

beforeEach(() => {
   TestBed.resetTestEnvironment();
   ...
   TestBed.configureTestingModule({
       declarations: [TestComp],
       teardown: { destroyAfterEach: true }
   });
});

This provides flexibility to apply these changes where they make the most sense for every project and its tests.

5. No Support For IE11-

This Angular 13 version won’t support internet explorer. If you’re planning to hire an Angular programmer, they don’t expect anything to create from IE11.

6. RxJS 7.4-

Angular v13 includes RXJS to all the versions upto version 7. New apps created with the CLI will default to RxJS 7.4. If you’re using RxJS 6 in existing app, you need to manually run the command npm install rxjs@7.4 for the latest update.

7. A New Form-

Angular 13 brings a new type called “FormControlStatus”. It is a combination of all strings of statuses for form controls. Also they’ve narrowed the “AbstractControl.status” from “string” to “FormControlStatus” and “StatusChanges” from “Observable<any>” to “Observable<FormControlStatus>”.

8. Pure Annotations-

Angular 13 has pure annotations included in static property initializers for the core. The class properties that come with initializers causing code execution may have some side effects while evaluating the module. Only way to allow classes with these static property types is to optimize it or remove it if they remain unused. Programmers can annotate initializer expressions for the static properties as pure.

9. Service Worker-

Angular 13 clears cache of service worker in the safety worker so as to ensure that it doesn’t provide broken or stale contents against requests made in the future.

10. Package Format-

Angular 13 brought Angular Package Format 13 that will remove code particular to View Engine from packages.


Wednesday, November 10, 2021

How To Calculate MVP Development Cost For Mobile Apps?

How To Calculate MVP Development Cost For Mobile Apps

Day by day, use of mobile apps is increasing because people find them convenient and easy. Apps made our life easier as we can do shopping, pay bills and even get medical advice from the comfort of home. There are tons of apps available in the market and it would be important to make your app stand out from your competitors. To do so, it is essential to choose the right strategy for an app to be developed. MVP is the best way to do so. Here we’ll discuss how to estimate the cost of MVP development for mobile development. But before digging into it, let’s have a look at MVP, and its need.

Know the- Best tips to improve your mobile app performance

What Is An MVP App?

Minimum Viable Product
Minimum Viable Product

MVP stands for minimum viable product and has minimum features that are integral to the function and core idea. Launching an MVP app is considered a strategic move for startups. MVP app helps to collect important and relevant data that will help to make future decisions. Also it helps to get user’s reactions to the features and purpose of the app. This is the best way of validating apps and preventing any major failures. Following points will help you to understand the nature of MVP app-

  • It is a functional app and has only essential and basic functions
  • New features development is carried out in phases so it will not put too much pressure on available funds
  • It helps to develop smart spending tactics so that you have sufficient funds to develop second phase of app
  • MVP is a complete product that goes through changes as you can add new features with time

Need Of An MVP Development-

MVP gives a chance to test the strongest features of an app and check customer feedback for those features. So it is worth developing an MVP. Customer feedback is crucial as it can help to improve user experience. Benefits of MVP mobile app-

  • Saves money by avoiding unwanted costs
  • Opportunity to test potential risks
  • Reduce business risks
  • Get real feedback from users

Strategy For MVP App Development-

While developing an MVP app, you must pay attention to M i.e, minimum, V stands for viable that is mostly ignored which results in below-average product instead of excellent one. Main issue is that MVP growth process steps are not understood in the right way. Here are the steps that should be taken into consideration.

Sometimes ideas do not fit in with the market requirement. So ensure that it meets the target users’ needs before you propose an idea and start an MVP development process. Conduct surveys, when more information is available to you are more likely to succeed. Always keep an activity of your competitors and  what they offer.     

Users always want the benefit out of your product. As MVP means, explain and create your MVP based on value for the people. Hence it is important to map the user flow. The procedure step must be defined to describe user flow and you must clarify what steps to achieve the primary goal. Also, remember that features you want to include in your app must be listed before MVP working starts. Features should be categorized according to the priority.

You will build MVP after knowing the important features and requirements of business. Note that, an MVP is not less than a finished product and has to specify consumer’s needs. Hence it should be easy for users to use and get engaged. 

