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DataStax has announced that it has revamped the developer experience for Astra DB , which is a vector database used for building AI applications.  First, it is releasing a new API for building generative AI applications: the Astra DB Data API . This new API helps developers create these apps by providing all of the necessary data and integrations with major generative AI companies, like Azure, Amazon Bedrock, GitHub Copilot, Google Vertex AI, LangChain, LLamaIndex, OpenAI, and Vercel.  Data API features a schema-less, document-based approach to APIs, which helps enable easy access to both structured and unstructured data, according to the company.  According to DataStax, the new API also includes an intuitive dashboard and efficient data loading and exploration tools.  The company also added new client libraries for Python, TypeScript, and Java. The new libraries are also designed to help developers get started with generative AI more easily, DataStax explained.  Another update

Microsoft announced Copilot Pro as a new subscription service that offers an upgrade for individual users seeking advanced AI capabilities.  This service is tailored for power users and creators, offering a heightened level of service that leverages the latest advancements in AI technology, according to the company in a blog post .  Copilot Pro brings a new level of convenience and efficiency. It offers access to Copilot functionalities within popular Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. This integration, available on PC, Mac, and iPad, enables users to leverage AI assistance directly within their everyday productivity tools. This feature is particularly beneficial for enhancing work efficiency, automating routine tasks, and offering intelligent suggestions based on user interaction with these applications. The new offering provides an integrated AI experience that understands the user’s context, whether they are browsing the web, working on

Small businesses are the happiest adopters of Agile, with fifty-two percent saying it works “very or somewhat well” and citing that it is a “powerful productivity and organizational framework” that leads to better collaboration, improved software quality, and better business alignment. This is according to Digital.ai’s 17th annual State of Agile report , which surveyed 788 software developers. In comparison, 43% of medium and large businesses say that Agile works very or somewhat well (a 9% difference from small businesses).  The report found that in general only 11% of respondents using Agile are “very satisfied” with their results and 33% are “somewhat satisfied.” Large businesses are also struggling to scale their Agile practices, citing challenges such as AI transformations, developer burnout, hybrid work environments, and changing business priorities.  Thirty percent of respondents say they are exploring using LLMs or AI-based code assistants, whether by their development tea

Red Hat today announced that its developer platform, Developer Hub , is now generally available. Based on the CNCF project Backstage , the platform improves developer productivity and efficiency by consolidating different aspects of the development process into a single platform.  The Developer Hub was created to equip DevOps teams with the tools needed to overcome bottlenecks and other issues, like complexity, lack of standardization, and cognitive load, according to the company.  Developer Hub features a self-service portal that provides developers with all the information they could need in one location. This includes access to different consoles, a software catalog, and up-to-date documentation. This benefits not only existing employees, but makes the onboarding process easier for new employees by making things easier to find.  It also provides several software templates, which makes it easier for developers to set up the boilerplate code needed to start building their own sof

Software development is central to the technological transformation experienced in every industry. It leads to the creation of problem-solving tools and systems that make businesses and individuals perform tasks better. As a software developer, be competitive and stay ahead of the pack. Keep sharpening your skills while keeping an eye on the emerging trends. This article provides five tips to achieve excellence in the software development profession. 1. Embrace Infrastructure as Code Technology Through this revolutionary technology, you no longer need to use manual configurations and physical hardware setups. It lets you do the provisioning and management of technology stacks through code. This streamlines how you manage and deploy the processes. You get to present the infrastructure configurations in a version-controlled format that is scriptable. It also allows you to automate the provisioning of networks and servers, injecting more reproducibility and consistency. This approach

The Storybook Ecosystem CI is a system designed to protect users from issues arising from package upgrades. Storybook, a popular UI development tool, operates in a rapidly evolving front-end ecosystem, making compatibility with various frameworks, libraries, and configurations a significant challenge.  To address this, Storybook Ecosystem CI continuously tests a wide range of configurations, providing a public status page for users to check the compatibility and stability of their setups. The system includes a sandbox for testing different configurations and a notification system to alert the team of any failures.  “As maintainers of Storybook—one of the most popular UI development tools—we’re all too familiar with the terrors of package upgrades,” Michael Shilman wrote in a blog post . “That’s why we’ve created Storybook Ecosystem CI, an early warning system to help protect our users from this chaotic environment.” Storybook’s capabilities stem from its vast compatibility matrix,

Google has announced significant improvements to Google Cast, including the Output Switcher, accessible via the Android System UI.  This feature facilitates the transfer and control of media across different devices and technical protocols. With the release of Output Switcher 2.0 on Android U, improvements include enhanced volume control, device categorization, and support for devices with custom protocols.  Google Cast has adapted to the rising popularity of short-form content, making it easier for users to watch their favorite short videos on TVs or other cast-enabled devices, according to the company. To integrate Google Cast into apps effectively, Google provided guidelines to enhance the user experience: Cast from Your Phone: Apps should display the Google Cast icon prominently on every screen with playable content, preferably in the top right corner. This visibility helps users recognize the option to cast media to a TV instantly. Cast with Autoplay: Alongside the standard

Fine-tuning has been the sole method by which a model could be adapted to accomplish specific tasks. Today, the current large language model can be prompt-engineered to achieve similar results. An AI task that would have taken 6 months in the past can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes or hours.  This development opens up numerous opportunities. At the same time, it’s important for product and engineering teams to remember that AI is not a strategy; it’s a tool that helps you achieve your strategy. If you’re building AI just for the sake of AI, you’ll waste time and resources rushing products and features to market that users will ignore or quickly abandon.  In order to build product capabilities that harness the true power of AI, product and engineering leaders must apply the tried-and-true strategy of customer-centric product building to the promising potential of integrating AI features. Delivering customer-centric AI means offering AI product experiences that are highly t

