Python

This language is used in web development, data science, machine learning, and process automation. Python is also known for being an easy language to learn. It is suitable both for people starting to develop in the IT field and for experienced specialists.

JavaScript

It is a flexible language. It is cross-platform compatible. It is suitable for creating various web applications. JavaScript is one of the most preferred languages for work in Europe. It is used in web development as well as front-end technologies.

Java

The language is suitable for creating enterprise applications as well as developing for Android. Java is one of the main languages used in the creation of secure software solutions in the technology industry.

C#

C# finds application in the creation of games, the development of enterprise software and Windows applications. The language’s ability to integrate with Microsoft’s various technologies makes it a highly desirable working language for programmers in Europe.

The rapid development of the .NET ecosystem and Unity in game development adds to the flexibility of C#, making the language even more stable when creating high-performance applications.

SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) is the leader in database management in Europe. In the fields of finance, healthcare and e-commerce, mastery of SQL is highly sought after and valued.

Using the language is key for professionals who manage large databases, retrieve information, or ensure that data integrity is maintained in all types of institutions.

PHP

The language is a leader among web development and content management systems. PHP’s ability to integrate with databases, as well as its ease of use, make the language one of the most suitable for creating dynamic websites and various web applications.

Ruby

Ruby is a language often used by startups and web developers because of the convenient environment it provides to programmers. The language focuses on developer productivity and convenience. This makes it a suitable choice when creating web solutions.

Each one of the listed languages contributes to the creation and development of different applications or to the invention of different solutions for the needs of the European market. By knowing the strengths of languages, developers help drive innovation in technology.

The report makes a compelling case for the adoption of memory-safe programming languages.

This new focus builds on the goal of restoring cybersecurity responsibility and restructuring incentives in favor of long-term cybersecurity investments. Memory-safe programming languages were also included as a goal of the Open Source Software Security Initiative (OS3I), which recently published a new report.

When using a memory-safe programming language such as Rust, Go, Java, Swift, and Python, developers cannot create code that causes a memory error because the language includes specific properties such as memory safety. When developers write code in languages that are not memory safe, such as C and C++, they may inadvertently write code that can cause memory access errors. Instead of the errors being caught at compile time and runtime, as with memory-safe languages, they end up in the final version and cause security problems, writes Jennifer Gregory, an author on cybersecurity topics.

Gregory adds that choosing a memory-safe language significantly reduces or completely eliminates memory-related vulnerabilities. In addition to improved security, memory-safe languages also reduce crashes and allow developers to increase productivity because they don’t need to focus on memory management issues.

The report focuses on getting organizations to focus on two specific areas related to memory-safe languages. In addition, the government wants to focus on creating partnerships with the technical community, especially engineers and developers, to collaborate on making this key change happen.

Although the use of memory-safe languages is recommended, the transition to them is challenging. Many software programs and libraries are based on inappropriate memory protection languages, and rewriting the entire database is often impossible. Starting a new project with a safe programming language represents the easiest way to transition.

Organizations can reduce attacks by rewriting only the critical functions and libraries that are most vulnerable to memory-related errors. Suitable languages such as Rust and Swift are interoperable with C and C++, making this transition easier. However, making the transition requires adequate developer resources. Organizations should start by assessing their existing memory safety language experts and provide training for both current and new developers in this area.

Huang’s opinion doesn’t seem to have changed much. He is still of the opinion that you don’t have to be a programmer with excellent C++ knowledge to be successful. What engineers need to succeed is to be fast.

“You just have to be a fast engineer. And who can’t be a fast engineer? When my wife talks to me, she’s a fast engineer,” he replies.

“We all have to learn how to cue artificial intelligence, but it’s no different than learning how to cue the people on your team,” he adds.

He says these skills can be vital for young people entering the job market at an opportune time.

“Artificial intelligence is a new industry – that’s why we say there’s a new industrial revolution. In the future, almost all of our computing will be generated,” he said.

Some time ago, Jensen Huang was harshly criticized for statements in which he argued that it should not and does not make sense for young people today to devote time and attention to coding because artificial intelligence will do it for them.

He said this time should be invested in developing expertise in industries such as agriculture, biology, manufacturing and education. He stresses that upskilling can be key to making progress by helping people better understand how and when to use AI programming.