Factors Affecting The Cost Of MVP Development-

Cost of building an MVP is a fraction of what a complete app costs. It depends on various factors. Here are some of those-

App Type-

MVP development costs are determined by the type of framework you create and its features. Meaning that if the app structure is more complex it will face some challenges to develop an MVP too. Hence, you have to determine the important features of the app and its purpose. You want to include those key features in the app at the beginning. You can categorize those app features into three separate sections as- 

  • Must have 
  • Good to have
  • Need to have 

At this tep, it is important that the first version of MVP is simple and has everything you want.

2. App Design-

Design costs are a large proportion of total costs and it depends on level of difficulty. MVP design means designing user interface. There are extra costs for original design. You can keep the design simple at this stage, that is attractive and high on the scale of usability.

3. Tech Stack-

While estimating the cost of MVP, technology stack is an important factor. If you’re not technologically experienced, you can think about a skilled person in the software development department. You need to decide logically at this point to go with a home device or hybrid program. Best choice at this stage would be the ability to create your own app for a fraction of cost.

4. Launch Stage-

Time is important in the business world, particularly for the emerging and quickly changing software development market. It is important to determine when the MVP is to be released, but the users must have input. This timeout gets more significant because if you postpone the delivery, the cost will go up. 

Cost Of MVP Development Of An App-

Various significant considerations determine the overall cost of MVP app development. Many developers believe that development cost is dependent on the technology used but it is just one side of the coin. So as to deliver a great product, the app owners must select developers intelligently as it significantly impacts the app development. Let’s have a look at the options to hire developers.

1. In-house-

In-house software development is the first choice of a number of companies from all over the world. It offers a clear relationship and enables the team to engage entirely in the project. 

Biggest drawback of this option is higher prices. When you start with a small budget, then it may be a challenge for you. You are expected to pay holiday and hiring costs and many other expenses when recruiting full-time programmers. Ensure that you have this amount of MVP spending in your business. Hiring cost of full-stack developer, designer will be charged. Also if you hire a tester too, then it will also add in overall cost.

2. Hiring A Freelancer-


Tuesday, November 9, 2021

7 Best Test Management Tools For 2022

 

7 Best Test Management Tools For 2022

7 Best Test Management Tools For 2022

Test management refers to everything you do as testers, and there are test management tools to do this work. Activities and tasks are part of the test management process. This procedure will be detail-oriented and important to ensure the success of a complete testing task. So as to help you in the testing process there are lots of test management tools. Let’s have a look at some of those. But before digging into it,let’s have a look at what is test management and considerations to choose test management tool.

What Is Test Management?

It is a process of taking project’s requirements, building a test plan, writing test, planning test activities and capturing results. Software projects get more and more complex with a variety of platforms and devices that need to get tested. There is a need to have a robust process to manage all the testing activities and ensure that limited testing resources are being focused on some risky areas. Test management tools helps to manage the process and for this you need to integrate into your product development infrastructure and support your chosen software development methodology.

Here are some of the considerations to consider while choosing test 

  • Which testing pattern do you follow- Traditional manual testing or combination of manual and automated testing?
  • Are you looking for a cloud-based SaaS solution or the one that can be deployed on-premise?
  • Do you have a number of users working in the same timezone and geography or do you need that can handle various languages and timezones?

7 Best Test Management Tools-

1. PractiTest-

PractiTest logo

It is an end-to-end test management tool that enables complete visibility into the testing process and a deeper understanding of testing results. This tool is completely customizable and flexible for the continuously changing QA teams needs, allowing them to customize fields, permissions, views, issue workflows and so on. PractiTest allows developers to reuse tests and correlate results across various releases and products, also avoid duplicate work with anti-bug duplicates, step parameters, permutations and the call to test feature. One more great feature is unique hierarchical filter trees, that are great to organize all things and find anything immediately. QA team members can visualize data with modern dashboards and reports. It allows a variety of array of third-party integrations with common bug trackers like Pivotal tracker, Jira and so on. Also, it offers a robust API for integrations. 

Advantages Of Using PractiTest-

  • Integration
  • Test Case Management
  • Filters and customization
  • Issue Management

2. Zephyr Scale-

Zephyr scale logo

This is the world’s leading QA and testing application for Jira. It is used for both agile and waterfall approaches to design, manage and monitor mobile app development lifecycle in Jira. Zephyr scale is a fully functioned, completely integrated test management solution for Jira user interface. Test activities like writing, planning, execution, tracking and reporting are coordinated from a central place. Also, it supports the integration of REST API with test automation tool as used with Selenium automation testing tool. Some of the great features of Zephyr Scale are –

  • 360 -degree traceability
  • Native integration with Jira 
  • Hierarchical folders
  • Cross-project reports & gadgets
  • Versioning, test data & parameters

Advantages Of Using Zephyr Scale-

  • Results are represented graphically
  • Can export test cases to word and excel
  • Agile board allows for the evolution of test cases
  • It is possible to construct custom filters
  • Improved traceability through the story linking, test cases and problems in test cycles.

