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Why use React JS for Web Development?

by Anika Chakraborty | Jan 19, 2023 | Software Development, Blog | 1 comment

ReactJS is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries used by major websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and so on. It was even rated as the most loved web framework by developers in a survey by StackOverflow. But popularity alone isn’t a metric that can be used when deciding which library to use in your project. So in this blog, we will help you understand why you should use React JS for web development by explaining all its great features.

Why use React JS for Web Development?

As stated earlier, we will be exploring the features of React JS that make it possible to deliver the mentioned benefits.

• Reusable Functional & Class components
• Useful Lifecycle methods
• JSX syntax for extended HTML
• Unique React Hooks
• Flux and Redux Capabilities
• Virtual DOM in React
• Server-side and Client-side Rendering
• Great Community Support

Reusable Functional & Class components

Functional Components:

Functional components are JavaScript (or ES6) functions that return React elements. We can also write the method as a simple JS function or as an arrow function using the ES6 syntax in Functional Components.

In React, the term ‘props’ is short for properties. Props can be used to pass data from one component to another. Passing props allows you to effectively reuse the code in React and avoid repeating yourself. The use of prop destructuring makes it really convenient to see what’s going in and what’s coming out of the component.

Functional components will be instrumental in making your code easy to read, understand and debug. React’s team has even specified that the capability of functional components will be enhanced in the upcoming versions of React JS.

Example:

function Car(props) {
  return <h2>I am a {props.color} Car!</h2>;
}

const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root'));
root.render(<Car color="red"/>);

OUTPUT: I am a red Car!

Class Components:

Class components are very important as they are the only way you’ll be able to use state and lifecycle on a React component. Each React JS class contains constructors, life cycle methods, render function, and also state or data management functionalities.

So accessing and updating the state of the component would become very easy. Though it is complex to program class components, the functionalities it has to offer are definitely worth the effort.

Example:

class Car extends React.Component {
render() {
    return <h2>I am a {this.props.color} Car!</h2>;
  }
}
ReactDOM.render(<Car color="blue"/>, document.getElementById('root'));

OUTPUT: I am a blue Car!

Useful Lifecycle methods

There are a total of seven lifecycle methods in ReactJs. Of the 7, we will be exploring the 4 most useful lifecycle methods that make it great to use ReactJS for web development.

componentWillMount():

It gives us the option to perform certain activities before calling or rendering the HTML content. For example, there will be scenarios where the actual data being displayed to the user might be very different from what was intended to be shown to the user.

During such scenarios, we can use the componentWillMount() method, as this method always gets called before the call to render. Hence we will be able to change the contents before displaying them to the end user.

UNSAFE_componentWillMount() {
//Perform the required activity inside it
}
//Call the render method to display the HTML contents.
render(){
}

componentDidMount()

Once all the elements of the page are rendered correctly, this method can be called to change the state of our application after the user interaction and render the updated data-loaded JSX.
You can call this method by using setState() as shown in the below code.

class Header extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {favoritecolor: "red"};
  }
  componentDidMount() {
    setTimeout(() => {
      this.setState({favoritecolor: "yellow"})
    }, 1000)
  }
  render() {
    return (
      <h1>My Favorite Color is {this.state.favoritecolor}</h1>
    );
  }
}

componentWillUpdate():

This method can be used to decide whether a component should be rendered or not after checking the previous and current property states.

Let’s say you have to render a component, but also want to create a focus or lighting design, you can check the states and perform the required task based on the needs.

componentWillUpdate(nextProps, nextState) {
//We can write any conditional expression here and the scope will be decided on the basis of the conditional value execution of the if or else 
if (nextState.propName != this.state.propName) {
//Upon success, we can run the below statement and we can perform any particular action.
//Statement 1
//Statement 2
//Statement 3
} else {
//In this section we can write some code that we want to run if the above condition is false.
//Statement 1
//Statement 2
}
}

componentDidUpdate():

ComponentDidUpdate is a React component lifecycle method invoked immediately after a component’s updates are flushed to the DOM. This is one of the most used built-in methods, which is not called for the initial render nor applicable to your functional details.

