Tag: WEB

Top 15 startups built using PHP development

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

PHP is known for being able to provide different capabilities suitable for a variety of purposes and can quickly solve many performance issues. Therefore, even 20 years after its first release, PHP powers some of the most frequently visited websites.

From the business perspective, PHP development services became a significant part of the web development market due to their cost effectiveness and speed of development, which can quickly satisfy the rapidly growing demand for building reliable web projects.

PHP technology is at the core of every successful business, or practically at every one. Don’t believe us? Below, we will list the most influential web services every avid Internet user has heard about. So, get comfortable to take a closer look at our list.

 

First things first, still. PHP is a general-purpose programming language developed to suit the back-end (i.e., server-side) web development needs. PHP code can be embedded directly in the HTML code of the application.

Since its appearance in 1995, PHP has been one of the most popular programming languages among developers and is constantly being upgraded and improved. There have been seven significant versions of the language, with PHP 7 being the latest one at the moment of writing.

Almost 35.5 million websites are currently running that are built using PHP, which allows it to beat its competitors easily (ASP.NET is used for 24 million websites, Ruby on Rails – for less than a million).

Why has it gained such popularity among developers? PHP development services ensure easily manageable coding, delivering quality outputs fast and cost-efficiently, an array of features, and a wide selection of remarkable PHP frameworks for developers – these are just some of the reasons why PHP is so often used in today’s web development era. Besides, the Laravel framework, Symfony 2, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Phalcon contribute to PHP’s popularity.

PHP is especially popular among startups since it’s free to use and can cater to various needs – and this is the combination suits beginning entrepreneurs the most during web app development.

It should be added that there’s also a pretty solid PHP development community, so finding the right PHP solution won’t be a problem for you, no matter which PHP project you are involved in. After all, PHP is an open-source software development solution supported by developers voluntarily – and it wouldn’t have survived for so long if it weren’t for such a vibrant community.

 

  1. Facebook  Yes, the most famous social media web application,
    was developed primarily using PHP. According to SimilarWeb, Facebook is visited more than 22 billion times monthly. So, it has to deal with enormous traffic volumes – and PHP helps the website with this. Of course, this pioneering social network app uses other latest technologies (like React, GraphQL, and Memcached, to name a few) – but still, PHP is at its core. Indeed, at the very beginning, the entire Facebook application code was written in PHP by Zuckerberg and Moskowitz. The front-end is developed using XHP, and HipHop is used for the runtime software development. Interestingly, HipHop was built by Facebook for the web application’s needs and went open-source in 2013. 
  2. Yahoo, One of the leading world search engines, is run utilizing PHP and a combination of other technologies (like Apache and JavaScript). Interestingly, the company was launched in 1995, the same year PHP was released. Nowadays, this website is visited more than 4.57 billion times every month, according to SimilarWeb. Apart from the search engine app itself, Yahoo provides a variety of services powered by PHP to a certain extent (Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, etc.).
  3. Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, is developed and edited by volunteers worldwide and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. We wouldn’t be surprised if it’s difficult for you to imagine the Internet without this website – or think of any Internet user who hasn’t read anything on this open-source web platform at least once. This socially significant open-source app brilliantly runs on PHP.
  4. WordPress is one of the most commonly used free content management systems. It can offer its users thousands of themes and plugins. Undoubtedly, the website is among today’s most popular web publishing companies, offering almost endless capabilities for 60+ million websites currently using it. PHP and MySQL are two core technologies used during web development to make this a reality. Web developers and agencies that provide PHP development services like WordPress for their flexibility and ease of use. Many websites take advantage of WordPress due to its wide range of features, such as drag & drop editors, media library, and a plethora of plugins available for download.
  5. Flickr  Flickr is one of the most famous photos sharing websites currently available, and it is believed to be the best source to find inspiration. Indeed, the web platform has become a boom right after its launch, and millions of people visit it today. By the way, this PHP-powered web app hosts more than 6 billion images and handles more than 3.5 million images being uploaded to the platform every day. Besides PHP, Flickr developers included Java and JavaScript in the development technology stack, among others.
  6. BLABLACAR  This famous social project was founded in France in 2006. It is more than just a carpool web platform – it is a community-focused web application. Today, BlaBlaCar provides services to 60+ million active users from 22 countries where BlaBlaCar is currently available. Symfony2, a feature-packed PHP framework, powers this robust web app.
  7. Spotify is a world-renowned music streaming service company loved by 191+ million users in dozens of countries. This freemium web platform allows you to access millions of songs instantly. Can you imagine the traffic volumes it has to deal with? Fortunately, it has a robust technology stack to do so. Similarly to the previous web app on our list, this one also runs on a PHP framework – Symfony2.
  8. MailChimp  Being the top-rated email marketing app, MailChimp had to be powered by PHP. This trustworthy website comes with a wide selection of features. It can automate sending bulk emails, from creating letters filling in email addresses, and gathering statistical data. Just for the record, the website sends around a billion letters daily. Currently, the company has millions of customers all around the world.
  9. Tumblr is a web platform where anyone can start their microblog. It is visited 537 million times monthly, and the web app hosts 450+ million blogs. Needless to say, the load the project deals with daily is vast. PHP used during web development helps it do this quite successfully. In fact, the project runs on the latest PHP 7 to ensure the highest performance.
  10. Baidu It’s not a big issue if you haven’t heard about Baidu before. However, according to Alexa’s rating, it is the fourth most visited website in the world. Baidu is the Chinese answer to Google – it is a search engine that offers maps, an online encyclopedia, image search, cloud storage services, and much more. Using PHP for the backend web development of this website helps the company deal with tremendous traffic volumes, just like in the case of any other website on our list.
  11. iStock is one of the largest stock exchange websites with graphics (photos, illustrations, etc.). Started in 2000 as iStockPhoto, it is now visited 20+ million times monthly (according to SimilarWeb). Furthermore, 500+ thousand new files are uploaded to the website every month. PHP helps iStock remain highly responsive and keeps the project’s UX at the top.
  12. Cracked is one of the good examples of printed outlets adapting to the age of the Internet. The company used to be a humor magazine printed between 1958 and 2007, but now it is a website that brings you entertaining and funny content 24/7. It is visited 15+ million times per month, so PHP comes in handy to handle this traffic volume.
  13. Slack is a messenger primarily used for corporate purposes. The project has to handle 128+ million monthly visits, enabling texting and sharing images and other files, calls, etc. Slack’s main goal is to make collaboration easy and trouble-free, and PHP used during the back-end development helps it achieve it.
  14. Freepic is quite similar to iStock, which we’ve mentioned above. The company is a freemium marketplace where creators can sell their photos, illustrations, templates, etc., or share them for free. It is no coincidence that websites built using PHP have to deal with massive loads of multimedia content – it’s proven helpful in keeping the website’s performance high.
  15. Drupal Last but not least, Drupal has made it onto our list. Drupal itself is a content management system, like WordPress. It is open-source, so the website is always lively because of heated developer discussions and constant news. PHP, in its turn, helps it run smoothly.

