Category: Programming

Introduction to App & Web Development: Picking the Right Framework and Preparing for Scalability

Version: 1.0 - Stay tuned for updates!

In the dynamic world of web and app development, the decisions you make early on can significantly impact your project’s success and scalability. The choice of framework, for instance, isn’t just about today’s needs. It’s a reflection of where you envision your project in the future. So, how do you align your framework choice with both present requirements and tomorrow’s growth?

The Basics: What is a Framework?

A framework is a pre-written code library that provides a foundation to develop applications faster and more efficiently. While libraries offer specific functionalities, frameworks give developers a blueprint, reducing the need to build from scratch.

Essential Considerations for Scalability & Management

Before diving deep into specific stacks, let’s explore universal principles that every developer should consider:

API Development: If you’re developing a web app today, chances are you’ll want a mobile extension tomorrow. Designing with a robust API ensures seamless integrations and expansions.
Microservices Architecture: This modular approach breaks your application into smaller, manageable pieces, promoting scalability and ease of maintenance.
Load Balancing: As your user base grows, distributing network traffic becomes paramount to maintain speed and efficiency.
CI/CD: Continuous integration and deployment streamline your software release process, ensuring rapid, consistent, and reliable updates.
Source Code Control: Platforms like Git facilitate collaborative development, version control, and prevent code conflicts.

Types of Frameworks & Stacks Overview

Web and app development landscapes are broad, encompassing various tools and technologies tailored to specific needs. These can be broadly categorized into web development (front-end and back-end) and app development (native and cross-platform).

Diving Deep into Stacks

Python-Based: Web development thrives with frameworks like Django for its ORM capabilities and Flask for microservices. For app enthusiasts, Kivy and BeeWare are Pythonic options.
PHP-Based: Web development in PHP is often synonymous with Laravel’s elegance and Symfony’s robustness. While PHP isn’t the go-to for app development, it shines in backend API services.
Java-Based: Spring Boot continues to be a favorite for web-based applications, while Android development harnesses Java’s power. JavaFX provides a touch of desktop flair.
JavaScript-Based: The world of JS is vast. React, Vue.js, and Angular dominate the front-end, while Node.js with Express offers back-end prowess. Mobile developers often lean towards React Native, and Electron serves desktop needs. Svelte is making great waves in becoming a powerful with a shorter learning curve for developers.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Framework for Each Stack

While each stack has its merits, your project’s specifics—be it performance needs, development speed, or scalability—should guide your framework choice. Additionally, consider the learning curve, community support, and integration capabilities. Lastly, licensing could influence commercial projects.

Pros and Cons of Popular Frameworks within Each Stack

Every framework has its strengths. Django, for instance, offers rapid development with its “batteries-included” philosophy, while React’s component-based structure ensures reusable code. However, they come with their learning curves and might not be suitable for every scenario.

Real-world Scenarios

Consider Airbnb, which started with a Ruby on Rails backend but shifted towards a service-oriented architecture with Node.js as they scaled. Or Netflix, which uses Java in its backend and JavaScript for its user interfaces, infact its not just one language these applications today work on, its a number of languages used by its multiple teams located around the world, yet they all work just fine.

The Role of Personal Preference in Each Stack

Sometimes, the best tool is the one you’re most comfortable with. A developer well-versed in PHP might achieve better results with Laravel than venturing into unknown territories. But at times you may need to overlook your favorite language or the skill you possess if the requirement calls for the advantage of another language.

Future Trends in Each Stack

The tech landscape is ever-evolving. New frameworks emerge, and existing ones adapt. Keeping an eye on future trends ensures you’re always on top of your game.

Conclusion

Picking the right framework is a blend of understanding your project’s needs, foreseeing its growth, and knowing the tools at your disposal. While the technological choice is crucial, the vision behind that choice is equally significant.

Python Programming for Kids and Beginners – Online Training Classes

The goal of this course is to make you comfortable working with Python as quickly as possible so you can build programs like games, data visualizations, and web applications, all this while developing a foundation in programming that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

This course is for people of any age (8+) who have never programmed at all.

This course includes the following modules:

Beginning Python Programming	Variables & Data Types
	Lists & Dictionaries
	if Statements and User Input
	Conditonal & Iterative Loops
	Functions & Classes
	Files & Exceptions
	Database Interactions
	Data Visualization
	Introduction to Python Libraries
	Website Development with Django
Practical Projects	A project based on student’s interest.

