Web application development is about to undergo a major revolution due to the rise of data science. Until now, developers have developed applications based on focus groups, surveys, and reasonable guesses about user needs. This old way of working was biased and could not include input from a statistically significant number of users.

This is reversing thanks to the gigabytes of data available through the Internet of Things. Instant and continuous Internet access has triggered an unprecedented wave of user-generated data that can be transformed into actionable insights.

Web development companies are utilizing artificial intelligence from the design stage to make sense of all these data points and integrate these findings into applications. This approach helps companies save time and costs by observing specific behaviors and preferences of target groups.

Data redefines the field of software production

Currently, software development involves programmers coding or repurposing existing modules to create a working application that meets some predetermined need. Deep learning will revolutionize this.

Developers will no longer have to decide where to place the application menu. By analyzing the usage of similar apps, it will be possible to figure out what is essential for the user and what should be emphasized. This is a step forward compared to Google's auto-completion feature.

The new version of the

app

will also be upgraded based on data, rather than intuition or focus group feedback. Users express their needs by interacting with the app or stating them on forums and social media. To use this information, development teams should collect both streams of data and turn them into actionable insights.

In fact, Jim McHugh, NVIDIA's vice president and general manager, said upgrades will no longer be the focus of strategy teams, but will naturally emerge from the data. Machine learning algorithms become smarter when more data is available for training. When that happens, new versions emerge.

For example, a new version of a chatbot will be continually upgraded to use user-generated input to include answers to searches or queries that previously returned no satisfactory results. The developer has little input in such upgrades.

Data Disrupts Developer Work Patterns

Web application developers are likely to fear losing their jobs in the next few years because current work patterns are changing so dramatically. However, it's not so much a matter of a lower demand for programmers as it is a demand for a different set of skills. Programmers and coders will be in higher demand than ever, but they may have to upgrade their expertise in data science and data analytics.

Web development is no longer just about writing code, but more about structuring data, cleaning it, managing it, and making sure it's ready to teach algorithms. These skills are very different from what object-oriented or web programming meant a decade ago, but in this industry, progress is inevitable. The trend now is to write Python scripts and perform data analysis in R or Matlab.

As code becomes more abundant, it could mean the end of an era for developers as we know them now. Machines will have the code they need on hand, and they will know how to organize those pieces into a working program.

What data-driven web apps can bring

At the moment, understanding data can still give an organization a competitive advantage, but it will soon become a minimum operational requirement.

Data science can have a real impact in several areas, including productivity, efficiency and personalization.

Productivity and virtual assistants

Web apps can remember our preferences and help us start over, which saves time and effort. Artificial intelligence can learn about our spending habits, time use and lifestyle. By analyzing the data behind these experiences, it can provide personalized advice and simplify our choices.

These apps have the potential to become a personal assistant of sorts, a trusted partner, an intelligent database or a smart repository. Some apps will remind you of important tasks, identify gaps in your schedule that you can capitalize on, and even stop certain harmful habits like procrastination.

Enhanced personalization

Artificial intelligence apps will soon be as close to you as a loyal assistant, but they're also more in your head than friends and family. Today, our smartphones can already provide us with excellent alerts based on geographic location, past preferences, and interactions with specific brands.

Much like Netflix and Amazon, recommendation engines can be extended to other web apps that need to provide customized responses.

This is not only the next trend in the consumer world, but in app development in general, with AI built into next-generation smartphones like the iPhone X and Galaxy S8.

Predicted Impact

The changes triggered by the use of data science in web app development will impact consumers and developers alike. Cookies stored in browsers, as well as any data provided by a user during a web session, will become a hint of user preferences and the way in which the apps they interact with are customized. For developers, the same data can serve as a primary source for upgrades and enhancements. Speed, reliability, and functionality are still in high demand, but integrating the user's own data into the look, feel, and functionality of the application will make a difference.