QLab is Born!

Having ideas is great - getting know-how is a step to another level!

QLab Accelerator aim is to support fresh ideas, build strong teams and make innovative startups possible. And we are starting from our own house!

Quantox launched an internal call for Quantox people with the most promising start-up ideas with a goal to support it and transform it into marketable digital solutions.

From professional guidance and mentoring support, specialized business & start-up knowledge, through networking and funding opportunities -  QLab is designed to give major support during the idea development from scratch.

By joining the contest and submitting their ideas, our people have a chance to get an opportunity for a 3 months educational program this summer, specially designed to turn their brainchild into a successful product, and get a chance for funding.

The most promising concepts and teams will be chosen for the program to gain essential business, expert, technical knowledge, and guidance from experienced mentors from all core fields, needed to kick off their start-up idea. Furthermore, the best idea on the final pitch will get a grant of 10.000 EUR to provide a smooth start and push for further development.

Lead by the mission to be a generator of internal knowledge, skills, and ideas to create value and make a leap in the digitalization era, and create an environment that encourages quality and innovative approaches to digital challenges, Quantox decided to start QLab Accelerator as an innovative tech nest for all those who aim to go further.

It is possible to turn ideas into reality with proper support and experienced people behind you. We believe in the ideas and knowledge that make a difference!

We truly believe in the potential of this program to discover remarkable solutions from our people and we are thrilled about the possibility to expand it beyond the internal hub in the future. 

It’s not just about ideas.

It’s about MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN!

Dare to innovate, we are here to support you!

When it comes to developing software for either a company or an individual, questions like ''How much will this cost'' and ''How much time will this take?'' are inevitable. One of the most important things that a project depends on is the cost of software development.

It's only natural for the clients to wonder whether they can afford software development and if it will be done within the desired timeframe. Most of the sales meetings will revolve around this question. However, many clients often don't realize how many different factors impact the cost of software development because the highly complex estimate process is not transparent to them.

Still, when it comes to everything you need to know about software development in 2022 and all things related to making a good estimate, it's easy to get lost in a sea of information. That's why we decided to try to explain and help you understand this process better. The points we present to you will clarify the difference between Time and Effort and show you additional factors used to come up with a valid software development project estimate.

Average Cost of Software Development

If you are a start-up owner, having a precise estimate of the software development cost can help you plan your budget better. However, if you don’t have a detailed discussion with an IT company about the costs, all you’re going to get are vague answers.

This happens because more than just one factor determines the cost of the software. An app that requires only backend processing is much cheaper than one that’s connected to external systems and involves financial transactions. Still, a project’s complexity level is only one factor.

Other vital factors are the technology and people-hour required to build the software. The consensus online is that software development can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000. If the app can be built in under 700 hours, the cost will be in the lower price range, but if you want the same app to work across all platforms (web, Android, iOS…), the cost will rise to a 6-figure price.

Please take note that the prices listed in this article do not reflect the actual pricing of Quantox Technology but are rather a reflection of an analysis related to the average software development costs in the industry.

Main Factors of Estimating Software Development

The perfect software development cost estimate will consider that we are not living in a perfect world, and circumstances that are out of our control can happen often. Things like staff availability, deployment process, and the time it will take to access the system, or a database will affect the timeline of the project and, therefore, can affect the cost.  However, the following factors are the most important to explore if you want to learn how to determine the cost of software development in 2022.

• Platform

Different platforms like Android, Web, and iOS have a different volumes of users, and depending on which platform you’re building your software, you’ll be able to reach a different number of possible users. However, developing a cross-platform app takes means that the cost of software development is going to go up. A cross-platform app is deployable on all platforms with the same codebase. Still, you need an experienced team to save time on building this type of app, and it may not even be the best solution for products that include streaming, graphs, and dashboards.

Your next solution is to build a native app for each platform meaning one codebase for iOS native to this platform, and a different code for Android. However, this solution is also the most expensive one as you’re building two separate applications. You can always do what most start-ups do- focus on one platform until you achieve a certain level of success and expand your budget. After that, you can easily take on the cost of building the same app for all other platforms.

Now you're probably wondering, "But what about the cost of the software development technology?". If you opt for one of these 10 software development trends in 2022, like augmented reality, virtual reality, or blockchain, it may cost you more. However, you're still paying a developer, engineer, or programmer for the job. Most of these technologies do not require a special type of equipment to execute a project successfully- it's the knowledge and effort of the person working on it that's going to cost a little bit extra.

• Type of software project

Software development projects can be divided into the following types starting from the lowest level to the highest:

• Web Development: a custom web-based software development
• Software Integration: the existing software's capability is expanded by adding custom code. Here we include plugins, or packages like Office, data flow manipulation (NetSuite to QuickBooks), and similar.
• Software Modification: large-scale enhancement of the already existing software
• New Software Development: custom development of brand-new software.

Depending on the type of the project, we'll need a different team with a different amount of development effort. Once we have all the facts, we will reach the final estimate by combining this information with the project size analysis and team analysis.

The Size of the Software Project

This step can be a bit trickier because the size of the project sometimes doesn't correspond to its complexity. A large project can sometimes be more straightforward than a small but highly complicated project. Generally, software development projects are divided into small, medium, large, and enterprise.

• Small Software Project: Small software projects are considered those that will involve minor changes like making bug fixes or making minor changes to the user interface. All communication with the client will be them saying, "I want this changed/fixed," followed by "Here is how we changed/fixed it."

• Medium Software Project: In this category, we can include a small mobile application or web interface- anything where we have a single source of data. Medium-sized projects do include more minor tweaks and fixed, but also solutions and integrations. The interaction with the client is not as limited, and you may expect a few sessions or regular weekly check-ins.

• Large Software Projects: Almost everything is included in large-scale software projects: syst4ems integration, databases, security, logging features, framework, thinking hard about maintainability and scalability while creating multi-party applications across all known platforms. The client interaction is often daily, with weekly status calls being made to the higher-level management.

• Enterprise Software Project: Think of a large project and multiply it by a dozen. Enterprise-level projects are almost always built upon an underlying framework. Security, error handling, and logging are much stricter, while data integrity has become vital for these applications. Support systems are built to be "bulletproof" and handle as many as three concurrent faults without the user noticing anything. A great example is an Uber mobile app. In these types of projects, the client and the IT team become one, and their interaction includes daily status reports and calls across teams and divisions and weekly status calls to the higher-level management.

• Size of Development Team

When it comes to the size of the development team on one project, usually, we'll have at least three roles- a Project Manager, a Developer, and a QA Tester. However, depending on the size of the project, these three can expand the scope of their work, and we can have a developer who's also in charge of a testing phase. Larger projects, however, prefer to assign one role to one team member to get the job done.

• Location

Hiring software developers anywhere in the US or Western Europe may overwhelm your budget because their hourly fee averages around $100/hour. The developers based in eastern Europe proved that they could build software applications without compromising the quality and at a much lower rate. Asia can also offer software development professionals at a lower rate, but time zone, language barriers, and cultural differences proved to be a challenge for any type of project.

• Hiring Options

The IT industry allows you to find the best developers in the world to work on your software. You can hire a software developer in three different ways- as a freelancer, within an in-house team, or by outsourcing a development company.

-Freelance Software Developers: While there are a lot of great freelancing platforms where you can find amazing software developers for a low price, there’s practically little to no guarantee that your project will be completed successfully, if at all. There’s also no way for you to control the freelancer and the progress they are making on your project.

-In-house: Having an in-house software developer means hiring the one to work on your project from the comfort of your own office. That way, any issues or bugs can be resolved on the spot. However, the recruitment process can be time-consuming, even with the help of LinkedIn or Glassdoor. You’ll also find that having an in-house software engineer can require more investments in salaries, taxes, and equipment as well. Also, you’ll find out that software developers need a lot of really helpful software development tools to allow them to build and integrate your new software app, and this is something that will also have to come out of your budget.

-Outsourced: Software Development Outsourcing has a much more significant impact on the cost of software development. While developing software in-house does provide a certain amount of security to the client, the cost of outsourcing software development outweighs the additional security by reducing the cost by 40%. 

This happens because there's a gap between developed and developing countries like India and Mexico. With outsourcing, you can cut costs and still get a top-notch product. All it takes is a bit more focus on choosing the best software development partner in 2022 to get your project completed.