#1. PYTHON

Python is a versatile programming language that is commonly used in backend development and data science, making it an excellent choice for programming beginners.

#2. C

C is a programming language that is commonly used in application and systems development. Its syntax resembles that of other widely used languages and this makes it very suitable for beginner developers who want to develop.

#3. C++

C++ is a programming language that is very similar to C but includes classes and objects. It is among the most suitable languages for developing games and systems.

#4. JAVA

Java is a high-level object-oriented programming language and is a good choice for developing applications and websites.

#5. C#

C# is an object- and component-oriented programming language similar to C and Java. C# allows developers to create many types of secure and reliable applications that run in .NET.

#6. JAVASCRIPT

JavaScript is a programming language that is commonly used to develop applications, games, and websites as well as web servers. Although it is best known as a scripting language for web pages, many non-browser environments also use it, such as Node.js, Apache CouchDB, and Adobe Acrobat.

#7. SQL

SQL is designed specifically for database programming. This involves storing and processing information in a relational database. A relational database stores information in tabular form, with rows and columns representing the various relationships between data values.

#8. GO

Go is suitable for backend development and for working with APIs and web services. Go was originally designed for programs related to networks and infrastructure. It was intended to replace popular high-performance server-side languages such as Java and C++. Today, Go is used for a variety of applications, such as cloud applications and servers, DevOps, command line tools, and much more.

#9. SCRATCH

Scratch is a programming language created to teach kids the basics of programming. It is block-based, and website and serves as an educational tool, with a target audience of ages 8 to 16. Users of the website can create projects within it using a block-like interface.

#10. VISUAL BASIC

Visual Basic, sometimes also called Classic Visual Basic, is a programming language with a user interface suitable for frontend and full-stack development. It is the most widely used programming language for creating Windows applications. It is easy to learn and does not require you to memorize difficult commands like other programming languages.

Java 22 is now available! #Java22 #JDK22 #OpenJDK

Download Now: https://t.co/aCramdGK3b
Release notes: https://t.co/UIHZ8nwZNu
API Javadoc: https://t.co/RBVjNl6Qpm
Features: https://t.co/DNvcj2yYbo
Inside Java on JDK22: https://t.co/Wh9qOLeL2N pic.twitter.com/nrKfgbqx7X

— Java (@java) March 19, 2024

Students will also be able to start writing code without having to learn all the concepts that are inherent in large projects right from the start. This will allow them to learn the language more gradually.

“The new enhancements in Java 22 enable more developers to quickly and easily create applications that are feature-rich, scalable and secure, and that help organizations around the world grow their businesses,” said Georges Saab, senior vice president of Oracle Java Platform and chairman of the OpenJDK board.

The version introduces the use of unnamed variables and templates that are highlighted. These are useful when variable declarations or nested templates are required, although they will not be used. According to Oracle, this new feature will reduce the number of errors, improve the readability of record templates, and increase code maintainability.

Another anticipated feature that has made its way into this release is the API for foreign functions and memory, which allows Java code to interact with code and data outside of the Java Runtime without using the Java Native Interface.

JEP 458 also introduces the ability to allow the Java runtime to run a program that is provided as multiple Java source code files.

Java 22 also includes JEPs in the preview, including APIs for class files and Stream Gatherers, and several in the second preview, such as Structured Concurrency and Scoped Values.

Since 1991, Obradovic has been working at Sombor Gymnasium, except for a brief period from 1993 to 1997 when he worked as a programmer in a software company. He has a strong focus on competitive algorithmic programming, achieving significant success with his students. Several of his former students now work for renowned companies like Microsoft and Nordeus.

His accolades include leading his school team to victory in the High School Programming League 2012/13 and consistently participating in all 15 Microsoft “Bubble Cup” Finals. Obradovic has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to education, receiving prestigious awards such as the “Svetosavska nagrada” from the Serbian Minister of Education and the “Charter of the City” from Sombor.

Despite his programming achievements, Obradovic also prioritizes outdoor activities. For the past 18 years, he has organized nature expeditions for his students, involving canoeing, mountain climbing, and wilderness camping, covering over 1000 km per season. Additionally, Obradovic participates annually in the international programming competition CodeIT, where he not only guides his students but also competes alongside them, showcasing his dedication to both their development and his own continuous learning.

