Understand how Technology is assisting towards Democratizing Development and making Innovation inclusive.

Low-code & No-code platforms

Everyone is talking about the innovative Low-code & No-code platforms, and being a tech-forward company, we here at Tarams have jumped on the bandwagon to establish ourselves as Caspio certified.

Caspio, the Low Code Application builder, provides a best-in-class, best-value platform for creating business applications with little to no coding.

These tools aren’t just changing how we build apps; they’re rewriting the rulebook, making app creation accessible to a broader audience.

Decoding the Tech Jargon

Low-Code vs. No-Code: The Tech Behind It

A Low-Code platform is a boon for developers seeking efficiency in the app development lifecycle. With its visual interface and automated processes, it minimizes the grunt work of manual coding, letting developers focus on the higher-level aspects.

On the flip side, a No-Code platform is a game-changer for those without coding skills. Its drag-and-drop simplicity and ready-made templates empower users to craft their apps without wrestling with code complexities.

Unraveling the Impact

Democratizing Development: Inclusive Innovation

These platforms break down traditional barriers, bringing a diverse range of contributors into the development fold. It’s not just for the coding elite; business analysts and project managers can now contribute to the creative process.

Agility Redefined: Swift Solutions for a Fast World

Business agility is a top priority, and no code platforms excel at speeding up app development. This agility allows businesses to adapt swiftly to market changes, user feedback, and competitive demands.

Cost Efficiency: Maximizing Resources Wisely

Beyond agility, these platforms make economic sense. By minimizing the need for extensive coding expertise, they optimize development costs, letting organizations allocate resources more strategically.

Fueling Creativity: Innovation Unleashed

Low-code & No-code platforms aren’t just tools; they’re catalysts for innovation. The ease of app creation encourages businesses to experiment without hefty investments, fostering a culture of creativity.

The Future Horizon: Tarams' Strategic Vision

AI Integration: Smartening Up the Platforms

Tarams envisions enhancing these platforms with AI, making them more intelligent and adaptable to the evolving demands of software development.

Beyond Basics: Handling Complex Applications

The future sees Tarams’ integrated platforms tackling even more complex applications, broadening their scope and underscoring their versatility.

Global Impact: Redefining Digital Innovation

Low-code & No-code platforms are revolutionizing global tech. As they evolve, businesses approach app development differently, making technology more accessible and ushering in an era of digital innovation.

Tarams sees the tremendous value Low-code & No-code platforms add to our services and we are currently certified in Caspio and were fortunate to be listed as one of their partners on their website.

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Google OAuth Review Process – for Restricted Scopes

What is OAuth ?

OAuth (Open Authorization) is an open standard authorization framework for token-based authorization on the internet. It enables an end user’s account information to be used by third-party services, such as Facebook and Google, without exposing the user’s account credentials to the third party.

Google OAuth Review Process

You are likely to receive an email as depicted here if you are an API developer.
The process can be broadly divided into two phases:

1. The OAuth review process
2. The security assessment

If your app accesses Gmail’s restricted scopes, you have to go through both these phases. More details here

1. The OAuth review process

It starts with initiating the review process on your Google Developer Console. You will have to go through a questionnaire which is mostly about helping Google understand the usage of the restricted scopes in your app. You only have to do this for the production version of the app. Lower environments can be marked as “internal” and they need not go through this process.

After you initiate the review, Google’s security team will reach out to you requesting a YouTube video to demonstrate the usage of restricted scopes in your app. Once you share the video, Google will either respond with an approval or a feedback email requesting more information/changes. We had some feedback from Google and we had to share a couple of videos before we got an approval from Google.

Listed below are a few pointers which might help you to reduce feedback from Google.

Google usually takes a long time to respond in this regard. Despite multiple follow ups we had to wait for a month or two to get response for some of these emails – Possibly because they had a lot of requests from app developers during that time.
Also, in general we felt there was some disconnect in their responses as it looked like every response from our end was reviewed by a different person at Google – we received an email stating that we have missed the deadline for initiating the security assessment weeks after we had initiated the process. However, Google did acknowledge the mistake on their end after we responded with the SOW that was already executed.

  • Follow the design guidelines given by Google for styling the sign in button https://developers.google.com/identity/branding-guidelines#top_of_page
  • Have a web page for your app which people can access externally, without having to sign in.
  • Ensure that users have access to your Privacy policy page from your home page. A link to this should be given on sign in and users should only be allowed to proceed on accepting the privacy policy.
  1. While recording the video, go through the “privacy policy” on sign in and demonstrate that users need to accept it before proceeding.
  2. Your policy should explicitly quote the use of all restricted scopes.
  3. The policy should also mention how and why the restricted scopes are being used. Who has access to this data and where is it stored? Can it be viewed by your support staff or it’s just used by the app and humans cannot access it.
  • While recording the video try to capture as much details as possible demonstrate the usage of Google’s restricted scope within your app.
  1. Code walkthrough wherever necessary Ex. Fetching OAuth token and its use
  2. Demonstrate the storage of sensitive data and usage of encryption

If Google is satisfied with all the details about your app and is convinced that your project is compliant with their policies, you will get an approval mail. You will also be informed if your app has to undergo a security assessment as depicted.

2. Security Assessment

The security assessment phase relatively involved more live discussions and meetings with the assessors and therefore the overall process is quicker. You have a dedicated team assigned to help you. Google gave us the contacts of 2 third-party security assessors.We reached out to both of them and felt that ‘Leviathan’ was better in terms of communication. They shared more information about the overall process and we were more comfortable going ahead with them.We had to fill in and sign a few documents before we got started, which involved

  • Filling up an SAQ(Self assessment questionnaire) – to understand about the app and the infrastructure.
  • Signing the SOW
  • Signing a mutual NDA

After which we made the payment and got started with the process. We had an initial introduction meeting where we were introduced to their team and our assessment process was scheduled. To give you a rough idea, our schedule was about 2 months after we had the initial discussions.As per the SOW, the assessment would include the following targets. These would possibly differ based on individual applications and the usage of the restricted scopes. For reference, our’s was an iOS app.