Our methodology for estimation of Software Development Cost

At Quantox, we recognize that there are no two businesses that are the same, and similarly, the apps and software we create for our clients are all unique. However, to start-up and business clients, knowing the cost of software development is imperative to plan their budget.

Our systematic process allows us to give our clients a precise cost estimate. When you show your interest in working with Quantox Technology, we make sure to schedule a meeting and discuss your idea in detail. We will ask you detailed questions regarding your app or software but also related to your goals and business requirements. You'll receive your cost estimate with an architecture diagram within seven (7) working days.

If you are satisfied with the project cost estimate, we can present a few options to start building your app the best way.

 How Quantox Can Help Your Business with Software development

Quantox Technology has been developing tailored software solutions for more than a decade, and we have a track record of creating accurate software development cost estimates. By including the non-technical factors that impact the cost of software development, our clients have a clear picture of what it takes to digitalize their ideas. If you need a software development cost estimate, Quantox Technology will be glad to assist you with it. Let's Talk!

You can learn more about how to estimate the cost of software development in our free eBook “The Ultimate Guide to software development in 2022”. Find out more about the 2022 programming trends and software development tools that can help your business grow.

Uplift for further steps

Quantox leaders are awarded the "EY Fast Growing Entrepreneur 2021" prize by the global auditing and consulting company Ernst & Young.

Vuk Popović and Filip Karaičić on behalf of Quantox Technology have been recognized among the most successful in 2021. at a ceremony which was held in Belgrade last month. This is the tenth year in a row that E & Y, through its global “Entrepreneur of the Year™” program, supports and promotes entrepreneurial achievements among individuals and companies that demonstrate vision, leadership and success.

Quantox is a story about vision.

Proof that ideas and dreams come true.

Vuk Popovic, founder, says:

"For me, being an entrepreneur means never stopping to learn and develop. Tackling technology 15 years ago as an entrepreneurial endeavour - with willpower, effort and persistence - has made Quantox an international company with more than 500 experts working in 13 development centres in 7 countries. It took courage and the vision remained the same -  improving our environment, the city, the country and the whole IT sphere and the world of technology by improving ourselves. "

According to Vuk, it was not easy at the very beginning, but each phase of development had its own challenges and achievements.

“One of the first goals was to primarily enable people across our country to work in the IT industry for global clients from their home city. The sudden changes and challenges in the last two years when we switched to remote work have shown how flexible we are and company still has continued to grow rapidly due to such circumstances, which was additionally influenced by the market situation. Today, the company cooperates with clients from over 15 countries around the world and various industries - from small brands to large international companies, which is a great motivation to be even better. One of the biggest challenges is achieving stable and sustainable growth and that is what we are constantly striving for - to grow stronger and improve quality, every day. This award is certainly an extra push in that mission."

Filip Karaičić, CEO of Quantox Technology, confirms that the journey took a lot of years, effort and energy, but after expanding into new foreign markets, doubling the number of employees in the last two years and the first domestic acquisitions, the company is more than ever ready for new steps forward.

"The end of the previous year was marked with the first Quantox’s acquisition in Serbia and we entered the spring of 2022. stronger for another domestic company and new team members. We are growing and pushing the boundaries and we are glad to be recognized in that stride. The IT industry is one of the fastest growing, providing constant dynamics and new opportunities. We believe that our position also brings the responsibility to encourage the progress of each individual, company as a whole and thus contribute to an even better positioning of Serbia on the global IT map. "

Plans for the future are a further expansion of expert teams and development centers in Western European countries, entry into new markets, and new acquisitions in the country and the region. "With the further expansion of expertise, we continue our mission to create an environment that encourages a progressive and innovative approach to digital challenges," concludes Filip.

During the previous years, more than 200 companies with 222 candidates participated in this program in the Republic of Serbia, and it’s a great pleasure to be chosen in the narrowest circle of visionaries with recognized achievements. 

The winners are chosen by an independent expert jury and selection is based on success factors such as entrepreneurial spirit, financial indicators, strategic direction, regional or international market presence, innovation, and personal integrity.

Great honor and motivation for the whole Quantox team!

As the world enters deeper into the digital era, it becomes clear that software development and the software industry, in general, will become essential. As a result, the software industry has already become the fastest-growing industry globally, and it continues to grow even more every day.

This phenomenon becomes easy to understand when we look at all the areas of our lives powered by software. Everything is powered by, controlled, or maintained by some type of software, from our homes, appliances, and bank accounts to medical equipment and even state security.

Creating software is not an easy task, and there's no one more important in the software development process than those who will create the software- software engineers and programmers. Thanks to their skill and meticulous work, we can have a myriad of software designed to meet our every need as human beings and society.

As such, software is essential for companies that want to be at the top of the market and stay there. The biggest benefits of having sustainable and secure software within an organization are increasing work efficiency and improving micromanagement.

However, software development is anything but arbitrary — the software development process is an incredibly detailed process that includes analysis, software development cost estimate, design, and development even before programmers begin writing the code. When backed up by the best development tools, programmers will have a much easier time creating, maintaining, debugging, and editing applications, programs, and frameworks. This is why finding the right software development partner that will handle all stages of the software development process is the most important thing for all companies. 

What is a software development tool?

Software development tools can also be called software programming tools because they are computer programs designed to make programming easier. They are used by software developers and programmers to write the code, but also to maintain and edit the code if needed. Software development tools can also be used for the support and debugging of other programs or applications. So in a nutshell, software development tools are software that makes software development easier and in some cases, possible.

There are thousands of great software development tools today and choosing the right one can be stressful and daunting. However, the reason why there are so many software development tools is that each one corresponds to a different need or preference. So, while having a choice can be confusing, it’s much better than having no choice or a limited one. And when it comes to choosing the right development trend, including a programming tool, finding the one that will suit all requirements can be considered as a jackpot.

Choosing the right one will depend on the project’s requirements, mainly on the framework and methodologies established in the early software development stage. Apart from that, there are also a few factors to consider before picking those development tools that will be the backbone of the project. In other words, the most important thing you need to know about software development is that developing tools are just too vital for software development to be overlooked.

Factors to consider while selecting a software development tool

The software tool is only as good as its software development process. Before a programmer starts writing the code, every detail such as specifications, framework, programming language, design, and goal must be determined. Likewise, having these in place will also help when choosing a perfect software development tool. The following factors will help you choose the best developer tools.

Must Be Applicable to the environment 

You wouldn't teach a fish to fly, so why would you use a Windows Desktop application for web deployment? Again, it's imperative that the software development tool is relevant to the given project's environment and applies to it perfectly.

Company Standards

Software development tools can also be used within a company to standardize. With a development tool, the company can move developers quickly between projects and creates one standard across all projects. 

Is the Tool Useful?

The collection of software development tools in the project must be, in fact, applicable to the project from the first software development phase to the completion of the project. 

Prior Experience With the Tool

A development team's experience with development tools should be taken into consideration. If the team is familiar with a software tool and the same tool could be useful to the project, it's a classic case of a win-win situation with a promise of a better workflow throughout the project.

Learning Curve

All developing tools have a learning curve, and some are easier to integrate into a team, while some are more challenging to add. Things like how much effort and time is needed to use the development tool should play a significant part in the decision-making process.

List of Best Software Development Tools

There are software tools for creating, and there are developing tools for debugging- for this reason, there are different categories of programmers' tools. The top 10 software development tools in 2022 are listed below.

1. Developer tools

Embold

As a software analytics platform that can analyze source code and uncover issues, Embold can save plenty of time and energy on fixing bugs and ensuring a program has security and maintainability. 

Best Features:

o   Embold plugins allow the developer to see the errors and vulnerabilities as they code before making commits.

o   Anti-pattern detection makes sure there is no compounding of unmaintainable code.

o   Easy to integrate with GitHub, Azure, Bitbucket, with plugins available for IntelliJ IDEA and Eclipse

o   Faster and deeper checks across ten programming languages

2. IDE Tools

NetBeans

Written in Java, the fastest web, mobile and desktop framework, NetBeans is a great open-source development tool. It uses C/C++, PHP, Java, JavaScript, and more.

Best Features:

o   NetBeans works with any operating system- Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, Windows, etc.

o   With features like Smart Code Editing, writing bug-free code, easy management process, and rapid UI development, it's no wonder it's the best IDE tool in 2022.

o   NetBeans 8 IDE offers code analyzers, converters, and editors that make updating the newest edition of Java applications easy.

o   Contributes to the learning curve of new developers and helps them understand the application structure with a well-organized code.