3. Testpad-

This is an online test management tool for both small and large projects. It makes use of a natural and easy-to-learn checklist-style approach, allowing quicker writing and running of tests. Time for documentation is reduced so time for testing is maximized. Users get a plan view, progress and testing goal. This tool also allows importing from other apps, automatic saving changes, running of tests with custom data and other requirements and bug detection. Here are some of the great features of Testpad tool-

used for manual testing, natural method of testing, ideal for exploratory testing, email invitations for guest testers

Advantages Of Using Testpad-

  • Saves money and time
  • One can test software on various settings
  • Tester can run many tests at the same time

4. Kualitee-

Kualitee logo

If you are managing testing in Excel or use a software lifecycle management tool, have a look at Kualitee features. Kualitee makes team collaboration effortless. You can assign tasks to the team and always stay on top of live progress through great dashboard and reports, integrate tools that you want, customize roles, filters and reports. Some of the great features of Kualitee tool are- defect management, project management, test cases management, case performance test

Advantages Of Using Kualitee-

  • High quality product delivery
  • Requirement & test cases can be followed
  • Improved ROI lowers iOS & Android app development costs

5. TestRail-

Test Rail tool logo

This is your source for customizable, scalable and web-based test case management. It offer a cloud-based/SaaS solution or one can install TestRail on your own server. TestRail allows users to document test cases with expected results and screenshots. One can use flexible built-in templates or create own custom templates. This tool also includes features like personal to-do lists, email notifications and milestones to improve efficiency. It is possible to use TestRail tools in your CI/CD DevOps pipeline including JIRA, TFS, Jenkins, Bugzilla and so on. Also, it offers support for Docker containers. Some of the great features of TestRail are- manage & track execution, centralize and organize, Power search etc. 

Advantages Of TestRail-

  • Improves test productivity
  • Manage test cases, test runs
  • Insights into your testing progress in real-time

6. XRay-

XRay tool logo

It is a popular manual and automated test management app for quality assurance. This is a full-featured tool that comes inside Jira and works seamlessly with it. One of the main goal of XRay tool is to help businesses in improving product quality through efficient and effective testing. XRay is used by more than 4.5 million testers and programmers to handle 100 million test cases per month. This tool is used by popular companies such as Samsung, BMW and Airbus. Here are some of the great features of XRay tool-

  • Progress tracking with test plans
  • Set reusable requirements and connect it with tests
  • Can follow requirements, execution path, tests, defects 
  • Built-in REST API
  • Test must be organized into folders and test sets

Advantage Of Using XRay Tool-

  • Progress tracking with test plans
  • Linking reusable conditions to testing
  • Supports selenium, NUnit, Robot, JUnit and other test automation frameworks
  • Built-in REST APIs

Monday, November 8, 2021

5 Best JAMstack Frameworks For Development

5 Best JAMstack Frameworks For Development

JAMstackis not just a platform or a set of technologies, however it is a new way of building websites that have become popular in recent times. Best part of JAMstack is lots of tools that underlie JAMstack frameworks. According to the research, the growth rate of JAMstack increased by 85% in 2020. HUge growth in just one year was primarily for the some benefits offered by JAMstack frameworks. Here we’ll discuss the 5 best JAMstack frameworks for development.

Know the reasons to use JAMstack for web apps at- Top 5 Reasons To Choose JAMstack For Web App Development

5 Best JAMstack Frameworks For Development-

1. Gatsby.js-

Gatsby logo

This is an open-source front-end framework built with react and used by developers to build high performance apps and websites. It is loved by the developers community because of its modern static site generator with high documentation and lots of ready-to-use features and plugins. Also Gatsby is great from a business perspective as it is SEO-friendly, easy to build customized user experiences. Here are some of the pros of Gatsby.

Pros Of Gatsby.js-

1. Scalability –

In the case of Gatsby, you don’t need to worry about sudden rise in traffic. Cost will depend on usage so there is no need to pay for the thing that you don’t use. 