Undoubtedly, the list of successful websites built using PHP can go on for quite a long time – but unfortunately, we don’t have all the time in the world. There is one thing you have seen for yourself now – PHP powers some of the most popular websites that deal with substantial performance challenges daily. It proves that its potential is worth your attention.

Fancy seeing your company on the top list? Contact Unicrew, a top web development company in 2022, according to Techreviewer, and our strong PHP developer team will create an excellent PHP-powered product for you.

Do you think we’ve left any honorable mentions off this list demonstrating the incredible opportunities PHP has to offer websites? Feel free to express your thoughts in the comment section below!

Top 7 Web Resources built using .NET

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

If it goes to building web applications, .NET development has become a competent and reliable approach. Today, it is difficult to find a better toolset for building powerful and feature-packed Windows apps than .NET. As a matter of fact, web apps, desktop, and mobile apps, gaming and IoT solutions, and .Net stack cover them all.

That is why there is no wonder why we can find a number of corporations, that by using .NET technology have turned their software products into well-established businesses.  But what about .NET for startup development? Are there any successful startups built using the NET framework? Let’s try to find startups that have been developed by means of this technology.

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But before we jump into today’s post, let’s resume the major .NET startup pros and cons.

The Pros:

  • Scalability. Scaling your startup project is really easy with .NET. Plus, the whole process of scaling is believed to be more efficient than that with Ruby, for example. In fact, if you expect your product to scale pretty fast, .NET is your best way to go.
  • Ease of use, advanced functionality, and security. ASP.NET MVC ensures safe development and makes it easier to spot mistakes and solve common problems without hassle.
  • Huge choice and space for creation. You can use multiple languages, different editors, and many libraries if you develop with .Net. As a result, many different types of applications can be built using .Net technologies.
  • One consistent API. A base set of APIs – .NET Standard is common to all .NET implementations. By the way, adopting other APIs specific to the operating systems it runs on is also possible.
  • Entity Framework. It drops the need for most data-access code developers must write regularly.
  • The possibility to benefit from Microsoft’s developers’ tools and startup programs. You can take advantage of Bizspark program, which lets you launch your business without worrying about license fees and the likes for your first years. Visual Studio Team Services allows you to have up to 5 free members.

The Cons:

  • No open standards. The lack of open standards significantly slows down the whole software development process.
  • Costly licensing and no open-source resources. You need to pay for the licenses to develop with this technology.
  • Platform lock-in. The developers of.Net make you too dependent on their platform.

It is of vital importance to stress that despite the mentioned above disadvantages, there are still technology companies that have chosen .NET for their startup development as they feel truly comfortable with this and other Microsoft technologies.

Still, it goes without saying that today you can hardly find anything written in one pure programming language as only in combination with the latest technologies can you stay competitive.

So, the famous technology companies the solutions of which were built using .NET are as follows: 

  • Microsoft. Without a shadow of a doubt, the world-famous company has used its best technologies and developer tools for building its website. Everything is clear and consistent there; the site is responsive and it runs smoothly and straightforwardly.
  • Outlook. Similar to its predecessor, Outlook is also the creation of Microsoft Corporation, so we may count on best in-build technologies usage. This email app is powerful, feature-packed and secure.
  • StackOverflow. One of the best Q&A platforms for computer-related specialists who are trying to solve technical problems. Everything began with just a blog, but today, it has fast turned into a huge business. It’s for sure that it’s a truly useful learning platform for any software engineer, where one can pick up lots of handy tips and hints, and find the best suiting solution for the compiled code, python ruby and any other case. NET developers, Android app developers, and any other software engineer will find something handy to read or argue about. The service allows you to read what others think about any particular technology, comment, and find the right solution for your case. Still, the novel user can find it tough to get started as the newcomer is expected to gain a reputation to become a full-right member of the developers’ community.
  • GoDaddy. A US-based, industry-leading, online domain registrar and hosting company, which runs a cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures. Today, the company boasts more than 17 million customers along with 6,000+ employees around the globe. There’s also a wide internet community where you can both stay updated with the latest news and pick up some latest technology-related useful ideas. This solution is robust, intuitive, and secure at the same time.
  • Dell. A well-known portal of the famous PC provider. But we have to admit that these days, Dell has become more than just a PC manufacturer. Indeed, if we take a closer look at its site, we will see that the company boasts dozens of software solutions, including cloud computing. The site, which is written by means of .NET framework, comes with a variety of features. Don’t believe us? Come and check!
  • Xero. One of the leading accounting software solutions to manage your business on the go. The company’s software solutions are tailored to small and medium-sized businesses. The product is powerful, consistent, and reliable.
  • W3schools.com. A popular open-source programming platform, which hosts thousands of code examples. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, SQL server and other common programmer issues, W3schools.com covers them all. Use it to learn, test and implement cool things in a simple and most efficient way. Avoid errors and code in a smart way,  Actually, many IT related people consider it to be one of the best web services to gain IT expertise.

To sum up, the solutions of all of the listed above companies using feature-rich and thoroughly battle-tested .NET technology,  have become a success, but we have to admit that they also used to be startups once. Thus, it can be said without exaggeration, the NET framework can become the right platform for a startup venture. By the way, if you want to build a product using .NET MVC, Unicrew is a great IT partner. Our engineering team has extensive expertise in NET application development and is always at your disposal.

P.S. Of course, there are dozens of others famous companies which use Microsoft technologies, in particular, .NET as it comes with a variety of options and leaves space for further development.  These are only a small part of them. Can you name any other .NET-powered product that is well worth mentioning here? Please share your thoughts below!

Best Resources For Laravel Developers

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

Being one of the most popular PHP systems since early 2015, Laravel framework becomes a must-have for both a full-time or a remote PHP developer and also for software engineers at unicrew. Sometimes, it even becomes a technology of choice, conquering Symfony, CodeIgniter, and Yii2, or being at least at the same competitor level. This post reveals the best sites to stay updated with everything happening to Laravel, not to mention the latest advancements in technology.

