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Unveiling Google's Hidden Gems: 5 Lesser-Known Open Source Projects

Among countless projects of open-source software, some treats attract human attention like a magnet, while the true treasures, however, stay off the beaten track behind the thick veil of obscurity. Google, the world’s top tech player, has a small article with projects that have the potential to shift the nature of construction and some other sectors. These projects, which are not always well-recognized as the usual project development, may offer more beautiful and creative solutions as well as powerful tools and features across different fields. If you think of adaptive learning via the browser, more straightforward working with Java, or containerized deployment as something unusual, put that aside, as these hidden gems are proof of the community’s ingenuity and diversity. Please take your time alongside us on this voyage as we shine on those projects that remain underrated but are still capable of changing the whole concept of software development.

TensorFlow.js

Even though TensorFlow probably doesn't seem unknown to most devs, TensorFlow.js has a common tendency to appear in the shadows. This rise of the JavaScripting library provides developers with tools to assemble models using the browser or Node.js. TensorFlow.js is starting a revolution in the field of web-based applications. The most vital point where machine learning can be used is image recognition and natural language processing, so this is the door opened by TensorFlow.js. This project, built upon the advanced nature of the API and the extensive documentation that serves as guides, achieves this by making web developers explore the prospects of AI and machine learning.

Guava

Google gained recognition through internal use and became an open-source project Java library providing a lot of valuable elements and extensions for core Java classes. Even though Guava possesses vital strengths and a broad skill set, it is still mostly forgotten in the frame of the Java libraries. The Guava library encourages developers to pay attention to beans and other Java collection-related keywords through a variety of features that range from collections to caching and concurrency. Whether you are in charge of a small- or large-scale project, Guava's incorporation in your tasks is more likely to boost your efficiency and software development quality.

Bazel

When it comes to building tools, Bazel, a partly unknown but superior alternative, is clearly the front-runner. The Bazel tool is built to provide ridiculously fast and reliable builds over multiple languages and platforms. This is a reasonable description of what Google uses to put the majority of its software applications together. Saving the hassle of creating binary deltas and the provision of hermeticity in all builds simplifies the tasks of incremental builds and any big-scale projects. It is irrelevant whether you are working on developing a mobile application or a distributed system, as Bazel is an excellent add-on to any stack that increases its efficiency and versatility.

Material Components for Android (MDC-Android):4. Material Components for Android (MDC-Android)

Although Material Design has practically become the standard for the current Android app development's fashionable tastes, Material Components for Android (MDC-Android) remain not that well known. Android MDC, which Google created, offers a suite of costly UI components and styles that adhere to Material Design guidelines. As such, MDC-Android provides developers with ready-made classes for buttons and cards and custom-made navigation drawers and bottom sheets, dramatically simplifying the process of building visually appealing and consistent Android apps. As for developers, the MDC-Android provides an opportunity to make use of it, and in turn, they can have a smoother job and a better user experience that clients can love.

Jib

There is a reason why deploying Java apps to containers is such a challenging task, and Jib was designed to simplify this area of software development. Sponsored by Google and derived from the terminologies for containerizing near-native Java applications, Jib allows developers to craft container images without Dockerfiles or the need for a Docker daemon. Given the support of Maven and Gradle, Jib works directly with build tools that generally take care of container configuration, thus relieving developers from adding extra plans to their coding systems. The Jib tool makes it quick and straightforward if you are working with Kubernetes or cloud platform packaging and later natural deployment of Java applications.