We use it to react to external changes in the component’s props or internal state. With the componentDidUpdate method, you can modify the underlying DOM nodes, request remote data, and update the internal state of your component.

class MyComponent extends React.Component {
  componentDidUpdate(prevState, prevProps) {
    // we access props with this.props
    // and state with this.state
    
    // prevState contains state before update
    // prevProps contains props before update
  }

  render() {
    return <div></div>;
  }
}

JSX syntax for extended HTML

JSX can be expanded as JavaScript XML. It is a very useful tool for React JS developers as it can be used to write HTML elements in JavaScript and integrate them into the DOM(Document Object Model). It will also be instrumental in converting the HTML tags into React elements without the help of other methods like createElement() or appendChild().

Example:

Var greetings = <h1>Hello World!</h1>

Unique React Hooks

React hooks are simple JavaScript functions. They are a new addition that was introduced from React 16.8 onwards. But you’ll have to keep in mind that hooks will not work in React class components.

We have our regular functional component in React and then we have the props. They are destructured and passed right into our function so we can easily reuse this Author component in any section or component of our application.

Though there are 6 hooks in total, we will be exploring the 3 most useful hooks.

1. useState: It is one of the most important hooks that allow you to have state variables in functional components.

Example:

import React, { useState } from 'react';


function Example() {
 // Declare a new state variable, which we'll call "count"
 const [count, setCount] = useState(0);


 return (
   <div>
     <p>You clicked {count} times</p>
     <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
       Click me
     </button>
   </div>
 );
}

2. useEffect: As this hook runs on every render, whenever the count changes, a render will happen, which then triggers another effect.

import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';


function Example() {
 const [count, setCount] = useState(0);


 // Similar to componentDidMount and componentDidUpdate:
 useEffect(() => {
   // Update the document title using the browser API
   document.title = `You clicked ${count} times`;
 });


 return (
   <div>
     <p>You clicked {count} times</p>
     <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
       Click me
     </button>
   </div>
 );
}

3. useContext: “useContext” hook is used to create common data that can be accessed throughout the component hierarchy without passing the props down manually to each level. Context defined will be available to all the child components without involving “props”.

import {useContext} from ‘react’;
import React, { createContext } from ‘react’;
import ReactDOM from ‘react-dom’;
const MessageContext = createContext();
myApp=()=>{
   return (
      <MessageContext.Provider value=”hello”>
         <div>
            <Test/>
         </div>
      </MessageContext.Provider>
   );
}


In the child component test, we can access the message value as shown below 
Test =()=>{
   return (
      <MessageContext.Consumer >
         {value=><div> message : {value} </div> }
      </MessageContext.Consumer>
   );
}

Flux and Redux Capabilities

Flux:

Flux is an application architecture used in the development of a client-side web application. Flux is technically not a framework or a library. It uses a unidirectional data flow pattern to solve state management complexity. It will be useful if your project uses a lot of dynamic data.

Scalability is also another advantage that Flux provides when it comes to using React JS for web development. It solves major problems by embodying important principles of event controls that make the development and maintenance process easy.

Redux:

Whereas, Redux is a state container for JavaScript apps. It is most commonly paired with React to take control of the state away from React components and give it to a centralized place called a ‘store’. By doing so, we will be able to manage the state globally.

Centralizing the state makes it easier to implement things like logging changes to the data, or persisting data between page refreshes.

Virtual DOM in React

To understand the virtual DOM, we should be clear with the two major concepts; rendering and reconciliation. When you render a JSX element, every single virtual DOM object gets updated.

Likewise, whenever we render a web page or application, React creates the Virtual DOM tree. So when the state of a component changes, React updates the virtual DOM tree.

Once the virtual DOM has been updated, React then compares the current version of the virtual DOM with the previous version of the virtual DOM. This process is called “diffing”.

The major advantage of using Virtual DOM in React JS is that it frees up a lot of hardware resources that would be needed without virtualization. So an overall performance boost can be achieved by using React JS for web development.

Server-side & Client-side Rendering

Client Side Rendering:

Client-side rendering is used to allow developers to develop their web applications by completely rendering with Javascript.

This is a great advantage when it comes to using React JS for web development as it will dynamically create each route directly in the browser without refreshing the page. This will be important for applications that have a complex UI with many pages or features that require a large amount of dynamic data

Server-Side Rendering:

Server-side rendering is used to allow the developers to pre-populate a web page with custom user data directly on the server. With the help of server-side rendering, initial page load time can be reduced, and an overall better user experience can be achieved.

Server-side rendering-based applications break the JavaScript and CSS into chunks, optimize assets, and render pages on the server before serving to the client browser, resulting in a faster initial load time.

When we render an application’s user interface, React creates a virtual DOM tree representing that UI and keeps it in memory. On the next update, when the data that renders the app changes, React will automatically create a new virtual DOM tree for the update.