But before we jump into today’s post, we’d like to stress that despite the fact that there are a lot of sources out there to help you, we have divided them into two main groups: for beginners and experts. So, if you feel like earning the decent laravel developer salary, take a look at the suitable group and make sure you know those resources. 

Best resources for a junior laravel developer

This group covers the laravel 5 tutorial information target at intern and junior level laravel developers as well as at everyone who googles the laravel developer meaning. Typically, the links provided here offer you some basic information on this PHP framework, its features and help you get started. Still, some prior experience with PHP is required.

The official Laravel site is the first site to visit. Here, you can find out everything you need to know before you create a laravel project. System requirements, basic installation and configuration tips, it covers everything.

The Linkedin’s Laravel group is well worth checking out. Currently, there are 2,000+ people there with 150 novel discussions taking place every month. You can easily search for or check the already available helpful and intellectual discussions regarding your queries. So, it’s a great medium for learning and picking up practical tips.

The Laravel Community on Reddit covers all the fundamentals like installation and database setup through examples.

The Laravel blog tutorial will teach you not only Laravel essentials, but also how to add business value.

Best resources for Middle/Senior Level Laravel Developers

The second group will be appealing for those who are already aware of how to install laravel windows and want something more exotic.

Laravel.IO aimed squarely at the developer community, makes a smart way to go to stay updated with the latest framework happenings. It covers the latest resources, news, secret hints regarding the Laravel PHP framework.

Laracon.us this year deserves an honorable mention. The 2017 seminar will arm you with the latest technical knowledge. It would be appealing not only to a senior Laravel developer from the USA, but to any other technical expert worldwide as well.

Laracasts.com will help you remain competitive in the Laravel development niche.

Github laravel sounds all too familiar. Indeed, here you can find anything already existing about this smart PHP framework.

Anyway, if the laravel link to a route is not just words for you, it’s wise to keep these key links in mind. But please don’t limit yourself to the world of today’s Laravel resources, always look for the novel sites to sharpen your skills.

Know other sites which can get real-time updates on laravel htaccess and the stuff like that delivered to you? Thank you for sharing below.

Why Invest in the Automation of the Supply Chain Management Process?

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

The main goal of any business is to get more clients and more income. But the modern market requires any business to be competitive and customer-oriented. A company focused on the result needs to keep up-to-date with the latest achievements in the area of modern technologies.

They need to monitor the updates and constantly add something new to their product chains or business processes before their competitors do the same. Simply put, they can’t relax even when their income is good!

If you are still wondering how to remain the first in the supply chain industry, this insightful review might come in useful. Manufacturers need to do their best to improve productivity and ensure an important competitive advantage. But what should they do to achieve that goal? How can they improve productivity? The best and the most effective solution is the automation of the supply chain management processes. However, some manufacturers are still wondering whether they need to invest in supply chain management software development. Let’s check the main reasons why business owners should consider this aspect.

A Few Compelling Reasons for the Automation of the Supply Chain Management Processes

According to statistical data, the size of the supply chain management software market is rapidly growing. Therefore, investing in this area might be a good solution! Let’s analyze the main reasons for that.

  • Supply chain software can boost productivity

Thanks to powerful software solutions, companies can work round-the-clock. As a result, they can gain up to 25% more productivity in automated areas. This is a superb solution that allows business owners to optimize current resources.

  • Decrease the number of errors

It is a fact that automation means improved accuracy. It goes without saying that professional software can decrease errors that usually happen in the course of manual processes.

  • Reduce labor costs

Any business owner knows that warehousing, labor, and inventory costs aren’t always low. By implementing professional supply chain software, one can easily decrease these costs. As a result, your company will be able to achieve much better results but at a lower cost.

  • Increase the product volume

When it comes to analyzing the manufacturing scenario, it is necessary to add that thanks to automation, a company can develop and produce more product chains. Automation can incorporate the skills of experienced professionals. Therefore, it is easier to achieve the best possible results!

  • Speed up the productivity

A top-quality supply chain software management solution can reduce the time necessary for the production of some goods. It takes time to accept the customer’s order, develop a project and finally manufacture it. With this solution, you can easily reduce the time between demand and supply.

  • Make workplaces safer

There’s no need to prove that automated equipment can reduce the number of injuries in the workplace. If you care about your staff and want to make their workplace safer, investing in the automation of the supply chain management process will be the right thing!

  • Enhance compliance

You probably know that industry standards change rapidly. You need to monitor the latest trends to stay in the lead. When you automate the processes, it will be easier to meet the standards of the industry. 

  • Improve the level of services

Doesn’t matter what kind of business you have, the main thing for any entrepreneur is the customer satisfaction. No customers, no income! Thanks to this solution, you can easily enhance customer satisfaction and other collaboration processes. When you do everything to meet the needs of your clients, you know that they will come back to your company again and again. 

Automation is gradually transforming the supply chain processes. By implementing workflow automation, business owners can easily streamline manual processes and as a result, improve productivity. Today, the potential for such software solutions continues to expand to comply with the demands of modern business trends. If you want to get to the top, meet the needs of your customers and generate more revenue, you simply can’t neglect this solution.

How to Set Up the Accounting Software for a Small Business

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

The accounting process is an integral part of keeping the business up and running. Having the detailed information on your money flow helps to understand the nature of both internal and external transactions.

Fortunately, as modern technologies develop, we receive more and more opportunities to automate the accounting process with computers. A lot of software suppliers provide a broad range of products for businesses of any scale.

Small business accounting has its specifics and requires following some successive steps to build an efficient system. Let’s find out how to set up the accounting software for a small business in these 6 steps:

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You should choose the software provider depending on your business structure, scale, platform, and accounting system budget. Let’s discover the most substantial point to bear in mind.

Business Platform Integration

If you run an eCommerce business and use a web platform for it, it’s essential to integrate your accounting program with the platform. This will significantly reduce the time and effort you spend on the bookkeeping.

Business Scale

Small business is an extensive concept, and different entrepreneurs operate with different business net worth. Moreover, competing service suppliers offer different software features, such as regular backups, summary reports and other options you may find necessary to satisfy your business needs.

Accounting Software Budget

Considering the scale of your enterprise, the cost of automated bookkeeping can be an issue as well. Decide how much your company is ready to invest in accounting. However, we believe that most accounting and invoicing software for small business has an affordable price tag and pays off really fast.