  • Website
  • RESTful APIs
  • Mobile Application (iOS)
  • External Facing Network
  • Developer Infrastructure
  • Policy & Procedure Documentation

The assessor would retest after we complete resolving all the vulnerabilities. The first retest is included in the SOW and additional retests are chargeable.The timeline we had before Google’s deadline was pretty tight and we wanted to understand from the assessor if we can do anything to increase our chances of getting it right on the first pass. The assessors were kind enough to share details about some of the tools they use for the penetration testing so that we could execute them ahead to understand where we stand and resolve as much as possible before the actual schedule.

Preparation for the assessment

As part of preparation for the assessment, you can use these tools which help you identify the vulnerabilities with your application and infrastructure. Also, ensuring that you have some basic policy documentation will save you some time.

Scoutsuite – It’s an open source multi-cloud security-auditing tool. You can execute this on your infrastructure. It will generate a report listing out all the vulnerabilities. Resolving as many as you can before the assessment would surely help.

Burpsuite – Burpsuite is not open source but you can either buy it or use the trial version. It’s a vulnerability scanner which scans all the API endpoints for security vulnerabilities. Executing Burpsuite and taking care of vulnerabilities marked as High or more will help significantly before going through the assessment. It’s recommended to run Burpsuite on your lower environments and NOT on production because Burpsuite tests every endpoint by calling it more than a thousand times. You will end up creating a lot of junk data on whichever environment you run Burpsuite on.

Policy Documentation – We were asked to share a whole set of documents before the assessment. We already had most of these documentations in place so it was not a problem for us. But, if you don’t have any documentation for your project, it would save some time to have some basic documentation for your project as a preparation. I have listed out a few here:

  • Software Development Guidelines
  • Network diagrams
  • Information security policy
  • Risk assessment policy
  • Incident response plan

We reached out to both of them and felt that ‘Leviathan’ was better in terms of communication. They shared more information about the overall process and we were more comfortable going ahead with them.

We had to fill in and sign a few documents before we got started, which involved

  • Filling up an SAQ(Self assessment questionnaire) – to understand about the app and the infrastructure.
  • Signing the SOW
  • Signing a mutual NDA

 

After which we made the payment and got started with the process. We had an initial introduction meeting where we were introduced to their team and our assessment process was scheduled. To give you a rough idea, our schedule was about 2 months after we had the initial discussions.

As per the SOW, the assessment would include the following targets. These would possibly differ based on individual applications and the usage of the restricted scopes. For reference, our’s was an iOS app.

  • Website
  • RESTful APIs
  • Mobile Application (iOS)
  • External Facing Network
  • Developer Infrastructure
  • Policy & Procedure Documentation

The assessor would retest after we complete resolving all the vulnerabilities. The first retest is included in the SOW and additional retests are chargeable.

The timeline we had before Google’s deadline was pretty tight and we wanted to understand from the assessor if we can do anything to increase our chances of getting it right on the first pass. The assessors were kind enough to share details about some of the tools they use for the penetration testing so that we could execute them ahead to understand where we stand and resolve as much as possible before the actual schedule.

Actual penetration testing from the assessor

The assessor initiated the process as per the schedule. The first thing they did was create a slack channel for communication with our team and theirs. We had to share with them the AppStore links, website details and necessary credentials for our infrastructure. They also shared a sharepoint folder for sharing all the documentation and reports. We started uploading all the necessary documents and in parallel they started the penetration testing and reviewing our infrastructure. Again, do NOT share the production environment for penetration testing as it will create a lot of junk data and may delete existing entities.

After two days of testing they shared an intermediate report and we started addressing the vulnerabilities. After about a week we got the final report of the vulnerabilities. We addressed all the vulnerabilities and shared the final report. Here are a few remediations that were suggested for us:

  • We had to add Contact details for users in our web page to report vulnerabilities
  • Enable Multi Factor authentication on our AWS logins
  • Requested for logs around Google OAuth token usage
  • Encryption on RDS, EBS volumes
  • Documentation demonstrating KMS(Key management system) usage.

Upon completion of the assessment, the assessor will provide a document containing the following components:

  • Executive summary, including a high-level summary of the analysis and findings and prioritized recommendations for remediation
  • A brief description of assessment methodologies.
  • A detailed discussion of analysis results, including relevant findings, risk levels, and recommended corrective action.
  • Appendices with relevant raw data, output, and reports from the analysis tools used during the engagement.

That was the end. Couple of days after the approval from the assessor, we got an approval email from Google.

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Evolution In Machines – What Next?

Introduction

Humankind as we know and experience today, has evolved over millennia from our primitive biological ancestors to our current biological selves. This evolution has gone through many stages and phases that has lead to our dominance and success on this planet.

The evolution and advancement of Cognition and Language played a significant role in establishing Humans as the dominant species while having a profound effect on the Humankind’s Evolutionary Journey.

Cognition or the ability to learn and gain knowledge through a ‘thought process’ helped humans thrive better and more efficiently than other species. This resulted in the early discovery, invention, and development of societies, tools, agriculture and other advancements. This cognitive ability enabled us to develop and communicate with a common language that irreversibly gave us a boost towards becoming the dominant species on earth.

Language, or a systematic approach to clearly communicate within a species – has shaped to what we use now, over thousands of years. Different communities and societies developed and shaped different languages that we have come to know today. Despite the differences, it is evident that ‘language’ was crucial to the development of humans as a social.

A combination of language and cognition enabled early humans to rally forces, build societies, understand obstacles, explore their surroundings while analyzing them, etc., The ability to instruct and impart played a crucial role in the development of civilizations and societies. This development can be broken down into three steps

  • The ability to express one’s thoughts and ideas
  • The ability to understand the expressed thoughts and ideas
  • The ability to function, based on the said thoughts and ideas

These enabled early humans to gather masses and work efficiently and productively. Tasks that were near impossible to be done by a small group or a single human could now be handled well; thanks to the amassment of more humans. Many modes of communications were used to achieve the desired results – primitive signs, early languages, non-verbal pictorial representations (early writing systems), etc., However, amongst these modes, the one that stood the test of time to emerge the forerunner was ‘language’ in the form of Speech. This clearly has been at the helm of our evolution and steered us to our current position on earth.

