Big Data Visualization: Tools and Challenges

Media theorist John Berger believes that people think in pictures. For him, seeing comes before words. He states:

“Unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about 7 bits of information (plus or minus 2). This is why, by the way, we have 7-digit phone numbers. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched.”

Big data visualization is a technique based on visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps that represent complex concepts and data in a way they become easier to analyze and decipher. The method adds value to your data by removing the noise from data and highlighting the useful information (like trends, outliers, and patterns).

If you’ve ever stared at a massive spreadsheet of data and couldn’t find a meaningful pattern, you know how much more effective a visualization can be.

In the world of big data, it is important to analyze massive amounts of information and make data-driven decisions.

This is where data visualization tools and technologies come into play.

Big data visualization is the key tool to make sense of the trillions of rows of data that you generate every day.

However, not all data visualization techniques prove to be effective.

Not all of them can help tell stories. Traditional elements like plain graphs could be too monotonous to make a powerful point.

So, what is effective data visualization then?

It is a delicate balancing act between form and function.

Combining data and visuals is no less than an art. If you want great analysis combined with great storytelling, your data and visuals need to work together.

How big data visualization works

There are studies by psychologist Albert Mehrabian that indicate that language is decoded on a linear level, while visuals are deciphered on a simultaneous level.

This means that an image can be analyzed instantly, while language requires time to analyze. Data visualization is the technique that cuts-to-the-chase, allowing faster analysis of critical information.

Data visualization solutions help companies spot trends and patterns, and track business performance and goal achievements.

Plain graphs are only the tip of the iceberg.

There’s a whole selection of big data visualization methods that help present data in interesting ways. It is important that you combine the right visualization method with the right set of information.

Big data visualization works by enabling and empowering decision makers at every level of your organization to see and analyze unstructured or unorganized data presented visually with the help of several figurative approaches and methods.

Data visualization allows handling tons of data by converting it into meaningful visuals using widgets and elements. For this, the best software tools are used to operate various types of data sources.

From politicians to sports’ enthusiasts, journalists, engineers and accountants, the application of data visualization is evident in our modern world.

Some of the data visualization techniques used to put together information in a visual way include infographics, heat maps, scatter plots, fever charts, connectivity charts, timelines, treemaps, histograms, and area charts, among others. The choice of technique should depend on the type of data being modeled and the intended purpose.

Big data visualization tools

Big Data is not a new concept. It has existed for decades. It’s just the size of the data that’s new today.

Can you guess the amount of data we’ve generated in just the last 2 years from different sources like mobile devices, computers, and other web connected devices?

It’s a zetabyte of data!

It technically means that every 2 years, we create as much data as we did from the beginning of time or at least 90% of all the data in existence till today.

That’s a lot of data!

Let’s say you are a proud owner of a diamond mine, but you can’t harness the diamonds from that mine.

Is there a point in being the owner? No, right?

It’s the same with big data.

There is no point in collecting large chunks of data if you fail to grasp the information and insights lying beneath it. Data visualization tools help resolve this issue by showing us valuable hidden insights of the collected data.

Some popular big data visualization tools that will help you make the best visuals of your data in the most time-efficient manner:

Tableau

An end-to-end big data visualization tool that enables you to prepare, analyze, collaborate, and share your big data insights. The platform excels in self-service visual analysis. It helps data-driven companies to see and understand their data, create workbooks, visualizations, dashboards and stories.

QlikView

This self-service BI (Business Intelligence) or data visualization tool enables you to work adeptly on the tool without relying on your IT department, with little to no professional expertise. The data security provision of the tool is stringent in the sense that it guarantees the safety of critical corporate data.

PowerBI

This cloud-based big data visualization tool requires no capital expenditure or infrastructure support regardless of how big your business is. It integrates easily with your existing business environment, giving you exceptional analytics and reporting capabilities. Moreover, Power BI ensures that your data is quickly retrievable by removing memory and speed constraints.

Spotfire

This is probably the most complete big data visualization solution on the market that enables you to uncover and visualize new discoveries in your data through immersive dashboards and advanced analytics. Its analytics capabilities include predictive analytics, geolocation analytics, and streaming analytics. The tool’s rich API capabilities let you analyze all the data needed for the most powerful insights.