BOSTON, January 9, 2024 –   Acquia , the digital experience leader, today announced the successful completion of its acquisition of the  Monsido  platform, a website accessibility and optimization solution. The SaaS-based Monsido platform helps customers of all sizes, across industries, to monitor and perfect website accessibility, content quality and governance, search engine optimization (SEO), data privacy, and performance. The acquisition expands the capabilities of the Acquia digital experience platform,  Acquia DXP , making it the only leading DXP that offers a full solution for supporting the creation of digital experiences that are accessible to all website users. Acquia acquired the Monsido platform from CivicPlus, a leader in public sector integrated technology solutions. CivicPlus retains and continues to serve its U.S. local government customers as a reseller of the Monsido platform. Monsido team members in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Denmark, including two co-founders

As most know, Xamarin is approaching its end of life on May 1, 2024. This critical milestone has prompted many developers and organizations to evaluate their options for upgrading from the cross-platform mobile app development framework to its successor, .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI), or taking this opportunity to explore alternative frameworks such as Flutter or React Native.   As leaders in the technology and application development space for over 15 years, we know these decisions should not be taken lightly. There are many factors to consider and each company will have different needs and thus will need different solutions.   Let’s investigate the options and the pros and cons associated with each.   What is .NET MAUI and How Does It Relate to Xamarin?  As Xamarin reaches its end of life, Microsoft has introduced .NET MAUI as a replacement. MAUI is an evolution of Xamarin.Forms, focusing on enhancing developer experience through quality, performance, design, and platform ava

In a recent surge within the digital sphere, APIs have eclipsed other forms of internet traffic, becoming a pivotal component of our online world. The 2023 API Security and Management Report indicates that APIs now account for more than half (57%) of the dynamic internet traffic processed by Cloudflare in the past year.  Yet, this rise in API dominance brings with it a set of intricate challenges, particularly in management and security. Cloudflare’s ML algorithms detected 30.7% more API endpoints than what was self-reported by the organizations. According to the report, this gap underscores a worrying underestimation and potential vulnerability in API management.  APIs that have not been managed or secured by the organization using it — also known as ‘Shadow’ APIs are often introduced by developers or individual users to run specific business functions,” the report stated. “While they are not inherently malicious, shadow APIs are essentially unprotected attack surfaces that introd

The Data Quality 2023 Study study reveals that a significant 34% of the organizations responding are at the ‘Data Aware’ stage, indicating they are in the initial phases of recognizing the importance of data but have not yet fully integrated it into their decision-making processes.  However, the most advanced stage, ‘Data Driven’, where data is fully integrated into those processes at all organizational levels, is achieved by 16% of the respondents’ organizations. This stage represents the pinnacle of data maturity, where data is utilized as a critical asset for business strategy and operations.  The study, compiled by SD Times and data quality and address management solution provider Melissa, garnered a total of 218 complete responses. The dataset provided a comprehensive overview of various aspects of data quality management, including challenges faced by organizations, time spent on data quality issues, data maturity levels within organizations, and the impact of international cha

Many organizations who have tried to implement value stream management (VSM) are now having issues with getting the results they want out of this practice. According to a recent survey from Broadcom, more than two-thirds of respondents claimed that their visibility isn’t what it should be.  In addition, the majority of companies are missing a key characteristic of mature VSM organizations, which is the continuous availability of data. Sixty-nine percent say they share their VSM metrics only quarterly or monthly. Only 9% continuously share data. Just 2% of respondents to the survey consider themselves to be at a level of VSM maturity, where they are using VSM on all of their products. Sixty percent are in the early adoption stage, 13% are in planning, and 25% have a pilot project. In addition, 23% are only running VSM on a single product.  “While organizations acknowledge the significance of VSM, a substantial portion find  themselves in the early phases of adoption. This survey ind

The following is a listing of security testing tool providers, along with a brief description of their offerings. FEATURED PROVIDER HCL AppScan helps organizations pinpoint and remediate vulnerabilities throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC) with a suite of application security testing platforms available as a cloud-based service (SaaS), self-managed, or cloud-native. Powerful static, dynamic, interactive, and open-source scanning engines (DAST, SAST, IAST, SCA, API) quickly and accurately test code, web applications, APIs, mobile applications, containers, and open-source components with the help of broad language support, seamless integrations and automations, and proven AI capabilities. Centralized dashboards provide visibility, oversight, compliance policies, and reporting to enable developers, DevOps, and security teams to collaborate in a comprehensive and continuous security model. RELATED CONTENT: The importance of security testing OTHERS Checkmarx :  The C

With more development teams today using open-source and third-party components to build out their applications, the biggest area of concern for security teams has become the API. This is where vulnerabilities are likely to arise, as keeping on top of updating those interfaces has lagged. In a recent survey, the research firm Forrester asked security decision makers in which phase of the application lifecycle did they plan to adopt the following technologies.  Static application security testing (SAST) was at 34%, software composition analysis (SCA) was 37%, dynamic application security testing (DAST) was 50% and interactive application security testing (IAST) was at 40%. Janet Worthington, a senior analyst at Forrester advising security and risk professionals, said the number of people planning to adopt SAST was low because it’s already well-known and people have already implemented the practice and tools. One of the drivers for that adoption was the awakening created by the log4j vu