Author: Chakravarthy Batna

Migration is a critical part of maintaining and evolving software projects. Ensuring that these transitions are smooth and well-documented can often be challenging. To streamline this process and provide more visibility, we’re excited to introduce our new Migration Report—a feature that captures all the changes made during project migrations.

This report serves as a comprehensive log, tracking every modification, enhancement, or adjustment applied throughout the migration process. By capturing key details and presenting them in an easy-to-understand format, we aim to make your migration experience more transparent, efficient, and error-free.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into how the Migration Report works, the benefits it brings to your workflow, and how it helps ensure your projects are always up to date and running smoothly.

Down in the engine room, 2024 was a busy year for WaveMaker! We’ve worked hard to make the platform even better with major updates and new features. Whether you’re a WaveMaker developer or just curious, here’s a look at everything we rolled out this year including improvements and features that took things to the next level.

Expo has rolled out version 52 with a set of features and enhancements aimed at improving developer productivity and app performance. This update addresses critical pain points, introduces new capabilities, and refines existing tools, making it a significant release for mobile app developers. Here's a quick look at what Expo 52 brings to the table and how it compares to version 50.

This upgrade stabilizes the platform to support the latest up-to-date Expo 52 features, minimizing the gaps between the Expo and WaveMaker platforms and improving the development experience with enhanced tools and support.

WaveMaker Studio delivers consistent, predictable updates to provide users with an evolving, secure, and feature-rich experience. This document outlines our release schedule, versioning practices, and support lifecycle for both online and enterprise versions of WaveMaker Studio.

Versioning Scheme​

• WaveMaker Studio Release versions indicate the level of changes that are introduced by the release. WaveMaker Studio release versions have three parts: major.minor.patch.

• For example, version 11.8.5 indicates Major version 11, minor version 8 and patch level 5.

  • Major version includes platform-level upgrades or significant architectural changes
  • Minor version includes feature updates, improvements
  • Patch version includes bug fixes, minor enhancements, and security patches

• Each release type (major, minor, and patch) has a specific purpose and cadence.

Over the years, our low-code platform has empowered developers to build hybrid mobile applications with ease using Cordova. Cordova played a significant role in enabling cross-platform compatibility and helped countless users achieve their mobile application goals. However, as technology evolves, so do the expectations for performance, user experience, and scalability in mobile development.

In recent years, we have transitioned our platform to focus on React Native as the standard for mobile application development.

With this upgrade, we will be sunsetting Cordova-based app generation. This decision aligns with the industry's shift toward frameworks that deliver better performance and user experience for hybrid mobile applications.

In our commitment to keeping WaveMaker Studio fresh and user-friendly, we’ve added an exciting new feature: the Gift Box icon! This feature aims to provide you with real-time updates, making it easier than ever to stay informed about new features, how-tos, blog posts and changes within the platform.

Why the Gift Box?​

We understand that our users want timely information on updates to make the most of WaveMaker Studio. With the Gift Box, we’re making it simple and accessible for you to know what’s changed.

We’re thrilled to announce the release of WaveMaker Studio 11.9.0, packed with powerful enhancements designed to elevate your app development experience. This release focuses on stack upgrades and compliance with the latest industry standards.

In WaveMaker Studio version 11.9, we're excited to introduce a host of new features, enhancements & stack upgrades that further empower developers and improve the overall experience of app development. With this release, we’ve upgraded the underlying technology stack to support Java 17 & 21, along with Spring 6.x. We’ve also enhanced usability with a redesigned database designer, added real-time data handling with WebSocket services, and improved developer experience with features like zoom functionality in Canvas and enhanced file upload capabilities.

Additionally, we're making a significant move towards accessibility by ensuring that all generated applications are compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA standards, helping developers build inclusive apps for all users.

This article provides an in-depth look at the WaveMaker Studio 11.9 release, covering the migration to the latest technology stack, what to expect, and how to prepare for the upgrade.

Here’s a closer look at what’s coming in WaveMaker Studio 11.9.

As highlighted in one of our previous posts, starting with version 11.9, WaveMaker applications will be transitioning to Java 17/21 and Spring 6. This is a significant upgrade, and as noted earlier, regarding the shift from javax to jakarta namespaces, there is a namespace change in the dependent libraries that necessitates the migration of your WaveMaker applications.

This post will guide you through what to expect during the migration process. We'll cover which components are automatically updated by the platform and which areas may require manual intervention. By breaking down the migration of Java classes, dependencies, and other elements, you'll gain a clear understanding of how WaveMaker manages this transition and what steps you can take to ensure a smooth upgrade.

WaveMaker Studio is evolving its canvas layout options to provide developers with more precise control. We're excited to introduce Zoom Level settings, which will replace the previous MDPI options while offering greater flexibility in how you view and work with your app screens.

Currently, WaveMaker Studio offers two layout options for the canvas size, as outlined below:

1. Fit to Screen -​

This option ensures that the entire app screen being developed fits within the available display area without requiring any scrolling or resizing. It automatically adjusts the content to match the screen's resolution or aspect ratio for optimal visibility.

2. Laptop with MDPI Screen -​

This layout displays the app screen at MDPI resolution, which may be higher than your current screen resolution, providing a more realistic view of the actual app resolution.