What is bespoke software development and why it matters?

Have you ever heard the term "bespoke" in software development? There is a very good chance that you haven't heard the word at all, let alone in the context of software. But this word may be far more important that you might expect. Learn why just knowing it can help you get better JavaScript developers or be more trustworthy as a JavaScript developer.



Like I said, you most likely didn't hear the term "bespoke", but you must have heard the term "custom". The latter is a word that is very often used by software development companies to refer to their services. Unfortunately, what they often advertise as custom is merely some basic customization of ready made solutions such as Wordpress template. Bespoke is a whole different story.

Bespoke - just the way you like it regardless of complexity

The term "bespoke" originates (and is still the most popular) in the U.K. It originally referred to suits that were made by expert tailors to exactly match all requierements of the client. That included taking many measurements of the person as the new pattern was literally created from scratch to fit the exact body shape of the client. That's precisely why the phrase "tailor-made" was coined and that's what "bespoke" is.

In other words - "custom" may mean almost anything while bespoke refers specifically to truly custom made from scratch solutions such as advanced web applications made especially for one client and so on. If you choose JavaScript developers that refer to their solutions as bespoke, you can be sure that you're getting expert services. If you don't, it means that they lie about their servics being "bespoke". It's not that same with "custom" as the true meaning of this word is far more up for debate.

Want to know more about what kind of benefits bespoke software solutions bring? Read this bespoke software solutions article and take full advantage of web development outsourcing.


What do you think about the bespoke vs custom debate? Leave your comments in the comment section below. Looking forward!

5 tips to get the most out of outsourcing to Poland

Offshore software development to Poland is now becoming very popular. That includes Polish JavaScript developers and front end developers that definitely can't complain about having too little to do. There are many good reasons why it is the case. But this time I would like to help those of you who already know those benefits. Use these 5 tips and make sure that the outsourcing experience will be pleasant.

Search for the best price-quality ratio

Many people choose Poland to get software development services on the cheap. While Poland is much cheaper than, say, Germany or U.K, it is also much more expensive than India or Pakistan. The bottom line is that you should not go for the lowest price, but for the best price-quality ratio. To do that, choose skilled, experienced developers from Poland. They are not necessarily cheap, but they are much cheaper than similar experts in high living cost countries. Poland's developers overall are great quality-wise, but if you go for the cheapest option, you may never find that out.

Go for the best JavaScript developers

Polish front end engineers are top of the line experts. Those with the most years of experiments can do wonders for your project. If you make the effort to come to Poland to do web development outsourcing, you should definitely get whatever is the best, not junior developers that only learn how to make simple websites. That way, you won't see the true advantage of Polish software companies. Read this software house Poland article to find out even more about leveraging the potential of Poland in software development.

Take care of communication

Typical problem with web development outsourcing, but for Poland you also need to take into consideration their specific location and time zone. Make sure you use the same communication tools. Being Agile is a big advantage for a developer. This approach greatly improves everyday communication between the client and the developer. Polish developers overall are quite fond of Agile.

Pay accordingly

This one is pretty simple. If you hire Polish developers in Poland, pay them according to the typical Polish salaries for developers. If you want your Polish developers to work for you in a different country, their salaries need to match those paid to local developers.

Skills, not technologies!

Experienced Polish developers are very good at learning new stuff. You should consider hiring them even if they don't exhaust the list of technologies you need. With their skills, they can quickly brush up on them!

What do you think of the list? Do you believe that those advice apply to experienced JavaScript specialists as well as to software developers in general? What did you learn as a developer from this client-centered advice. Leave your comments in the comment section below.

A website with... no JavaScript!?

Can you get the edge over competition by... getting rid of JavaScript? That's a questions I've recently stumbled upon. The idea is that some websites can be created using pure HTML and CSS. And I'm not talking about static websites... interested?


Before we get to how we can do something like this, let's go through the list of the biggest advantages avoiding JavaScript brings.

Advantages of giving up on JavaScript in some projects

Speed - it goes without saying. Websites that only use HTML and CSS are much faster as it is JavaScript that takes the most time in terms of server response. By minimizing JavaScript, you can advertise your web development services as optimized for speed.

Less Complexity - with less or no JavaScript, the source code is much easier to maintan and understand.

Effort - a lot less testing and the ability to avoid over the top complicated programming techniques.

Resources - you don't need developers specialized in JavaScript, which often cost the most to hire.

SEO - websties that use little JavaScript are better SEO-wise since JavaScript may make it more difficult for search robots to index your content.

Maintenance - as the website is easier to understand, it is also easier to maintan and improve upon.

Limiting JavaScript - first step

As you can see, there are a lot of benefits of minimizing the use of JavaScript. Enough to make it ot some extent a part of your strategy and a competitive advantage to get in outsourcing software development (see this article to learn more about being a competitive web development outsourcing company). And how to do that? There are many solutions. One of them is to something like Pages from restdb.io. This solution incjects the output in the HTML on the server before it is sent to the browser. This way, you can have dynamic websites without JavaScript on the client side.


What do you think about it? Are you interested? Do you know some other way to do that? Leave your comments below!

How (and why) to become a more efficient JavaScript developer?

As I already mentioned a few times, the responsibility of a software developer that aims to become one of the top paid specialists is to always try to get better. But what does it exactly mean? Let's take a closer look at a few ways to not only become a better programmers, but also to help your entire team to work more efficiently, consuming less resources in the process.


Is writing more effective JavaScript code only about you? Definitely not!

Write resuable code

Don't think about your project as something that comes and go away. Each project is a chance to get better and... create some new reusable piece of code for use in other projects! If you make it a rule, soon you will be able to recreate any repetitive feature of modern web applications or websites even without using libraries such as jQuery. Talk about effective code!