2. Page Metadata-

With the react-helment components, you can set metadata for your website. And this will help you to get higher rank in SERP as it helps search engines to understand the content of website.

3. Huge ecosystem-

Gatsby provides access to lots of plugins, starters, boilerplates and React packages to boost development.

4. Modern Workflow-

Gatsby takes advantage of modern web standards and technologies such as GraphQL, Webpack and React.

Cons Of Using Gatsby-

  • Time-consuming development
  • Need for huge volume of content

2. Jekyll-

Jekyll logo

Basically it is a JAMstack static site generator (SSG) having huge popularity across the world. This framework can be used for personal website development, heavy websites, business websites etc.

Pros Of Jekyll-

1. Easily Extensible-

Jekyll’s huge library of plugins are created specifically for Jekyll that makes it extensible. For instance, hugo has built-in i18n support, whereas Jekyll needs a plugin for that, but you can choose the one.

2. Large Community-

As Jekyll is the oldest SSG so you can get a solution to your problem as it may have already solved your problem.

3. Lots Of Contributors-

Lots of people care about projects in the growing competition. Therefore, you can be certain that Jekyll will be there.

Cons Of Jekyll-

  • Build time can be exceeded
  • Not adaptable and consequently not future-proof
  • Lacks the capability of integrating dynamic features

3. Nuxt.js-

Nuxt.js logo

It is an open-source framework used to build web apps on top of Vue.js. Also it solved lots of problems such as combining libraries, organising code and optimising for speed or SEO. Nuxt based on Vue.js is the counterpart of Next.js based on React.

Pros Of Nuxt.js-

1. Performance-

Nuxt.js apps are by default optimised and performance. All this is because of Vue.js and Node.js best practices. Also, there are much more things such as a bundle analyzer to improve the performance.

2. Modularity-

Nuxt is built with modular elements. You can choose from 150 modules to accomplish an easier and faster development process. With these modules, you can get PWA benefits, integrate Google Analytics or create sitemaps.

3. Hybrid Of SSR & SSG Rendering-

Nuxt offers both server-side rendering and static site generation. It delivers HTML content through Node.js server. Whereas, when it comes to SSG, Nuxt supports creation of static websites based on your Vue application. 

4. Developer Experience-

It was built and is being improved with developers in mind. NUxt offers various solutions, descriptive error messages, default features and detailed documentation. If you have any issue, you can consult with the community. 

Cons Of Nuxt-

  • Debugging can be painful
  • You may face challenges if working with custom libraries

4. Next.js-

Next.js logo

Next.js is one of the most popular Javascript frameworks that allows programmers to build high-performance, user-friendly static websites and web apps with React. This framework removes the boundary between static and dynamic. But, Next.js is not only a static site generator. With features like Automatic static optimization, it can be used to build hybrid apps that have both server-rendered and statically rendered web pages.

Pros Of Next.js-

1. Fully Omnichannel-

Websites and apps created with Next.js are accessible from any device so you can convert both desktop and mobile visitors. You can also use various sales channels.

2. Faster Time To Market-

You can build a quick MVP with Next.js because of ready-to-use components and compatibility. You can get feedback from real users immediately and perform changes to the product accordingly. Hence it saves time and money too.

3. Default Image Optimization-

It optimizes images by default and converts it into modern image formats such as WebP. Also, it creates small size images for mobile devices.

4. Component-Based Library-

Next.js is built on React which easily creates scaling websites. 

5. Excellent Support-

Next.js is continuously growing and hence it has a huge community. So it will be easy to find Next.js developer without writing everything from scratch or exploring the solution for coding issues.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2021

How To Improve Code Quality In DevOps?

 Nearly, 73% of developers who implement DevOps are beginners while only 25% of them are supposed to practice it for at least five years? Lots of software experts are adapting DevOps to speed up the product development cycle. Combination of IT operations and software development shapes the basic concept of DevOps. DevOps uncovers the vital parts of agile software development with numerous ways of shortening the duration of project delivery. All important operations covered under the DevOps strategy are meant to influence developers to create quality-driven software solutions and products in the shortest time frame with great efficiency. Lots of developers are curious to know about how to improve code quality in DevOps. So here we came with top 5 practices to improve code quality in DevOps. But before this, let’s see the role of DevOps in refining Code quality.

