Part 1: Changes and strategies in software development due to AI

Hyunseok Shin, CEO of Smilegate Vietnam, presents the column "AI Software Development" in a three-part series. Today is the first installment.

(1) Changes and strategies in software development due to AI
(2) Can AI replace the technical skills of developers leading the digital world?
(3) Replacement of software development due to AI, present and future

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By Hyunseok Shin

Changes and strategies in software development due to AI (1)

Digital has taken over the world, and the digital world is becoming reality through software, and software must be implemented with the best user experience, that is, user-centered to survive. Ultimately, it must be convenient for customers to use, provide relevant information in a timely manner, reflect customer needs as quickly as possible, and provide an omnichannel experience regardless of online/offline stores to be competitive.

Software is a tool for providing a comfortable user experience to users. Nowadays, we use PCs, tablets, and smartphones in our daily lives. We don’t really care what operating system they are, but PCs use Windows, Mac, and tablets/smartphones use iOS, Android OS, etc., so when developing software, we shouldn’t make it so that it can only be used on Windows or iOS. Of course, there are still cases where it is only made as an iOS or Android app, but even in these cases, web technology is applied within the app to enable operation on multiple devices, and cross-platform is applied. The best way to make this possible is the web, a service that works normally on any browser, and that is why web development has become the trend in the software market. The word web may sound boring because you hear it so much, and you may think it is not a great technology, but the web has overcome past limitations and shows amazing performance and functions. With the advent of generative AI, the use of AI in software development is increasing as it suggests appropriate code that understands the context. Some people claim that software coding will disappear with the advent of AI, but I do not believe that will happen. However, I think that it will dramatically improve productivity.

Since software development has such a broad scope, in this article I will limit it to web development and expand it to web front-end development and back-end development.
Front-end development refers to the “visible part” of a web application, all parts that users see, click, and interact with, or the area expressed as UI/UX. It is responsible for the appearance and user experience of the website, including page design and layout, and when users click buttons, open menus, or type text, all of these interactions are made natural and convenient, using a language called JavaScript to give it a sense of liveliness. In addition, when people access the website on various devices such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones, it can implement a responsive design that looks good regardless of the device and adjusts the screen to fit the size of the device. It can ensure that it operates normally when accessed with various browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge). In the past, there was the inconvenience of having to reload the entire HTML page even if one image changed, but now technologies have been introduced that allow only the changed parts to be loaded, allowing the web to be expressed powerfully like a general desktop application. It has become easier to develop large-scale sites with the help of frameworks such as Vue.js and React without redeveloping repetitive and frequently used functions. This is the area in charge of developers who can handle HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frameworks/libraries such as Vue.js/Angular/React.

Backend development is responsible for the “invisible part” of a web application. Simply put, it processes and stores data entered by users on a website, and provides necessary information back to the user. The backend is responsible for all functions that make a website or app work smoothly. For example, if a user searches for a product on an online shopping mall or adds an item to a shopping cart, the backend retrieves relevant product information from the database and displays it to the user. When a user adds an item to a shopping cart or enters payment information, the backend is responsible for safely processing and storing this information. In the case of a large-scale system with tens of thousands of concurrent users, it is responsible for creating a system architecture that prevents server downtime, ensuring that the system can be expanded without system downtime, managing the server on which the website or app runs, managing the database, connecting to API integration (external payment services, map services, etc.), implementing business logic (rules and procedures for performing specific tasks), and ensuring that user data is safely processed and stored, such as user authentication and authorization management. This is the area that developers who can handle Java, Spring Boot, Go Lang, Node.js, etc. are responsible for. Software developers are being divided into front-end developers and back-end developers, and are accumulating expertise, and it is becoming important for the front-end and back-end to be organically connected to provide a seamless experience to users. Since they are closely but separate areas, the ability to collaborate well is also essential. Although there are full-stack developers in the market who can handle both front-end and back-end, there is a concern that they may become ambiguous developers who are not experts in either area, so I personally think it would be better to choose one area and focus on it.

Code suggestions by AI, although very accurate at first glance, may contain errors, and since the algorithm is presented by AI, it is difficult to know the background of the suggestion, and it is difficult to fix errors when a problem occurs, so developers must have insight into what to select and hold back. However, for beginner developers with little programming experience, it is a clear advantage to be able to quickly develop codes until they work through generative AI.

As briefly mentioned earlier, architecture is not very important for systems with few users, but for systems that handle large numbers of users, an architecture that can be expanded without system downtime is absolutely necessary. It is not yet known whether generative AI can solve this part and how long it will take. In addition, the modern web development trend that leads the digital world is evolving toward applying technologies such as cloud, serverless, microservices, containers, Kubernetes (container orchestration), CI/CD pipelines that can increase development speed and maintain quality through continuous integration and continuous deployment, and automated testing. In other words, complexity is increasing, so when it is left to AI, we must think about who will solve the issue and how. In the current digital market, the technical skills that front-end and back-end developers must have are more important than ever. There is an increasing demand for developers who can freely handle front-end frameworks such as Vue.js and React, and back-end technologies such as Spring Boot, Go Lang, and Node.js. In particular, developers who have the ability to quickly reflect customer needs in line with the latest technology trends such as SPA (Single Page Application) are receiving more attention. However, hiring developers who can freely handle these technologies is by no means easy. Many companies are competing to find capable FE/BE developers, which shows the fierceness of the hiring market. In particular, it is even more difficult to find developers who can understand and utilize technologies such as cloud, serverless, and microservices.

In the following article, I will write the topic, “Can AI replace the technical skills of developers who lead the digital world?”

About the Author
Smilegate Vietnam CEO Hyunseok Shin, is a top expert in the IT service and cloud fields, and an expert in the Asia Pacific region. While in charge of Microsoft Asia Pacific, he was based in Korea and was in charge of Asia Pacific including Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, and has deep understanding and experience in the Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia markets. Starting out as a PC communication Unitel developer in Samsung, he worked as a platform architect at Microsoft Asia Pacific and Microsoft Korea, and as a cloud expert, and after working at AWS Korea, he was recruited as the head of SK C&C Cloud Division in 2016. He successfully carried out the establishment of a business model for the cloud business, and business and platform operations, and led the role of making the cloud the main business of C&C. In addition, he led the establishment of Smilegate Vietnam to contribute to the development/operation of Smilegate’s game platform, and is currently developing & operating game platform innovation with Vietnamese software developers.

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