After all, there are several decent free-of-charge solutions to start from. And don’t forget about free trials offered by the majority of paid-for programs to verify the efficiency of their functionality.

For example, if your small company includes 10 or fewer employees, you may find the Wave Accounting the best solution with unlimited invoicing, as this software supplier offers a free-of-charge application.

On the other hand, if you need to add up to 50 contacts and not mind spending a couple of bucks per month, you can choose Zoho Books. It’s a truly budget-friendly and powerful bookkeeping software.

There are, however, other accounting software programs for small business. Your choice should always be a comprehensive and reasonable decision based on the aforementioned aspects.

Now that you have chosen the suitable small business accounting software, it’s time to configure it!

At the very beginning, it’s always required to fill in the additional information about the company (name, address, other contacts). After you have completed this formal step, you can start setting up your program. We believe that spending some time exploring the functionality and options your software provides is totally worth it.

It’s vital to add financial information about your enterprise, set tax rates, and templates for invoices. The cutting-edge accounting software allows small businesses to add a payment gateway to let the businesses accept payments for invoices online.

What is more important, every bookkeeping program has a feature for adding new users and setting up the payrolls for employees in the “Settings” section. As you can see, digging into the settings from the start is not an option but a strict requirement. It will lead to tremendous losses later if you don’t customize the software the way you should.

You may need to link a banking account to your accounting software. It’s a convenient way to track and record all the transaction via your bank. This is where this feature can be hidden in your interface:

  • Settings section;
  • Expense tracking;
  • Banking.

If you are still unable to find the information about the linking process, feel free to contact your software provider to figure this out.

 

 

As we’ve previously discussed, it’s essential to check the accounting software for the needed integration possibility. Modern UI/UX approaches of software suppliers make an integration a piece of cake, even for the beginner.

All you have to do is to find an integrating feature on the dashboard or, once again, in the “Settings” section. That’s it! Connecting the external applications sounds more complicated than it actually is!

 

 

You have saved the necessary settings and connected the application you use, it’s time to impart the data you have in your previous accounting software (if you are migrating to a new platform) or another source.

The most significant aspect to keep in mind is the guidelines for the data import that the software supplier has published. This is a set of strict rules and formats the program accepts. You won’t be able to import a random file with your transaction records.

Depending on your business specifics, the information you need to import includes but is not limited to the following:

  • Items;
  • Contacts;
  • Chart of Accounts (a list in the accounting system for every single account in it).

If you don’t have structured data to import into your bookkeeping program, the majority of software providers offer a formatted template for data so you can fill it with yours. In spite of the common opinion that it’s a long and tiring process, the initial data import saves you hours because you don’t have to manually add every single record later.

 

 

Every decent small business accounting program offers a range of “additional functionality” – unnecessary yet useful features for managing your bookkeeping even more convenient.

These are the options that are often deactivated or lowered by default but can be launched manually from settings:

  • Project time tracking;
  • Backup frequency;
  • Project management;
  • Additional automation features.

Make sure to implement the full power of the product you use. No genius software developer can compensate for the user’s lack of attention and zero desire to know the program better.

The Bottom Line

The modern accounting software is a convenient and beneficial solution for small businesses to keep track of their income and expenses. Cutting-edge interface approaches make it a no-brainer to set up these products and use them with maximum efficiency.

The greatest thing about this software type is that it doesn’t require involving any accountants: you can configure and maintain these pieces of modern technology by yourself.

One more thing to remember is that you should feel free to contact the software supplier support about any issues you encounter with the program. These people guarantee you stable access to the data and flawless performance, and they have to keep their promises.

Double-check the software you are going to use, read the user guidelines and manuals for the program. Be confident and passionate. Bear in mind that a thriving business of yours is the only motivation you need!

Unlocking the value of blockchain in the logistics industry

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

For most of logistics industry-related professionals, the technology of blockchain is no more than a buzzword since its applications can be obscure and difficult to understand. But, in reality, the blockchain technology is a new way of managing data. The impact of blockchain is pretty obvious in every industry. Today, it is being implemented industrywide. And the logistics industry is not an exception.

Yes, you have read this correctly – the blockchain technology is not only about Bitcoins. Wondering how blockchain can streamline the logistics industry? Let’s try to figure that out.

But before anything else, let’s examine the current problems the logistics industry faces. We will also review the logistics technology ecosystem and highlight the key emerging trends.

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So, what do the logistics feature? The logistics industry includes services offerings in a number of areas, including warehousing, international/freight forwarding, fulfillment, packaging, and pick & pack, full truckload (TL), intermodal, air, and ocean, as well as small parcel/package. Apart from the mentioned above, technology, logistics software and outsourcing solutions that people buy to manage their logistics also belong to the logistics services.

When it comes to the major problems the logistics industry faces, we have to say that all logistics-related businesses suffer from clumsy infrastructure and bureaucracy.

  • Huge timing. Due to globalization, payments between the involved parties (vendors, suppliers, and customers) might take several days to get processed while contracts being reviewed by bankers and lawyers comes with extra cost and delays.
  • Big costs. Growing fuel prices increased wages, and peaking inflation indexes all work in tandem to increase transportation costs daily.
  • Lack of transparency. Today, it’s incredibly difficult for customers or buyers to truly know the value of products because there is a significant lack of transparency in our current system.
  • Numerous figures and a lot of data. Indeed, people working in the logistics industry have found it rather tough to coordinate smooth discharge of operations since they have to deal with a lot of figures and data on a daily basis. Thus, it’s of vital importance to keep all of the data in real time.
  • Trade disputes. Sometimes, it’s difficult to find the guilty one if any logistics industry business issues occur. As a result, an organization has to spend lots of time on issue investigating to find who was that guilty one.

Not surprisingly, with all of the pitfalls the business owners, brokers and other people working in the logistics industry face it might be rather complicated to stay ahead of the competitors. So, any solutions? Take use of blockchain data!

 The blockchain is a record-keeping system that makes it easier and safer for businesses to work together over the internet. It provides a scalable, immediate solution for order tracking and authentication. Plus, the technology of blockchain promises to solve all of the logistics industry issues we have mentioned above and moreover, it has the potential to make all of the business processes absolutely trouble-free. Already intrigued, right?  Let’s spread some light on how blockchain can transform the logistics industry.

