Can all software products be developed with the same technology stack? No, different projects have specific requirements that must be considered while deciding the best technology stack.
If you are leading an IT development project, you must choose a compatible programming language, libraries, frameworks, and various other tools for the end-to-end development of the project.
What is a Technology Stack?
Whether you are building a website, a web app, or a mobile app or optimizing any existing software solutions, you will need to access several programming tools and technologies. Combining all the technology tools required to complete a project constitutes its tech stacks.
Understanding the Main Components of the Technology Stack
The basic structure of the technology stack consists of three main components: the frontend, the backend, and the middleware. The front end is also called the client-side development, and the back end is popularly called the server-side development of the project.
The Frontend Tech Stack
The front end is the graphical user interface that allows web visitors to interact with the website or app. It offers accessibility and convenience to the users for performing several tasks online or offline.
There’s a massive list of technologies that can be used for developing content for web and mobile development projects. The three primary technologies deployed in designing the front end revolve around HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- HyperText Markup Language creates the structure for placing content in the web pages.
- CSS offers scope for consistently defining and applying styles on the webpages. It involves the use of the right fonts, colors, layout characteristics, background contents, etc.
- JavaScript is responsible for getting interactivity between the website and the users and helps add dynamic behavior to the site. The availability of various JavaScript libraries like Angular, React, Vue.js, and others helps to complete the project in less time.
Expert consultants can inspect project details to choose an ideal frontend technology stack. For example, Vue.js works well for developing progressive, lightweight websites. Similarly, AngularJS developers are suitable for developing enterprise and large-scale websites, single-page apps, etc. The latest web development tech stack mainly consists of various frontend and backend tools.
The Backend Tech Stack
The back end is responsible for the proper functioning of the application and responding to web visitors’ requests. It ensures adequate response to various user requests like accessing databases, performing initiated commands, CRUD operations, etc.
When you click on the option of log out, the application makes you log out and restricts all the other functions that require a user to be logged in. For example, Users cannot see their feeds on Facebook and Instagram when logged out of the apps.
PHP and Python are the leading backend programming languages and offer handy frameworks for quickly developing websites. Laravel, Symfony, and CodeIgniter are deployed for PHP-based server-side scripting. Similarly, you can use Django, Flask, CherryPy, and others for Python-based web app development projects. Choosing a tech stack consists of research across various available options.
Middleware
The middleware is part of the software code that integrates multiple systems for smooth communication among various parts of the applications. Although it is not an integral developer tool, it acts as a hidden layer connecting the client side with the server side of the web application.
5 Main Factors Involved in Choosing the Best Technology Stack
1.Defining the Project Requirements & Launching Platform
The research and analysis involved in designing the outcome of the project plays a pivotal role in choosing the latest web development tech stack. Unless you know what you are trying to create, who is the target audience and where you need to launch the application, you cannot choose the programming languages and development tools. Find answers to the following for choosing the right tech stack:
- Are you creating a web application or a mobile app?
- Which platforms will you launch the application into, Android or iOS operating system
- or various web browsers?
- Do you want to build a full-fledged app or an MVP?
Minimum viable products are good approaches for testing new ideas and gaining market insights into viability at an affordable budget. However, if the project is well-defined, you can go with custom software development.
2.What is the Required Scalability for the Software?
Try to find out how many users will be logged on to the application simultaneously and also during the peak season sales. The web app must be able to cater to the required numbers with glitch-free performance.
Based on the approximated numbers of user traffic and the rise in the number of users during different sales, developers can choose a scalable front and backend for the project. The right technologies offer both horizontal and vertical scaling for the software project.
3.Expertise in the Available Team
If you already have expert software developers, it is advisable to inspect their skills. For example, if you have access to JavaScript experts and are trying to build scalable web apps, you can choose React and Node.js for the development project.
For building highly scalable web apps, you should hire a dedicated Reactjs developer. With a robust ecosystem, React offers an optimum level of scalability and maintainability to the users.
However, if your team is well-versed in PHP, you could use Laravel for the backend development of the project. Aligning the team’s expertise with the right technology stacks can help you achieve favorable outcomes at an affordable budget.
4.Budget Considerations
It does not make sense to pick a technology without looking at the financial considerations of the project. The availability of several open-source technological tools makes it easier to choose among the latest web development tech stack for the project. Most JavaScript, Python, and PHP tools are completely open-source and 100% free.
5.Weigh Your Options
Thanks to stiff competition in the IT world, you do not suffer from the shortage of the right technological tools. The programming world offers various options for building your project with an optimum balance of scalability and functional features within a cost-effective budget. Following are some of the popular techstacks employed in different kinds of projects.
Full Stack Solutions
You can go with MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js) for building large-scale apps. MERN (MongoDB, Express.js, ReactJS, and Node.js) is ideal for developing modern web apps. LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) is a proven option for full-stack development solutions.
Ecommerce or CMS Solutions
Several ready-made CMS can be customized to match brand values for developing ecommerce projects. Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce are the most rapidly deployed technologies for building eCommerce solutions.
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Projects
For building AI-based applications, you must choose the Python programming language as it offers various open-source libraries. Other options for AI solutions are Java, JavaScript, Lisp, etc.
Enterprise Grade Solutions
Enterprise-grade apps are best developed using JavaScript and PHP programming languages as they offer a high level of scalability in the applications. Based on specific requirements, you can also integrate other languages into the project.
Cloud Computing Services
AWS, Microsoft Azure, and SaaS operating systems are popularly deployed for building highly accessible software solutions. These tech stacks help with smooth infrastructure and server management and also ensure a rapid development process.
Wrapping Up
That was all about choosing the best technology stack for the web app development projects. The focus is to determine your requirements and weigh them with the available technologies.
Additionally, you can inspect the tech stack of similar websites and apps to gain first-hand knowledge of suitable software technologies. This way, you can ensure the best choice for the custom software development project.