With a strong commitment to both programming and outdoor education, Obradovic continues to inspire and lead his students, fostering their talents in various domains.

For DevStyleR, the man who learned to code without a computer – Dusko Obradovic shares more about the importance of programming in his life, reveals to us the secret of a successful and beloved leader, and what it feels like to stand next to his students during CodeIT.

What does programming mean to you and how did your love for it develop?

At first, programming was just my job. Fortunately1, my programming career lasted for only 3 years. I had been working in a firm which made programs for accounting, and those challenges faded very quickly. For the following 3 years, I was working in Hungary as an entrepreneur in retail. Since 1998 until today I have been working in Grammar School in Sombor as an IT teacher. Ever since then, for me programming is pure pleasure.

You mentioned that you learned to program without a computer. How is that possible?

I suppose that today it would be very difficult. Almost impossible. Not because today’s children couldn’t do it, but because today’s technology makes the process of learning programming easier. At that time, there was no other way. I wrote my first program on a programmable calculator after 15 months of learning from a notebook and a board. I wrote my first program on a computer after 2,5 years, in 1984 in PASCAL on Honeywell. Soon after that, the first personal computers appeared on my faculty, but we didn’t have access like today – one or two times a week, for a few hours, mostly at night. There was no internet for us, mere mortal students.

The school team you lead in Serbia is the only one in the world that has participated in all 16 finals of the Microsoft “Bubble Cup”. How do you achieve such success?

We could say that at the beginning it was just a lucky set of circumstances, which in time grew into something inevitable. Experiences of older teams and their stories year after year inspire new generations to take part in qualification competitions. In the past 8 years, CodeIT qualifications have had the same priority with us as well.

These two competitions, and especially the marathons assignments, are priceless in the process of my students’ advance. Knowing that they have 20 days to solve the problem makes most of them to learn new algorithms and structures in that period so that they would make their placement better.

The fact that you don’t have to catch the beginning of the competition, that even less efficient solutions are also valued and the lack of time penalties all brought to the fact that longer qualification rounds are more popular in my school than the sprint rounds. Even if we put aside those who are satisfied with even getting a shirt, we can say that the fever of CodeIT and Bubble Cup is always present in our school.

You have received numerous awards in Serbia, including the “Svetosavskа Award” and the “Povelja grada”.

Both awards are not just the product of success in programming. Over a month which I spend in nature with my students has equally contributed, if not even more, to receiving those awards. I divide my year into programming season: from the finals of Bubble Cup at the end of September, over winter and spring, until the end of the finals of CodeIT at the beginning of June; and on the adventurous season: during the summer. This other includes camping, fishing and ecological-rowing expeditions. During those, we compensate nine months of cyberspace with the life in a complete natural environment without any comfort.

What is the secret to building a cohesive community that competes among itself in various competitions?

Today’s way of life, which is considered as a contemporary value, and extreme influence of mass media led to the fact that in Serbia there are no more colleagues ready to do something like that. As far as I know, it is similar in Bulgaria as well.
The other reasons are, that those who have the knowledge to pass on to new generations will rather work somewhere else for 2000+ EUR instead for 750EUR, which is the salary for teachers in Serbia.

I wouldn’t call my way of work a secret.

• – With my students I don’t have a typical teacher – student relationship. We are all pals, and in many programming competitions and on CodeIT in finals we compete against each other. (This does not apply when I have to mark them).
• Experiences of earlier generations from their faculties and jobs in IT companies, through the students themselves, their friends and relatives in one small town are easily spread, so many elementary school pupils are coming to my extra classes even before they enroll Grammar School.
• My extra-curricular classes are open to students from other schools as well.
• There are no divisions on gender, classes, religions… so, except on competitions, you can always count on help of those who are around you.
• Many of those students enjoy the natural beauties of Serbia with me, next to some water during a big part of summer in the adventurous season.
• In the programming season I do about 5 hours of extra-curricular classes a week. On the contrary to other professions in Serbia, doing extra hours in teaching is not paid.

How do you prepare students for Olympiads and competitions, and what is the best advice you give them before each event?