Great Community Support

As it is being widely used by many popular web applications, there are a number of experts who actively support the community. In addition to that, the answers you may get online will be reliable as they mostly would be from tried and tested solutions that have already been successfully implemented elsewhere.

This makes it very easy for people to learn React JS and use it for their web development projects.

Benefits of using React JS for Web Development

Being a web app development company, we have used React JS in numerous projects. Here are some of the benefits that you get when using React JS for web development

• You can develop large web applications that utilize data that can change in real time without having to reload the entire page
• It can be used to develop both the client & mobile side applications
• Since it has great code reusability, code maintenance will be simplified.
• The UI code is more readable and convenient for teamwork
• It is simple, scalable, efficient, and super fast.

Angular vs React JS for Web Development

Conclusion

We hope you now have a clear understanding of the features that make React JS great for web development. We ourselves have used ReactJS for web development in many of our projects and have always been pleased with the results. So we highly recommend you to use ReactJs for your web development as you will be able to build a high-quality product in the most efficient way. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to not miss out on any of our latest posts.

Django vs Flask: Make the Right Choice

by Charlotte Johnson | Dec 14, 2022 | Software Development, Blog | 0 comments

The words Python and Django might feel synonymous to each other for a few as Django has been the go-to framework for most developers. Flask was introduced as a simpler and lighter alternative to Django. Though there are other Python frameworks, these two are the most widely used. Having used both these frameworks in our software development projects, we are well aware of all the pros and cons on each side. So we will be going through the differences in detail in our Django vs Flask blog. But before that, let’s have a small introduction to both Django and Flask.

Django

Django was first launched in 2005 and due to its long presence in the field, it has great documentation and a large community of Django developers who are very supportive. So if you need help while adding new features or APIs, there will be a high chance for it to be readily available.

Django is commonly referred to as Model View Template (MVT) due to its architecture. So in our Django vs Flask blog, we will see how it differs from the Model View Controller (MVC) architecture of Flask.

Model:

The models are just regular Python files where we structure the table for making it easy to create, edit and delete the data. Using these models we can create tables in the database of your choice such as PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, and SQLite. This is one of the major advantages of Django as you will not be needed to execute raw SQL queries.

View:

The view is used to accept HTTP requests, process them, and return the HTTP response. This is where the main logic is given (i.e) the required data will be retrieved from the database by using Django queries. After which, it will render the data to create the user interface using templates.

Template:

The Template is where we will have all the HTML files that will be rendered and shown as a web page. HTML pages can be dynamically created using an HTML template from views where data will be populated from the views. Flask will have a Controller in its architecture instead of this and we will be exploring that in the later stage of our Django vs Flask blog.

URL:

To make it even easier, Django has a file called urls.py that can be used to map the URLs to the views. So the URL mapper can be used in Django to redirect the HTTP requests to the respective view in views.py. In addition to that, will also be able to pass data like User ID to the URL and get that in the view.

Flask

Flask was released in 2010, 5 years after the launch of Django. Though it was launched later, it has been used by many top software development outsourcing companies and has been in the industry for more than a decade. So that one factor alone cannot be used to rule out Flask in our Django vs Flask comparison.

As stated earlier in our Django vs Flask blog, Flask uses the MVC architecture which is Model, View, and Controller. So the flow will be the user requesting to view a web page by entering the URL that will be handled by routes.

Models:

Models have access to the database. The direct access to the database by models for getting the data will be directly used by the controller.

The data from models will be accessed after it will be passed to the view so it renders the requested page.

Views:

The view in MVC is responsible for the part where we display the data. It could be just a string or a fully operational HTML page with great design.

In Flask there is a way to send the data during the rendering of an HTML page and display that data by looping through it using jinja syntax.

Controller:

Flask requires its users to define specific URL routes to determine which page has to be displayed or rendered for which URL. So when the user enters the URL, the application finds the relevant matching route. And when it finds the correct route, it calls the associated controller action. So the controller is like the middleman between the view and the model.

Now that we have seen an overview of both, let’s move on to the Django vs Flask tabular comparison.

Django vs Flask

Django vs Flask: Which should you Choose?

So by now, you would have understood that choosing between Django and Flask is not a simple this or that type of question. They are both great frameworks that have their own individual features and characteristics. But that doesn’t mean you can pick a framework that is most suitable for your needs. So we’ll now list out a few focus points that will help you choose.