In fact, blockchain for logistics can bring numerous capabilities, including the following ones:

  • Streamline and integrate all business processes and transactions. Just for the record, blockchain let’s transfer of funds anywhere in the world without the use of a traditional bank. Plus, it can make it easier to link physical goods to serial numbers, barcodes, digital tags like RFID, etc.
  • Automate all common activities and delivers zero hard-copy paperwork. So, the blockchain technology makes it possible to automate numerous activities and smart contracts will also improve the transaction flow and security in the supply chain. Therefore, it seriously enhances freight auditing and invoice management.
  • Reconcile issues. Blockchain can enrich practically every industry related to logistics. Blockchain with its decentralized database system can be used for any exchange, agreements/contracts, tracking and, of course, payment. The use of IoT technology can take things even further.
  • Increase transparency. Blockchains create visibility and traceability. There is no dispute in the chain regarding transactions because all entities on the chain have the same version of the ledger. And thus, the use of counterfeit products is extremely eliminated.
  • Reduce errors. Due to smart contracts, blockchain ensures your transaction remains stress-free,  reducing the possibility of errors and decreasing the amount of frauds and cargo theft.
  • Cut down the expenses. Blockchain makes it possible to solidly cut down the costs for the massive supply chain industry as it eliminates the need in middlemen.
  • Stay in the know and gain full control over your business. Due to blockchain-integrated capabilities, you might be able to trace the whereabouts of products and identify who owns it at the moment and what our next steps should be on this path. Moreover, users can also trace the history.
  • Act when action is needed. Picture this: a crypto-anchor can be equipped with a temperature sensor for cooled/frozen goods tracking purposes or a GPS sensor that alerts unauthorized package openings. This information is recorded on the blockchain. And thus, once something happens, you know when to act.
  • Maintain Accuracy of rates. Due to smart contracts, blockchain ensures the accuracy on rates. Thus, people won’t be able to take extra money or perform the so-called “grey affairs”.
  • Improve security.  Being cryptographically protected and decentralized, the blockchain technology makes it possible to better protect shipping, possession, and ownership of data from tampering or hacks.
  • Maintain strong customer relationships and post-purchase engagements  Blockchain technology along with smart contracts help deals run smooth and tackle the challenges of tomorrow’s freight audit. So, why not strengthen relationships across the supply chain then?

In a nutshell, the impact of blockchain on the logistics industry is pretty solid. Implementing blockchain technology in the supply chain and logistics industry brings a relief to many problems in terms of cargo insurance, currency risk, liability for goods damaged during transportation and so on. Not only that blockchain enhances freight auditing and invoice management, but it can help you flourish your online business as the products are getting to the customer faster and prices can be managed better when processes result in lower transportation costs and fewer man hours.

Now that you know about the numerous advantages blockchain can bring to the logistics market, the only one thing that is left is the question you might start asking yourself, “So, what now? How to integrate the blockchain technology into your business solution?”

And the answer is pretty obvious – all you need to do is to find a reliable vendor who can integrate the blockchain technology into your logistics supply chain management solution. By the way, Atrelogic, a trustworthy forward-thinking blockchain solution development vendor who values transparency and innovation, and understands blockchain’s potential. We are going above and beyond in all of the logistics-related areas and stand to be a big winner in logistics. And thus, Unicrew is there to provide you with A-level blockchain solutions that will help you stay on top of new advances in business processes. So, it’s time to unlock all opportunities blockchain-integrated software solutions have to offer.

HIPAA compliance implemented right

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

Does your app handle protected health information (PHI)?  Should it be HIPAA compliant? If these issues are familiar for you and if you have heard about PHI and HIPAA, we’ve got you covered. Below, we will tell you what you need to know about HIPAA and everything related to it to maximize your chances of gaining both HIPAA and FDA approval in this regard.

What’s the post about?

Due to gigantic demand in digital health over the last few years, more and more health apps software development vendors and people working in the digital personal health information businesses have to become HIPAA-compliant. This post reveals some useful information regarding the basics of HIPAA compliance, including the following:

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So, let’s get started.

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is a set of standards for the protection of certain health information, especially personal health data. Not to incur the high costs of non-compliance, all medicine and healthcare application development companies need to strictly follow this special act upon building any kind of eHealth and mHealth and or wearable software solutions. In other words, it is a must-have act to keep in mind if you are in the  medical and healthcare software development business.

All businesses and organizations that work with PHI (Protected Health Information) must be HIPAA-compliant, not to mention the ones that work in the following industries:

  • Hospitals and Clinics
  • Health insurance agencies
  • Pharmacies
  • Dentists
  • Psychologists
  • Nursing Homes
  • Chiropractors
  • Health Plans
  • Clearinghouses.

Needless to add, the HIPAA rules apply to both doctors and other people involved (called “Covered Entities”) and to the developers, hosting provider and others (called “Business Associates”). To put it simpler, every party involved in the medicine and healthcare industry, be it a patient surveys & feedback gathering app, EMR/EHR system, trials & research collecting solution or a training & certification platform, it should be HIPAA-compliant.

First things first: find out whether or not the data you collect would be subject to HIPAA rules.

Second, check the main meaning of the HIPAA-compliant and ensure your product satisfied four major 4 rules:

  1. HIPAA Privacy Rule
  2. HIPAA Security Rule
  3. HIPAA Enforcement Rule
  4. HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

To put it simpler, below, is the extensive checklist to develop a good HIPAA-compliant app.

  1. Ensure your health care app features the following:
  • Its back-end system is made according to HIPAA safeguards.
  • Before downloading your app, your users must see a link to the app’s privacy policy.
  • It tells users how their data is protected and how it will be used.
  • It comes with a secure-only login option.
  • It encrypts data during transit.
  • All if its data is stored on a HIPAA compliant server (and encrypted at rest). By the way, when it comes to the best HIPAA compliant hosting servers, Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure are definitely well worth mentioning.
  • All of its HIPAA compliant data is shared within the organization, across a network, or within an app.
  • It comes with a system performing regular security updates.
  • It offers the ability to wipe user information remotely if a device is lost or stolen.
  1. Implement a system to audit medical information and other data so that you can easily ensure that your healthcare app hasn’t been accessed or modified any time such necessity might occur.
  2. Perform dynamic and static application security testing on a regular basis.
  3. Implement the possibility of regular updates and bug fixing.
  4. Request Unicrew for a professional HIPAA compliance audit to forecast risks or detect errors related to the HIPAA compliance.
  5. And one more important thing to mention: don’t use push notification to update the PHI because that implies violation of the privacy regulation as outlined in HIPAA. So, remember to never inculcate any PHI information in your app’s push notification (both in mobile and desktop applications).
  6. Don’t violate in your messages. Do you know that text messaging can prove to be extremely useful in boosting doctor and patient engagement? But don’t send PHI texts as regular email applications; do it through the HIPAA approved organization’s app instead. Therefore, if sending PHI messages is necessary, it’s of paramount importance to integrate a HIPAA compliant email service provider into your healthcare app.
Hot Tip: sending PHI featuring texts through non-medical communication apps can result in a HIPAA violation as well. The best way here is to choose a medical digital communication vendor.