This evolution has also interfered with and altered the evolutionary paths of all the elements that surround us or make up our planet; flora, fauna, rivers, mountains, language, writing, science, human inventions, etc. Human inventions and discoveries, especially have evolved with a similar pace as that of our; tools, agriculture, cooking, trade, engines, automobiles, computers, space travel and everything in between these and around these. At every stage of this human evolution and endeavour there has been one stand out invention or discovery that propelled us into the future; faster and further; Stone tools to iron tools in the early stages, agriculture and cooking when we started societies, weapons, and trade when we started building civilizations, engines, and mechanics for our industrial revolutions, electronics and computer science for our modern age. etc.

Amongst the discoveries and inventions, ‘Electronics and Computer Science’ have had a far-reaching effect on our population and have impacted our day to day life drastically. Over the years they have become very personal to us and they have proliferated our lives and environments drastically. From television sets, radios and telephones to personal computers, mobile phones, and satellites, we are surrounded by electronics and computer science every day. They have about them a uniqueness; we communicate with them and to them in ways that were not done before with other inventions.

Today we see ‘machine learning’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ enabling us to add cognition and push them towards a cognitive revolution. We are enabling machines to learn from experiences and make judgments on their own; making them more independent and more useful to us. We already have machines that can suggest the movies we like, drive cars, detect cancer early, etc, and this is possible due to the idea of cognition that we have built into those systems using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

We have made these modern machines different from other earlier machines because of their ability “think” and the way in which we are able to “communicate” with them. We do not use levers or knobs, reminiscent of early machinery; instead, we type out messages or instructions in a language familiar to us. This mode of communication has evolved over time; from punching to typing to clicking to voice.

Machines understanding human language through our speech is the next big step in the evolution of electronics and computer science. The combination of cognition and voice recognition in devices have ensured that we can communicate; not just instruct, and in a language that we use and understand best.

Most early machinery and devices were designed and developed to ease the user in its usage. Until recently, using advanced personal devices required us to be in physical contact with the device, know basic operations and understand its basic layout and structure. This made devices unreachable or unrelatable to many. The combination of cognition and voice recognition will now enable us to use devices with just our voice, making it accessible to many, thus breaking down the barrier many might have faced earlier

The applications of such devices are immense. We believe, like the events that helped humans as a species, leapfrog in its evolution; cognition and voice recognition in machines will change the way we interact with devices and how they will have a lasting impact on our lives.

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Top Big Data Analytics trends in 2019

2018 bought to fore a range of changes with reference to data. The significance of information within organizations was on a rise, and so were megatrends such as IoT, Big Data and Machine Learning. Integration and governance of cloud are significant data initiatives which achieved a new high as well.

What big data has in store for 2019 hence comes across as a point of interest.

The top trends are likely to be in continuation of what was witnessed in 2018. We can also look forward to new developments which pertain to even more data sources and types. The need for integration and cost optimization will increase, and the organizations would be using even more advanced analytics and insights.

Let us take a look at the top trends in big data analytics in 2019.

1. Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT was a booming technology in 2018. It has significant implications on data and a number of organizations are undertaking efforts to tap the potential of IoT. The data offered by IoT will reach a high, and it is likely that organizations will continue to face a difficulty in putting the data to avail with their existing data warehouses.

The growth of digital twins is likely to come across issues of a similar nature. Digital twins are digital replicas of people, places or just about any kind of physical objects. A few of the experts estimate that by the year 2020, the numbers of connected servers will exceed 20 billion. In order to substantiate the value of the data, it would be essential to integrate it into a modern data platform. This would have to be achieved by the use of a solution for automated data integration, which would enable unification of unstructured sources, de duplication and data cleaning.

2. Augmented Analytics

In 2018, a majority of qualitative insights were not taken into consideration by data scientists, following analysis of large amounts of data.

But as the shift towards augmented data gains a greater prominence, systems will use machine learning and AI to yield some insights in advance. This will, with passage of time come across as an important trait of data analytics, management, preparation and business process management. It may even give rise to interfaces, wherein users will be able to query data using speech.

3. Use of Dark Data

Dark data is the information that organizations, collect, store or process as well as resulting from their everyday business activities, but are unable to use for any applications. The data is collected vastly with the intention of compliance and while it takes up a significant amount of storage, it is not monetized in any way to yield a competitive advantage for a firm.

In 2019, we are likely to see even more emphasis on dark data. This may include digitalization of analog records, such as old files and fossils in museums, following their integration into data warehouses.

4. Cost optimization of the Cloud

Migration of a data warehouse to the cloud is less expensive than saving it on-premise, but the cloud can be further optimized still. In 2019, cold data storage solutions, such as Google Nearline and Coldline will be coming into prominence. This will let organization save 50% of expenses towards saving the data.

5. Edge Computing

Edge computing refers to processing information close to the sensors and uses proximity to the best advantage. It works towards reducing network traffic and keeps the system performance optimal. In 2019, edge computing will come to fore and cloud computing will become more of a complimentary model. Cloud services will go beyond centralised servers and become a part of on-premise servers as well. This augurs well for cost optimization and server performance alike for organizations.

A few of the experts believe that with a decentralized approach, edge computing and analytics comes across as a potential solution for data security as well. But an important point to be noted in this regard is that edge computing enhances the number of potential access point for hackers. A majority of edge devices are lacking in IT security protocols as well, which makes an organization more vulnerable to hacking.

Advances in edge computing have paved the way for even more requirement of a flexible data warehouse that can integrate all data types in order to run the analytics.

6. Data Storytelling

In 2019, with more and more organizations transferring their traditional data warehouses to the cloud, data visualization and storytelling are likely to advance to the next level. As a unified approach for data comes to fore as aided by cloud based data integration platforms and tools, it would enable even a larger number of employees to reveal accurate and relevant stories based upon the data.