Project Scale: Django is best suited for mega projects that require lots of logic, data, and APIs. But on the other hand, Flask is best suited for smaller and simple projects.

Learning Curve: Flask is easy to learn and so you can complete the project with less time compared to Django. On the contrary, you’ll need extensive knowledge for creating a project in Django.

UI: Django offers an administration interface that enables you to create, read, edit, and delete data from the admin UI. But this feature is not available in Flask.

Security: If security is a major concern for you when choosing the right framework, you can go proceed with Django as it offers built-in authorization features.

API Support: But if you need API support, then Flask is the best choice as Django doesn’t provide any support for API.

Conclusion

We hope you now have a clear picture as to which framework will be suitable for you after reading our Django vs Flask blog. We have used both Django and Flask based on the project’s needs to deliver top-notch software development consulting services. We recommend you make your decision in a similar way. Because it is not just about choosing the best option in the market, it is about choosing the best option for you. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to not miss out on any of our latest updates.

Flutter Vs React Native: What Makes Flutter Better?

by Chris Adams | Dec 12, 2022 | Software Development, Blog | 0 comments

According to a recent survey, Flutter surpassed React Native to become the most widely used cross-platform mobile app development framework. If Flutter is getting so much attention, then there will definitely be valid reasons for it. Being a leading Flutter development company, we have used Flutter for various development projects and reaped its benefits as well. So in this Flutter vs React Native blog, we’ll be analyzing the features that made Flutter achieve this feat. what makes both these frameworks great and how you can choose the best one that fits your needs. But before we proceed to the nitty gritty details, let’s first briefly introduce Flutter and React Native.

Flutter

Flutter can be described as a lightweight UI toolkit or as a Software Development Kit (SDK) filled with useful widgets and tools for developing cross-platform apps. Despite its large popularity, it is a fairly new Mobile Application SDK among developers. Flutter is created using Dart Programming language from a single codebase. One of the aspects that have caused the rapid growth of Flutter is its ability to let developers use a single codebase to create applications for Google Fuchsia, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and the web.

React Native

Unlike Flutter, React Native is an open-source UI framework. It can be used to develop genuine mobile apps that are equal to those created with Swift or Java. Since React Native makes use of the same essential UI building pieces that are utilized by iOS and Android, the components are simply combined using JavaScript and React.

In order to understand the core differences between the two, let’s first understand how an SDK differs from a Framework and then head to the in-depth Flutter vs React Native comparison.

Difference between SDK and Framework

Framework

In general, a software framework is an abstraction that enables user code to selectively override shared code that provides general functionality. Both software libraries and frameworks consist of reusable abstractions of code encased in clear APIs. Contrary to libraries, the framework controls the whole program’s flow of control rather than the caller. The distinctive quality of software frameworks is this inversion of control.

SDK

A software development kit (SDK or “devkit”) is generally a collection of programming tools that enables a software engineer to produce software for a certain software package, framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or other platforms. It could be anything as basic as an application programming interface in the form of a few files, an interface to a certain programming language, or it might contain complex hardware to connect with a specific embedded system.

Common tools include utilities and debugging aids, which are frequently displayed in an IDE. Additionally, sample code, technical notes, and other supplementary documentation are usually included in SDKs to assist in elucidating concepts from the core reference material.

Flutter vs React Native: Key Highlights

The Major Convenience in Flutter

As previously stated in our Flutter vs React Native blog, Flutter is built using the quick object-oriented programming language Dart. It is fresh and simple to learn, especially if you are a seasoned professional who is more accustomed to Java and C#.

Even if you are new to software development, Flutter has great documentation that makes it extremely easy to understand what widgets are available and where to find them. Dart also provides the null safety feature that prevents errors caused due to unintentional access of variables set to null.

As Flutter supports cross-platform app development, it speeds up the development process and gets the project into production very fastly. It offers programmers a simple approach to creating and distributing aesthetically appealing, natively-compiling apps for desktop, web, and mobile (iOS, Android), all from a single codebase. It also enables the developer to publish the app in the Play store as well as the App Store. This creates a distinctive approach to developing apps in the current industry.

Flutter’s Web App Capabilities

Next up in our Flutter Vs React Native blog, we will be focusing on the Web App development capabilities of Flutter. With Flutter’s web support, users can enjoy the same mobile-like experiences online. It implies that you can now create apps for Android, iOS, and browsers using the same codebase.
So you will be able to develop Progressive Web Apps (PWA) that are integrated with the user’s environment and Single Page Applications (SPAs). Flutter’s web support has a browser-based delivery model for mobile apps already developed with the framework.

