Developing for the Edge: Notes Toward a Definition of Edge Application Development

Developing for the Edge: Notes Toward a Definition of Edge Application Development

This IDC Market Note defines edge computing and edge-native application development with a view to outlining key considerations for edge developers and technology suppliers that create solutions dedicated for the edge. The Market Note observes that, while edge computing is qualitatively different from cloud-native computing, edge-native applications benefit greatly from the use of cloud-native technologies and practices such as microservices, containers, container orchestration frameworks, and DevOps. As devices and digital solutions proliferate, the need for edge-native applications that are capable of bringing compute and data resources closer to the end users and devices that consume them will correspondingly intensify, notes Arnal Dayaratna, research vice president, software development, IDC. Edge-native developers will need to acquire competencies with remote debugging, monitoring and observability, and decentralized data management. In addition, edge-native developers will need to deepen considerations related to the optimization of digital solutions for specific endpoint devices and infrastructures even though edge-native development foregrounds the portability of digital solutions across deployment platforms.

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