Write maintainable code

Don't get satisfied with ugly code, even if it seems to work. You will create maintenance issues for iterations to come. That will greatly increase the cost of software development. Read this article to find out more about why software development costs differ so much project to project.

Loops and globals

Going even deeper, try to write better looks and avoid using globals in your JavaScript code.

How to improve you loops? For example, try to take statements out of them. If your code that accesses, say, a length property is within the loop, it will run each time the loop works. Perhaps you can get out without changing the way it works? Do it and make your code work faster.


Share some more advice on how a JavaScript developer can improve their code to the benefit of themselves and the entire company they're working at. Leave your comments below!

What do developers that work for top rated web application development companies have in common?

Have you ever wondered if there is something that software developers that manage to land top paid jobs at the best companies have in common? From my experience of working in such software houses, there are at least a few of such similarities. At the same time, those similarities make perfect guidelines for new developers to follow to truly boost their careers. Let's start the count.

They always focus on the fundamentals

Many subpar developers, once they learn AngularJS or ReactJS, spend their entire time practising their framework of choice. There is nothing inherently wrong in this approach. That is, as long as you don't forget that it is JavaScript that plays the most important part in it. It is the programming language itself that you are to refine. What good is your knowledge of framework if you don't understand the nitty gritty of it and you are incapable of solving low level issues? Never prioritze libraries and frameworks over the language they are built upon. Always learn more about JavaScript, Web APIs, HTML and browser. Then, work out the framework.

They are not afraid of challenges

Have you gotten too comfortable working on repetitive and simple projects? That is no way of making it to the top. If you want to be a top rated (and paid) software developer, you need to challenge yourself. Go for projects such as complex web applications that require you to learn more. Again, try to limit the number of repetitive tasks your projects require. Use tools and libraries that automate those tasks. Hand craft the most important bits.

They always refine their craft in every single way possible

Do not get satisfied with how you are coding any typical aspect an app such as user authentication, sliders or the comment module Perhaps there is a way to do it better, using less code and libraries, takign into consideration more case scenarios, making more tests? If there is, you should definitely try to find it. Search for tutorials that help you make the things you already do, but using less/vanilla code.

These pieces of advice above are some of the best things to do to make it to top software companies. For more information, try this series of articles on web application development company.

That's it for today. Stay tuned. More to come soon!

How to join the best paid JavaScript developers?

So you're coding in JavaScript? You must be a web developer. It's a great occupation, both in terms of potential for self growth and career opportunities. Web developers also earn far more than the average salary. However, there is a big difference between the best paid users of JavaScript and those who are at the bottom of the money ladder. What is the difference? How to turn your JavaScript knowhow into a well paid job?

Learn more advanced technologies

If you are stuck making simple jQuery based projects, you are not going to become one of the top paid JavaScript developers. Try to challenge yourself. Learn technologies that are used in top projects such as AngularJs or ReactJs. Also, learn automation tools such as Gulp or Grunt. Those technologies will help you work more effectively. Your resume will also look much better with them in it.

Make more advanced projects

Challenge yourself with your projects as well. Instead of making simple websites, try developing complex web apps. Enroll into courses. Get into a company that makes such projects, even if it would mean to earn less temporarily. It will end up working for you in the future. Build your resume around awesome projects. That's the shortest path to the top shelf!

Work for a top of the line web development outsourcing company

How to find a company that makes such advanced projects. Of course, look at their portfolio and get familiar with the content on their website. Are they proud of some advanced projects? Do they require more advanced skills? If you can answer those questions with "yes", those are your guys. Visit this website to learn more about a company that does this kind of innovative and more complex web development outsourcing company.

Do you tend to overuse jQuery for custom software development?

jQuery - there are very few pieces of software that are both loved and hated by quite as many as this JavaScript library. Used by millions of websites and being one of the first thing any web developer learns, it's crucial for efficient custom software development. But there is no doubt that many programmers tend to overuse it, installing jQuery plugins even for things that can be done in pure HTML/CSS/JS easily, compromising performance in the process.

Why is jQuery so popular?

"With this amazing jQuery plugin, I lost 10 kilos in 2 weeks. I use it all the time." - a jokingly stated a web developer that simply can't imagine their life without the jQuery library. It was first released 9 years ago, back in the year 2006. And it quickly spread. It is actually used by well over half of all top 10 million highest-trafficked websites. Why is that?

That's because that has not been another lightweight JavaScript library that really took care of all the common tasks we originally had to in pure JavaScript. It handles virtually everything you should be able to do in pure JavaScript - form validation, animations, all kinds of events and more. And if there is something the core release can't do, there is a very, very good chance you can find a plugin that takes care of that.

Compelled by the power of this free offering, many developers use jQuery for everything, figuring out that this small library won't affect the performance that much. However, if there are too many calls, it does make a difference. What's more, using jQuery decreases your ability to solve an issue with your implementation once it appears. Are you really positive that you will know what to do?

Why is it not always the best solution?

Can you even picture you custom software development (check out this page to learn what I actually mean by custom in software development) without jQuery. If you use it and you can do it, you're fine. If you use it and you can't, you should work on it. There is only so far you can go with jQuery. To become a really skilled developers, you need dive deep into the JavaScript code and learn how to do all this stuff yourself as well.

Good exercise? Try to do a slideshow with thumbnail using pure JavaScript with HTML5 and CSS3 - no jQuery. Afraid? Be not! You can find many tutorial on sites like SitePoint or SimpleJs.net.

That's all for today. What do you think? Are you too dependent on jQuery? What are you doing to help prevent it. Leave your thoughts in the comment section. And stay tuned for more JavaScript insights. Till the next time.