Anyway, HIPAA provides no safe harbor for businesses. That means that the main idea for all businesses involved in medicine and healthcare application development is to design a highly secure healthcare app from its first stages and to always maintain this highly secure level.

Key Takeaways

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the privacy and security of health data and it is really crucial to develop apps in an HIPAA compliant way. Use this guide to ensure that your health care software remains in compliance with the HIPAA standards. By the way, in case you need any help with the HIPAA compliance implementation, Unicrew is always at your disposal. We have senior-level specialist in our expert team. We’ve created some great HIPAA compliant apps and can help you with yours.

In a nutshell, Unicrew has the required understanding, infrastructure and diligence to provide you with the 100% HIPAA compliant application. So, get ready to capitalize on new opportunities for growth in the space!

How to build a trucking app like Uber Freight?

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

Being the lifeblood of the worldwide commerce and economy, truck logistics management software definitely deserves a special mention in the world of software app development. Indeed, there are numerous logistics management tools for Uber-like apps for trucks to enrich your product with. Let’s find out more about innovative transportation management systems logistics apps that are created to connect shippers and customers, offering cost-effective capabilities.

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People dealing with modern logistics businesses demand a complete control, bank-level security and an array of specific industry-driven features to plan, control and execute a product’s flow. Therefore, any logistics and supply chain business software solution should offer robust supply chain management system, which can grow at a rapid speed. But, at the same time, the logistics management software should be consistent, lightweight, responsive, and easy to use. But how to combine them all in one single app? Simply put, that is the main issue logistics app development vendors have to deal with.

Below, we have hand-picked the must-have options to implement into a good on-demand delivery logistics app, which can offer you the ultimate access to all business aspects. This list will be useful both for the business owners looking for a company to outsource their logistics software and for a product development vendor dealing with the transportation industry.

So, let’s get started.  

 

  

 

By embracing cutting-edge technologies and offering new services to keep up with their customers, a good Uber-like app (similar to the way Uber connects taxi drivers with passengers, or Uber Freight matches carrier with shippers), should bridge the gap between shippers and truckers, therefore, eliminate the need for a middleman. That’s the main idea of an Uber-like app for the transportation industry. However, in the long run, that is far more than this since the logistics business management systems solution any shipping company would want to install should be intuitive, responsive, feature-packed yet not too-overpacked.

Meanwhile, here are the key features to implement in your logistic management system app:

  • A product/customer centered core. The key feature is definitely that a good logistics industry management software should be both product and users tailored. The app should take into account the concept of the on-demand service of matching the driver to the customer. For instance, if the company stores or transports perishable and fragile commodities, a customer needs an ability to indicate what temperature, humidity or pressure are needed for his cargo and to ensure that these requirements are supported.
  • All-in-one app for truck logistics management software. The trucking industry app should greatly combine options for shippers and drivers and a powerful dashboard for admins.
  • A robust and scalable management system. To achieve success, the software solution for the logistics industry should be robust and scalable at the same time, being able to instantly adjust and adapt business models. In other words, it should be able to grow as the network of available carriers and customers grow and what’s more, it should do this without any bugs or problems on its way. So, make sure that the next logistics software solution comes with the ability to receive and fulfill as many shipment orders as you want without any glitches.
  • Real-time tracking capabilities. Modern software solutions in the logistics industry should offer real-time capabilities, including real-time inventory control and visibility, so that both the customers and the administrators can see everything in real time, without any delays. Time is money, keep this in mind.
  • Push Notifications. It’s become the norm to notify the users about some changes or news via not only emails, but via the logistics industry app’s in-built push notifications.
  • A wide choice of payment options + advanced financial management capabilities.  A powerful logistics app should come with multiple payment gateways, being suitable for different customers.  Meanwhile, make sure to add the comprehensive financial management capabilities, which you will need to grow a changing, complex business.
  • Data security. Your customers have to rely on you; therefore, a good service must encrypt all the data it uses and gets. So, it should definitely come with numerous data security-related options integrated into your management system, not to mention several factor authentication, data encryption, privileged data sharing, account theft prevention into your product.
  • Ease of use. Not all of your customers are that technology-savvy, so the software for logistics management should be intuitive, easy to use and to navigate.
  • Interactive mapping. It’s possible to integrate Google Maps, Bing Maps and Yandex maps, as well as OpenStreet Map.
  • Predictive analytics. Predictive analytics, when carefully designed and implemented can seriously help your business. It allows you to Identify all future outcomes based on the gathered data and offer the best results for your customers, based on their needs, preferences, mood or even the time of the day. Moreover, you will be able to recognize performance issues before they cause any problems.
  • Compatibility and crossbrowserness. The cutting-edge logistics software should be running equally well on major browsers and devices.
  • Seamless integration with third-party services. Since no software is perfect and complete, seamless integration with reliable third-party services lets you stay above your competitors.
  • Advanced report capabilities. Adding powerful reporting capabilities to your logistics management solution will help you gain the most accurate insight on each part of your procurement process.
  • Cloud-based structure. Storing all data offline is so 20-century, consider transforming all data to the cloud.
  • Business processes automation. Business processes automation, including automated vendor-managed inventory management, becomes critical as it saves lots of time and money for all parts involved.

Needless to add, all of the listed above features are really essential part of any modern robust logistics-centered tracking software app. But they can bring even more value in perfect cooperation. For instance, by means of advanced analytics, you can determine the best time to ship your cargo to avoid leaving trailers unattended and you can save lots of time, both your’s and customers’ by automating all of your business processes. Makes sense, right?

Definitely, there might be lots of other capabilities your ultimate dispatch software should include. And if you do want to take your projects from average to amazing, enrich them with a robust logistic management software solution.

By the way, Unicrew can help you with that. We’ve completed a number of modern transportation logistics management apps. Have a look at our case studies for more info.