3. Database Tools

DBSchema

The ultimate virtual database designer tool, DBSchema, is used as a management tool for any database. 

Best features:

o   DBSchema supports NoSQL and SQLite, MySQL, Redshift, MongoDB, Showelflake, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL, etc. 

o   DBSchema allows the use of virtual keys to finding data from multiple tables.

o   'Query Builder' allows developers with minimum SQL experience to crate database queries visually.

o   Accessible test data generating for database admins and developers with 'Random Data Generator.'

o   Builds interactive chards, tables, and report sheets with 'Report Generator.'

4. Frameworks

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is the best open source and free framework for those developers building responsive websites and mobile-first software with CSS, JS, and HTML. It's a tool to use to develop faster but simpler websites.

Best Features:

o   You can customize it according to each project's requirements as an open-source tool.

o   Its built-in components are used in accumulating responsive websites with a drag and drop facility.

o   Application building is enabled by Bootstrap's plug-ins, pre-build components, responsive grid system, Sass variables, and mixins.

o   Great when it comes to quick ideas modeling and building web applications.

5. Cloud Tools

Azure

Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service, can design, deploy, test, and manage web applications or any hybrid could application thanks to Microsoft's global network of data centers.

Best Features:

o   Offers various services like mobile services, storage, messaging, media services, data management, CDN, virtual network, etc.

o   Azure supports many programming languages - .NET, Python, PHP, JavaScript, and more.

o   A detailed pricing list is available on their website.

6. Data Science Tools

Dataiku DSS

As a collaborative data science software platform, Dataiku DSS is used by data scientists, data analysts, and engineers to prototype, build and deliver their data products.

Best Features:

o   With Dataiku, DSS developers can profile the data visually at every stage.

o   80+ built-in functions allow developers to enrich, blend, and clean their data.

o   Dataiku DSS allows developers to build and optimize models in Python or R and also integrate any ML library through code's APIs.

7. Source Control Tools

GitHub

GitHub is probably the first thing most beginner programmers learn. GitHub makes code review and code management easier as a collaboration tool and development platform. Its users can build applications and software, manage projects, host, and review their code all in one place-GitHub.

Best features:

o   Easy code documentation and hosting from the same repositories.

o   GitHub project management tools are task-oriented, helping programmers co/ordinate easily and stay aligned.

o   Useful in large teams because of its code security, integration with other developing tools, and an option to access control among the team members.

o    It can be hosted on servers, and a could platform, and it also runs on Windows and Mac OS.

o    For open-source projects and public use, GitHub is free. However, their pricing plan for developers, teams, and organizations falls in the 'cost-efficient' category.

8. Prototyping Tools

Axure

Axure is mainly used by product managers, IT consultants, and business analysts worldwide to provide them with a way to produce wireframes, prototypes, and create documentation.

Best features:

o   Axure RP can generate prototypes in HTML and provide a link for sharing

o   It will be one of the best developing tools in 2022 because it allows several people to simultaneously work on the same file.

o   Runs on Microsoft IIS with either a MySQL or Microsoft SQL server database

o   Helps with creating and maintaining widget libraries

9. DevOps Tools

Codenvy

Codenvy is a cloud development environment that can be used for application coding and debugging and sharing projects in real-time.

Best Features:

o   As a cloud-based IDE, you don't have to install or configure Codenvy

o   It can be integrated with Jira, Jenkins, Eclipse Che extensions, or other private toolchains.

o   It can also be customized using IDE extensions, commands, stacks, editors, RESTful APIs, server-side extension plug-ins, etc.

o   It can run across platforms- on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. It can also run in a public or private cloud.

10.  Notification Tools

Send Bird

Send Bird tool is used as a messaging and chat API for websites and mobile apps. It prevents spam from flooding chat rooms and offers scalability for a greater audience volume.

Best Features:

o   Send Bird can read and track the status of messages sent.

o   Customer support and product recommendation are bot-assisted.

o   Offers Call-backs & Push Notifications

o   Read Receipt & Delivery Status

How Quantox Can Help Your Business with Software Development?

The success of your project can depend on what type of software development tool you choose but having the right kind of people working on your project is more vital to the success of your project. By choosing Quantox as your software development and IT solutions partner, you ensure your project is in 'safe hands'- those that will give you a high-quality code, keep the communication and the highest level, be flexible to meet your and your project's requirements and provide you with the top-notch IT service. Launch your projects with the best software development solutions at Quantox Technology and IT Solutions. Let’s Talk!

In our free ebook "The Ultimate guide to software development in 2022" we cover everything you need to know about Software Development. Learn how software is developed and how it can help your business.

 DISCLAIMER: 

All products and company names are trademarks™ or registered ® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. In addition, any product names, logos, brands, and other trademarks or images featured or referred to within the article are the property of their respective trademark holders.

These trademark holders are not affiliated with Quantox Technology, our products, or our websites. They do not sponsor or endorse Quantox Technology or any of our products.

Is your business regularly dealing with day-to-day fires? You know that in-house staff is very busy and you have problems finding and retaining new people? The answer to overwhelming IT issues that you are experiencing can be outsourcing. Whether you are a small business or a big enterprise, there are some parts of your IT department that can be handed to a third party to manage and organize. Simply put, it is hard to do internal 24/7 monitoring and management of an entire, often cumbersome, IT infrastructure. Many of the issues that can happen incur additional costs and potential business disturbances. Further failures, hardware, and software disasters, operation disorganization can be prevented. Additional costs can be prevented. Use some help. Provide support to your IT people, too.

What do you get from Outsourcing?

If you do research about outsourcing, you will find dozens of reasons why outsourcing is profitable and how it can impact your business. Let us highlight some of the most important that tells exactly what you get:

Money

Additional in-house expertise that you need can be a really expensive investment. New recruitment, employee onboarding, more payrolls - all of this usually demands you to first enlarge your HR team, before you even start recruiting the experts you need. As you may already be very well aware, all of this costs money. And a lot of it. Not only are you paying full employee packages for the IT experts that you need, but you are also paying the same for recruiters and other staff you might need to onboard all those new people. Of course, we must not forget the fact that this will take a lot of time, further costing you money as problems are not being handled, upgrades are not being installed, and more.By providing you with just the right experts at just the right time (usually yesterday), outsourcing can save you enormous amounts of money.

Resources

No more waste. No more resource mismanagement that doesn’t yield the wanted results and productivity. By choosing an outsourcing business model, you will have access to the widest range of resources that you don’t have in-house or you cannot afford to bring in-house. A larger resource platform also means you get to make smart moves and balance between proper task processing and quality customer service. An outsourcing partner will help you reach that balance and guide you on how to use these resources.

Time

Free your schedule of simple tasks and use your energy to develop ideas and potential new projects that can generate more income. Outsourcing gives you more time to focus on tasks that require your dedication. Let someone with more experience or someone more knowledgeable handle the work that distracts you. On the other hand, by involving a third party in your project, you are giving your business much-needed time and also a chance to reach sustainable, effective growth.

Storage

Your business needs don’t match your storage capacity? A simple solution is to outsource your data storage. Why? New assets are not necessary. On the other hand, the usage of modern technologies is possible without having to hire new IT staff. The highest costs in internal data storage are in administration and backup. If you handle this to an outsourcer, you will experience an overall cost drop. Do not worry about risk mitigation, because your outsourcing partner has automatically saved your data offsite and has a fully integrated system for data restoration within the business requirements.  

Bussines Focus

Closely tied with time management, business focus is something that you can lose with an overwhelmed IT department and unsatisfied employees. With all issues you have to deal with, you simply don’t have time to focus on core things, business goals, and growth. An outsourcing partner can be a valuable, long-term partner. A partner that will provide you time that, currently, you don’t have. You need a professional outsourcing management strategy that can save you from internal and external fires and potential damage to your business’ very foundations.

How to get the ‘outsourcing benefits’ full potential?

Let be honest, outsourcing projects can fail. But, failure can be prevented. Success depends on both sides, and, in most cases,proper communication is the right recipe.