With an enhancement of business integration tools that enable organizations to overcome issues related with data isolation, data-storytelling will become reliable, and in a position to influence business outcomes.

7. DataOps

DataOps came across as a prominent trend in 2018, and is expected to gain even more importance in 2019. This is in a direct proportion of the enhancement of complexity of data pipelines, which calls for even more tools for data integration and governance.

DataOps is characterized by application of Agile and DevOps methods across the lifecycle of data analytics. This initiates from collection, followed by preparation and analysis. Automated testing of the outcomes is the next step, which are then delivered to enhance the quality of data and data analytics.

DataOps is preferred because it facilitates collaboration of data and brings about continuous improvement. With a statistical process control, the data pipeline is monitored to ensure a consistent quality of data.

In order to leverage these trends to their optimum advantage, vast numbers of organizations are coming to realize that the traditional data warehouses call for an improvement. As resulting from a larger number of endpoints and edge devices, the number of data types has increased as well. Use of a flexible data platform hence becomes imperative to efficiently integrate all data sources and types.

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TypeScript and React – A perfect Match

Today, while we extensively use social media like facebook, twitter or others; our screen, page, feed, etc., is constantly being updated with the latest news, shares, articles, or other latest updates. This is an essential element contributing towards the success of any social media platform. If one were to stop and think about this; it seems very simple and rudimentary, but they are in fact highly expensive in terms of performance. These continuous live update of the front end are technically called DOM operations and they are crucial for the smooth performance of a page.

React

A Javascript library for building UIs comes as a welcome relief to overcome this issue and it is currently one of the popular libraries in JavaScript. React makes it painless to create interactive UIs. The component logic is written in JavaScript instead of templates, so we can easily pass rich data through the application and keep the application state out of the DOM. The declarative style of React component makes it easy to debug.

However, all the React components are written in JavaScript and they are coupled with the problems associated with javascript.

To tackle this tricky problem a combination of React and TypeScript can be used as it is efficient and it can improve the maintainability of React projects considerably.

TypeScript

Every programmer who has ever written code knows the challenges and inadvertent delays caused while compiling or while run the code. It could be missing integer, a misplaced letter or simple improper use of casing. These tiny, but critical errors on the programmers part, can lead to frustrating time delays which in turn could seriously affect the outcome of your solution. Especially when it comes to JavaScript, the time taken to identify and solve a problem is larger because of its ‘dynamic typing’ nature.

TypeScript lets you write JavaScript the way you imagine and process command or task. It is a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript. It is also pure object-oriented with classes, interfaces and it is statically typed like C# or Java.

Another popular JavaScript framework Angular 2.0 is written in TypeScript. It helps javascript programmers to write object-oriented programs and have them compiled to JavaScript, both on the server side and client side.

Salient features like type definitions – make it easier to refactor the variable names, which is a hard task in JavaScript, while Intellisense (Autocomplete and type error detection) – supports TypeScript and is an effective time-saver during compilation.

For example, TypeScript avoids unintentional errors like typos. Javascript will accept any attribute name to that object but TypeScript allows only the available attributes of the type.

In the below code, there is a typo. The programmer has typed inrecieve instead ofreceive

Advantages of TypeScript:

Typescript will provide compile-time errors for most common problems in a React project, such as:

  • All required properties for a React component is not supplied from parent
  • Property supplied as a different type from the parent component
  • The extra property which is supplied to React component from the parent (This will avoid proptypes library which is commonly used in react projects)

If we are using Visual Studio code (VS code) for the react-typescript combination, even the above-mentioned problems will be shown as inline errors which further reduces the time taken to figure out the mistakes.

See the screenshot from VS code:

Showing-inline-errors-dueto-typemismatch

  • Autocomplete features for typescript is well advanced than JavaScript.
  • State of a react component is defined as a TypeScript interface. This will avoid problems due to null values in states of react component. Typescript will throw an error at compile time if we did not give the default state values at initialization.

Drawbacks on TypeScript:

Even though there are many advantages, TypeScript also has some drawbacks when we start using it in on a large scale. Without the type declarations for the exported attributes and methods for a third party library, we do not get to fully utilize the benefit of TypeScript. So if there is a library which does not have any type definitions, we need to write it our own or look for alternative libraries which provides type definitions. From our experience in web projects, most of the type definitions are available as node modules, thanks to the contributors of open source community. If the project is a React- Native project, things get complicated further due to the availability of type definitions.

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How Can Oracle’s 2019 Java SE Licensing Affect You?

In 2018, Oracle, a leading American multinational computer technology corporation, released a new pricing model for the Standard Edition of Java SE commercial. The company announced that in January 2019, the users of Java Open Source shouldbuy a license for them to receive updates. The news triggered many businesses to take a closer look at their Java Open Source usage and attempt to plot action plans for the Java development kit migration in 2019.

In this article, we’ll analyze every single little detail about Java SE licensing update and consider all the necessary factors to consider as the changes are implemented, including the parties that will be affected by the changes, the actions commercial Java SE users can do to stay compliant to the critical updates, and all the changes in general.

What Are the Changes to the Commercial Java SE Model?

Users have previously known three Java SE products, namely the Java SE Advanced Desktop, the Java SE Advanced, and the Java SE Suite. Before the changes, these three models required users to avail of upfront licenses and annual support. Just this January, those models were replaced by two new models, namely Java SE Desktop Subscription and Java SE Subscription, and they are subscription based.

The important changes include:

  • New Java SE Subscription Pricing
  • New Java SE Subscription Licensing Structure
  • Changes to Public Updates

Which Parties Will Be Affected by the Changes?

Not only the legacy Oracle customers but also all the commercial Java Open Source Code users are expected to be greatly impacted by this change. The good thing about this change though is that customers who use the old Java Open Source Code models will not be forced to shift to the subscription model. Although the two models are the only Java Open Source Code options available for new customers in 2019 and perhaps in the coming years, old customers do not necessarily have to switch to them. However, there may be a number of different reasons to consider a switch. Considering this, it’s important for commercial Java SE users to be aware of the difference of the licensing and pricing.