Key Takeaways

A good logistics software solution can seriously enrich your business, making both you and your customers happy. Not only that it helps to manage the product’s flow and lower expenses by means of embedded advanced analytics, but it helps you find other ways to grow, eliminating possible risks and pitfalls. Plus, when it comes to your customers, it helps them take advantage of novel functionality while feeling themselves special. So, to succeed in the long run, make sure to invest in a custom logistics management software, which includes the listed above options. Use this list as a reference not to miss any of important features.

Looking ahead, why not hire a team of sharp, entrepreneurial individuals who can deliver software solutions capable to redefine the movement of goods around the world? Unicrew has solid experience in custom trucking software development. We’ve created some really successful projects and are ready to provide custom Uber for trucking app development solutions for you. So, don’t waste a single minute of your business, claim your feature-packed truck dispatch software solution right away!

How do create the best requirements specifications for software?

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

Often, business customers expect software development teams to be mind-readers, being able to create a product based on unspoken, malformed, or even unknown requirements. Wrong or missing requirements, in their turn, can bring wrong or incomplete products regardless of how good the subsequent phases initially were.

Ultimately, to deliver a top-notch product, any software development company definitely needs a detailed requirements document as it lays a foundation for software engineering activities. Therefore, it might be said that the proper software requirements engineering document is like a magic wand for any software development team and the customer.  

Fancy writing software requirements specification that will make your team and the customer fall in love with? We’ve got you covered. Use this guide to be able to write a well-crafted software requirements specifications document and to evaluate whether the written document is of good quality or it lacks some critical information.

But at first, let’s take a more in-depth look at development project specifications:

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Typically, software requirements specifications (SRSs) are the written tech documents that offer the basic company’s understanding of a customer system’s requirements and dependencies before any actual design or development work. Indeed, an SRS should be developed during the first stages of any software development process. To put it simpler, the SRS for the software development project fully describes what the product should be capable of doing and how it will be expected to perform.

These are the main types of a software requirement specification document:

  • Business
  • Stakeholders
  • Product, which can be:

Functional ( when it specifies a behavior/function, for instance, to show the name, free space, or format of the flash drive connected to the USB port.)

Non-functional (it describes how, how well or to what standard every particular feature should be provided. For instance, security and access requirements or the needed interfacing with users and other systems.)

  • Quality

Wondering why is there any need it SRSs? Consider these two points:

  • A software requirements specification acts as a two-way insurance policy that guarantees that both the customer and the software vendor clearly understand the required scope of work and needed functionality.
  • Essentially, it also enables software developers to consider user requirements before the designing of the system commences, reducing the development effort in the long run.

By default, a software requirements specification includes functional and nonfunctional requirements, without any kind of design suggestions. There are nine most common themes to address when creating an SRS:

  1. Interfaces
  2. Functional Capabilities
  3. Performance Levels
  4. Data Structures/Elements
  5. Safety
  6. Reliability
  7. Security/Privacy
  8. Quality
  9. Constraints and Limitations.

Software requirements specification should be devised in such a way that it’s pretty simple to write, review, and maintain them. By default, this kind of software document should be not only complete and accurate, but also efficient. Moreover, it should be 100% unambiguous. In other words, each of the requirements it possesses should have only one interpretation. Moreover, both the developer and the client should be able to easily understand it.

There are many different methods in requirement spec writing.  Cost and time are the key criteria when determining which method to use.  However, that is not all when it comes to a good software requirement document. As a matter of fact, developing a software requirements document is a long, time-consuming process. Below, you will see some solid practices on how to properly write a good SRS document for a software product, and how to properly gather and analyze the requirements the software project should include.

These are the main steps you have to do to have a good SPS at the end:

  • Requirements elicitation
  • Analysis of the requirements
  • Validation
  • Documentation

Do you know any important gathering techniques? They may vary depending on the situation and constraints, but using a combination of them to supplement each other will help in achieving complete requirements.

Most of the requirements documents elicitation consist of the following stages/methods:

  1. Brainstorming
  2. Document analysis and review of existing documentation
  3. Focus groups
  4. Interface analysis and external interface analysis
  5. Interviews
  6. Observation/job shadowing
  7. Prototyping (storyboarding, navigation flow, paper prototyping and screen flows)
  8. Requirements workshops
  9. Surveys/questionnaires.

As a matter of fact, developing a software requirements document is a long, time-consuming process. Below, you will see some solid practices on how to properly write a good SRS document for a software product, and how to properly gather and analyze the requirements the software project should include.

When it comes to specifications gathering and analysis, this process is rather tough as every specifications feature should be checked from all possible ways.  Just to the record, there are cases when different requirements have different terms to refer to the same object.

Another important thing to keep in mind upon gathering requirements is that a good SRS should be tolerant towards incompleteness and complexity. Pay attention to the ultimate features of the product, such as the type of software being developed and the approach used in its development.

Don’t assume that you understand everything, even if it does look apparent. A simple requirement, for instance, “create a blog” might mask all kinds of underlying assumptions, requirements. You need to clarify everything it might concern:

  • On what framework it should run?
  • What are the fields for a blog post?
  • How are authors managed?
  • Which features does it need? Maybe calendar or categories?
  • Is there a need in the comments section?
  • How are the posts displayed?
  • How should it be optimized?

To tell you the truth, there are dozens of questions to ask before getting started with such a simple matter in terms of web development as a blog design.

And now, let’s check the most crucial steps you need to follow if you deal with spec requirements analyses.

Key steps to follow when analyzing software requirements product specification:

  1. Determine what the software system has to do (detect all these features).
  2. Identify requirements by questioning like, Why, What, Who, How etc.
  3. Analyze how complex application would be and its impact on testing.
  4. Convert the spec business requirements into architectural and design requirements.
  5. Determine all things that you would need to test.
  6. Prepare, distribute, and analyze surveys.
  7. Determine the development lifecycle since the whole process of spec writing depends on this. For instance, projects using an iterative lifecycle include requirements development at every iteration whilst the agile methodology will need to perform requirements management on an ongoing basis.

Validation is a crucial stage for any requirements specification document. That is the stage when you need to check and validate all of the stated requirements for a software system. Ensure that it meets all specifications and fulfills its intended purpose.

In short, there are TWO main questions you should ask yourself at this stage:

  1. Does the product do what it is supposed to?
  2. Does the software meet all the requirements?

If yes, well done. If no, check what has gone wrong and think about the possible ways out. Once you’ve validated that the requirements specification paper satisfies needs and agreed upon expectation, proceed to documentation.