Steps for strong Outsourcing partnership

If you want to build a strong relationship with an outsourcing partner, you need to work on:

Clear requests

Techspeak and bizspeak are something that both sides need to avoid. Do not use terminology that the other party doesn’t understand. Speak as clearly and succinctly as you can, provide clear requests because that will lead to a product that you can use. There is no textbook that you can follow to 100% guarantee successful communication. Maintaining outsourcing relationships can be challenging andit relies on transparency, clear goals, and demands, delivered in a timely manner. When you choose your outsourcing partner, always pay attention to their strategy of delivering unique value outcomes. The Quantox approach also consists of the best practices for communication and well-established plans for request delivery.

Detailed project

For a proper outsourcing strategy, details are a must. Details will help you present your vision and goals in the most effective way, reducing the chances of miscommunication, mistakes, and subsequent corrections. Invest time and effort in explaining your project, what you want to get out of it, and what you want your customers to get. You have a totally new range of resources in front of you, but only a detailed project can fully use them.

Transparent communication

Achieving the right relationship is possible only with good communication. Do not hide crucial information, good or bad. Avoid long delays in actionable feedback, keep in touch with your partner and inform them regularly of the current status. Let them know how you feel and what your expectations are. Be transparent and expect transparency from the other side.

Approach to internal resources

Network discovery is a part of setting up a quality outsourcing partner process. It requires a careful approach to your internal resources. Engineers and the sales team will need information about servers, firewalls, antivirus software, and other technical parts that are used.

How can Quantox help you save your business?

Regardless of the industry, you operate in, our way of reaching the predefined goals is based on an open and transparent environment.This trust makes us easy to work with, while still providing you with an extremely professional team and a high-quality product.Through constant development and improvement, we have learned to listen and understand the clients’ needs. This helps us provide the service that will supply your business with the most perfect solutions. Tonnes of business ideas brought to life through brave and sometimes even crazy steps. None of Quantox’s over 160 finished projects would be possible without a team from 7 different countries that we rely on. All our expertise, experience, ideas, and unique strategies can be at your disposal and provide you with different perspectives. Perspectives that will set you free from feeling that your vision is not fully developed or that some opportunities were missed. You need a new strategy for a journey that, through trust and good communication, will lead your project to a functional reality. Let’s find out together how we can make it happen.

Impressions of the WHOIS Hackathon 2021 winning team

The impressions of the WHOIS Hackathon winning team Redtech Zemare confirmed the assumption of the organizers - "domain themes'' not only can be interesting to developers - but can provide insight and knowledge about the part of the IT industry that is not so often in focus.Young software engineers Milan Cupać, Željko Lučić, Igor Stevanović, Andrija Jelenković, and Damjan Denić created the best application during a two-day WHOIS hackathon jointly organized by the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation (RNIDS) and Quantox Technology on September 25 and 26.

The task for the selected teams was as follows - within 48 hours create a mobile application that provides WHOIS and DNS data - meaning offering answers about free or registered domain names in domain spaces around the world, primarily national .rs and .srb domain spaces.After 48 hours of monitoring and final 10 presented solutions, the jury consisted of Petar Slović, Director of Innovation, Quantox Technology, Damjan Tomić, Technical Director of IT Biz Solutions, and Dušan Stojičević, the former co-chair of the Universal Acceptability Group (UASG) ICANN, had a difficult task. Solutions were evaluated according to the following criteria: completeness of the solution, the relevance of the solution (possibility of real application), UI / UX (design and ease of use of the application), quality of code (ease of maintenance), scalability (whether the application can work with the real number of users) and the presentation of the solution itself.The result of the two-day process was 10 fully functional applications whose code quality was at a remarkable level, having in mind a very short deadline and teams with different levels of experience (one high school team also participated in the hackathon). Each team approached the project task in an original way and used completely different technologies.Through the link, it is possible to access the winning solution on the Github platform.A video presentation of all solutions from the hackathon is available at the link.Why the WHOIS hackathonWhat happened behind the scenes during the 48 hours of work on the applications? What was the biggest challenge in the process of creating the application? Did working with Cyrillic domains challenging and how much?Members of the winning team shared their impressions and answers to these and other questions - why they applied, what they knew about domains and DNS, Universal Acceptance before, and what they learned after the hackathon.Listen to the experiences of the Redtech Zemare team.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO8lDmd8QvkSource: https://www.rnids.rs/lat/novosti/whois-hakaton-kako-se-prave-whois-mobilne-aplikacije

By Filip Dimovski

Keeping security and privacy in check

The world has become more connected than ever before in human history, and with the growing complexity and advancement of integrated circuits, hardware and software, security has become an even more important topic of discussion and concern. Information technology is encompassing and enriching our lives, but that also brings new challenges that we ought to tackle, in order to ensure technological advances are used in an ethically proper manner.

The 30th of November was introduced by the Association of Computer Machinery as the International Computer Security Day in order to raise awareness of the security implications technology has brought forth.This blog article intends to mention some of the important aspects of security that we face every day, and give some helpful information on how to improve our security and privacy by employing some good practices.Using many computing resources and online services requires authorization, and checking for the identity of the user that wants to access them is called authentication.

What is usually used for this process is a piece of information that only the user is supposed to know: the password. Passwords are supposed to be long and complex, known only to the user, and kept safe. Passwords should not be a word from the dictionary or contain any data related to the user (e.g. date or place of birth, parents’ names), as these can be easily guessed and derived from public information, or even a conversation with the person. Instead, a user should generate random long passwords and store them in password management software.

For example, have one password to remember that unlocks the password manager, and this software keeps long random passwords of the services you use, which you do not need to remember.Besides passwords, adding to the security of authorizing access to services is the so-called Two Factor Authentication (2FA), where a user uses something they own (a smartphone) to generate via an application (or receive via SMS) ephemeral time-based codes, which they can use to authenticate themselves to the system. This increases security further, as there is one more obstacle for a malicious party to overcome if they intend to break into the system.

Personally, I recommend using smartphone authentication applications instead of SMS, since SMS messages may be intercepted, and the applications cannot be (and they do not require cell phone coverage).Security goes hand in hand with privacy. We’re increasingly relying on free services that allow us to communicate with our friends and family; however, if we take a thorough look at the fine print of their terms and conditions, we will notice that most of them gather our private data, conversations, pictures and other personal information that we willingly give, so they can monetize it, i.e. earn from it, by selling it to third parties and serving us targeted advertising.

This has serious implications for our privacy, as conversations that were meant to stay private now are used to gather more data about us, thus profiling us and learning more about our habits. This information, if not adequately protected from unauthorized access or malicious use, can be used to target users and manipulate public and personal opinions. That is why it is important to set up and use services that offer end-to-end encryption for private communication, where only the parties involved in the conversation can see it, and no one else.One of the weakest links in computer security is the so-called “human factor” - the users themselves. Clever malicious parties can use so-called “social engineering” in order to gather more information about a user and convince them to allow them access to a system or a service. This can be done either indirectly, via email and messaging, or even via conversations in person.

This is why it is important to not share a lot of information about ourselves and not to use that information in any passwords or any methods of authentication.Besides these security considerations, it is also important to mention the importance of using secure and auditable software. Ensure the software you are using is up to date, and that you install necessary software from reputable vendors.

For example, most of the popular Linux distributions offer open-source software and timely security updates, and the software’s code is available to everyone for review and reuse.

Her favorite book is Little Prince. She is a hedonist and passionate traveler. She would like to have more time dedicated to another passion - painting. Her name is Jovana, a creative girl, and fashion lover. She has been a part of our team for 5 years. We want to congratulate her for her work and effort and we hope that she will find more time for some good painting or another great book.

• What would you advise yourself 5 years ago?

Less stress and more gratitude.

• Which of your professional skills do you consider to be the most important?

Commitment, loyalty, flexibility, perfectionism, and unlimited effort when the goal and motive are clearly defined.

• What would you highlight as your biggest contribution in the past 5 years?

The first thing that comes to my mind is that I met really dear people and gained real friends, even the future godmother Saska :) (something that I always thought was reserved for school-age and childhood). On the other hand, I realized what the working environment and teamwork should look like, which gave me perspective for further business challenges.

• Tell us your impressions of how much the company culture influences recruitment and how

Definitely, there is a big influence. All of us who recruit future colleagues, we represent the company and provide a first impression of the company culture and overall atmosphere. From my point of view, it is a combination of a professional and friendly approach in order to provide as much information and details as possible through pleasant and less formal conversation, with the slogan when we hang out, we hang out when we work, we work.