Flutter Vs React Native: How They Differ?

In contrast to React Native, Flutter uses a widget as its building block. It employs native components, which results in simpler and more distinctive code. This will result in the complication of a mobile developer finding it difficult to adapt code for the web components. And that is where Dart programming in Flutter comes into the picture as it makes it easier to adapt such code.

When it comes to React Native, it is totally different. The developer’s code is typically interpreted by Javascript. Then, the element sequences begin to join in a manner like a bridge and get natively compiled. As the code is written in JS and then has to be transpiled to the native code of the mobile platform, it impacts React Native’s performance.

Who Should Choose Flutter?

A developer can choose to work as a flutter developer if they are well-versed in Java or don’t have any prior web programming expertise. The primary reason is that Dart, the programming language used in Flutter is very similar to Java. The techniques utilized here are similar to Java’s usage of inheritance, polymorphism, and object-oriented programming.

Flutter vs React Native: The Architecture

The objective of Flutter is to make it possible for developers to create high-performance applications that work seamlessly across various platforms by embracing differences where they are present and utilizing as much code sharing as possible. Now let’s find out how Flutter achieves this with its 3-layer architecture.

• Framework
• Engine
• Embedder

Flutter intends to achieve its goal by having an expandable and layered structure. It exists as a collection of separate libraries, each of which is dependent on the base layer. Every component of the framework level is intended to be optional and changeable. Additionally, no layer has special access to a layer below it. Now let’s look at each of these layers in our Flutter Vs React Native blog.

Framework Layer:

It provides a responsive and contemporary framework based in Dart programming when the developer interacts with this level. It is made up of several layers and includes the majority of the platform, layout, and basic libraries.

Flutter has

• Basic classes and building block services that provide widely used abstractions over the underlying base include animation, painting, and gestures.
• The rendering layer helps you create a tree of renderable objects that can be dynamically changed. The tree will also adapt to the changes that you will be making.
• There is a class in the widgets layer for each rendered object in the rendering layer. In the widgets layer, you will be able to define the reusable class combinations. This is where the reactive programming happens.
• The complete control sets provided by the Material and Cupertino libraries help us implement the Material or iOS design languages using the widget layer’s composition primitives.

Engine Layer:

The engine conducts input, output, and network tasks as well as manages the different rendering transitions in this layer. The engine is responsible for rasterizing the new frames that have to be painted. And Flutter makes use of Skia to achieve this by converting the C++ code into classes in Dart.

Embedder Layer:

A platform-specific embedder acts as an entry point and collaborates with the underlying operating system to access services like input, rendering surfaces, and accessibility. A platform-specific language, such as Java or C++ for Android, Objective-C or Objective-C++ for iOS and macOS, or C++ for Windows and Linux, is used to create the embedder. Using the embedder, Flutter code may be added to an existing application as a module or as the entire application’s content.

The Benefits of the Architecture

Now that we have seen in-depth about Flutter’s architecture, let’s next focus on the benefits in our Flutter Vs React Native blog. Flutter renders the UI design with its own set of packages, and it converts the same design with native code. But in React Native, it varies with different designs for both iOS and Android.

Without writing a ton of code, Flutter architecture enables you to develop a truly native app. However, React Native involves a lot of components and it is really so tough to change the global component, which was declared so early.

The Flutter MVP architecture offers all the required features and is not significantly different from a native app architecture. Flutter is a great option if you need to quickly develop a mobile application for investors. Since you don’t have to concurrently develop two mobile apps for iOS and Android, it is substantially less expensive.

Foremost, the usability of Flutter comes from its Widget. It has huge compatibility and is used everywhere in the app. This confirms that the widget is so easy to use and easy to access the properties with different classes. We can have Parent and child class relationships in Flutter by using this architecture.

Conclusion:

We hope you now have a clear understanding of why Flutter is better than React Native after reading our Flutter vs React Native blog. We have delved down deep to even discuss how Flutter differs at an architectural level. Being a leading software development company, we will be publishing more insightful articles. So we recommend you subscribe to our Newsletter to stay up to date with all our latest updates. Thanks for reading.