D3js

D3js is the big data visualization tool that brings your data to life using HTML, SVG and CSS. It combines powerful visualization components and a data-driven approach to DOM manipulation. The JS framework and functional style that it has allows you to make it as powerful as you want to make it.

HighCharts

This insights platform lets you create customized dashboards with different widgets. With this big data visualization tool, you can easily create an interactive chart that uses the data from the HTML tables and presents it more appealingly. HighCharts solely run on native browser technologies and there are no plugins required. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that they are the future of data representation in an approachable way.

Conclusion

By now, you’d know that we are hard-wired to find emotional cues within visuals rather than text.

Data visualized properly leads to information and knowledge. Visualized data has more value because it has been transformed into information. On consuming this information, it becomes knowledge.

“Identifying patterns, anticipating outcomes and proactively optimizing a response will be the basis for competition in the future. In the next 10 years, the companies that don’t have analytics deeply embedded in their business model will most likely cease to exist.” — Gartner

Your business data can communicate critical insights if it’s visualized the right way.

Jellyfish Technologies will help you reimagine your unstructured or unorganized business data on interactive dashboards easily with interactive data visualization services.

Overcoming Node.js Development Challenges: Expert Tricks For Faster Development

Why was the JavaScript developer sad?

Because he didn’t Node how to Express himself…

Not funny?

Oh, well then, maybe after seeing these statistics, you will find the joke funnier:

Netflix and PayPal reduced their startup time from 40+ minutes to under a minute with Node JS. (Source: Hackernoon)

That is a huge improvement!

Here’s another:

Node JS is pretty darn fast. Tons of studies show that it can increase your application performance by 50%.

No wonder Node.js is the leading choice for start-ups and enterprises.

Before creating your first Node.js application, it’s worth evaluating your requirements and choosing your tech stack wisely.

1. Start by selecting your server framework from over 30 libraries to choose from.
   Not sure how to make the best choice on Node.js server framework? Go with Express and learn it thoroughly.
2. Next, find out whether you’re building a single page app (SPA) or a non-SPA. Facebook is a classic example of an SPA, and Twitter, of a non-SPA.
   SPAs are much easier to grasp for coders who’ve just begun working with Node.js framework.
3. Similar to selecting a server framework, pick a template engine for your app.
   Can’t decide on one? Go with Nunjucks and learn the engine to its fullest.
4. Some Node.js server frameworks (example: Express) will have in-built routers you can use, while others will require you to select one for your app based on your preference.
5. The last big decision you must make is to select your database language. Relational databases or non-relational databases are the two choices you have in this aspect.
6. Once you’ve chosen your stack, it’s a good idea to set up your development environment.
   For this, consider selecting a package manager and a build tool, and refreshing your server and browser automatically.

Expert tricks to overcome Node.js development challenges:

Magnifying the positive aspects can blur out the negative details, which isn’t nice.

Looking on the bright side all the time won’t help fix the negatives.

Let us look a bit into the challenges that developers face while using Node.js so we can find ways to overcome them:

1. Challenge: Difficult to understand and maintain code

The lousy and unstructured nature of this technology is one of its biggest drawbacks which makes your code difficult to understand and update. This is because there are no certain modules and types.

Overcoming the challenge:

This drawback could be easily removed due to the class decorators and OOP principles present. Ensure to introduce yourself to the Node JS structure of doing things. Write clean, ordered, and documented code.

2. Challenge: Carrying out linear I/O programming operations

Due to the Asynchronous programming model that Node.js follows, it becomes a challenge for developers to carry out linear Input/Output programming operations.

3. Challenge: It lacks a proper, stable API

Another big challenge of using this technology is that it lacks a proper stable API, meaning that it keeps changing on a regular basis, resulting in a lack of consistency.

Overcoming the challenge:

When API changes, make changes to the existing codebase and make it compatible with the latest version of the Node.js API.