• What was your first job?

My first job was in a bank, during my student days. It was hard to reconcile business and university obligations, but at the same time, it was an opportunity to get a bigger picture of how the banking sector works. That somehow directed me to the other side.

• What would you never give up?

Time for myself and my daily rituals :)

• From your point of view, what trait is most important to have to be a successful recruiter?

Commitment and that you love what you do.

• Besides your job, what is that you also do well?

Besides the economy for which I was educated and my work with people with the Quantox team, I would say that my thing is also a sense of aesthetics for interior design, fashion, art…

• If you could become an expert in another field for a moment, what would it be?

Certainly something related to the previous answer. During primary school, I wanted to be a painter, which later grew into a hobby.

• What surprised you the most while working at Quantox?

Some special people, working atmosphere, and the fact that this company operates and grows in such a simple and natural way, which has resulted in today’s borders of Quantox, in a territorial and every other sense.

• What is it that people mostly don’t know about you?

That I am, for the most part, a big introvert.

Quality music is her groove. And a good running track. Although, coffee is at the top of that list also. When she is nervous we know that she is hungry. Passionate about taking pics, which is good cos when you ask her for some nice photos, you get 15 of them :)Winter is not her friend, Lisabon is. She is Andjela, but for us, Andja. A serious programmer and a true professional. Always up-to-date. It is very easy to create memories with her. Andja, we want to congratulate you for 5 years of dedication, effort, and great work. We know that you will celebrate it with something sweet and a g-drive full of photos :)

• How do you start your day at work?

Coffee, morning chat with colleagues who are in the office and then checking emails and daily plan: meetings, tasks.

• Besides programming, what is something that you also do well?

I’m good at running and sports in general. It’s a shame that I don’t have time to dedicate myself more to that.

• If you are not a programmer what would you be?

A pilot :)

• What would you advise yourself 5 years ago?

To be more confident in myself and the decisions that I make, not to trust everyone, and to grab and take everything that I can.

• Do you remember your first day at work?

Of course. I was nervous, but the whole day went really well, with a lot of positive energy, meeting new people, and details about my future project.

• Who or what influenced you the most to become a programmer?

During high school, I already, somehow, knew my future path and what I want to do, so at university, it was only a matter of which department to choose. I would say that education itself guided me to become a programmer.

• What would you never give up?

Laugh, sun, dear people, and coffee!

• Do you have some totally irrational fear of something?

I am totally terrified of cats, even kittens.

• Which of your professional skills do you consider to be the most important?

Eloquence, perseverance, I am detail-oriented and always willing to help and make people laugh :)

• What is it that people mostly don’t know about you?

I have been practicing Latin American dance for 10 years and - small, little things will always blow me away.

• What would you highlight as your biggest contribution in the past 5 years?

I gave my maximum effort to every app that I was working on, every deadline and agreement was respected and fulfilled.

• From your point of view, what trait is most important to have to be a successful programmer?

A good programmer must have good logic and, for me, that is the most important thing. After that, knowledge, passion, and willingness to always learn something new.

Written by: Vojislav Branović

If you are a writer or want to become one, you will eventually come across some kinds of questions that are very important to be clarified. What is the site review? What is it used for? How important is it to the final users?Who writes and who reads blog posts, why are they so popular and why do you need to know how to write them if you are into a writing job? Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to improve your writing!

What Are Site Reviews and How To Write Them?

What is a Site Review?

In simple words, the site review is a detailed text of some web place, which gives valuable information about the site to the end-user! You need to cover several things when you are writing a site review, such as Validity of Information, the tone of writing and text editing, and the details (the more details, the better the review).

What Must a Site Review Contain?

Overview - Give an overall idea of what the given website is. What does it do? What does it offer to the user? How does it work, in general terms? Give the big picture before getting into details.Ease of Use - Emphasize the ease of use. Even though today’s generations are very well educated when it comes to computers, we all want to breeze through the sites we are visiting and to click as little as possible to get the wanted results. Applications and Benefits - Help your readers see how this site would work for them. The reader wants to know how this online service will be to his advantage.

Discuss Website Features

If you are writing a site review article, you should include all features that your site has. That can be Loading speed, Search feature, Ads free or ads, Any filters, Membership, Safe environment, help, financial, Visual appeal, FAQ, community, Plugins or software required, and others. Give your readers a detailed preview of the stuff offered on the website and give yourself the freedom to write in your own words! That will improve the quality of your review!

Deal with Negatives

No matter how much effort someone has put into his website, there will always be people who can find a negative side of it! If you aim to become a successful site reviews writer, you will have to deal with these negative sides, and there are two simple ways of achieving this: Ignore or Spin! Before getting detailed about these two ways, I have to tell you that the clients who pay you to write reviews don’t like seeing negative reviews! That’s why you have to be cunning and try to avoid mentioning this, but still, be objective and give your readers trustworthy information! Yeah, not an easy task, but check this out:

• Ignore: people already know that all sites have downfalls, don’t mention them. It's as simple as that! You can mention it somewhere in the text, but don’t focus on them!
• Spin: Use something like “site won’t work for you IF…” to avoid being negative, yet gives the reader information that something is not ideal on the site!

Personalize Your Review

You are hired because of your skills, personal writing voice, and audience reach! So, make your review unique, put your own personal mark into it!Finish with your own final thoughts on the website! Take care of the business, don’t let anyone tell you you are a plagiarist or something similar! Be creative, be free to write in your own words, choose the right words, and the results will come!

Remember:

• Avoid promotional jargon: always remember that you are not advertising the website, you are writing a review.
• Use the main keyword! If it is asked, the density of keywords should be 3%
• Stay neutral: A perfect online review should be as neutral as possible.
• Always proofread: Write in a friendly format not academic, write clearly and concisely, and always proofread!
• Include details: Never forget to include as many details as you can!

Tips for Writing Blog Posts

A blog post is an article that you write on a blog. It can include content in the form of text, photos, infographics, or videos.

How to Write a Blog Post?

Okay, there are some unwritten rules when it comes to the writing of blog posts, and I will try to be as simple as it can get in the explanations: All you have to do is to follow these 5 easy steps when creating your blog post:Step 1: Plan your blog post by choosing a topic, creating an outline, conducting research, and checking facts. Aim to choose a topic that interests you!Step 2: Create a headline that is both informative and will capture readers’ attention. Be creative and catchy!Step 3: Start writing your post. No matter if you can’t do it in one draft session, do it in several of them, the end result will be the same!Step 4: Use images to enhance your post, improve its flow, add humor, and explain complex topics.Step 5: Edit your blog post. Read your post aloud to check its flow. Make sure to avoid repetition. Get feedback from someone else, do proofread. Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Long ones will make the readers go away. Avoid being boring!

The Structure of a Blog Post:

If you want to be a successful blog post writer, you will have to make almost perfect blog posts! How to achieve that goal? Well, there are certain things you need to follow here, and I am more than willing to share them with you! A perfect blog post must have some basic elements, such as:

1. Headline - Title - try to be creative and catchy. This is your promise to the readers
2. Cover image - must be related to the topic
3. Publish date, author name, post category - not necessary, but useful
4. Introduction - Very important! Make sure that it makes people read the rest of your content.
5. Main content - If the headline is the promise, this is the fulfillment of that pledge!
6. Sub headlines - Use them to break your content into smaller sections.
7. Conclusion - sum up the content you have written.
8. Call to action - ask your readers to share the post or leave comments.
9. Social media buttons - the best way of promoting your blog.
10. Comments - allows your readers to interact with you and other visitors

Content Writing Tips and Tricks

Check this paragraph carefully, it can improve your writing, save your time, and make your blog post better:

• Visual appeal: Pay attention to this. Posts with details, text editing, different fonts, images, videos, and similar stuff are more interesting to the readers! So, don’t be afraid to add:
• Bolded text: it can point out some important parts and it looks cool
• Bulleted lists: if you have a chance to use these lists, use them!
• Media: always add some media! It makes the post more interesting
• Photos: Add them all the time, in every single post! In blog posts, photos are used to explain, add humor, and much more.