Beginners Guide to Basic Git Commands with Examples

by Charlotte Johnson | Oct 13, 2022 | Software Development, Blog | 0 comments

Since multiple developers have to work together to develop a working product, the collaboration between them becomes the key to achieving success. That is what makes Git one of the most important tools that every developer must know to use effectively as it eases the version control workflow. Git enables developers to collaborate by making it possible to merge multiple people’s code changes into a single source and also track the changes being made. So, whether you write code only for you to see or to work in a team, Git will come in handy to handle everything from small to large projects with speed and efficiency. Being a leading software development company, we will be explaining the basic Git commands with examples, and why you need to start using it from this Guide.

Git: Introduction

Git is open-source software that works on the principles of a Distributed Version Control System. A version control system helps the development team manage the source code over time, tracks every modification made by each collaborator, and merges it into a single source. Git makes use of a branching system to achieve this collaboration. You can create sub-branches for you to work on and another branch for another developer to work on. You can also branch it according to the features that are being developed as well. So once a feature or a piece of code is ready to be added to the main code, you can merge it with the main branch as shown below.

Git is not limited to just local codes on a computer, it also has a cloud storage option called GitHub where you can store your projects in. So if you have made any new changes to the code, your team will be able to access the updated code and clone the project from this cloud, and start working with the updated code. There is no need to worry about security as only people with the user id and token will be allowed to access and make changes in the code. With Git several developers can work on the same project side by side and use git commands like commit, push, and pull so that neither of the updated code is lost.

Example

To understand this better, let’s take the case of Google sheets whose functional mechanism is very similar to that of Git, it allows multiple users to work on it at the same time, records all the changes made, and creates multiple versions of the same sheet in case we want to revert to an older version.

Before we proceed to see the basic Git commands with examples, it is important to learn about the different states of files in Git.

State of Files in Git:

Primary, there are three components for every Git project and they are

• Git directory – This contains the history of all the files along with their changes.
• Working tree – It contains the project’s current status, along with any modifications made to them.
• Staging area – Contains modifications that will be included in the next commit.

Every file in the working directory is of two file types, tracked and untracked.

Untracked files:

Any new file that gets added to Git and was not in the previous commit can be called an untracked file. In the below example, untrackedfile.txt is a file that is newly created but not yet staged, so it becomes an untracked file.

Tracked files:

The files which Git identifies to have been in the previous commit are known as tracked files. It is further subdivided into 3 states and each file will remain in one of these 3 states and switch between them.

1. Modified files

A file in a modified state means that there has been some modification such as editing, deleting, or even adding code to that file. These files exist in the repository, but the changes made to it are not yet staged (not yet done) These changes will only be included in the remote git when we commit.

In the above image, firstFile.txt is a file created using the previous commit and becomes a modified file once the changes are complete.

2. Staging:

A staging state file can be a modified file that the user had not included in the previous commit but will be included in the next commit. It can also be a newly added file that needs to be committed.

3. Committed Files:

As the name suggests, any file that has been stored in the directory is called a committed file.

Basic GIT Commands with examples:

Now that we have seen all the foundations you’ll need to know to understand and use the commands in Git, let’s take a look at a few basic GIT commands with examples. Though there are hundreds of Git commands, only a few are very important when you are getting started with Git.

1. Git init

Initializing a Git repository in your local machine is one of the first things you’ll need to do and this command will help you do it.

Usage: git init

Example:

In the above image, a project folder named gettingStartedWithGit is created and initialized with git.

2. Git clone

If there is an existing repository that you would like to make changes to, you can create a clone of it and download it using this command.

Usage: git clone

Clicking on that Clone or download button gives you a clone URL.

3. Git add

This is a basic Git command that you can use to stage all your files once they are ready.

Usage: git add.

4. Git status

If you would like to see the changes made in your repositories, you can use this command to see the staged changes and the untracked files.

Usage: git status

Example:

In the above example, we have a file called firstfile.txt that we will be adding. For explanation purposes, we will first check the status of the files using the git status command. We can see that there are no commits and that firstfile.txt is an untracked file. But once we have used the git add command, we can see that the firstfile.txt file has now been staged.

5. Git commit

As seen earlier, there is both a local and remote repository for Git. So if you would like to commit the changes you have made thus far in your local repository, you can use this command. The text that comes after -m is the comment, and you can use it to ensure you add some useful information about the commit for better understanding.

Usage: git commit -m “some useful message about the commit”

6. Git push

Push is also similar to the commit command, but the main difference is that the pushes the changes you have made in your local repository to the remote repository.

Usage: git push origin

Example:

In this example, we have first made the commit and then pushed the same to the remote repository.

