Hybrid cloud has changed the way applications run. It has affected the expectations of the consumers which in turn has a strong impact on the business revenue streams. In order to adapt quickly, consider the following best practices for cloud development.

Selection of IDE

There is an extensive list of IDEs (Integrated Development Environment) that can be used in hybrid cloud development. While creating hybrid cloud applications, you should target IDEs with the following features.

• An IDE must be compatible with several programming languages to power the requirements of enterprise development.
• Since the dev community uses IDEs, it is best to use only those IDEs which are open-source and come with strong community support. Similarly, there should be only a few IDEs to deal with so patching, upgrading, and maintenance tasks are convenient.
• Since, we are talking about the cloud; hence it is almost necessary that IDEs can connect with cloud solutions like Oracle, Salesforce, Azure, and AWS.
• IDEs must have seamless integration for popular source code repositories like Gitlab, Bitbucket, Subversion, etc.
• The chosen IDE must help developers with the import of common libraries, automatic code generation, generation of template projects, provision of shortcuts keys for generation of code constructs, auto-complete, assistance for compilation errors, and code recommendations.
• If API management tools like Akana, Mule, and Apigee are compatible with the IDE and developers can use them for publishing and pulling content directly, then it can save a lot of time.

There are some of the features that are must-have if you wish to breeze through your hybrid cloud development for enterprise level. AWS Cloud9 and Eclipse are some of the IDEs which check of all the above-mentioned boxes.

Automation

Integrated governance and security, an efficient sequence of procedures, planned configuration, and cloud-agnostic tools are necessary to discover powerful tool chains. Developers should try to limit the number of steps for the toolchain so they speed up with quicker builds while maintaining quality assurance for the written code.

Design Patterns

The addition of design patterns ensures that applications conform to industry standards. For hybrid cloud development, you have to check which design patterns fit your use case. If you select the wrong design pattern, then it can create confusion and can potentially disrupt the robustness of the application.

Applications replicas are spun up and tore down in hybrid cloud environments. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a thorough detail analysis to identify the creation and destruction of objects. In some use cases, you might require certain handling for the objects which is caused by rapid scaling.

Agile

Agile and Lean practices allow development teams to offer higher value for the stakeholders. VersionOne, Jira, and similar tools can help you to not only monitor, analyze, and prioritize your work but also help the provision of transparency for the stakeholders. Tools like XP can have a positive impact on the code for hybrid cloud development. Similarly, with the use of pair review and pair programming, you can ensure that your code is written and verified effectively.

Server Selection

Developers can pick from many types of servers to work for hybrid cloud applications. Majority of the IDEs are powered by their own default servers. Cloud experts recommend using the nearest version and server type for the code which is expected to be deployed. Try to choose a cloud-agnostic and light-weight server for the job. The introduction of light-weight servers can save a great amount of time for the starting and deploying the code.

Service Discovery

Regardless of the fact that your IT architecture is based on a cloud or on-premises architecture, services are always bound to grow. There comes a point where it absolutely necessary to target strong discovery process. Depending upon the tools and use case, you can go for server-side discovery, gateway moderation, and self- registration. To do this, you can use multiple tools like Mule Service Registry, Istio, and API Connect. Before choosing these tools, assess their impact on the performance of your hybrid cloud application.

Enhancement

As the cloud development gained traction, it became easy for instances to rebuild and teardown regularly. This helps in frequent patching and enhancements for the OS, 3^rd party libraries, middleware, and the existing code base. Developers should patch and upgrade whenever it is possible. This can help to not only limit defects and vulnerabilities but also improve the cloud application’s upgrade cycle. Good practice for your provisioned servers is to use a regular upgrade cycle where it can serve as a portfolio activity for your IT infrastructure.

Versioning

For IT artifacts, versioning is one of the most important aspects. Perhaps, the most popular among them is the Semantic Versioning. However, depending upon your use case, you can use others as well. With tools like Git and Bitbucket, you cannot only apply versioning for your artifacts but also improve their functionality to merge, branch, revert accordingly. Therefore, versioning is implemented for all of your artifacts.

Third-Party Libraries

When the complexity of your hybrid cloud application reaches higher levels, you can take advantage of 3^rd party libraries. They can help you with vulnerabilities, dependencies, and vendor lock-in. For best results, use these libraries sparingly. Additionally, pick those which have an open source and strong community support to back them. Choosing those with a proven track record can help you with better results.

Conversions

XML and JSON are the most common mediums for the exchange of information between heterogeneous systems. You have to think about a standard solution which can convert or translate these messages as objects. If you are working with C#, then you can use XML to C# and JSON to C# while Java programmers can use JAXB, Jackson, and Java API for JSON. This can assist developers in the creation of incoming messages. Moreover, RAML and Swagger are getting traction, therefore their tools for Java and .NET can prove helpful for developers.