Last But Not Least: Writing tools

No matter how good your English is, you will always want help from some of the numerous tools on the web! I personally use two of them:WordCounter: awesome thing when it comes to the keywords density, counting the words, characters, paragraphs! It also shows the reading level, speaking time, and much moreGrammarly: the best grammar tool, period! It corrects typos, bad sentences, gives suggestions, and makes your writing look more professional!

I sincerely hope that these tips and tricks will help you, and if you are still thinking about whether to take this path or not, I hope that after reading this you will make that first step into the world of copywriters and bloggers!

Written by Filip Dimovski

In today’s fast-paced world of software development, it is necessary to deliver a product or a service promptly, while ensuring all the best security practices and considerations are taken into account and ensuring the infrastructure is capable of handling the requests of the modern web and mobile applications. These tasks need to be handled by several different engineers due to their complexity and the many areas they cover.

What are DevOps?

Development Operations (DevOps) as a software engineering concept involves a multidisciplinary approach, where software development, software and infrastructure security, and systems engineering and administration skills are used to streamline and improve the software development and delivery processes, as well as infrastructure management.The core of the DevOps philosophy is the automation of processes, declaration of infrastructure resources, and reuse of components. Essentially, it sounds like software development, right?Modern software development practice expects the use of software version control, such as GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and others, which foster collaboration between software developers. It allows keeping versions of the code too, to ease auditing and resolution of software and security defects. The repository acts as a single source of truth, that must reflect the current state of software and infrastructure, and a place through which changes can be reviewed and applied in a controlled and automated manner.One key area that speeds up the developmentof software and lets developers do more work is the automation of the lint, build, and test phases of changes introduced to a software component. This is accomplished by utilizing a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Deployment) system, which consists of pipelines, declarations of steps that need to be executed to accomplish the aforementioned tasks. Such automation aims to find and resolve software issues quickly and efficiently and create reproducible builds of software artifacts, packaged software ready for deployment and execution in different infrastructure environments.

Why are Docker Containers Important?

Docker containers are an excellent tool to easily prepare and ship applications as image artifacts that can be run on many different container orchestration platforms, such as Kubernetes. By packing the application and its dependencies (libraries, static content, etc.) in one container image, it can be delivered easily and executed on different environments, and a well-crafted container can be reused on several different environments, such as development, staging, and production. A developer can also run the whole application stack locally on their machine by using Docker Compose or Minikube, ensuring that the way their application runs is as similar as possible to production environment requirements.Applications designed by employing the 12 Factors rules of software development and Docker containers can help achieve the universality and ease of deployment of applications. By leveraging environment variables for configuration, and keeping the all-state outside of containers and inside managed cloud databases, such as Amazon RDS, Elasticache for Redis, and similar, even if the application fails due to any factor, you can be sure that the data is preserved, and the application can be started back easily and quickly, due to the ephemeral stateless nature of containers. Also, many instances of the same application can be run in parallel on an orchestration platform, providing scalability when the usage is growing, such as when many users access the application at the same time.

What is the Role of DevOps Engineer?

Besides improving the speed of delivering software to production environments, one of the most important responsibilities is to ensure software, data, and infrastructure security. Together with Information Security (InfoSec) engineers, DevOps engineers can automate processes that check for security compliance, and adherence to standards, such as ISO 27001 and PCI, ensuring the software and infrastructure are secure for performing tasks related to monetary transactions, medical research, work with sensitive data, and similar.If the software constitutes the main driving implementation of processes, the infrastructure is as important in ensuring the software works according to requirements. The DevOps way of managing infrastructure uses declarative formats, such as Terraform or CloudFormation templates, to define cloud resources and manage them in collaboration with other DevOps team members and version them in a code repository, and audit them using automated tools. The templates allow easy creation of new and modification of existing cloud infrastructure resources, and also constitute an excellent tool to ensure business continuity, in case disaster strikes and everything needs to be recreated from scratch and as soon as possible as part of disaster recovery and disaster contingency planning processes.

How DevOps Use Tools For Software Development?

Lots of tools allow us to follow how the infrastructure resources and applications are performing, such as Prometheus, Grafana, the ELK stack, by collecting metrics and log data, allowing us to correlate them and discover points of slowdowns and contentions, discovering issues with the applications and infrastructure, and offer us a great tool for resolving such issues. Monitoring can be automated to inform teams when their applications do not perform as well as expected, and even allow the system to roll back in case of failures, increasing its resiliency and ensuring services are up and running for the clients.One of the main concerns is data integrity. As most software represents a way to work with data, we must ensure that data is preserved in case of software errors, cyber-attacks, or disasters. That can be ensured by setting up automated replication of data in different data-center regions, or even different services, snap-shooting of stateful resources (databases, servers’ volumes), automated backups, and by defining a life-cycle policy of the data - how long it needs to be preserved and how. This can all be automated and performed consistently, by leveraging declarative infrastructure tools and writing scripts to perform automated backups according to schedule.As we can see, many of these topics can be enhanced and many parts of the applications and the infrastructure can be improved by following design principles and processes defined by the DevOps software development philosophy. By leveraging the multidisciplinary approach and automating most of the processes, developers can ship software faster, and businesses can be more certain that things are going to perform well within the expectations.

The Importance of DevOps in Quantox Technology!

One of the reasons why Quantox was able to become a leading IT solutions company is its approach to DevOps. With special consideration to software development, infrastructure security, system engineering and administration, we achieved a streamlined software development and delivery process. Our approach and automation of the process means your software can be build faster and with better performances. Let's Talk!

Written by Davor Minchorov

If you want to devote your time learning web development I will present to you the path that I think is the best to start this adventure, specifically oriented in the Laravel and VueJS world, and share some tips on how to get better at it over time.
This blog post is aimed at anyone interested in the web development world, either who started learning wants to start learning, or even people who are a few years into it and want to get some ideas that might be useful for them.

Can Your Learn Web Development From Online Courses?

I must admit, there are a ton of web development learning resources on the internet and too many options for beginners to start from when they are looking for a path in the web development world, and some people even give out some crazy advice like:

• Get a course from Udemy
• There are free courses on YouTube or FreeCodeCamp
• Start with W3Schools
• Just read the documentation man

thinking that it would be as easy as they say it is for someone who has no idea what he/she is doing.
While these places on the internet have their usages, you can't learn from a course site where you don't even know the authenticity of the person who teaches you things, you need to rely on ratings and other people's word. As for W3Schools, it's more of a documentation site than anything, where you can just search for what you need to get an idea of how things work and use that into your project when you get to that point, but it is not a site you can learn from just by reading.
Udemy has some great content creators, but you need to know which one to learn from and how detailed are the courses. So can you learn programming online? Bottom line- it all depends on what you want to learn, resources you're learning it from and who's teaching you.

How To Learn Web Development Online?

From my experience, I've only watched courses from one person on Udemy, which is Maximilian Schwarzmüller from Academind, I watched his Vue 2 The Complete Guide 12 hours course a few years ago when I was starting a project with VueJS.
The same thing applies to YouTube, there are a ton of content creators on there but you need to know which ones are the best, and it's hard to figure that out when you are new to this world.
Whatever course creator or content type you choose to learn from, just remember to investigate the creator, his experience and the way he explains things, the way he speaks, and how many details is he/she going into.

There are multiple sources where you can learn from so you can choose whatever you like the most or fits your style the best.

Watch Video Courses

I personally prefer video courses with quality content that focuses mostly on a specific topic (if I am interested in that) or a web app building type of course where the course creator uses multiple tools, techniques, and technologies to build a whole app from scratch so that I can follow along.

Whenever I want to learn something new, either programming, concept, technique, tool, technology, or a programming language, I start by searching for a course or a video on that topic. Once I get enough knowledge and get a good idea of how things work, I either search for another video or a whole course that uses the tool, technique, programming language in combination with the technology stack I am interested in just to see how things can be connected together.

After that, I start integrating the new learnings into my project so that I can understand the new knowledge even better.

Read Books

Some things cannot be found in a deep dive video course, so I look for a book or an e-book that has that tool, technique, technology, or programming language and read it to get an even better understanding of it.

Books (or e-books) are great because some of them are written by very experienced people in the industry and can provide a lot more information than a video course on any video platform ever will.

Ask Questions and Read Forums and Chats

Asking questions is one of the most important skills if you want to ever learn from someone else in the community.