“The purpose of this course is to make you a good programmer in general and a good Python programmer in particular. You’ll learn efficiently and adopt good habits as I provide you with a solid foundation in general programming concepts.”

Each topic is bundled with hands-on exercises to help master the concept & develop a mindset of thinking like a programmer.

Why Python?

Python is an excellent language to build the foundation in programming because it helps you to learn to think like a programmer without having to worry a lot about the nitty-gritty of the language.

It is used in fields predicted to rise in 2021, namely machine learning and artificial intelligence. Python is the preferred language for machine learning and data science due to its popular ML libraries such as Pandas and Scikit-learn

Uses of Python

build websites and apps like instagram and uber
work on large dataset to find medicines and vaccines like how they did for COVID
create electronic automation projects, like from automating your home to huge production in factories
build robots for fun & work
make games and movies
build A.I Systems – devices that think and assist you on day to day task
the list goes on…

[bookly-form category_id=”1″ service_id=”1″ staff_member_id=”1″ hide=”categories,quantity,staff_members,date,week_days,time_range”]

training

Portraits with A.I

I have always wanted to be an artist. I love what we are able to create from our imagination and the different renderings we are able to present it in using various creative mediums. Its just exciting and awesome what hundreds and thousands of artists are able to do from history unto this point.

But now we have entered an era where art is going to made by A.I.

Well, the question is if A.I. can be called creative or can it be creative? A.I. is not here to replace humans for sure, but yea it can be creative because it can create something abstract or even meaningful by learning on hundreds if not thousands on artforms created by artists over a period of time.

Isn’t it what we humans too do? Aren’t we inspired by Nature, which is the greatest art by an Almighty Artist. Don’t we also get inspired and try to replicate or create our expression of artworks done by other artists from the past? Van Gogh to be one of my favorites!

I have not explored the space of Art Appreciation, but if we enjoy galleries of art by humans, I guess we are entering a period where we are going to spend a lot of time curating Art and Content generated by A.I.

You may not realize but there are many of these already reaching our fingertips already.

Anyways I am not going to write here about startups, innovations or content that’s made by A.I., maybe I will write about in another article

aiportraits.com

I wanted to share portraits of mine which was created by a project that was started by Mauro Martino and Luca Stornaiuolo at MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. The site was aiportraits.com, but right now it seems to be down which is sad.

*The algorithm doesn’t just copy the lines of your facial features, but it uses them as a base to generate an entirely new portrait.*

The site uses an algorithm trained on 45,000 classical portraits to render your face in faux oil, watercolor, or ink. There’s a huge number of styles included in this database, covering artists from Rembrandt to Titian to van Gogh, with each input producing a unique portrait. As the researchers point out, unlike earlier AI methods that created similar AI portraits, the algorithm here is not merely “painting over” your face in a new style. Instead, it uses what’s known as a generative adversarial network (GAN) to generate new features from scratch.Certain elements within any selfie may prompt the algorithm to use a specific style. In the images below, for example, researchers say the algorithm “decides upon a Renaissance style, highlighting the elegance of the aquiline nose, the smoothness of the forehead.” If you try a few different selfies, you’ll certainly get different results.
https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/7/22/20703810/ai-classical-portrait-apps-selfie-web-transformation

You can also read this article by Mauro Martino if you are interested to know more at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-portraits-experience-being-portrayed-algorithm-mauro-martino/

aiportrats.org

I even came across another app called AI Portraits but this was having an app that you can install on your mobile and it was hosted at aiportraits.org, I think this is a different app from the earlier mentioned app. But I was quite interested in the art this app was able to create from my picture in a certain kind of mashup or composite. But it wasn’t able to generate those historical portrait styles as perfect as the aiportraits.com as the ones I have shown above.

Now you decide is A.I can create or can be called Creative 😀

In the meantime, if you want to use A.I. to do this kind of creative stuff, then there is a lot of articles and learning materials out there that teaches you how to do this. You can read a ton of it using this link:

https://www.google.com/search?q=working+with+GAN+to+create+images&oq=working+with+GAN+to+create+images&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2j69i65l2j69i60.4424j0j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I don’t know how many are going to read my article and what all query is going to come to me, but feel free to write to me if you have any open queries and I will try my best to address it or even point you in its direction.

For now this is what I have got to share 😀