If you’re using Java SE for non-commercial use under a restrictive scenario, you may have the right to use the Java Open Source Code without paying any fee. However, activating Java’s ‘commercial features’ requires a license. For this reason, it’s advisable to check that you are not using commercial features and that you are abiding by Oracle’s Java licensing policies.

What are the Details of the New Java SE Licensing Structure?

With the new model, you no longer have to purchase a license upfront and pay an annual fee for Java Migration. You will, instead, pay a monthly subscription under terms of one to three years for desktop or server licensing and support. Failure to renew the subscription after the given time period will result in the user losing rights to any commercial software downloaded throughout the subscription period and access to the updates of Java Migration SE and to the Oracle Support.

How Are Java SE Licensing Requirements Calculated?

In the new Java SE subscription models, customers get to choose between desktop and server deployments. Desktop deployments use a Named User Plus metric while server deployments use a processor-based metric to calculate the Java Migration SE license requirements.

The metrics above have the same definition as the standard Oracle technology products. However, NUP minimums still don’t exist. A number of desktop computers and laptops will most likely count NUP licenses in organizations.

What Java Licensing Looks Like?

To answer this question, the guardian should have the right data on the JDK environment. Here are some of the important questions to ask about Java licensing.

  • Where was Java used?
  • Where was Java installed?
  • Which version of Java do you have in your environment?
  • What are the applications that are integrated with Java?
  • How many users are there?

The End of Oracle’s Java Public Updates

According to Oracle’s Java Updates Roadmap, the public availability of the updates will be open again in January 2019, and it did open last month. This means that Java SE 8 commercial users will not receive any critical update after last month, and this can put business operations at risk. In this situation, businesses can either purchase Java subscription licenses or completely move Java SE onto an alternative platform like Oracle OpenJDK or vice versa. The Oracle JDK to open source JDK migration involves using OpenJDK environment and making the open source migrationsuccessful.

Action Items

If you’re an existing Java SE user, it’s important for you to conduct internal assessments of your current Java development to not only ensure your compliance of the license but also determine if shifting to the new subscription model is more cost-effective.

If you want your requirements for commercial use to grow, you need to consider shifting to the subscription model. Should you switch, you are free to use the CPU or NUP based subscription. This is to determine which among the desktop or server-based subscriptions is better for your environment. Your choice depends on your licensing requirements.

If you feel like you need assurance for being a commercial user, it’s advisable for you to conduct an internal assessment. This is because of the organizations that run Java SE’s free version.

To secure your safety, let your legal team confirm that the Java licensing policies of Oracle allow your team to use Java SE without purchasing the commercial licenses.

Tips for Java Migration

Not all Java users know the ins and outs of Java migration, but experts know the right processes involved in Oracle JDK to open source JDK migration to make the open source migration smooth and successful with the open source Java development kit.

Before OpenJDK Migration:

Before the OpenJDK migration, it’s advisable to develop a continuous integration JDK environment to build a JDK source code online and run open source migration and unit tests against an open JDK environment.

It’s also ideal to prepare a list of dependencies with the use of build tools like Java development kit migration and then perform inventory analysis.

During OpenJDK Migration:

Conduct a performance test on your app that runs an open source migration. Make sure the performance test scripts have been appropriately updated when pushing the JDK source code online.

Also, thoroughly test any Oracle JDK to open source JDK migration and beware of the quirks with the algorithm of the memory management between the Java Development Kit Migration

After OpenJDK Migration:

Double check the Oracle JDK to open source JDK migration and the JDK environment if every aspect of the Java development kit migration has been successful.

The Java development kit migration is not an easy task – not even for the experts. Nevertheless, it’s a doable task that can be successfully performed with the right open source Java development kit.

We here at Tarams Software Technologies help companies migrate from Oracle JDK to OpenJDK. We understand the need of the hour and our in-house experts are always ready to answer your queries and assist you in achieving your business goals.

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Open JDK And Oracle JDK, THE BASIC FACTS

There is a lot of buzz around users switching to OpenJDK from OracleJDK. Some are keen on it and some find it laborious and unnecessary. We too have debated on this in our previous blogs (Blog1, Blog2).

But, in the process of going with the flow, a lot of developers and engineers alike are sometimes grappling in the dark when it comes to the basic need or necessity for this migration.

In an endeavor to enlighten all of us, here are some of the basic facts and comparisons between OpenJDK and Oracle JDK

Licensing

OracleJDK: It was licensed under GPL (General Public License) License

OpenJDK: It was licensed under GNU GPL (General Public License) License

Development

OracleJDK: Developed by Sun Microsystems Inc.

OpenJDK: Developed by Oracle, OpenJDK & Java Community

Performance

OracleJDK: Provides performance as per OracleJDK’s development and implementation

OpenJDK: Provides high performance which was developed by some vendors on top of Oracle JDK

Scalability

OracleJDK: As per Oracle’s implementation

OpenJDK: Can be improved using other libraries or on top of Oracle JDK

Pricing

OracleJDK: Oracle’s Official implementation license

OpenJDK: Open Source and free implementation available for free use

Speed

OracleJDK: Normal as per OracleJDK implementation

OpenJDK: Third party vendors will be improving the speed of JVM by making some tweaks

Operating System

OracleJDK: Supports Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, MacOS

OpenJDK: Supports FreeBSD, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X

Ease of Use

OracleJDK: Can be used with any application development

OpenJDK: Can be used with any application development and other open source tools to improve the performance in the open source implementation model.

Having read and understood the above, we can say that all the operations and tasks that are currently being performed by OracleJDK can also be performed by OpenJDK. The stark difference lies in the licensing and other tools integration and implementation on top of the existing OracleJDK by Open JDK. There are many advantages of using OpenJDK in performance, scalability, and implementation. It can also be modified as per the requirement of the application.

