Efficient Technology Stack for Web Development: The Best Options Revealed

Last updated on October 28th, 2023 at 07:54 am

A proper web tech stack is key to the success of a whole project. It’s responsible for both bringing your product to life and its future sustainability, maintainability, and more. But before thinking over a tech stack, you have to take care of many other things. This article explains the correct approach to the choice of technologies.

Components of web development tech stack

First, let’s figure out what a web development stack is. It’s a set of tools used for development needs, like programming languages, APIs, and more. These tools are used by front-end and back-end developers.

Front-end Tech Stack

The front-end is responsible for the user interface and user experience. Some advanced frameworks expand the functionalities of basic technologies and boost the development process.

The main technologies used for front-end are:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • LESS

These technologies have a lot of frameworks that simplify programmers’ lives. For example, the most well-known CSS framework is Bootstrap.

JS also has frameworks to brag about. Developers use Angular, React, jQuery, Vue, and more while building front-end elements of the web page.

However, the front-end revolves not only around the frameworks. There are some serious programming languages.

CoffeeScript. A high-level programming language translated into Javascript. It allows writing less code, making it more understandable for developers.

TypeScript. Another JavaScript-based language. It was used to build Angular, one of the most popular front-end frameworks.

JS also has a range of tools for project assembling. WebPack, Grunt, and Gulp automate repeated processes like the compression of JS files, images, etc.

Back-end Tech Stack

The back-end is always hidden from users. They can’t interact with it directly, but the whole system depends on the back-end. For example, when you enter the password, the front-end is responsible for the appealing form, while the back-end processes the data you entered. Without a well-built business logic, anyone could access your private data.

Server, application, and database are the main concerns of the back-end. Let’s take a brief overview of each element.

  • Web server. The server is responsible for processing requests and returning requests in the form of web pages to users. Apache and Nginx are the most popular servers.
  • Databases. A structure that stores and processes all kinds of information passed by users and gathered by admins. Today, there’s a variety of databases available for developers. Most well-known are MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, and Firebase.
  • Storage. Cloud storage is used to keep large amounts of files and images. AWS S3 and Firebase Storage are the most reliable providers.
  • Web development frameworks. As well as the front-end, the back-end also has frameworks that simplify the logic development process. Yii2, Laravel, Symphony, and Nest.js are efficient frameworks for back-end web development.

After we’re clear with all the main parts of back-end development, we can proceed to complex web tech stacks. They include all the tools needed for an optimized web development process.

  • LAMP. This stack combines combine Linux as an OS, Apache as a server, MySQL for a database, and PHP or Perl as a back-end language. This stack allows deploying the web app faster, and it is flexible in terms of databases. Talking about the cons, it has low performance because of using the resources of the same server.
  • .NET. Not precisely a tech-stack, but a C# framework for back-end development and building desktop apps. ASP.NET MVC (a powerful development environment for dynamic web apps), MS SQL or MySQL (database), .NET Razor Engine (front-end).
  • Python-Django tech stack. Developers use Python alongside Django for server-side development. Django is good in terms of safety, and it has its own ORM layer. However, it’s somewhat slow and not suitable for small websites.
  • MEAN. Its abbreviation stands for MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node.js. Still, these technologies vary. For example, developers can use MySQL instead of MongoDB. It depends on project requirements. This tech stack is beloved by web developers during e-commerce projects.

These were the basics of front-end and back-end tech stack. Now, let’s move on to tips on choosing a web tech stack for your project.

7 Tips on Picking a Perfect Tech Stack for Web Application Development

The following tips will help you pick the right tech stack that won’t let you down during the development process.

1. Your Experience is in the First Place

That’s simple, use the skills you already have. If you have a team of .NET developers, use them to build a web app. Learning new technologies is great, but it is a time-consuming process. It’s better to build a web app based on previous experience with some technology. Thus, the development process will be held faster and cheaper.

2. Decide on the Requirements

Firstly, conduct market research. Define your target audience and think about how you can engage it. Then, decide on the project’s complexity. Maybe you need a simple landing page, or you will build an eCommerce website. Both of these web apps require different tech stacks. So, take care of this issue.

3. Scalability Matters

Your app should scale easily. Mind that you may have to add something to your software in the future. Besides, your web app should be stable under an increased load. Scalability can be achieved by using programming languages that have a lot of libraries and frameworks that make them more flexible. One of them is JavaScript.

4. Keep up With Trends

Technologies used in software development are changing in the blink of an eye. Even though we’ve discussed that it’s better to use technologies that you have experience with, still keep an eye on trends. If you use unpopular technologies, it’s hard to find support in some issues, because of the small community. Also, developers of some out-of-date programming languages and frameworks may stop supporting them. This factor may hurt the scalability of the project.

5. Make your Project Secure

Security issues can lead to serious troubles like data leaks. To protect yourself and your clients, you have to use technologies that have encryption, especially if you deal with payment processing. Consider every security issue that is possible because the success of your app heavily depends on safety.

6. Don’t Overestimate Your Skills

You have to make sure that your team knows how to operate with a chosen technology. Think ahead to prevent any troubles that you can meet during the development process. In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

7. Think About Expediency

If your team performs well with older, but still supported technologies, don’t force them to use the latest tech stacks. The pace of the software world is too fast. While your engineers will figure out the details of a new tech stack, it may already become irrelevant. It’s better to stick to a time-tested tech stack that will meet all of your requirements.

These are the main tips for choosing a tech stack. Still, it’s better to consult with a development company you’re going to work with.

Tech Stack of Popular Projects

In the final section of this article, we will go through examples of famous companies.

Uber

A company that offers clients to order taxis through the app. Drivers are connected with passengers via the network. Clients can monitor the location of their drivers in real time.

Slack

An internal messenger for companies that simplifies the communication between personnel. This app has a load of useful features like restricted conversations, integration with third parties (e.g., Google Calendar), and more.

Instagram

This social network allows users to share photos and videos. Users follow their friends to keep updated with their new pictures. It’s the second most visited social network, after Facebook.

Wrapping Up

The choice of a tech stack is a serious step during the development process. Following these tips, you’ll have more chances to succeed.

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