Multi-language build automation tool Gradle 6.8 has been released. Notable changes from this release include:

• Kotlin DSL script compilation improvements that introduces compilation avoidance, thus getting rid of the need to recompile Kotlin build scripts altogether.
• Improvements to Java toolchain support, wherein toolchain support has been added to the Groovy compile task
• The experimental configuration cache supports composite builds and other core plugins shipped with Gradle
• New dependency management APIs for consistent resolution
• Disabling of outdated TLS v1.0 and v1.1 protocols 

Check out the release notes for more details about changes.

The U.S. lost $2.8T in 2020 thanks to poor software quality, the Consortium for Information & Software Quality (CISQ) reports, with the majority lost because of bugs. The CISQ notes three issues, in particular, responsible for the loss:

• Bugs cost $1.56T, an increase from $1.275T flushed away in 2018
• Failed IT initiatives and software projects cost $260B in 2020, an increase from 2018's $177.5B
• Poor quality in legacy systems cost $520B, though this was less than 2018's $635B

More:

• What software developers must do:
  • To reduce this number, the report says there needs to be better software defect detection and remediation of identified vulnerabilities. The report particularly advises individual developers to take responsibility for prioritizing software quality, while organizations must cultivate a culture that supports good software quality. "Producing quality products and systems makes good business sense, but what that means must be well-known in your organization," the report states.
• Ultimately, though, the report blames a lack of developers skilled enough to create new and modified software, noting that only 2% of the world can code despite the fact that the need for software developers will increase by 24% over the next seven years.
• The Consortium for Information & Software Quality (CISQ) standards is a group co-founded by the non-profit Object Management Group and Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute.

📅   Dev Calendar: January 2021 Virtual Events and Hackathons: (with hackathons organized by deadlines)

JANUARY 10-17:

VIRTUAL EVENTS:

• Jan. 13-14, 18-19: JChampionsConf, free Java conference with designated times for expert speakers – who include the founding members of the Anderson Software Group, a leading provider of training courses in Java, Python, Go, and other languages – to converse with attendees. Register here.
• January 15: Get a 35% discount code on Manning products when you attend this free conference..

HACKATHONS:

• Jan. 16-18: Hack for Good Accenture. Accenture-hosted hackathon challenging developers to create tech for good projects for non-profit organizations.
• Jan. 5-25: Postman API Hack. "We challenge you to not just create a Postman public workspace with a Collection of APIs, but build something that is creative, has compelling value to developers, addresses a problem, or has community interest."
• Jan. 16...

JANUARY 18-24:

VIRTUAL EVENTS:

• January 18-22: Laracon EU, a week-long Laravel conference featuring presentations, webinars, and networking events.
• January 18-19...

HACKATHONS:

• Now-Jan. 19...
• Jan 19...

JANUARY 25-31:

VIRTUAL EVENTS:HACKATHONS:

• Jan. 22-24: Yale's Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology (CBIT) hackathon. Participants will work with clinicians and more, forming teams and building projects that address healthcare problems.
• Jan. 5-25...

Rails 6.1.1 is now available. Gem change highlights include:

• Active Support: The Rails team changed IPAddr#to_json so that it matches the json gem returning the string representation's behavior instead of the instance variables of the object.
• Active Record: The team implemented several changes to this gem, including repairing fixtures loading when strict loading is enabled for the association.
• Action View: Fixed lazy translation in partial with block amongst other changes.

For a full list of changes in different gems, click here.

LAST WEEK'S TOOL RECAP: Below is last week's developer news and tools roundup, listing all the news and tool releases you need to know organized by language, browser, version control, and so much more.

VERSION CONTROL:

• GitHub is now fully available for developers to use in Iran after the U.S. government granted the version control platform a license to do so, CEO Nat Friedman announced. Friedman also added that GitHub is working on getting similar licenses for developers in Syria and Crimea as well.
• Git 2.30 is available and comes with command-line completion improvements and a safer option to force push commits.

BROWSERS:

• The U.K. government's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Google's plan to end support for all third-party cookies in Chrome and the Chromium browser engine by 2022...

GENERAL TOOLS:

• Wasmer 1.0 has been released. Some highlights include: “Wasmer compile”, a new command for precompiling Wasm files. For more...
• Open AI introduced...

LANGUAGE SPECIFIC UPDATES:

JAVASCRIPT:

• Node v15.5.1 is now available. The new release fixes bugs that exposed affected versions to a use-after-free bug in its TLS implementation. It also addresses another vulnerability that created two copies of a header field in an HTTP request.
• JavaScript framework...

PYTHON:

• Python is 2020's language of the year for the fourth time...

RUST:

Post of the Day: This infographic, “The Rise of No-Code Development Platforms," offers a "101 guide" to the rise of no-code platforms while curating some interesting statistics that offer insight into the future of the industry. Some highlights:

• 65% of all app development will be done on no-code platforms by 2025, Gartner predicts
• The market will increase from $3.8B in 2017 to $21.2B by 2022, Forrester says

Check out the infographic in full here.

This story first appeared in Inside NoCode. For regular no-code/low-code news updates, subscribe here.

QUICK HITS:

• This company raised $9.3M to help orgs gift employees with glamping trips, Peloton bikes, and virtual sommelier lessons. Check out Blueboard's Experience menu.*
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) is shutting down servers run by right-wing social media app Parler, while Digital Ocean says it will not welcome Parler either.
• GitLab released several security fixes, with one patch fixing a bug that can be used to “steal a user’s API access token through GitLab Pages."
• RedHat will acquire container security startup StackRox for an undisclosed price. 
• Over 30,000 companies are building their eCommerce apps all without writing a single line of code.*

* This is sponsored content.