Selecting the Right Technology Stack for Your Web Application

When embarking on the development of a digital product, whether it’s a mobile or web app, the most important consideration is the technology stack upon which it is built.

While the client’s main focus is that the application performs as designed, it would be remiss to simply assume that the technology choice is entirely the developer’s domain. The tech you select has a fundamental impact on the performance of the app, and equally, the type of app will have a direct effect on the technology selection. In fact, there is a direct correlation between choice of technology stack and success of the digital product—having an input into stack selection will ensure you achieve a more effective and fit-for-purpose app. What’s more, there are vast differences in cost between options, with some tools being licenced and others open source. Finally, one should also be looking past initial launch, since all apps require continuous support and maintenance. Having a hand in the decision-making process for the technology stack will ease the process of making future updates, even if you elect to change service providers later down the line.

We have explained the importance of selecting the right technology stack for your business but what exactly is a technology stack? Essentially, it is the sum of all the tools and frameworks used in the development of a software product. This encompasses the programming languages, frameworks, and tools used by developers when creating mobile and web applications. In web development, the technology stack involves the specific components which work together to create a functioning web application. There are two sides to the technology stack—client-side and server-side (also known as front-end and back-end), and each performs its own specific function. There is, of course, also a database which stores all the app data.

The client-side interface comprises everything the users see on their screens. This is everything involved in enabling the user to interact with the application. For web applications, these interactions occur in the browser, thanks to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. HTML defines the structure of the information presented in the browser, CSS determines the style of the application content, and JavaScript enables the interactivity of the web page in which the app is running. While Bootstrap’s HTML and CSS design templates dominate the front-end framework market, there are alternatives, such as Foundation. When it comes to JavaScript there is intense competition between Angular and React, whose reputations for high-performing, flexible frameworks are renowned. Vue.js, one of the top JavaScript frameworks, is another popular option which is replacing Angular and React in many cases. However, there is no substantial difference between them, and each of these libraries have their own benefits and drawbacks. It all comes down to the individual project you’re working on, and your individual requirements.

On the server—or back-end—side, we are talking about all the components which are invisible to the user. It is, in essence, like the engine driving the application—creating and implementing its business logic—using programming languages. The server side includes the operating system, web server, programming language, and web development framework. Frameworks for programming languages offer lots of tools for simpler and faster coding, the most popular of which are—Java with Spring, Ruby with Ruby on Rails, Python with Django, Flask or Pylons, and PHP with Laravel.

Often times, there is no need to select the individual back-end components. Rather, there are pre-built stacks where the components have been pre-selected to ensure the optimal development environment. The most common of these are Python and LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP), MEAN (MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, Node.js), and MERN (MongoDB, Express, React/Redux, and Node.js).

Finally, your web application needs a place to store its data, which is where the database comes in. There are, generally, two types of databases—relational and non-relational. Relational databases are based on a branch of algebraic set theory known as relational algebra which represents and stores data in tables and rows, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite3. Alternatively, non-relational databases store data in key-value format, in documents or by some other method without using tables like a relational database, examples of which being MongoDB, Apache CouchDB, or Cassandra.

Whether you settle on PHP, Python or Java for language, AngularJS, ReactJS, or Vue.JS for the front-end, node.js or Flask/ Django for the web framework, and MySQL, PostgreSQL or MongoDB for the database, deciding on the right stack is key to the success of your project. For the non-developer, however, this can all be very confusing, and can prove particularly challenging for small companies with smaller budgets and less internal expertise or support.

If you are in the market to develop a new web app, let us know what is important to you and our tech experts will gladly suggest the best technology stack to make it a reality.