How to choose the best technology stack for your product???

Developing a product in today’s world is very easy and a fast process but most complex step is in deciding the right technology for your product. There are four important pillars in the web application development:-

1. UI/UX or Front End Development
2. Backend Development
3. Databases
4. Servers

Let’s discuss about the prominent amongst them:-

1. Backend or the Server- side Application : It is a combination of server, an application (written in Programming language like Python, Php, Node.js, Java, etc in the their respective frameworks) and a database.
2. Frontend Development or the Client/user side : It allows the interaction of the client with the application. We also call it as UI/UX(user interface/user experience) side. Whatever a client can see and use in the application is basically a Front End.

Front End technologies:

Languages used for Front End Designing and Styling:-

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) & Javascript :

HTML tells a browser how to display the content of web pages while CSS styles that content. Javascript makes the web pages interactive on the client side. And now you can even use Javascript on Server side as well.

Framework for Styling :-

Bootstrap — It is a very helpful and opensource framework for managing HTML and CSS. It contains HTML- and CSS-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation and other interface components, as well as optional JavaScript extensions.

Other Front End Frameworks :-

1. AngularJS — It has a built-in code optimiser and a perfect choice where easy code integration and fast web/app development are essential. Best for developing single-page web applications and cross-platform mobile apps.
2. VueJS- It is a javascript framework used for single page applications and building user interfaces. Its perfect for dynamic and large-scale projects.

Libraries used:

1. ReactJS — ReactJs is a javascript library used for buildin user interfaces. It’s a great choice if you want to create any kind of web applications or platforms that require a very responsive UI. It is used by Facebook, Reddit, Netflix.

Back end Technologies:

As stated above, backend technologies includes web app, database and server side. Prominent technologies used for backend are:-

1. Ruby (Ruby on Rails) — It is great for any kind of application from basic web pages to high-traffic web portals but requires more server capacity.

Used by Airbnb, Basecamp, Shopify, Twitch, Zendesk.

2. Python (Django, Flask, Pylons) — It is a fast, clean, secure and scalable framework for rapid development and comes with its own lightweight server.

Used by Discus, Mozilla, National Geographic, Instagram.

3. PHP (Laravel) — Laravel attempts to ease the development tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions, and caching.

Used by Sragy, Fox47.com, startups.co.

4 .NET — It allows developing any type of web app fast and makes it easy to add live communication features and APIs.

Used by Xbox.com, Microsoft, Stack Overflow.

5. Node.js — Allows optimizing code on high-performance, complex and data-intensive real-time apps.

Used by Sarvadhikar.com

Mostly used Databases:

1. MongoDB — It is a NoSQL database program for storing large volumes of unstructured data.
2. MySql — This is widely used nowadays. It is highly scalable, easy to set up, cloud-ready and platform independent.

Mostly used Servers:

1. Apache — It is a open source web server and it is fast, safe and reliable.

2. Nginx — In addition to its HTTP server capabilities, it can also function as a proxy server for email (IMAP, POP3, and SMTP) and a reverse proxy and load balancer for HTTP, TCP, and UDP servers.

Now that you know about the basic layers of technology stacks, you need to choose the right ones for your project!

Here are some factors to be considered before selecting the stack :

1. Project Size and complexity:

Based on the project complexity and functionality, a project can be divided into 3 categories.

• Small projects : If the project is a small one, and you need to deliver it within a strict deadline, then simple technologies like CMS or Wordpress can be used.
• Mid-range projects : large eCommerce stores, government, financial, and enterprise projects usually require a framework and a combination of programming languages and developers need to integrate across multiple platforms.

In such cases, Java and C# are the commonly used programming languages.

• Complex projects : is where the developers have to create web apps with several functions. Here too, they will be working with several programming languages and making use of different web technologies. Such projects would include social networks, huge e-commerce marketplaces, etc.

2. Product goals

• Scalability : How the technologies you choose handle exponential user growth rate and the addition of new functions? The future growth of the project could be done horizontally and vertically.You can scale vertically by adding more powerful hardware, and horizontally by distributing the web app across more servers and databases.
• Maintainability : An app is easy to maintain, in the long run, if it has a good architecture from the start and has optimized code. Any unresolved issues will reappear later and cause problems. A way around it is adding a testing framework to your stack, such as Selenium, Jasmine or Karma.
• Security : The Internet is not a safe place and you should think of protecting your’s and your user’s data from the risk of hacking. Although no technology is 100% secure, but some provide better security than others E.g., Django, Laravel, RoR, Flask.

3. Developer’s knowledge base and cost of Development

You need to do a detailed analysis of the skills and expertise of your developers as the job is not finished after selecting the stacks. The developers are the one who have to write the codes to develop the project and maintain the app even after it’s launch.

You need to weigh the cost for the development very carefully. Before selecting the stacks, you need to see whether it’s free of cost or you need to subscribe and get a licence for it. The infrastructure cost, the developer’s cost need to be taken into consideration.

If cutting the cost is a major aspect then open-source and free technologies will give you high-quality results. The best thing about open-source technology is that it usually has a large pool of contributors constantly updating it and fixing bugs and you don’t need to update the licence.

4. Time To Market (TTM)

Planning a date for the product launch and finishing product on time is a challenge.Developing and releasing them in a short time frame is the only way you can get ahead of your competitors. So how to reduce this TTM?

• You can use frameworks like Ruby on Rails or Express which allows you to reduce TTM since they give you access to libraries that help with the development process.
• Third-party solutions help add functionality, that you don’t have to write from scratch.
• Well documented technology, such as PHP, means there will be less issues when developing certain functionality.
• Choosing a popular technology also saves time on finding developers with appropriate expertise.

Conclusion

The study of the technologies that are mostly being used in the industry today and the factors to be kept in mind before selecting a technology will help you take the right decision. As the achievement of your project will depend on the right technologies you select for your web/mobile application. But keep in mind, before choosing the right technologies, the most important aspect is to understand your project goal and purpose.

If you want to know more about technologies or want to develop your customized product with the help of latest technologies, mail us at contact@plebiscite.in or visit us at https://plebiscite.in/