How to Choose a Technology Stack For Web Applications

What Does a Web Development Stack Consists of?

Speaking on a simple language a tech stack is a set of tools used for developing a certain product. A web development stack, in turn, contains the tools (languages, frameworks, etc.) needed to create a web app or website. Regardless of the web-product type, the tech stack is divided into the back-end and front-end parts.

A Front-End Web Development Stack

Front-end development includes the creation of exterior, visual elements of an app. For example, the UI, interactive elements, and everything that a user can see or use for interaction relate to the front end. A typical front-end stack consists of a pool of technologies, programming languages, frameworks, etc.

The list of must-have technologies includes the following ones.

• HTML;
• JavaScript;
• CSS;
• SCSS;
• LESS;
• SASS.

The possibilities of these technologies are significantly expanded with the help of numerous frameworks. For example, JavaScript offers dozens of them. The most popular ones are React, Vue, Angular, etc.

Additionally, other JS-based and JS-translated languages can be of use for front-end developers. Examples of such languages are TypeScript and CoffeeScript. On top of this, developers may need assembly tools, which help automate many time-consuming processes.

A Back-End Web Development Stack

Back-end development is a sort of a backyard of a project. All the systems and mechanisms that provide the app’s operability while being non-visible to an end-user are related to the back end.

A typical back-end stack includes several key elements. Let’s review them briefly and give a couple of examples for each one.

• An operating system. With several variations possible, Windows and Linux remain the most popular ones.
• A web server is a core back-end element responsible for HTTP requests processing. The popular options are Apache and Nginx.
• A database is large structured storage of various types of interconnected data – figures, numbers, dates, names, etc. Some popular examples are MySQL, Firebase Database, Indexed DB 2.0, and others.
• Storage services. They are used to store images and other large files. Reliable and convenient options are AWS S3 and Firebase Storage, which are frequently used by developers.
• A hosting service. It is necessary to place a web app or website on the Internet. Just a couple of examples are Firebase Hosting for Windows and Amazon EC2 for Linux.
• Programming languages. The back-end code can be written in different languages. Some popular and promising languages are JavaScript, Python, PHP, C++, and many others.
• Frameworks. These are programming tools that make code writing easier and let improve web applications. There are a lot of them to choose from. The well-known frameworks are Express, Nest.js, and others.

By using different combinations of these components, you may build various back-end tech stacks. Alternatively, if you want to save time, you can take advantage of one of the ready-made stacks compiled by specialists. Some examples of such tech stacks are LAMP, Python-Django tech stack, .NET, and MEAN.

Useful Tips on Choosing a Tech Stack

The best technical stack for your project is the one that fully meets your requirements. Making a choice is easy if you know what you are looking for. Here are some tips for you to consider.

• Rely on your team members’ experience. If your developers work with particular frameworks, consider the possibility of using them. Of course, you can hire Node JS developers for your project, but maybe, you can replace it by anything else?
• Make a detailed list of the features your project will have and the task it needs to resolve. Some tools are perfect for developing one-pagers, others – for large web-portals; still others – for social media apps, etc.
• Think of scalability. Make sure you’ll be able to change your product in the future, add new elements and features.
• Check the latest trends. Of course, there’s no need to follow all the trends blindly. But if you want to be competitive, you’ll have to keep up with the times.
• Care about security. Use the tools and technologies that proved their reliability and security.
• Be realistic about your skills and capabilities. Make sure your developers are skilled enough to use the chosen tools properly.
• Be rational. Don’t try to chase the hottest trends just because they are so popular. Often, it makes sense to opt for tried and tested tools.

Let us repeat the main thought once again: choosing a tech stack is not a problem when you understand what you need and why. We hope our basic recommendations will help you figure out your requirements and select the right tools.

Author’s bio

Kate Orekhova is a tech writer at Cleveroad. A writer by day and a reader at night, she’s keen on technology and innovations. Her passion is to tell people about the latest tech trends in the world of IT.