Before competitions in our country there is a list of advice that competitors should acquire. That list was based on hundreds of points that previous students had lost on their competitions, and that led to a difference in points on their expense.
Choice of the adequate type of data structures and their sizes.
Obligatory winning the partial points, if there are some.
Narrowing down of the possible ways of solving the tasks based on given limitations.
And many more…

Nemanja Majski is my only student who has achieved this so far. And for more than a year he has been working alone and going to Belgrade at weekends, where he and a few more students have been prepared for the international competitions. This, of course, makes me proud.

Talent or hard work – which one is the key to success?

It depends on what you consider a success. If success is getting a job in an IT company, it doesn’t matter. If the aim is to work in a better firm with a bigger salary, it is possible to achieve with less talent and much work or vice versa.

If success is reaching a level where you can choose where you want to work, you need both talent and a lot and a lot of work.

Now that you have mentioned this, I have to say that it is a big pity that in our two countries a good system doesn’t exist. It all depends on the individual. There are talented children everywhere. The proof for that are not so big towns like Sombor (SRB) and Shumen (BG). Whether they will be found and start their way in which their talent will be fully used, depends on luck as well. You should be born in a town like this or its surrounding at the time when there live enthusiasts who put long-term strategic aims in front of their own personal material ones.

You have been competing alongside your students at CodeIT for years. What do you feel and think when you stand next to them during a competition?

Since the codes are public after the competition, I cannot hide the ways I approach solving of the marathon tasks. Honestly, that is not my aim at all. But during earlier competitions that was my advantage. Tempo in which I type and test, comparing to my students, is certainly my handicap. Even reading the text of the task takes a considerable amount of my time. I still manage to compensate that by experience, but it is getting more and more difficult. It happens more and more often that one or even more of them beat me on the same competition. The last sprint round on CodeIT was a disaster for me. I didn’t manage to solve not one task in given time. My ages are getting me. Luckily, I have no problem with the fact that my students are beating me.

What advice would you give to future participants in CodeIT?

The first piece of advice is to be persistent and patient. I have recently tickled the CodeIT officials to, besides presentation of the Great Guru, organize one of the little Guru, i.e. me, where I would, at least to younger participants, convey a few very useful pieces of advice when solving marathon tasks. If they get lucky and that really happens, in future their results in marathon tasks will certainly be better.

Besides this, play computer games less. That is a waste of time and you have no use from it, but a current satisfaction. Successfully finished combat with the solving of a programming problem can give you a similar feeling, with the difference that this will definitely help you in your future profession.

The constant growth and innovation in the business world has made many companies still look for highly skilled developers to fully cater and meet the needs of their companies.

Currently, the demand for technology personnel is still greater than the market supply. Although a growth of about 25% is expected in choosing software development as a profession over the next 10 years, this is not enough to keep the demand for personnel in this field greater than the supply.

Globally, 750 million cloud applications are likely to be created by 2025. To achieve this task, the application of low code will increase significantly.

What will happen when generative AI joins forces and connects with low-code platforms?

• Less knowledge and skills will be required for anyone who wants to build automations and applications. No coding knowledge will be needed.
• Productivity will increase and IT backlog will decrease.

For a “citizen developer”, or an employee with no IT knowledge, who wants to create software, low-code platforms can lead to extraordinary results.

A business analyst who knows the problems of the company he works for will be able, through low-code platforms that work through AI, to automate operational processes in ways that were not possible before.

A highly skilled IT employee who knows how to use AI effectively will be able to increase the speed and efficiency of their work.

In conclusion, using low-code AI platforms introduces a way to shorten the normal application development process. They reach the design, development and release phases in a matter of minutes compared to the usual process that takes weeks or months.

Today, we bring to you a list of top 5 books for QA engineers who are just entering this interesting yet difficult field of the tech world, accorting to Apiumhub.

Testing Computer Software
Authors. Nguyen, Jack Falk

This book is a true classic that is well suited for beginning QA engineers. The authors thoroughly cover a wide range of issues from the organization of the QA process to the actual testing of documentation, code, projects, and more. The book will provide you with the right tools to approach software testing, and also give you information that would be extremely useful.

In the pages of the book, you will find testing techniques used in agile development approaches.

Testing Computer Software
Author: Lee Copeland

Again the same title but different content. IT professionals identify this book as one of the best books for QA engineers that can be very useful for professionals at different levels. It only covers test design and does not address the issues of test planning and process organization. In it you can find both new methods and in-depth descriptions of already known ones. For example, “Testing Computer Software” describes seven “black box” and several “white box” testing approaches.