4. Challenge: Node.js is not recommended for heavy computation

The inability of Node.js to process CPU bound tasks is another huge drawback of the platform. When Node.js receives a CPU bound task and a heavy request comes to the event loop, it sets all the CPU available to process it first, before it answers other queued requests. This leads to an overall delay in the event loop, and therefore to an inefficient computation process.

Overcoming the challenge: Leveraging the experimental feature of Multithreading

Ever since multithreading got introduced in Node.js framework in 2018 as an experimental feature, it allowed to process heavy CPU-bound tasks by leveraging the new feature called “worker threads module”, although there were limitations on the kind of machines it allowed you to use the feature on. Machines with multiple cores can use the feature to leverage additional threads from a thread pool.

5. Challenge: It impacts the quality of code due to the callback hell issue

Callbacks are the functions that run after each task in the queue is finished. The callback hell issue is a situation where callbacks are nested within other callbacks several levels deep, meaning you have lots of callback functions in your code. This makes it difficult for developers to work with the code or even understand or maintain it.

Overcoming the challenge: Following the best coding standards and practices

Since the issue occurs due to poor coding standards and lack of experience with JavaScript and Node.js frameworks in particular, good news is that it’s not difficult to fix. Ensure to keep your code shallow and modularized to keep it readable. Handle every single error (always reserve the first argument for the error) to make the code stable. Using typescript-based frameworks such as SugoiJS which you can use on top of Node JS is a good way to eliminate this drawback and make the codes simpler and more effective.

Jellyfish Technologies is a reputed global software development company that specializes in Node.js development services and can, in fact, accelerate your NodeJS development efficiently.

How to Create a Music Streaming Mobile App: Music Streaming App Development

Remember the time when you used to visit the Internet cafe to get new songs on your iPod or Walkman?

Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?

Well, with the introduction of music streaming mobile apps, the way we listen to music has changed completely. We are just a click away from downloading our preferred music streaming app and listen to our favorite track, anywhere and at any time.

According to technavio, the global music streaming service market is expected to grow by $10.01 billion from 2019 to 2023. This growing popularity is the result of the convenient services provided by these apps and the value of the money they offer to their users.

If you are thinking of developing a music streaming mobile app, then follow the below-mentioned steps and you are good to go.

Let’s begin.

Popular music streaming mobile apps

Before developing a music streaming app, you need to learn about your possible competitors. Some of the popular music streaming mobile apps available in the market are:

Spotify

Spotify is amongst the most downloaded music streaming apps. According to Statista, in 2019, 35 percent of music streaming subscribers worldwide had subscribed to Spotify. It is delivering service to about 100 million subscribers.

Spotify is available in both free and paid versions. Free accounts offer a wide range of music collections but have some listening limitations and ads while the paid account offers premium services like ad-free music and offline streaming.

YouTube Music

YouTube music is available by subscription. According to Statista, the YouTube Music app was downloaded over 5.2 million times from the Google Play Store and nearly 1.5 million times from the Apple App Store in 2021, making it the world’s leading music app.

YouTube Music provides both video and audio mode to its user and can search songs using snippets of lyrics. It is popular for its enhanced audio quality and listening experience. This music app is available for both Android and iOS users.

Apple Music

Apple Music made approximately $4.1 billion in revenue in 2020, accounting for 7.6 percent of Apple’s total services revenue, according to Business of Apps.

This app offers a great collection of songs for users from all over the world. You can also listen to the local radio station using this app.

Apple Music is available for both Android and iOS users.

Points to consider before developing a music streaming mobile app

Types of music streaming services

Before starting the development process, you should decide what type of music streaming service you want to build.

Some of the popular music streaming services are:

Music Media Libraries

Media music libraries allow the user to have unlimited access to songs on a monthly subscription payment basis. Using this service, a user can avoid expenses on purchasing individual songs or albums.

Examples: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music

Cloud Storage

This platform allows users to store and manage media in cloud storage and stream them anywhere and any time they like.

Examples: CloudPlayer, AudioBox, Beat

Radio Streaming Service

Radio streaming services provide an automated search for music to be delivered to users in the form of genre playlists, artist-centric lists, curated lists.

Examples: Apple Music, iHeartRadio

Platform

Now that you have decided what type of music streaming service you want to build, it’s time to decide on the platform.