Note: If you don’t have a remote repository, create one repository (a.k.a project) on GitHub.

Click the Clone or download button and copy the repository URL that appears and use it in the command as shown below.

git remote add origin <paste the copied URL>

The above command only helps you to connect to the remote repository. You can then use the git push origin command to push your changes to the remote repository.

7. Git pull

Since only the remote repository is updated with the push command, this command can be used to sync the local repository with the remote repository. It will pull the content from the remote repository and update the local repository.

Usage: git pull origin master

Example:

8. Git log

Being able to view the history of changes made by collaborators working on the same project will be crucial and this command helps you do just that.

Usage: git log

Example:

9. Git branch

You can even view the list of branches that are available in your repository and also identify the branch you are currently working on by using this command.

Usage: git branch

Example:

We can see that there are currently two branches (feature-one & main)

Creating a new branch

Though there are more than 2 ways to create a branch in Git, let’s take a look at the 2 commonly used git commands that have their own use case.

#1. git branch <branch-name>

If you need to create a new branch but stay in the source branch you are already working in, you can use this command.

Example:

We have added a new branch called new_branch and have verified it as well.

#2. git checkout -b <branch-name>

But if you wish to create a new branch from your source branch and move to that newly created branch, you can use this command directly instead of using two different commands to move to the new branch. Or if you wish to create a new branch and shift to a different branch, you can do that too.

Git checkout

When working with multiple branches, you’ll definitely have to switch between them often. So you can use this command to achieve that.

Usage: git checkout

The above image shows the switch from the new branch-using-checkout branch to the main branch.

10. Git merge

The entire purpose of creating a branch is to have a separate line of development and finally merge it into the main branch. So you can use the merge command to merge your changes from one branch to another.

Usage: git merge (You’ll have to switch to the branch where the changes have to be merged)

Example:

The above image merges the changes from the new_branch branch to the master branch.

11. Git stash

As the name suggests, you can store the changes you are making to the code locally instead of making changes to the actual file in the local repository. So you can work on something else and come back to your working file without any issues. The changes you make will be applied only when you use the correct command. Now let’s look at the Basic Git Commands with Examples to perform these stash operations

Usage: git stash -u

Example:

It saves your changes and -u is added to the stash of untracked files.

git stash list

Like how you can view all the branches in your repository, you can also use this basic git command to view the list of stash changes.

The format here is stash@{n} where n, the numeric value represents different stashes. As we add more stashes, it’ll progress upwards from 0.

git stash pop/apply

You can use either of these commands to apply the changes that are stored in the stash. Using apply will implement the changes and keep the files in the stash. Whereas pop will apply the changes and delete the stash files.
If there are multiple stash files and you wish the apply a specific stash file, you can use the git stash apply stash@{n} command.

12. Git fetch

This command is to fetch data such as branches, tags, etc from the remote repository without updating it directly in the local branch. So you will be able to see what changes are available to update your local repository.

Usage : git fetch origin :

Conclusion

As we have discussed the Basic Git Commands with examples, we hope you now have a clear understanding of what Git is, how important it is, and how to start using it for your coding as well. With a distributed architecture, Git is designed to perform with a sense of security, and flexibility when collaborating with fellow developers. In addition to being distributed, when compared to many other alternatives, Git’s raw performance characteristics are robust, and your source code certainly has an authentic content history.

5 Offshore Software Development Challenges & Their Solutions

by Mollie Brown | Sep 7, 2022 | Software Development, Blog | 0 comments

Offshore software development comes with many pros, and with every added benefit, there are challenges you must accept. Benefits and challenges are the two faces of every coin, and it’s no different for offshore software development either.

While it provides reduced costs, access to global talent, and an opportunity to get the product developed without taking any responsibility, it also adds some challenges. The challenges with offshore software development are minor and can be dealt with pretty efficiently. So, if you are a company looking to hire an offshore software development company, don’t step back from the challenges, just look at the benefits of this model, and you’ll thank yourself for leveraging this.

Let’s discuss the top 5 challenges almost all companies face while looking for offshore software development and how to deal with them effectively.

Top 5 Offshore Software Development Challenges Challenges with their Solutions

1. Communication and Collaboration

Offshore development means hiring resources and companies from other countries and leveraging them to build your projects. This will naturally cause a time zone difference, and when you hire from certain parts of the globe, time zone issues can be significant. Apart from the time zone, most countries have different cultures, which adds cultural bias to people and makes them think of things differently.