There are special templates for requirements specification documents. Choose which one suits your project the best or create your own. By default, templates can help you document everything in a consistent and straightforward way.

In short, these are the key steps to follow:

  • Create an SRS outline and choose the required template
  • Make sure to insert a complete description of the software’s purpose and functionality in your spec.
  • Finally, evaluate your SRS.

There are some tips to evaluate any SRC document. By keeping them in mind, you will be able to check if the particular software requirements PDF document you’ve just got is a good one or whether there are some issues that can cause trouble.

Here are the key criteria to evaluate if the SRS document is clear and realistic:

  • It accomplishes four major goals:
    • Provides feedback to the customer
    • Offers the problem division into component parts
    • Can be used as an input to the design specification
    • Is the parent document for testing and validation strategies.
  • Every of its requirement is 100% unambiguous. No double meaning is allowed. Make sure everything is pretty straightforward.
  • It can be easily modified. Yep, that’s a really important issue since the user requirements might change and therefore, a good SRC should be created with this in mind. So, make sure that it’s pretty easy to modify the changes, consistently maintaining the structure and style of the SRS.
  • It is consistent. Ensure that the subsets of individual requirements defined do not in any way conflict with each other.
  • It is atomic. The specification offers such a detailed division of its components, so it’s impossible to separate the existing division into components.
  • It is prioritized. Every requirement should be prioritized, so that the team knows what is of first priority and what can be done later.
Tip: gather some information on how much of your own project effort is being spent on creating your software requirements development. Afterwards, judge how well that has worked for you in the past and you’ll be able to take advantage of this historical data when estimating the requirements effort needed for future projects.

The Bottom Line

Software requirements specification outlines the practical usage of the particular product or service, condition or capability to which a system conforms. By default, an SRS document is created when entire requirements are elicited and analyzed. There are many different methods in requirement spec writing. Poor requirements might have a crucial impact on the end results of systems or projects. Therefore, to ensure that your project has the proper SRS document, use this guide. It covers some tried-and-true techniques for creating good requirements for a software product and for evaluating the quality of the SRC.  

How to strengthen the security of your web application?

Posted on by Volodymyr Khitsiak

Do you know how to develop web applications that bring unparalleled success?

Your web apps should provide a rich and consistent user experience while being flawless and fault-free, regardless of being open source or paid. At the same time, web security is of key importance. Use this extended checklist to focus more on the web application security regardless of your development stage as it is suitable for both before the launch period and during the very first stages of software development.

Before we go further, please note: this web app security checklist is a good starting point and inspiration for your work and you can save it for later, so it’s always at hand the moment you might need it. Plus, you can use it to control things at the development stage upon outsourcing.  That will minimize risks while choosing the needed vendor for your web app.

Anyway, to deliver a truly great product, ensure you deal with secure web development. And now, let’s take a closer look at key recommendations on how to secure your web product.

So, let’s get started. We will divide our web application security list into 4 main groups:   

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And now let’s examine every of this group in details.

During the software development processes, a lot of attention should be paid to web app security. Whether you are developing on your own, or prefer outsourcing/outstaffing services, make sure the developers make strict use of canonicalization and know what the server is expecting in every field.

  1. Scan for web application vulnerabilities: all components of your software (from each pushed version up to production should be scanned. Your product should not contain any format string vulnerabilities. Improve the security when some weak points are detected.
  2. Start with secure coding. Develop each piece of software using both secured and separate dev systems. It’s crucial to set both development systems and production systems with equal security vigilance.
  3. Upgrade without downtime in a fully automated manner.
  4. Avoid SSHing into services (except for one-off diagnosis).
  5. Decommission the app in case its maintenance and support are no longer available.
  6. Set TLS for the whole web resource, not just login forms and responses.
  7. Set HSTS responses to force TLS only access. HTTP requests should be redirected to HTTPS on the server as backup.
  8. Ensure that users using your APIs are authenticated and authorized in the right way.
  9. Set canary checks in APIs that would detect illegal or abnormal requests, therefore, preventing attacks.
  10. Assure the developer’s choice of randomness and algorithm is always of top-notch quality.
  11. Consider creating a practiced security incident plan. Who knows when you might need it.

Being a first line of defense, authentication should be really securely and carefully crafted. Below are the key secure web applications authentication things to keep in mind upon creating any software:

  1. Ensure that all your passwords used are hashed with the proper crypto, for instance, bcrypt. Creating your own crypto is not recommended.
  2. Don’t invent your own login, forgot password and other password reset functionality — you might not get it right in all scenarios, instead, use industry-standard best-practices and proven components.
  3. Set clear but adequate password rules encouraging your users to create long passwords.
  4. Set CAPTCHA on front-end APIs to safeguard back-end services against DOS.
  5. Don’t forget to set several-factor authentication for your logins to all service vendors you deal with.

The way your data is stored and handled is of vital importance. When you develop or outsource, these are the key web development database aspects to take into consideration:

Fully encrypt all of your data, including private data such as name billing details or access tokens.

  1. Store all of your backups in an encrypted manner.
  2. Ensure that all your backend database and services are stored on private VPCs, which are not open to the public.
  3. Put strong passwords and use minimal privilege for the database access user account.
  4. Keep and share sensitive data via a key store created for this purpose. It’s not recommended hard-coding in your products or storing valuable data in GitHub.
  5. Prevent SQL injection by using SQL prepared statements. For instance, when you use NPM, use npm-mysql2 that supports prepared statements rather than npm-mysql.

If you take security very seriously, cloud configuration issues should be handled in a proper way:

  1. Your services should offer minimum open ports. Of course, security via obscurity is in no way a protection, still, non-standard ports can make it a more difficult for hackers.
  2. For inter-service communication, divide logical services in separate VPCs and peer VPCs.
  3. Minimize IPs and “botification”; use min. access privilege for your ops and developer team.
  4. Set IAM roles rather than root credentials.
  5. Rotate passwords and access keys on a regular basis.

Key Takeaways

During every stage of the development processes, a lot of attention should be paid to security. All of your sensitive information should be encrypted. Start with secure code and make sure every aspect of your web app remains secure. Don’t forget to take strict use of canonicalization and ensure you know what the server is expecting in every field.

Never forget a step in your website development again, use the checklist, which includes many straightforward vulnerabilities. However, pay attention to the fact that checking all items off the list is by no means a guarantee that your web app is secure. Nevertheless, it’s still a good starting point.