At the end of the book there is a section with conclusions and a list of other authors’ works on the subject that may also be useful.

How Google Tests Software
Authors: James Whittaker, Jason Arbon, Jeff Carollo

This book describes how the best QA professionals conduct their tests. The book provides an overview of Google’s approach to software testing, followed by chapters on the two roles of a test engineer at Google, namely the roles of software test engineer (SET) and test engineer (TE). Throughout the book there are sections and interviews with many other Google employees, with the final chapter devoted to some advice on testing at Google.

Lessons Learned in Software Testing
Authors: Cem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord

This book is a gem for QA engineers, offering a rich array of tips, hints, and techniques suitable for both novices and seasoned professionals in software testing. It delves into essential areas such as testing techniques, automated testing (with insightful discussions on its limitations), test documentation, and project management.

The book proceeds to enlighten readers on cultivating a tester’s mindset and provides intriguing cross-disciplinary references for improving testing practices. Further chapters discuss various testing techniques, bug identification and resolution, and the nuances of test automation.

Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams
Authors: Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

This book introduces the concept of Agile testing quadrants as a framework for determining testing needs, identifying suitable testers, and selecting appropriate tools. Here are some essential takeaways for QA engineers:

• How to get testers engaged in agile development
• Where testers and QA managers fit on an agile team
• What to look for when hiring an agile tester
• How to transition from a traditional cycle to agile development
• How to complete testing activities in short iterations
• How to use tests to successfully guide development
• How to overcome barriers to test automation

The new release includes features that allow developers to better understand their codebase.

“It empowers junior developers to contribute quicker, assists senior developers in handling live incidents, and aids in modernizing aging codebases by offering clear code summaries, relevant suggestions, and quick answers to queries about code behavior,” Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub, wrote in a blog post.

The chat feature seamlessly integrates with GitHub.com, empowering developers to seek assistance and obtain comprehensive responses containing helpful links to documentation or existing solutions tailored to their requirements.

Moreover, GitHub is currently in the beta phase of testing an integration with Bing search, enabling developers to harness the vast resources of the internet for information retrieval, including updates to frameworks.

Additionally, GitHub Copilot Enterprise boasts features like automatically generated pull request summaries and the capacity to scrutinize disparities between the current codebase and proposed modifications, streamlining the comprehension of code changes and ultimately saving valuable time.

“Copilot Enterprise has improved collaboration across the SDLC by making it easier for our engineers to source and find information via Copilot Chat. We’re also seeing a significant increase in overall developer productivity. Our engineers are coding faster, collaborating more effectively, and building better outcomes”, said Tommy MacWilliam, engineering manager for Infrastructure at Figma.

GitHub has affirmed that GitHub Copilot Enterprise refrains from utilizing companies’ data for model training, unless explicit consent has been provided, particularly in the instance of custom models.

“The state-of-the-art open-access model improves on prior generative AI performance to increase developer productivity and provides developers equal access to the benefits of code generation AI, which in turn enables organizations of any size to more easily meet their full business potential”, said Harm de Vries, lead of ServiceNow’s StarCoder2 development team, and co-lead of BigCode.

StarCoder2 is trained on over 600 programming languages from The Stack v2 and some natural language code such as issues from Wikipedia, Arxiv and GitHub. The models use grouped query attention, a context window of 16,384 lexemes, with sliding window attention of 4,096 lexemes. Models 3B and 7B are trained on over 3 trillion lexemes, and model 15B on over 4 trillion lexemes.

According to the creators, the goal of StarCoder2 is to provide developers with features such as code generation, workflow generation, and text summarization, among others.

The project to develop StarCoder2 was led by ServiceNow and Hugging Face. StarCoder 2 is available in three distinct sizes: ServiceNow crafted a 3 billion-parameter model, Hugging Face developed a 7 billion-parameter model, and NVIDIA engineered a 15 billion-parameter model.

The smaller models are designed to offer powerful performance while using small amounts of compute power. According to the companies, the 3 billion-parameter model matches the performance of the 15 billion-parameter model of the original StarCoder release.

Read more:
1. Mark Zuckerberg Met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
2. Odysseus Mission Will Cease Operations
3. Meta Starts to Counter Disinformation