The biggest advantage also is in the Secure Environment in which the OpenJDK community will continue to be updated for critical bugs and security fixes. This will be a boost towards and secure and trustworthy development environment.

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The Java Version story and what’s in store next?

There are a lot of users who use previous versions of Java such as 6 or 7, it’s highly recommended that Java 8 becomes the standard when it comes to using the language. Here are a few benefits of Java migration to the trusted Java 8. Before that, here’s a look at the Java Version story so far.

Auto Delete for Previous JavaVersions

One of the best things about Java migration to the newest version would be the fact that it can automatically delete all the previous versions of Java. So, let’s say that you have Java7 as your previous version installed on your computer. Once you install Java 8, Java 7 will automatically be deleted, completing your Java migration in just a few steps.

Open Source Migration

It’s pretty interesting to take note of the open source migration of Java 7 to Java 8. What exactly does this mean? Java 7 and previous versions used to be run by Oracle. Since Java 8, the platform underwent an Oracle JDK to OpenJDK migration. This means easier coding and less hassle. Open source coding allows you more freedom to move around. That said, Oracle JDK to OpenJDK migration is highly recommended.

New Collection Methods

By going for an Oracle JDK to OpenJDK migration, you’ll have new collection methods to existing classes. This allows you to combine JDK environment variables with more expressions using a simpler code. That way, you won’t have to manually input too many JDK environment variables or other classes manually to get the result that you want. It’s actually a way to shorten your coding and make everything more efficient.

Fewer Codes to Use

Not only will you need fewer expressions because of the integrated JDK environment variables in the new collection methods, but you’ll also use fewer codes as a whole. The whole focus of the new Java migration to Java8 is more on the API so that you won’t focus a lot on how you’re going to produce the app you want but how you would want to design it.

Added Lambda Expressions

The Lambda expressions are new to the open source Java development kit. Just like the new collection methods, the lambda expressions simplify the Java open source code in such a way that makes the programming process much more efficient as well as effective. With the changes made for Java7, the lambda expressions in Java8 came out. It’s a great addition to your open source Java development kit and a great feature you can use for your Java open source code programming activities.

Easier Handling of Date and Time

The new API in the Java open source code perfectly handles the date and time better than the last version. With this version, you’ll be able to understand the date and time much easier without having to backtrack your references. It’s a cleaner way of handling such data, especially if you’re a programmer who is developing a full Java-based app with an open source Java development kit.

Integrated Lightweight Java Script Engine

This new version allows Java open source platforms to access a new type of JAVAscript engine that is more lightweight than the previous versions. Being lightweight, this new engine, known as the Nashhorn JAVAscript engine, has a higher performance rate, enabling you to have more functions for your Java open source codes when you make your apps. source coding has never been so much easier with this strong engine.

Added Streams API

If you had a hard time with manipulating data using the previous Java versions, this new update will make it much easier. The streams API allows you to have enhanced control over your Java open source data, especially big data. An example would be for long lists of objects. If you would like to get a separate list of the unique objects out of the total objects in chronological order, the streams API can arrange the data for you easily. That way, you don’t need to do any tedious coding or manual arranging when you’re handling a lot of data at the same time.

Less Null Values

One of the best things about Java8 is that it has a function in its source code to help tell the programmer what to do with the null values. Let’s say one of your functions ran into a null option, you’ll have more flexibility on what you’re going to do with it. That feature makes handling nulls so much easier as compared to using the previous versions.

Higher Security

With the open source migration to Java 8, there has been a vast improvement in overall security. As compared to previous versions, you can expect more reliable methods in which security methods can be implemented. With that, you won’t need to worry about safety problems when it comes to programming your app. Security should always be one of the key factors when choosing programming tools.

Conclusion

Ever since the open source migration of Java7 to Java 8, there have been so many improvements that have been made — many of them are geared towards helping web development teams with their Java programming activities. That said, the new Java version is definitely recommended for all users since it has so many new features to brag about. Also, Java 8 is no longer run by Oracle, so the creators of Java have been pushing for users of the previous versions to start migrating as soon as they can to enjoy the latest features. After all, they have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Of course, the new Java platform isn’t only targeted toward enterprises. It’s also really good for existing programmers and newbies. It can help with overall productivity letting you make the most of your time. It further helps you save a lot of time and energy with regard to coding so that you can get the best results for your Java-based project.

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The Role of Immersive technologies & Artificial Intelligence in Education

The Untold Secret To Mastering The Future of AI Education: current barriers, resolutions & the future!

The role Artificial Intelligence in education landscape and Immersive technologies in learning space have propelled impactful transformations across all industries such as finance, healthcare, chatbots, art, manufacturing, IT, innovation and many more. Likely, its penetration, especially in education realm, has grown by leaps & bounds.

With a skyrocketing success in achieving remarkable literacy rate on the planet, the education space is facing new barriers and challenges when it comes to raising the bars higher and taking the current education to a whole new level.

Now that, the AI in the education industry is well equipped and advanced with digital technology, still, we believe the way we teach, however, has to CHANGE.

No matter if it’s a physical classroom or an e-learning session; the contemporary learning methodology is still archaic. We arbitrarily group learners based on their age or preference and make them listen to a trainer and sit back and expect that the involved parties are competent enough to keep the learners engaged through a static educational curriculum.

Indeed, the current methodology works, but up to an extent. For a fact, the trainers or tutors are overloaded with work such as building curriculum, imparting, planning assignment, grading, etc. Thus, it’s next to impossible for them to give hundreds of students personalized attention.

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While a tutor is busy with all this, students remain under consistent pressure to secure grades in a stipulated time frame.

Despite being equipped with digital technologies, the education system is crippled when it comes to catering individualized learning & self-development.

Today, students don’t know why they are learning the lessons that they are learning, it makes matters worse and a big question in the face of the student’s personal ambition. However, AI in education plays a game-changing role in making the system more effective but still numerous Edtechs are unaware of the role of artificial intelligence in education.

So what’s the solution here? What could make the learning more exciting, fun & productive?

