Do you have a software project and feel unsure of the best approach? Or are you a project owner with little or no idea about the right technologies you can use for your software project?
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The most crucial first step in the project lifecycle and the best way to get started is selecting the right technology stack for web application development. Although this is not an easy fit, we’ll make it simple!
In this article, you’ll learn about Tech stacks, their uses, the essential factors to consider when developing a project, and how to choose a tech stack well-suited for your project.
So first off, what’s a tech stack?
What’s a Tech Stack?
A tech stack is a collection of programming languages, hardware tools, frameworks, 3D party software, and libraries used in tandem by software developers to build, run, and manage a specific software project. It could be a website, mobile app, game, data analysis project, or anything that needs to be scaled up to serve millions of users.
When building an app, operating system, web framework, database, and backend servers, you stack different technologies, including Python, JavaScript, React, Ruby, HTML, CSS, e.t.c., on top of one another to create a “tech stack.”
A technology stack consists of two layers; the client-side (front-end) and the server-side (back-end).
- Front-end
The front end is the graphical user interface that enables users to interact with an app or website. As a front-end developer, you are concerned with developing the client side of a software product.
- Back-end
Back-end refers to the back of the scene and is invisible to the users, consisting of programming languages, frameworks, servers, operating systems, APIs, and databases.
- Middleware
The middleware is not a development component. It only acts as a middleman that aids the communication between the front-end and back-end.
How to Choose a Tech Stack for Your Project
Your choice of tech stack determines the type of applications you can create, the level of customizations you can perform, and the resources you need to develop your app.
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So when choosing a tech stack, here are some factors to consider:
Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Tech Stack
- Project Requirement
When choosing a tech stack, you must consider the type of software product you intend to build. No two projects are the same. So when you replicate someone’s strategy and fail to properly analyze your project before choosing a tech stack, you will only experience financial loss and poor app or website performance.
Before selecting a tech stack, analyze the following:
- The complexity of your project
- The objectives you aim to achieve with it.
- The load requirements
- UI/UX goals
- Your marketing strategy.
- Financial Capacity
After highlighting your marketing strategy and product requirements, the next thing to consider is the cost and expenditure of your project. Do you have a limited or buoyant budget? How do you intend to keep your product running? To do so, you must first assess the tech stack’s popularity, maturity, and total cost of ownership (TCO), which comprises talent costs, license costs, and maintenance expenses.
- Scalability
A system is scalable if it can accommodate an increasing number of users and load while allowing for the expansion of functionality without having to be redesigned. If you intend to expand quickly, keep in mind that the tech stack you use should be scalable, as not all tech stacks can scale efficiently.
You can scale horizontally by adding more processing units to your server to handle more requests or vertically by adding new features to your software product to increase its capacity without breaking down.
- Security
The primary concern for every digital product is security. If you are building a product that stores user data, you must ensure you have strong authentication and authorization in place. Choose a tech stack with a strong reputation and the ability to withstand cyber attacks. Most technologies, like Node.js, have specific security requirements you can follow.
Bonus tip: To eliminate common security crises, run security checks on both the front-end and back-end aspects.
- Team Expertise and Maintenance
If you have a team, you should weigh your team’s expertise and use it as a basis to judge your choice of the tech stack. Developers usually have a better command of some programming languages and tools than others, so it all boils down to the skillfulness of your team.
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Top Software Development Stacks
Although no two projects are the same, developers frequently employ several technologies in tandem. You can save time and money by using tried-and-true tech stack approaches.
Nonetheless, choosing a tech stack starts with accepting and understanding the uniqueness of your project!