There are two types of platforms: Android and iOS. If you are tight on your budget then choose your platform according to your targeted audiences and their preferences. For example, if you plan to develop an app for US customers, choose iOS, similarly choosing Android for UK customers.

If you want to stay competitive and have the budget then develop an app for both platforms. This will help you gain more users.

Licensing

For using the music content in your music streaming app, you need to get a Public Performance License.

If the app is for US users, then you need to apply for the license in any one of these agencies:

1. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
2. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)

For UK users, apply to The Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).

Skipping this step can lead to huge fines from a minimum of $750 up to $150,000 per one song played.

Build your app: Essential features for a music streaming app

A music streaming app should have the following features:

Registration

Users can register and log in to the app via email, mobile number, or social media account. Also, include the “Forgot Password” feature to make your app more user-friendly.

Profile

This feature will allow the users to manage their personal information, make playlists, and update their payment details.

Search

Search is a mandatory feature as it will allow users to search for songs. Users can search for the music by artist, title, album, recording studio, or genre.

My music

For the users to save their favorite music, albums, mark artists, and create playlists.

Share music

This feature will allow users to share their favorite tracks with other users.

Push notifications

This feature will notify users about a new song release, new trend, a new artist, or app updates.

Settings

Settings will allow users to change audio and app settings such as selecting streaming quality, music language, click behavior, among others.

Along with these must-have features, you can also incorporate these advanced features:

• Recommendations
• Offline access
• Uploading media
• Social media sharing

Team and tech stack required for building a music streaming app

It’s time to gather the team. Here is a list of team members required to develop a music streaming app:

• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• UI/UX designer
• Android developers
• iOS developers
• Back-end developers
• QA engineer

Coming to the tech stack, these are the following technologies required for developing a music streaming app:

• Programming languages: Python, Javascript
• Frameworks: Hadoop, Apache Storm, Hub Framework
• Server: Nginx
• Cloud storage: Amazon S3, Google BigQuery
• CDN: Amazon CloudFront
• Database: PostgreSQL, Cassandra

Conclusion

According to Research and Markets, the music streaming market is expected to grow by $ 7.47 billion during 2021–2025 progressing at a CAGR of 19% during the forecast period.

The music streaming market is growing with every minute passing by and it surely is a great time to invest in building apps like Spotify and Pandora.

Now that you know almost everything about developing a music streaming app, it’s time to partner with the best app development company across the globe.

Jellyfish Technologies is a reliable mobile app development company. It provides both native and hybrid mobile app development services for Android and iOS.

Top Trends and Solutions for Insurtech Companies

What comes to your mind when you think about the time you needed to make some important changes in your insurance?

Is it the never-ending waiting time before you were finally able to connect with an insurance agent or is it the several calls and emails that you carried out to get that one change finalized?

Well, insurtech was introduced so that you don’t worry about all of this, be it updating your contact details or applying for an insurance claim.

With the growing use of technology, incorporating its use in the insurance industry has become a necessity and Insurtech was a result of this necessity.

Insurtech was introduced to provide better customer service and improve work efficiency, though with time it started to offer much more, hence resulting in its continuous growth. According to BUSINESS WIRE, Global Insurtech Market revenue is valued at 5.48 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach 10.14 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 10.80% during the period 2019–2025.

What is InsurTech?

Insurtech, short for insurance and technology, is the technology that is used to provide better services to the insurer and their customers.

Latest technologies like wearables, fitness apps, online claim processing, and policy handling are all part of insurtech, used to collect and analyze customer data to provide better services.

Insurtech may also refer to insurtech companies that produce new technologies for the insurance industry. From 2010 to 2019, considered to be the first nine years of insurtech, around $16.5 billion have flowed to startup companies in the insurtech field according to thebalancesmb.com.

Top 5 trends in the Insurance industry

With technology evolving every day, it is important to keep up with the latest trends. Let’s read more about the top trends in the insurtech:

1. Personalizing experience using Artificial Intelligence (AI):

According to the research firm Markets and Markets, the AI market is expected to grow to a $190 billion industry by 2025 probably because of its rapid adoption by almost every prominent industry with a motive to be able to provide a personalized experience to its customers.

