Developer

With iOS 12, Apple introduced Screen Time, a feature that serves as a parental control tool and encourages periods away from the screen. Tim Cook said last year that he thought he used his phone too much (more recently adding, "we don't want people using their phones all the time"), and Screen Time is Apple attempt to muscle in on the countering of "phone addiction".

For those who are concerned about how much they are using their phone, or who are concerned about their children, it seems like a great feature. But for app developers who have spent years crafting tools that offered these options before Apple, the news is not so good. A new report reveals that Apple is interfering with apps that compete with Screen Time, even going as far as de-listing them without warning.

If you're thinking of learning a programming language, there are certainly plenty to choose from -- and Microsoft has just added a new one for you to consider. Inspired partly by TypeScript and partly by Node.js, Bosque is an open source language which tries to keep things simple.

Microsoft says that one of the main aims with Bosque is to create code that is simple for both humans and machines to read, eliminating "accidental complexity".

Google has released its latest version of Android Studio, the tool used by developers to create Android apps.

Android Studio 3.4 is now available on the stable channel and as well as hundreds of big fixes, there's also a new version of the Android Emulator complete with support for the Android Q beta. The tool is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

A new survey of IoT developers reveals their top concerns are security (38 percent of respondents), connectivity (21 percent), and data collection and analysis (19 percent).

Performance (18 percent), privacy (18 percent), and standards (16 percent) are also areas cited as particularly challenging. These findings come from The Eclipse Foundation which has surveyed more than 1,700 developers via its IoT Working Group.

After a wave of apparently unexpected complaints, Microsoft has announced that it is to restore the TechNet and MSDN blogs it recently started to retire.

The company warns that this is not something that's going to happen overnight -- there is a lot of content to re-activate -- but the announcement is great news for anyone who has found the blogs to be invaluable sources of information.

As companies vie for customer attention and online business, they are discovering an important and largely untapped market: accessible content for those who have a disability. With more than a billion people around the world with some type of disability, businesses cannot afford to exclude this portion of the population.

Loyalty is critical when it comes to customer satisfaction and return business. How your users experience your website will help determine whether they become the kind of loyal customers that make up your consumer base. If they feel as though you care for their needs and provide a positive experience on your website, you will create customers that will both buy and come back again.

One of the most frustrating things for Windows users that switch to Linux is learning to install software. With Microsoft's operating system, you search the web for the software you want, download it, and install it. With Linux-based operating systems, however, programs are typically installed through a centralized app center or through the terminal. The Linux approach is arguably safer, as Windows users can easily be tricked into downloading malware. Windows 10 tries to emulate the centralized software center with the Microsoft Store, but users have largely rejected it.

Thanks to Canonical's wildly popular snaps (and other containerized packages, such as Flatpak), Linux users can more easily install software -- it should be more familiar to former Windows users. Snaps will work on most distributions too, meaning there is less work involved for software developers -- there is no need to create distro-dependent versions. Today, Microsoft furthers its commitment to Linux by releasing a snap version of  Visual Studio Code. No, the source-code editor is not the Windows-maker's first snap -- it also released one for Skype, for instance.

Visual Studio is not only one of the oldest IDEs around, having launched in the late-1990s, but it is also one of the most popular. Chances are, if you ask developers what they use, Visual Studio will be among the top answers. And, for good reasons: it is a mature, powerful and versatile IDE that is used across the globe to create websites, desktop software, mobile apps and games in a number of popular programming languages, like C# and C++.

And, every couple of years, Microsoft gives it a major update to add new features, refine existing ones and make it look more modern. This year is no different, as it introduces Visual Studio 2019 -- and, for the first time, a Mac version is ready to go from the start as well. Here are the biggest changes that are coming with it.

Software Developer is one of the most sought-after enterprise roles out there. But it’s also among the most competitive -- especially in a candidate-driven market. No matter what stage they are in their careers, remaining competitive will require developers to refine skill sets that set them apart.

According to a data analysis conducted via PayScale data, full stack developer was determined to be the fastest-growing job of 2018. The analysis found that these developers are hired at a rate more than six times that of the average job in America. And salaries are a big inducement: Entry-level developers in the U.S. can expect to make an average annual salary of over $65,000 -- a mid-career equivalent in many other industries.

Google recently launched the new top-level domain, .dev. When the TLD was introduced, pricing was a little out of the reach of most people -- there are few who would be willing to part with $11,000.

Now, however, pricing has dropped dramatically. The crazy pricing was only part of the Early Access registration period, but now the domain is available from a range of registrars for a far more reasonable $12-$15.

If you want to secure your future in the IT industry then it seems that blockchain and security are the areas you need to be in.

A report from career marketplace Hired shows that in the past year there has been a 517 percent increase in demand for blockchain engineers year on year, and a 132 percent jump for security engineers.

Seeking to give a home to those who have helped to build the web, Google has launched a new top-level domain.

The new .dev TLD comes after the company launched .app and .page, all are protected by HTTPS. Google has already used the TLD for a few of its own projects, such as web.dev and opensource.dev, but now it is being opened up to a wider audience.

The following is an exclusive excerpt from Project to Product: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption with the Flow Framework by Dr. Mik Kersten:

Entering the BMW Group Leipzig plant in Germany is an awe-inspiring experience. My hosts are Rene Te-Strote and Frank Schäfer. Frank is a plant manager responsible for overall vehicle integration. The enormous Central Building was designed by architect Zaha Hadid, who designed some of the most unique buildings of our time. The unapologetically sci-fi architecture invokes the feeling of walking into the future. The most prominent sight upon entering is an elevated and exposed section of the production line that towers high above eye level. Car bodies move across a suspended conveyor and then slowly disappear out of view as they glide over a sea of desks. The production line is visible to anyone who enters the building and to all the staff, and the entire building is designed around it. Every part of the building has some practical aspect related to manufacturing and value delivery. Everything embodies the maturity and scale of one of the masters of the Age of Mass Production.

A survey of over 70,000 developers from around the world reveals that 73 percent say they are proficient in JavaScript.

The study from hiring platform HackerRank shows JavaScript has replaced Java which took the top spot last year.

While 64-bit software is pretty much the norm on the desktop, the same cannot -- yet -- be said on mobile platforms. There is a steady movement away from 32-bit apps, and Google wants to accelerate things.

The company is encouraging Android developers to concentrate on 64-bit versions of their apps as it sets out its timetable for the end of 32-bit software.