How to Choose a Technology Stack for Web Application Development

What’s the most important thing to consider when you’re developing a top-notch web application? No doubt it’s the technology stack your app will be based upon. The choice of a relevant tech stack is particularly challenging for small businesses and startups, since they usually have limited budgets and, thus, need a technology stack that provides the most bang for the buck to get their projects off the ground.

The right tech stack is, to a great extent, the key to your project’s success, while the wrong choice of web development technologies may be a reason for failure. We’ve decided to give you a helping hand and reveal the criteria for choosing the most appropriate tech stack for your web application.

WHAT IS A TECHNOLOGY STACK FOR WEB DEVELOPMENT?

Before moving on to the criteria for choosing a modern web technology stack, you should clearly understand what comprises the process of web development.

Without going too deep into details, there are two sides to web development: the client-side and the server-side. The client-side is also called the front end. Server-side programming involves an application (and a backend programming language that powers it), a database, and the server itself.

Client-Side Programming

Client-side (i.e. front-end) web development involves everything users see on their screens. Here are the major front-end technology stack components:

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). HTML tells a browser how to display the content of web pages, while CSS styles that content. Bootstrap is a helpful framework for managing HTML and CSS.
JavaScript (JS). JS makes web pages interactive. There are many JavaScript libraries (such as jQuery, React.js, and Zepto.js) and frameworks (such as Angular, Vue, Backbone, and Ember) for faster and easier web development.
Server-Side Programming

The server side isn’t visible to users, but it powers the client side, just as a power station generates electricity for your house.

The challenge lies mainly in the choice of server-side technologies for developing your web application.

As for server-side programming languages, they are used to create the logic of websites and applications. Frameworks for programming languages offer lots of tools for simpler and faster coding. Let’s mention some of the popular programming languages and their major frameworks (in parentheses):

Ruby (Ruby on Rails)
Python (Django, Flask, Pylons)
PHP (Laravel)
Java (Spring)
Scala (Play)
Node.js, a JavaScript runtime, is also used for backend programming.

Your web application needs a place to store its data, and that’s what a database is used for. There are two types of databases: relational and non-relational (the latter being subdivided into several categories), each having its pros and cons. Here are the most common databases for web development:

MySQL (relational)
PostgreSQL (relational)
MongoDB (non-relational, document)
A web application needs a caching system to reduce the load on the database and to handle large amounts of traffic. Memcached and Redis are the most widespread caching systems.

Finally, a web application needs a server to handle requests from clients’ computers. There are two major players in this domain:

Apache
Nginx

To develop a web application, you need to select the server, database, programming language, framework, and front-end tools that you’re going to use. These web development technologies build on top of each other and are, in fact, collectively called a stack.

HOW NOT TO CHOOSE A WEB TECHNOLOGY STACK

Now that you have a general understanding of what a web technology stack is, we’d like to draw your attention to the common practices that entrepreneurs and startuppers follow when choosing the technologies for their projects.

Though these practices may sound reasonable, following them may botch up your whole project. So, what do businesses usually rely on when choosing a technology stack? Here are the most common practices that you should avoid:

Don’t Choose Based on Competitors’ Experiences

Learning from the experience of your competitors may be the right strategy, but not when you’re picking a technology stack. Remember that your project is unique and your ultimate goal is to beat your rival companies.

Therefore, how can you be sure that the tech stacks used by your competitors are truly suitable for your project? If you initially make the wrong choice, you’re likely to face the need to modernize your technology stack in the future, which isn’t cheap.

Don’t Choose Based on Personal Preferences

It’s possible to rely on your personal preferences when choosing a technology stack for a web application. However, there’s a pitfall: this approach works well only for people with a solid background in web development.

For example, if you have relevant experience in web development or if you’re a chief technology officer, your tech stack preferences may be totally correct. But if you don’t have in-depth knowledge of the web development process, this strategy might lead you to failure, as you are likely to pick the wrong components for your technology stack.

Don’t Choose Based on Previous Projects

No matter how successful your previous projects turned out, you fulfilled them in the past. The technology stack components you used at the time may be outdated now. Moreover, your projects aren’t the same: the tech stack you use for one project may be inappropriate for another.

Don’t Choose Based on Online Research

Today, the internet is full of surveys, comparisons, and other information that helps you select a technology stack for web applications. However, there’s a problem: you’re likely to come across sources that will express the exact opposite opinions, providing seemingly strong proofs. Which source should you believe?

Choosing a technology stack is all about practical experience. You can make the right choice only if you’ve applied some technologies and know-how well they work. If your knowledge is merely theoretical and based on online research, your chances of picking relevant technologies are very low.

Choosing a tech stack based on internet research only is like trying to fix your car after reading the manual but without having any practical skills. You may do it right, but more likely you’ll have to bear losses for the damage you’ll cause.