Let us rundown on three key pillars- Individualized Learning, Experimental Learning & Mastery Learning that can make the learning ecosystem more powerful, however, the theories are not new by any means but still education providers are struggling to incorporate the same.

Individualized Learning: the need of the hour!

It’s a way to offer instructions based on interest, aspirations, weaknesses, and background of individual learners. It caters to an intuitive learning where the learning experience best fits into an individual and helps you get the most out of each session.

The True Potential of Individualized Learning is still unfulfilled- Here’s why?

So, as numerous theories substantiate to the fact that Individualized Learning is the need of the hour. In fact, the true potential of Individualized Learning is still unfulfilled.Even if you hire dozens of specialized instructors to pay individual attention, the challenge still extends i.e. how to collect and process personal student data in large scales to create actionable insights.

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Individualized Learning is all about non-linear curriculum and embracing student differences, this is where contemporary digital learning solutions and methodologies are losing value with each passing day.

Kudos to advanced technologies that helps providers to bridge the chasm when it comes to Individualized Learning, but before we dive deep into that, let’s explore the second pillar i.e. Mastery Learning.

Mastery Learning: key to Intuitive Learning & self-development!

Mastery Learning is a way to offer instructions that determines a level of performances that all learners must master before moving to the next module or unit. It is impactful when learning maths, where past lessons are necessary to understand the next lessons. A learner will only be allowed to move to the next lesson when they have mastered in all the fundamentals that precede it.

In today’s education platforms, if you secure 70% of a subject, you are entitled to move further- that’s general knowledge, not mastery. The grading mechanism fails to provide the exact performance feedback of a student and provider.

Thus, the learning needs remain unattended by the system they are leveraging.

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Why providers fear to deploy mastery learning?

Learners are pressured to rush through the semesters without understanding them and eventually, all those subjects become so unintelligible over the years that create broad knowledge gaps that lead to loss of intuition.

Mastery learning can invade all such issues with its in-depth individualized and personal approach. Here, a student won’t be allowed unless and until they don’t display mastery in a specific subject.

Though it’s a strong theory but still, providers are resilient to implement the concept. Due to hefty financial resources involved providers fear to deploy it realistically at large scale.

However, we will see that how AI will play a crucial role in thrashing such challenges but until then let’s understand the third pillar i.e. experimental learning.

Experimental Learning

“Learning by doing”is a primitive formula to grasp things really fast. Experimental learning helps you to understand from experience. It engages most of your senses, improves critical thinking, creates a context for memorizing and builds social-emotional skills.

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It creates curiosity to understand things more deeply; students consider making mistakes as a part of learning process.

Today’s education providers certainly try to implement it and adopt the model of homework to ensure that students do it by themselves.

But surveys reveal that homework is uninspiring and does not involve the senses rather makes the student more isolated.

Experimental learning: it’s a myth, here’s why?

These days, providers very well understand that revamping the legacy course will be a big design challenge when it comes to teaching subjects like maths, history or biology in whole new way. Since ages, we have been acquainted with books & blackboards, so do we go ahead in engaging all senses, keeping the learning social and active, attaining the learning goals and keeping the cost low?

It’s a big question, but read on as you will get to see the resolutions that AI has to offer before we conclude.

Now that we have identified the problems and our ultimate learning goals, let’s have a sneak peek on top 3 futuristic technologies can not only address the above challenges but can actually facelift the entire educational landscape.

Immersive technology: doors to the new world of education!

Immersive technology in education is the new way of innovation in the learning methodologies.

Technologies such as virtual reality empower a student to interact with the digital world and conceive realization of dwelling within a virtual world.

With Oculus Rift getting hype, providers have now started believing that it’s no more about just gaming. Rather, it’s a new world where you can explore new ways to interact and display information in the real world as if it’s actually there.

Microsoft HoloLens is another great example that interprets your environment — it identifies where your furniture is, your walls, and everything else, and uses that information to blend the physical and digital world into the reality perception.

Education providers can create real-world experiences at relatively low cost- be it a monument, experience the surface of the moon or the wreck of the Titanic. For education, this could be everything- a new beginning.

VR in education has taken its best foot forward in redefining education. It will take you through the human body in person not forcing you to learn from illustrations.

Recently, a start-up is developing an advanced learning platform that allows you to visualize human body holographic & 3D format.

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It’s a new way where students can apprehend concepts as characters, tests and exercises can be embedded as part of the story as hurdle and students will set free to explore and immerse themselves in the topics that are learning.This is where VR and artificial intelligence in the education industry is getting prominance with each passing day.

Hence, we can achieve our core education goals, immersive learning platforms allow you to learn socially & visually that is emotionally engaging and interactive that remains in your brain as long-lasting memory.

Learning analytics in education: blend BI with sentiments!

Today, headsets have become one of the primary tools to learn in an immersive environment and the good news is that headsets can be tracked. It helps you to understand what a learner is viewing at, for how long, what are they choosing to view and even ignore.

Image source; InstaVR

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Analytics platform displaying which areas users look at the most throughout a VR experience

Pupil tracking: the revolution in learning analytics!

You all might know that pupils expand on subconscious attraction but for a fact, it’s much more to that. The pupil expansion is also sensitive to emotional engagement and mental stress.

As per a survey, it was found that pupils expand proportionately with the difficulty ascending in a task. The variation in pupil can determine the level of difficulty in perception.

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Such a phenomenon can help education providers to gain a deep understanding of a learner’s psychology. It empowers them to create absolutely accurate student profiles to develop the right course that accurately resonates to a learner’s challenge.

It helps you to understand the relationship of a student with a respective course up to subconscious degree. Moreover, it can render exams and modules that best-fit to the ability of perception of a student.

Pupil analytics can be a revolution in digital learning platform that truly understands you as a student. It’s an immersive technology that blends with AI in education to automate mastery and individualized learning.

So how far, AI can take education? Will AI be your future teacher?

AI teachers: your future educator!

Let’s take our imagination further and see how the education world will look like with convergence with other advanced technologies.