Know the DevOps trends at- Top 10 DevOps trends you need to know in 2020

Role Of DevOps In Refining Code Quality-

Role Of DevOps In Refining Code Quality-

DevOps Logo
DevOps

Lots of IT and software development elements are consistently moving towards cloud-based activities i.e DevOps with an objective to transform the testing and development strategies in terms of agility and outcomes. The practices underlined under DevOps are determined to speed up the procedures of code migration according to the importance of solution architecture, testing and generating continual production. Here  comes the need to know the role of DevOps in software development. Let’s have a look-

  • Need of DevOps appears when traditional methods fail to continue the processes and this makes it possible to run them without interruptions. DevOps stands ahead to cope with issues recurring because of functional validation and increased focus on user adaptability. 
  • DevOps can create a parallel testing environment and this is a major advantage of using it. Besides allowing users to create the required environment to run business with a distributed agile team. Also DevOps ensures to improve accuracy and efficiency of the testing process. But, it is considered that repeated functional testing and inclusion of required changes in code can affect the code quality.
  • DevOps matches the functionalities of IT counterparts and it offers best ways to conduct delivery procedures. It justifies you the reasons to know how to improve code quality in DevOps.
  • Applying DevOps can reduce defects that causes security violations, broken code blocks and disorganized codes.

5 Best Practices To Improve Code Quality In DevOps-

1. What & When To Test-

Testing is important to determine whether the code are not damaged or broken to impact the complete functionality of the end product. If you’ve not applied software testing trends and ideal testing methods, the development cycle can cause code changes or errors in the future. Those who appreciate DevOps trends may consider manual testing but it is not dependable. Automation testing is better option because is speed up the testing cycle without increasing budget limits. You can combine it with CI/CD pipeline and create high quality codes. Taurus is best open source tool to automate the performance testing process.

Know the DevOps automation tools at- Top 11 DevOps Automation Tools in 2020

2. Include CI/CD Pipeline-

Each development strategy accentuates using a CI/CD pipeline to automate the development process. First step to integrate CI/CD pipeline is to formalize the whole phase of software development with a clear understanding of branches you have got to use. It is the only way to implement the right pipeline. You must consider some cases-

  • If you’re working on various branches with just one feature for a single branch then CI/CD pipeline will not allow you to combine pull requests if the build made for the branch fails. But, the pipeline gives no notice to collect requests if you’ve got just one branch or are using pair programming instead of review. 
  • After implementing them, if you want to work on every feature then you must combine features to release the brand. Best practice is to improve code quality in DevOps prioritizes the use of CI/CD pipeline in case all integrated automated tests are performed on the branch name with feature. Developers who don’t want do complete integration process for every feature can apply CI/CD to combine various feature to a selective brand. Later they can merge the staging setup to a delivery point in case a complete integration of automated tests should be done on a similar staging branch.
  • This CI/CD pipeline element focuses on code quality. It makes use of checkstyle or other tools to allow you to statically analyze codes. You just need to integrate SonarQube to get details of code.

3. Make A Build Rapidly-

A small change in code can reduce the resulting cycle with ease to fix and update. DevOps developers can immediately create a build by activating it immediately after the codes are being transferred to the repository. 

To reduce the project development and delivery process, you can divide teh builds into various parts and run them parallely. Tests can be broken into chunks and driven parallelly. Developers can run various machines if their CI/CD tool to monitor and improve code quality is compatible with horizontal scaling. When you observe that your build queue is waiting for an available CI/CD machine, you can integrate more machines to run the program. In this case, vertical scaling can work. It allows you to use SSD on CI/CD machines on memory-powered partitions if your mobile app demands meticulous work with HDD.

4. Get Container Solution To Build-

While developing an application/software, a specialist meant to further develop code quality in DevOps might have to add extra tools or programs on CI/CD machines. If you’re doing so, ensure that you have installed the version of every software component because it will not work appropriately if the version is outdated.

If you’re working on the same mobile app development project since long time, in that case you may come up with different versions of the app. Also, if you’re a multitasking developer then you should use different UX tools or software to create apps on CI/CD infrastructure. This can clash software components. Best way to deal with such issues is to isolate builds of various apps even though you’re running them on the same machine.

Automated software tools are the effective solutions so you can consider Docker for apps. With this tool, developers can install all extra apps in its container and run them simultaneously within its containerized environment. This eases CI/CD infrastructure support without need to install extra software.

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