The time zone challenge adds barriers to effective communication and collaboration, which makes the project suffer. Many times certain ideas can be expressed best with the help of in-person meetings or regular connections, and nothing can replace this. In many parts of the world, there are connectivity issues, and networks are not stable enough to host long video calls, or the speed is too slow for effective communication. These challenges are faced by almost all companies when they start working with an offshore software development company.

But we are different, we have the best tools for communication and collaboration that help us stay aligned with client expectations and deliver a good product. All the projects we do are built in our development centers around the world, and these centers are equipped with superfast internet and audio-video conferencing tools that enable seamless communication.

Our team members have access to mails 24*7, and thus they are available at all times for a quick call or any query resolution. Moreover, all our team members know global cultures and try their best to relate to the customer’s cultures to understand their problems from a completely different angle.

2. Managing and Tracking Project

Most companies think that offshore software development is only good if you keep an eye on the company all the time. Though managing and tracking projects is a challenge most projects come across, it is not as enormous that you have to start thinking in a completely different direction from offshore software development.

If you’ve selected a suitable project management methodology and a good project manager, everything after this is easy. Today there are multiple project management and planning tools that can simplify your task of managing projects of all sizes. If you are not using them, it is going to cost you a lot of stress and delay in deliveries, and that’s a big challenge.

You can use a project management and planning tool like Jira, Asana, Trello, and more to plan out the project effectively and complete everything in time. Moreover, you can break down the project into multiple segments/tasks and can assign them to individual team members to work upon. Then they can update the status every time there is progress or roadblock, and you can have a concise view of the project at any time.

3. Ineffective Cost Saving and Code Quality

Ineffective cost savings is another challenge that many businesses face. In this, the companies try to save lots of money while hiring the offshore development company, and then it results in overspending because the company is not efficient.

If you want to build enterprise-scale products, you should not focus solely on saving costs because, most times, cheap service is not the best. While you may say that you are going for offshore software development just because the prices are pretty low, do consider that it can backfire anytime and leave you in miserable conditions, there are various guides for offshore software development available in the market that help you to choose the ideal outsourcing company.

Trying to save costs on the hardware you run your projects will make it prone to failures and frequent issues that might render the product unusable in just some time. Companies that offer services at the lowest rates often employ less skilled developers, and this reflects directly in the quality of code they write.

To solve this challenge effectively, you’ll have to consider many parameters apart from prices to hire the best offshore software development company. Moreover, it will be mindful you to set coding standards for the project and make everyone comply with them strictly. Doing this will help you make a streamlined code base that will be easy to work with in the future if there are any changes.

4. Technology and Talent

Not every technology is suitable for your project. You might consider that technology is good for your project, but if you are a non-technical person, following your gut feeling here can be a costly choice.

On the other hand, you might have decided to use technology, and the talent for that might be significantly low in the market, which can be a massive challenge in itself. You cannot create masters in any technology instantly. Thus it’s better to look at the trending technologies and see what suits you better.

Hardware is another area of challenge, and the prices for hardware systems are different throughout the world. If you buy servers in some areas, they can be a costly choice when you compare them with any other, and there is a chance of unavailability too.

Whether it is talent, hardware, or technology, everything is spread unevenly around the world, and as a business owner, you have to explore the perfect balance between the three.

Such challenges can be overcome effectively by partnering with a leading offshore software development company. These companies have expert business analysts and project managers who drill down and understand your requirements well and advise you on all fronts. Moreover, leading companies often host tech experts for all the technologies, and this can prove a game-changer if you ever feel like changing the technology.

5. Competition and Proof of Concept

The offshore software development industry is brimmed with competition, and it will only increase as the demand for such services increases. There are no signs of slowing down, and thus finding the best company for your projects is quite challenging.

Due to the competition and the many choices you have, you’ll have to adopt a method that uncovers the true potential of each company and its services, and you can do this by research.

While selecting a company, interview their team members and ask them to show their portfolios, and try to assess them based on their logical thinking and analytical abilities. You can also request a company to come up with a proof of concept to gain an idea of their implementation skills and how well they’ve understood your requirements.

Conclusion

Working with offshore software development companies can be challenging, but the benefits they provide will surely cover up the challenges you face. You should not get demotivated by the challenges as there are ways to overcome challenges, and we’ve also listed the solutions to the challenges above. Many other challenges can be solved by working with the right software outsourcing service provider like us, so why wait, connect with us today, and let’s build your project in a better way.