With the smartphones being ubiquitous in the market, tools such as Amazon Echo, Google Siri, Assistant have become an integral part in daily lives. These tools help humans to have found intuitive ways to get things done. Here’s where we see voice recognition and text-to-speech technologies gaining ground with each passing day.

AI in education coincides with these immersive technologies will give physical appearance to AI assistants, chatbots etc. The technology will give these virtual assistants a body and an expressive face.

Image source: https://medium.com/futurepi/

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The day is not far when AI assistants will understand us deeply more then we understand ourselves. Going back, to our previous discussion about analytics, and capacity grasp student’s intellectual and emotions with the conjunction with AI, it’s apparent that AI teachers are the next potential recruits in the education industry.

You can spend hours with your AI teacher to gain mastery & experimental learning by great building projects together.

The burning news of Humanoid Robot Sophia gaining Saudi Arabia citizenship substantiates to the fact we are on the verge of a new world of education, where the concept of AI teacher will be no more a myth but a living fact. It’s quite apparent that role of artificial intelligence in education will take leaps and bounds and will create new wave of learning via AI in education industry.

UN deputy secretary general Amina having a dialogue with Sophia asking about her experience in gaining Saudi Arabia citizenship

Readers, the above innovations are just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to the convergence of contemporary immersive technologies and AI in education space, possibilities are simply limitless.

Education is an endless ocean, and as an education provider or a learner, it depends on how you want to explore it to get the most out of your learning and development investment.

If you are a learner, then simply pull your socks up, as the next generation education platforms will have everything that will redefine your learning experience. Thus, it’s time to only learn what you want that too at its best.

However, with such advancements, Edtech will get numerous opportunities to educate learners in more interactive and productive ways. The future education market is going to be big and competitive.

Hence, if you are an Edtech and yet to make your roadmap to converge with the upcoming technology, it’s never too late, get started now before your competitor does it.

If the article resonates with your findings and learning roadmap and you are an educator, publisher, technologist or corporate interested to explore these challenges and resolutions, please contact Tarams, let’s do it together.

At Tarams, we help you design state-of-the-art digital learning platforms that accurately measure and collaborate learning programs giving you an extraordinary, intuitive and immersive experience.

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How Learning Analytics & xAPI integration can Help You Amplify Your L&D ROI

Video as a form of content has always displayed great caliber to scale and support education programmes. Conventional video technology caters to a wide array of learning needs but limited to point solutions only. It gives us the ability to record, edit, manage and share videos that too comes at a hefty cost.

However, with the inception of BI, it became smooth sailing to derive learning analytics and track performance of a video content utilized for the purpose of training and education. Benefits of learning analytics cater to education industry in creating customized videos and recording KPIs such as Subscribe, Like, Views, Share, etc. and enables to view the content using an integrated suite of tools.

Video optimization and inbuilt learning analytics have been helping several enterprises to plan strong foray for video-based learning and to get the most out of their existing videos.

Let us have a quick sneak peek at top trends & capabilities you would like to have on your video platform to amplify your L&D ROI.

Finding relevant content segment with in your video

Low-Code vs. No-Code: The Tech Behind It

A Low-Code platform is a boon for developers seeking efficiency in the app development lifecycle. With its visual interface and automated processes, it minimizes the grunt work of manual coding, letting developers focus on the higher-level aspects.

On the flip side, a No-Code platform is a game-changer for those without coding skills. Its drag-and-drop simplicity and ready-made templates empower users to craft their apps without wrestling with code complexities.

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That means the video platform must allow indexing the words spoken in the video or displaying on-screen on the video along with the traditional Meta description.

Hence, the capacity to index and optimize tags with every minute segment of the video timeline will be the game changer. That means, when a learner wants to view a specific topic or portion in a specific lesson under a large video module, the system will be capable to make the user to land on to that desired segment.

Viewing Analytics: Learning Analytics to track video performance at granular level

Now that the learning videos are segmented, ingested with relevant Meta data and optimized for specific search results, it’s time for the viewing analytics to run the show.

Viewing analytics gathers and analyses viewing patterns from each indexed and optimized segment of a video and converts them into actionable insights that help the L&D organizations to forecast future learning needs and optimize current content.

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The success of any training video can be recorded by monitoring when, how and how viewers interact with your video content. A video platform with advance viewing analytics helps the administrators to track the granular level performance of video in real-time and help them to create videos that actually resonates to goals and challenges of their learners.

When a user logs in to view a video, the viewing analytics gives you insights into what video they watched, what were the most viewed video segments, and how many have completely watched your video. It helps you to decrease churn and abandon rates and revise training content to ensure on-going success.

Integration of Experience API with viewing Analytics

The blend of Experience API (xAPI in education) and analytics prove to be the actual crux of success for any L&D organization. xAPI lms in education industry has been developed to capture and transmit metadata about events related to the segments. Companies are now using xAPI data to get information about any type of user interaction like time spent on the content, the time taken to complete the course, what content the learner started but did not complete, what piece of content they interacted the most. Such data integrate with viewing analytics to give you easy to read reports that give you a clear picture of the performance of the learning solution and its impact on the learner.

The xAPI model in education industry will empower the administrator or the trainer to drill down to identify successful learning behaviours of high performing learners and group similar patterns. These set of patterns may include multiple behaviours and activities that are more likely to result in overall learning success when practiced in a specific sequence and combination. And the same can be replicated and prescribed to underperforming learners and can be used to develop personalized learning models as well.

Thus, you see how learning analytics has evolved to reshape your L&D roadmaps. It has opened a new world of insights and data-driven decision-making capabilities. And the possibilities what you can track, optimize and measure is actually limitless.

At Tarams, we develop powerful learning analytic solutions that capture granular viewing stats and data to understand learning patterns and behaviour that cater to personalized learning models and convert into easy to read reports and dashboards. If you want to know how our analytics solution has helped fortune 500 clients, mid-sized firms & start-ups from L&D space then please connect with our digital learning solution specialist.

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