Artificial intelligence performs as a guide to insurance companies by providing them with the available data on the consumer’s behavior and habits, allowing the company to make the consumer experience as personalized as possible.

AI not only provides a personalized experience but also helps in improving work efficiency. It takes over the repetitive tasks like the underwriting process, cutting down the human element, thus providing an error-free process.

2. Preventing risk using Predictive Analytics:

Predictive analytics refers to the process of using collected data to predict consumers’ next move. It helps in determining whether the customer is genuinely interested in the product or not, further helping the insurance companies to attract and grow their most profitable customers.

Along with observing consumer’s behavior, predictive analytics also helps in preventing risk by identifying which customers are on the verge of canceling their insurance policies, thereby providing a chance to the insurance company to adjust their prices accordingly.

Predictive analytics can also be used to identify insurance fraud and triaging claims, through the data collected on them.

3. Protecting data using Blockchain:

Being amongst the fastest growing industries around the world, the insurance industry needs to keep up with the latest technologies to provide the best services to its customers. Data security is amongst the most important services, as it puts the customer’s faith in the company.

Blockchain collects and holds customers’ information together in groups, also referred to as blocks. These blocks have certain storage capacities that, when filled, are linked onto the previously filled block, forming a chain of data known as the “Blockchain.”

Blockchain eliminates suspicious and duplicate transactions by logging and keeping track of each transaction.

Blockchain’s decentralized digital repository verifies the authenticity of the customer, their policies, and transactions by providing the records, making it difficult for hackers to corrupt or steal files.

According to MARKETSANDMARKETS, The blockchain in insurance market size was valued at USD 64.50 million in 2018 and projected to reach USD 1,393.8 million by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 84.9%.

4. Improving work efficiency using Robotic and Cognitive Automation (R&CA):

Robotic process automation (RPA) is used to automate the work process of an insurance company and with cognitive automation (CA) by its side, R&CA can help the industry to adopt a more customer-centric approach using algorithms and technologies like machine learning, data mining, among others.

R&CA can automate the work process, thereby reducing repetitive tasks, such as underwriting process, data entry, and claim to process, hence improving work efficiency. Furthermore, without human elements in the process, data collection and analysis would be free of any errors.

5. Sharing data using the Internet of Things (IoT):

According to IBM, IoT is changing the dynamic with customers to one that is more advisory-oriented and less focused on claims. Furthermore, it reduces risks and retains customers.

IoT makes the data-sharing process easy and secure and with different IoT wearable devices like Fitbit, insurance companies can monitor their customer’s health and help provide the best insurance plans.

Best InsurTech software ideas for your startup:

In 2020, approximately 14.5 billion U.S. dollars was invested in global Insurtech companies and in the previous year, 14.3 billion U.S. dollars was invested.

Let’s go through the different insurtech software ideas that can help your startup to reach new heights:

Agent/Broker portal:

Being an insurance agent can be hard sometimes. There are times when an agent requires a customer’s information but to get it, he/she needs to go through various processes. Developing an app that allows an insurance agent to access important customers’ information, anywhere and at any time, can save a lot of time and effort.

Developing an agent/broker portal will allow insurance agents to have quick access to their customer’s policy documents and other policy-related information, saving their time and effort when renewing or upgrading their insurance policies.

This portal can also have insurance companies marketing documents, such as brochures and videos so that agents can use them when needed.

Using this portal can help agents as well as brokers to meet their daily targets and deadlines, thereby improving work efficiency and performance.

Smart claim engine:

Applying for a claim and receiving it on time is a hectic process but a smart claim engine can benefit both the insurance company and the customer.

Developing a smart claim engine software can help the insurance company to automate the whole claims process, by supporting claims adjustments, claims transfer, claims data entry, updating claim status, and notifying about new updates.

A smart claim engine can save both insurance companies and their customers’ time, further providing higher customer satisfaction.

Usage-based insurance software:

Customer satisfaction being an important element for the growth of any business, the insurance industry needs to step up with its game and usage-based insurance can certainly help with it.

