TRENDING TECH STACKS

Before we build a software system or digital platform, we need to choose the right set of technologies and the right architecture. So, technology stack or “tech stacks” become important as there are many different tech stack options in the market.

The considerations are similar to choosing materials with which to construct your house. The strength, aesthetics and longevity shall depend on the materials used. Similarly, technology stacks for software construction are preferred based on type applications or simply based on familiarity and past experiences of the architect. There is no right or wrong. But, once the tech stack is chosen and architecture is right, it is how you optimize while coding that decides the performance of the system / platform.

The tech stack has an impact on the mobile or web application’s design, functionality and the ability to scale to cater to increased business volumes in future. If no built right, we could hear horror stories of poor response times, site crashing during heavy loads and/or information security related breaches. A right decision at the beginning can go long way in preventing future issues and heartburns. Infact, today’s customers to e-commerce and other platform are very discerning and also very demanding. So a wrong tech stack can make the site less attractive which shall ensure slow attrition of users and eventually kill the online business.

Definition of Tech Stack

A tech stack is a set of right tools, programming languages, and technologies that work together. These set of software components are used to build digital products or solutions such as web applications, software platforms and/or mobile applications. At the minimum, a tech stack consists of a frontend (client-side) and backend (server-side). The frontend and backend are complementary and work together to create a working system.

No two tech stacks are created equal. As we mentioned above, the stakes are high while choosing a tech stack. So, choosing of tech stacks by startups and small businesses can become a highly challenging exercise. Such small players have shoestring budget and resources and so choosing the right tech stack becomes highly crucial for success of their software programs and projects.

Frontend Tech Stack

The frontend tech stack is what provides the user experience. Good UI/Ux is the key. Frontend tech stack enables user interface design, use experience format, and navigation across the site.

Components are as below:

• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) – it displaying electronic documents or web pages and determine placement of content on a web page.
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) – It controls the format and layout of the web pages. It includes the font styles, sizes, layout, color, and other aspects of a web page.

Javascript make pages interactive and it allows implementation of dynamic features on web pages through its libraries (React, jQuery, and Ember) and frameworks (Angular.js, Ember.js, Vue.js).

Backend Tech Stack

The server-side development is essentially the backend tech stack. The backend stack includes the elements as below:

• Programming languages – This allows development of logic for apps and websites. Typically these connect the web to a database. Some examples are JavaScript, PHP, and Python
• Frameworks – This allows support of applications based on a single programming language. Laravel, Codeigniter, Django, Ruby on Rails are popular frameworks
• Servers – Backend servers manage the client requests. Apache, Nginx, and Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) are great examples of web servers.
• Databases – Acts as a repository and stores data (static data, dynamic data, text, images etc). MongoDB, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL, and MySQL are common databases.

All the above can be imagined as built on top of each other and thereby it is referred to as “tech stack”.

Popular Tech Stacks

1. MEAN Stack
MEAN Stack consists of:
• MongoDB (NoSQL database)
• Express.js backend web framework
• Angular.js frontend framework
• NodeJS open-source, cross-platform server

This stack helps create fast and highly efficient Apps. JSON (Javascript Object Notation) is used for data transmission and free module library access. Using MEAN stack we can build truly scalable software products which maybe websites and/or other interactive applications.
2. LAMP Stack
LAMP Stack consists of:
• Linux (operating system)
• Apache (HTTP server)
• MySQL (relational database management)
• PHP (programming language, other options are Perl or Python)

All these stack layers are free and open source. For web development, this stack delivers the best cost efficiency, flexibility, and performance.
3. MERN
MERN is same as MEAN except for change of Angular.js with React. The key benefits of using MERN are the React integration. We can codes on browsers and servers simultaneously. It has a powerful library and provides a solid full-stack development option. React is known for its flexibility and performance in developing interactive user interfaces.
4. MEVN
Another variation of MEAN is MEVN where we replace Angular.js with Vue.js as the frontend web framework. Vue.js incorporates the best features of Angular and React and is getting popular. Vue.js is easy to learn. It provides a clear programming style and enables superlative performance for web applications.