Thoughtworks recently released its Technology Radar Volume 31, providing an insightful guide to the current technological landscape.
According to the technology radar, generative AI and large language models (LLM) dominate, with a focus on their responsible use in software development. AI-powered coding tools are evolving, requiring a balance between AI assistance and human expertise.
Rust is gaining prominence in systems programming, with many new tools written to it. WebAssembly (WASM) Support for version 1.0 in major browsers opens up new possibilities for cross-platform development. The report also notes rapid growth in the ecosystem of tools supporting language models, including guardrails, evaluation frameworks, and vector databases.
In the Technical quadrant, notable elements of the Adopt The ring includes 1% canary releases, component testing, continuous deployment, and recovery augmented generation (RAG). The Radar highlights the need to balance AI innovation with proven engineering practices, retaining crucial software development techniques such as unit testing and architectural suitability features.
For platforms, Radar highlights tools like Unity Databricks Catalog, Quick chatAnd GCP Vertex AI Agent Builder in the Trial ring. It also evaluates emerging platforms such as Azure AI Searchlarge vision model platforms such as V7, Nvidia Deepstream SDK And Robofluxwith SpinKube. This quadrant highlights the rapid growth of tools supporting language models, including those for guardrails, assessments, agent creation, and vector databases, indicating a significant shift toward the development of AI-centric platforms.
THE Tools The section highlights the importance of having a robust toolkit combining AI capabilities with reliable software development utilities. Radar recommends adopting Bruno, K9and visual regression testing tools like BackstopJS. He suggests trying AWS Control Tower, Click on HomeAnd pgvectoramong others, reflecting the focus on cloud management, data processing and AI-related database technologies.
For Languages and frameworks, debt And Test Containers are recommended for adoption. THE Trial the ring includes CAP, CARLAAnd LamaIndexreflecting the growing interest in AI and machine learning frameworks.
The Technology Radar also highlighted the growing interest in small language models (SLMs) as an alternative to large language models (LLMs) for certain applications, noting their potential for better performance in specific contexts and their ability to operate on cutting-edge devices. This edition drew parallels between today’s rapid growth of AI technologies and the explosive expansion of the JavaScript ecosystem circa 2015.
Overall, Technology Radar Vol 31 reflects a technology landscape heavily influenced by advances in AI and machine learning, while also highlighting the continued importance of strong software engineering practices. Created by the Thoughtworks Technology Advisory Board, the Technology Radar provides valuable insights twice a year to developers, architects and technology leaders navigating a rapidly evolving technology ecosystem, offering guidance on which technologies to adopt, test, evaluate or address with caution.
The Thoughtworks Technology Radar is available in two formats for readers: an accessible interactive online version via the websiteand a downloadable PDF document.