I started just by reading forums at the beginning of my career, on the Laracasts forums, where I learned everything related to the basics of PHP, Laravel, and JavaScript, VueJS, to the more advanced programming concepts like Domain-Driven Design, project architecture, event sourcing, command buses and domain events, design patterns, SOLID Principles, and similar concepts, tools, and technologies.
If you hang out long enough on one forum or in a community, you will start collecting a lot of learning resources and learn so much more, which will boost your knowledge to the next level.

I also hang out on a lot of Slack and Discord chats which are very useful, because there are a lot of community members and there are a lot of people who need help and I've learned so much from them just by reading their conversations.

Help Other People in the Community and Participate in Discussions

This is one of the most useful skills that helped me grow so much in a short period of time. Laracasts was my home for years (even though I don't hang out there anymore, more active on other places like Reddit, Twitter, dev.to, Hashnode, Medium, etc.)

I've helped so many people, just trying to solve things and improve my searching and figuring out abilities that also helped me later on when people found me and recruited me for their projects, clients, companies, or even met people who shared a similar interest and was part in a table talk style meetups.
It opens so many opportunities for personal branding, and it helps you market yourself to the world where people can find you and offer you a job or a business opportunity.

Read Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to discover news, tools, learning resources (articles, blogs, books, videos, etc.), which can boost your knowledge to the next level.
I am subscribed to a lot of them, Some of them include:

• CTO Insights (by my colleague Tosho)
• Adeva Developers Community Newsletter
• Awesome PHP
• Laravel News
• Laravel Daily
• Freek.dev
• JavaScript Weekly
• VueJS News
• NodeJS Weekly
• Tailwind CSS Weekly
• Dev.to Weekly Digest
• Hashnode Weekly Digest
• DB Weekly
• UX Collective
• UX Design Weekly
• Smashing Magazine
• CSS Tricks
• Percona Database Performance Blog
• API Developer Weekly

and others to keep up to date as much as possible.

Now, I know that it is impossible to keep up with all of the new things that are coming out in this web development world, but I do try to learn something new every day so that I can use it if I need it in my projects or someday in the future. That way, I get a better full picture of what I would need in a whole project, besides working on a project directly.

Work on Projects

Besides working on full-time/part-time / internship job projects, I always work on something else besides the full-time job, like my personal projects to experiment (like this personal website and blog here) with tools, techniques, or technologies that I do not usually use in my daily job.

Now, I know everyone wants to get paid to learn and/or build projects but working on personal projects or helping out other people teaches you so much that it can help you get a better job, become better, and even ask for a higher salary/rate per hour in the future.

Learning on a full-time job is all good, but sometimes that job can be boring or not really useful for the career when you are fixing bugs or work on useless tasks that do not teach you anything new.

That's why I recommend for everyone to start building their own personal website and blog, deploy it somewhere so that people can see it.

Also, don't forget to work on a personal project for a longer period of time that you might need to use for yourself, just so that you learn and experiment in your free time for fun.
Another option is to help out in the open-source world where you contribute to projects by helping other people.

Work enough so that you don't burn out so much but still learn something new every day.

Read Articles and Blogs

Same as the video courses, there are so many blog posts related to one specific thing that you might find useful or build a whole app based on a series of articles on a blog.

There are many blogs that can be useful to follow but I would suggest checking out dev.to and Hashnode first and then finding out people who have blogs and that you trust them based on their authenticity and the community you are a part of.

I use Feedly as my preferred RSS reader to follow the various websites and blogs. I also have the daily.dev new tab chrome extension that shows me new articles from different blogs to read every day.

Watch Coding Live-Streams

A few years ago, I started watching coding live streams of other people building projects to understand and learn how a person thinks when they build a project from scratch with the tools, technologies, and programming languages I use or like.

There's always something new to learn from someone else and you can incorporate it into your own projects (personal or not).

The interesting thing is that I've seen different approaches to how people structure their code, how they approach the database or project design, the pros and cons of some tools in some scenarios, and so on.

Follow People on Twitter

I know that many people think that social media can be a distraction and you should stay away but I've learned so much from people on Twitter because there are a lot of valuable Twitter threads, tips and tricks that people share and you can't find them anywhere else.

There's also a lot of useless content that is irrelevant but I try to ignore that part and mute profiles to keep it web development specific only as much as possible.

First Steps to Leaning a New Programming Language

The first thing I would do if I want to learn a new programming language (example: Go), I'll try to get to know the ecosystem and community so I would do the following:

• Go to the Awesome List on GitHub and search for the programming language.
• Go to the programming language community on Reddit
• Try to find the most influential people in the sphere to follow on Twitter
• Search for top-rated books
• Search for people who live stream on YouTube or Twitch
• Search for newsletters
• Search for Slack and Discord communities
• Star useful tools, packages on GitHub
• Ask people where they learn from, who they follow, what books or video courses are useful etc.
• Start building projects once I learn the fundamentals of the new programming language, tool, framework, etc.)
• Collect learning resources as I find them along the way.

Conclusion

There's no one way to learn web development just from one source and hope that you will get a job after a 6 months academy or a few video courses. It might take you a while but always be building something, helping someone, reading something, watching something. It's really up to you how much time and effort you are willing to put in. IT is not an easy career choice.

Use the community and the learning resources to become a better developer, designer, DevOps, or QA engineer.

• Do whatever you have to do to progress in your career, just don't burn yourself out.
• Do the work, be consistent and it will get you great results over time.
• Learn how to filter useful and useless content that will benefit you. It's a great skill to have.
• Don't forget to enjoy the process, even though there will be tough times and you will ask yourself if this is for you. If you manage to get through it, you will get closer to whatever you describe as success.
• Have fun and happy coding.

Stay Focused in Web Development with Quantox!

Quantox is dedicated to providing the right resources and knowledge for their employees, but also for anyone interested in programming, and willing to learn more and grow in IT industry. Starting September 2022, we are launching our very own Quantox Academy with a goal to provide expert IT education. Stay tuned and follow up on the courses we'll be presenting in Fall 2022 and the opportunities you can seize with Quantox Academy. However, if you have an idea you want to share with us, or a wish to work with us on a project, let us know. Let's Talk!

This year is important to us for several reasons. Celebrating 15 years of successful work, we have expanded our business to Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we also got a new challenge - 247 open positions! The fact that we have reached the number of 350 employees speaks about the ability to successfully open and close positions. An impressive number, but how to get it? What puzzle has to be “solved” to get a task like this? And most importantly - how does it affect the team and complete work organization?How many clients? The number of 247 came from a complex client structure. If we can divide them into groups, we would have existing clients, partner companies from the region, local representatives of global companies, large IT centers, and our partnerships with corporations like Microsoft and vendors like Lex Wear. Project phases and industriesDetails about projects that are most important to developers are that the open positions are referred to several projects in different phases of development. They will work on building projects from scratch but also on maintenance and improvement of existing ones. Integration within existing systems will also be included. Implementation, migration, and adjustments with security standards within the partnership we have with Microsoft which concerns the sale of Microsoft Azure licenses will also be a part of the work. Projects come to us from different industries - fintech, digital entertainment, retail hospitality, construction, sports organization. Tech skills and seniorityThe structure of the positions is very diverse. Most of them refer to JS and its frameworks - Angular, Vue, Typescript, React, Node, and their combinations. PHP and Java are present in smaller amounts and .NET, QA, Mobile developers, and Salesforce developers are also on the searching map. Developers of all levels will be included in this process. We also have a plan to start junior to medior training, where talented beginners will undergo 12 months of training with a mentor which will be completely free for them. Through whole training, developers will be, of course, duly paid.