Using technologies like AI, ML, predictive analytics, and IoT, insurance companies can gather information about the customers’ behavior and his/her lifestyle, thereby providing an insurance plan that perfectly fits that lifestyle.

The usage-based insurance software solutions can help gain deeper insight into customers to create better products and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.

Insurance policy checking and administration:

Policy checking and administration is a big part of the insurance industry and almost takes an army to get done daily. Developing Insurance policy checking and administration software can take a huge load on the companies’ employees, resulting in work efficiency.

Insurance policy administration software can help in reducing average handling times, training costs, and errors while upgrading service quality and revenues. It can help in ensuring whether the policy matches the proposal or in case of renewals, ensuring that the policy matches the previous term policies, reporting the differences to the insurance carriers, and at last ensuring that the final document is received without any variances.

Conclusion:

We are part of an era, where development has become very important. Not only do humans need to evolve but industries too. For the insurance industry, Insurtech is the only way to keep up with this digital movement.

If you are thinking about hopping on this digital train, then leading software development companies like Jellyfish Technologies can help your insurance company to reach new heights.

Java vs Kotlin: The Best Framework For Android App Development

A recent report published by Statista indicates that the number of smartphone users worldwide has crossed 3 billion and is forecasted to further grow by several hundred million in the next few years. We’re officially in the era of smartphones.

As a result of the growing smartphones market, the mobile app development market has become highly competitive, making it hard for developers to choose the right framework for their mobile apps.

Unfortunately, a one-size-fits-all or a one-size-fits-most approach is not the best one when it comes to choosing a framework for Android app development. This is because there is a sea of mobile frameworks available to serve multiple needs.

Java, Kotlin, React Native, Xamarin, Flutter, Corona SDK, and Ionic are some of the popular mobile app development frameworks.

Because of the overwhelming framework options that exist today, most businesses struggle to choose a framework that meets their specific project and business requirements.

There is no quick fix when it comes to Android app frameworks.

Of all the frameworks available, Java and Kotlin seem to rule the Android app development industry lately. This post compares these two frameworks for Android app development.

Lets’ begin with a small introduction to both the frameworks.

JAVA –

Java is one of the most well-known programming languages that has been in existence for 24 years. It tops the list of the most popular programming languages of all time. In fact, it is one of the most used frameworks by developers.

According to a recent Statista report, JavaScript and HTML/CSS were the most commonly used programming languages among software developers around the world, with nearly 68 percent of respondents stating that they used JavaScript and 63.5 percent using HTML/CSS. SQL. Python, and Java made it to the top five most widely used programming languages around the world.

Do you know why this popular programming language rules the enterprise programming language field?

Thanks to big tech giants like Google, eBay, and Amazon that are primarily using Java to build their Android mobile applications, it has become a ruling framework in the enterprise programming language realm.

How Java works:

Java is a platform-independent framework that works on the principle of ‘Write Once & Run Everywhere’.

It is concurrent, class-based, and object-oriented, meaning that it is easy for developers to attain fluency with this programming language. It requires executing an engine, compiler, and a set of libraries.

Believe it or not, most of the syntax used in this framework is derived from C & C++.

Kotlin is a general-purpose, modern programming language that introduces functional features to support Java interoperability. It aims for heightened productivity and improved coding experience.

Although Java has an undisputed reputation of being ahead than Kotlin and most other frameworks due to its long existence, there was a need for a newer framework that could fill the gaps that Java leaves.

Kotlin –

Kotlin proved to be that modern app development framework which turned the tables.

Do you know that it is now the official language for Android apps? Google officially announced this big news at Google IO in May 2019.

A recent developer survey for Kotlin by JetBrains suggests that the framework is being targeted by developers most (the figure is 66%) for Android app development. It further indicates that Kotlin is used mainly for new projects (96%), and only 38% use it for pre-existing projects.

How Kotlin works:

Based on JVM, this modern, open-source framework is completely compatible with Java stacks. This concise programming language is a combination of object-oriented and functional programming features and can be used everywhere Java is used.

