Change data capture (CDC) has long been one of the most popular, reliable, and quickest ways to connect your database tables into data streams. It is a powerful pattern and one of the most common and easiest ways to bootstrap data into Apache Kafka®. But it comes with a relatively significant drawback—it exposes your database’s internal data model to the downstream world.

Put simply, data literacy is the ability to translate data into insights, a capability that every technology buyer is seeking this year. The importance of data has been well established and technology leaders understand the value sitting dormant in their ever-growing databases. When researching the right application for their teams, features that boost data literacy will be front of mind for your buyers.

Modals are widely used on the web, but they are rarely built with accessibility in mind. When a modal is displayed, the background is dimmed visually but it's still visible to screen readers and keyboard-only users. In this post, the first of a two-part series, we'll look at presenting accessible modals in Rails using two different approaches powered by Hotwire's Turbo and Stimulus libraries. But first, let's see what we need to do to make modals accessible.

Gen AI is quickly reshaping industries, and the pace of innovation is incredible to witness. The introduction of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and many more incredible tools have opened up new possibilities we couldn’t have imagined 18 months ago. While building gen AI application pilots is fairly straightforward, scaling them to production-ready, customer-facing implementations is a novel challenge for enterprises, and especially for the financial services sector.

An API’s main purpose is to allow multiple applications to communicate with one another. However, APIs can easily be made more secure and efficient through API gateways which provide a unified entry point across internal APIs. This unified entry point allows for greater control over user access and helps elevate API security measures like rate limiting while also applying security policies like OAuth or JWT. Plus, API gateways are extremely beneficial for securing microservices.

We are thrilled to announce the public beta release of Multiplayer, a platform created to transform the way teams design, develop, and manage distributed software.

As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, many industries are re-examining their operations to identify and implement sustainable practices. The telecommunications industry is no exception. Telecom companies face growing pressure from consumers, investors and regulators to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve net-zero emissions. This shift towards sustainability aligns with environmental responsibility and presents lucrative business opportunities for telecoms.

Data is often described with cliches like, it's "the new oil" or “the new air.” No matter how you describe it, there is no denying the increasing importance of data monetization across every industry. Forward-thinking organizations recognize data apps as both a revenue stream and a differentiated service to increase customer loyalty.

With 2023 behind us, it's time to predict new trends for the upcoming year. In 2024, we can expect to see an increase in fast and gradual releases powered by an Agile and DevOps approach, as well as a stronger reliance on automation, AI, and machine learning. An overarching theme this year is the focus on 'quality of speed', as developers look for new ways to test software quickly without compromising on quality.