1. JavaScript developers ( Node, React, Typescript, Vue, Angular ) - 135
2. PHP - 43
3. JAVA - 30
4. .NET - 18
5. Mobile developers - 10
6. QA - 8
7. Salesforce developers-3

When we get a large number of positions like this, what most people don’t see is how exactly a meeting with a client looks like and what they actually ask from us. Negotiation of a large number of positions Primarily, what brings you to that first meeting with an important client are reputation, recommendations, achieved results, capacities, and operational capabilities. They can also be interested in a company's experience with certain technologies and all these things can set you apart from the competition. However, it is important to highlight that this is just a ticket for the first meeting with the potential client. That first meeting usually goes smoothly, most of the time C level is present and the conversation is about business in general. Lack of experience could make you think that everything went well and it’s done - the job is yours. However, the negotiation part is just about to begin. After that positive first impression, further conversations are about specific things - checking references in terms of providing a list of contacts where clients can check them, meetings with our Tech, Project management, and HR team. It is important for the client to truly understand what kind of company we are, what types of projects we do, what technologies and tools we use, and what is the seniority structure of our team. The necessary information can also be our way of measuring the results and complete the development process analysis. Often, they can ask for case studies and financial data in order to define whether we can or cannot financially handle the project. After that, mutual visits and further series of online meetings are arranged. Work reorganizationWhat comes with the plan of hiring a large number of people is an inevitable question - how will that affect our current work organization? In 2017, Quantox went through a 100% employee growth for the first time. The doubled number of people also meant increased obligations and tasks for different teams. Offices have been opened, developers started their first tasks and that year has given us a solid foundation for further expansion. The test of our organizational structure was definitely the pandemic time in 2020 and transition to full-time work from home. The benefit of 2 months of remote work was previously on and it helped us tremendously to easily slide to full remote mode. Our employees got used to new working conditions relatively quickly without a negative effect on results. Such changes have taught us which business moves were done right and how to be ready to welcome and respond to new challenges of a dynamic market and planned growth in the future. Our daily task is to improve the process of introducing our culture and work system to new people and we are always open to ask for additional support in leading regional teams, project management, higher management, and legal assistance.Providing a large number of job opportunities is a long-term goal. Some of them will be opened, others will be closed. The dynamics of the business, as well as the client’s requirements, often create a demand for a large number of people. Having in mind the development of the market and further growth of the company, we believe that a high level of need for staff will be present in the long run. Our focus in responding to such demands is on standards of recruitment and team quality that we strive to maintain. We want to continuously have a large number of open positions while further maintaining our standards for team expansion. Our quality is and will be primary in the future.

They say that the first year in business is always hard. They also say that if you are not losing money in that first year you will probably be ok. For us, the first year of our business was unforgettable.We will always remember how much coffee we drank, how many days without sleep we had, how many cooperation requests were sent back negative or we didn't get any response at all. But we started this game and quitting was not an option.The first year, but also the next couple, were, as they usually say - one-man jobs. However, the situation is starting to change in 2009. And then it hit us. A job is so important that if you do it right, it opens you with so many opportunities, but you are in trouble if not. It was a renowned client from the automotive industry, the market of Great Britain.What usually comes with an important contract that is so significant for further progress is a great sense of responsibility. A small team started this path just a year ago, and now that exact team has to deliver a serious project that, if done right, can mark your company as a serious player on the market.But imagine the technology and equipment that was available 15 years ago. Today we will call that kind of work a rough and ready approach. Available connection speed for development and further possible refinements would today, at least, cause tremendous stress. We were working in a small office, without any additional accommodation or benefits that we can see today in the IT world. Analysis of every possible and impossible step was a daily job and of course that we were sometimes asking ourselves why we chose what we chose, especially when mistakes were made. But we managed to pull it off. The doors were open and we didn't want to go back. We delivered the project on time and the further task was to repeat the success and build a reputation. And we did repeat it. More than 120 times.What we have learned from our first business year? Our approach was good but it needed to be better and to progress. 15 years later, we are modernized, better coordinated, and nurture the same “deep analysis” approach to every project entrusted to us.

written by STEFAN RADOSAVLJEVIĆ

The main thing when you start learning any programming language is to have a great resource from where you can start and spend quality time. The whole learning process is much easier when you have some great guide, at least to know what are the most valuable docs and tutorials.

The usual way to start learning is through video lessons. Ups, wrong!
The way that is much better is to go with the documentation first.

Xcode Program

If you want to be an iOS dev, you need to have one of the Apple products (laptop or desktop) and an iPhone is desirable but you can find simulators in Xcode so it can replace the iPhone.
Xcode is the main IDE for making an iOS application. It provides everything you need for programming, including simulators for every device that Apple supports. You can find the built-in documentation inside the Xcode, you can debug your code, track the performance of the application, and much more. In one sentence - All in one.

Swift road and Where to Start

Let’s take a closer look at the swift road that I am trying to follow.
It is the learning curve for beginners and also some advanced info. Let me unclutter some things in the beginning. Basic stuff can be swift as a programming language, Xcode, and playground part of the Xcode where you can check and test small codes and play in swift in general. Common or next step should be to get to know about Human Interface Guidelines.
In the deep, it can be app structure and design pattern as oop and package manager, testing tools, and deployment.

Main and Side Documentation and Resources

If you want to know what's the one place you can learn everything from, take a look at this documentation collection.

My learning process starts with going through swift documentation.
You can find everything useful about getting to know a language. In the end, it is just reading with concentration.
After that, you can visit HackingWithSwift which is a little more organized with lessons and of course, the main thing that you can find in lessons or blog form is https://www.raywenderlich.com
The most helpful information you can get from the books:

1. iOS Apprentice - Beginning iOS Development with Swift and UIKit - Joey deVilla, Eli Ganim & Matthijs Hollemans
2. Swift Apprentice - Ehab Amer, Alexis Gallagher, Matt Galloway, Eli Ganim, Ben Morrow, and Cosmin Pupaza
3. SwiftUI by Tutorials - Antoni Bello, Phil Laszkowicz, Bill Morefield & Audrey Tam

In those books, you can learn through the examples of mini-projects.
The most important thing to me is to get knowledge of some inevitable stuff in programming. You can find this part of the blog everywhere in the programming world.
So in the meanwhile, you should pay attention to the design patterns and architecture, also you need to pay attention to the project structure.
Which design pattern you need to apply depends on the type of application.

You can pick MVC or MVVM design implementation in your project and clean architecture. The difference is mostly in whether you want to use UIKit or SwiftUI. Once again this is the most popular design pattern.

Patterns and Framework Explanation

UIKit

This is the one way of programming that you can divide on MVC or clean architecture. This is the traditional way of programming with storyboards which requires mostly applying  MVC pattern and you can use UIKit with clean architecture implementation which looks like dry coding without storyboards (visual representation of pages in the device). This way of programming is better (in my opinion) because you can better understand what is going on in the code when you merge in git or resolve conflicts. The only thing that is a little odd is because you need to build your project to see changes.

SwiftUI

The other similar way that I have already mentioned above is SwiftUI which combines these two options. You can write only code without storyboards, but you can check changes (visually) in the preview window in the Xcode.

MVC

Model-View-Controller is one of the building blocks of Cocoa packages.
The three roles are:
Model - The objects that hold your application data and define how to manipulate it.
View - The objects that are in charge of the visual representation of the Model and the controls that user can interact with.
Controller - is the mediator that coordinates all the work.
The project structure with MVC in use.

MVVM

Model-View-ViewModel is a structural design pattern that separates objects into three distinct groups:
Models - hold the application data. They are usually structs or simple classes.
View - display visual elements and controls on the screen.
View models - transform model info into values that can be displayed on the view. They are usually classes.

Clean Architecture

It is the conceptual application architecture for scale and can be simply described as an onion layered architecture. It can be split into VIPER and RIB’s implementations.

• VIPER stands for the View, Interactor, Presenter, Entity, and Router. Those are the building blocks of that architecture. RIB’s stands for Router, Interactor, Builder.
• Builder is responsible for fetching or creating dependencies for the interactor, router, and view/presenter and initializing them.
• The router is responsible for navigating to specific children RIB’s.
• Interactor is responsible for all the business logic.
• The presenter and the view are typically combined in a view controller where the presenter is responsible for formatting data and display in the view.
• The view is responsible for displaying data on the screen and collecting user input.

The other design patterns that can be in use are SIngleton, Delegate, Observer …

Tutorials

After all of the process, you can watch some tutorials.
My favorite is from the Stanford YT channel.
A very good channel where you can find explanations is CodeWithChris.
Please check the Developer app on iOs or MacOS.

For more information and interaction with real developers, you can check the slack group - ios-developers.slack.com. Do not expect to be an iOS developer and find a job after a couple of months, the learning process is much longer.

Quantox- Paving the Road For Future iOS Developers!

Quantox knows that having the right resources is the path to becoming an amazing developers. That's why in our organisation our people have access to some of the best learning tools in order to master iOS development. Today, we have some of the best iOS developers in the country because we believed in our people and supported them in their growth. With Quantox, your iOS app is built by the people who've been learning it right and doing it even better. Let's Talk!