Java vs Kotlin in Android app development

Let’s compare the two popular frameworks on different parameters now:

1. Development speed- Developing a mobile app is an expensive process. One way to keep the costs down is to keep the app development time down. The faster the app development speed, the lower are the costs. Here’s a comparison of the development speed in Java vs Kotlin.

Java- If you choose Java, you will probably have to type more code than in Kotlin for the same task. But what’s important to note here is that you will have to spend less time thinking of the solution in this case than in Kotlin. Also, despite being a highly verbose language, it provides type safety which catches all potential errors at compile time rather than at runtime.

Kotlin- Although Kotlin has more cognitive load than Java, it requires typing fewer codes. Moreover, it has clean and intuitive syntax. But it would require you to spend more time thinking of the solution. It generates a byte-code that’s essentially the same as Java byte-code, meaning that there’s no measurable difference. It does not have any runtime semantics (over and above Java) or meta-programming, which means its performance is very close to that of Java. It has more laconic constructions which means you can control the coding speed by writing expressive codes.

Verdict:

It’s a draw.

Since both of them run on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), it would be somewhat naive to say or ask which one of the two offers faster development. There’s no noticeable difference between the two frameworks in terms of the speed of coding. Both offer the same speed of development.

If you prefer to write more codes but spend less time thinking of the solution, Java is your best choice. And if you prefer to write fewer codes, while spending more time thinking about the solution (i.e you’re a fantastic abstract thinker), Kotlin is your best bet.

2. Community support- Imagine you face a problem while using either of the two frameworks for your Android app development. What do you do? Where do you go? Well, this is where community support comes into play. Let’s look at the community support in Java vs Kotlin for Android app development.

Java- It has a solid and active community support since it has existed for a long time. There are many online Java-related resources available to help Java programmers. Stack overflow, Oracle, and Java Ranch are some of the most popular Java communities that exist on the web, ensuring long-term support for the programming language. The Java developer community boasts in-depth information on Java technologies and aims to bring you up-to-date on any new development.

Kotlin- It doesn’t have very active community support when compared to Java. This is because the framework has been in existence only since February 2016. Yet, its global community is growing fast with its contributors increasing by every passing day. Though younger than Java, Kotlin has evolved into quite an established framework now. It further aims to become a rich ecosystem with an extensive range of community libraries soon.

Verdict:

In terms of community support, Java is clearly ahead of Kotlin, simply because it is an old framework that has existed for quite some time now. Kotlin, on the other hand, is a newer framework with a not-so-evolved community support.

3. Extension functions- These functions allow methods defined outside of a class to be used with objects of that class (using the ‘.’ notation) as if they are part of the class. Without them, adding functionality to a class isn’t possible without modifying the entire class. Let’s look at the extension functions in Java vs Kotlin for Android app development.

Java- Extension functions, although available in many other programming languages and frameworks, aren’t available in Java. Think about a class like String where adding functionality is necessary. Unfortunately, extending classes to add functionality by adding new methods is not possible in Java.

Kotlin- Unlike Java, Kotlin has extension functions which allows developers to extend a class with new functionality. It is easy to create an extension function in Kotlin. All you have to do is prefix the name of the class that needs to be extended to the name of the function being created. In order to call the function on the instances of the extended class, you will need to use the ‘.’ notation.

Verdict:

Is Kotlin better than Java? No.

It’s all about your personal preference.

If it’s crucial for you to be able to implement features in a way that enables you to reuse them without the need to implement complex functionality, then Kotlin is a better choice. Also, if it is necessary for you to add functionality to an existing class in a way that it doesn’t require you to modify the entire class, Kotlin is your best bet.

Still confused?

If you do not want to miss out on the advantages of either of the two frameworks (discussed above) for Android app development, there’s a way around.

You can use the two frameworks interchangeably to get the best of both worlds.

How?

You have the flexibility to use them simultaneously in your Android app development project by calling Java code from Kotlin and vice-versa since both frameworks compile to bytecode in the end.

Although there are several differences between the two programming languages in terms of stability, community support, null value, code conciseness, and extension functions, among others, they are fully interoperable.

As a leading provider of mobile app development services, Jellyfish Technologies knows the trade-offs of each framework and can help you select one that will meet your business needs in the best possible way.