Top Tech Stacks 💻 to Consider for Your Software Project
If you are an absolute beginner, you will surely scratch your head while choosing the tech stack. Even when it was my first time developing a small software project, I went through the same issue.
Over the past two decades, there have been a lot of advancements in the software and web development industry. New programming languages, new frameworks, new tools, and many other technologies have emerged. This has resulted in the development of multiple tech stacks. So, it can be pretty tricky to pick the right one.
So, I thought of coming up with an article and helping new programmers in selecting the technology stack that best fits their project requirements.
Let me start with a brief introduction to what exactly a technology stack is.
What is a Technology Stack?
A technology stack also referred to as a development stack, is the ecosystem of various technologies required to develop and run applications or software projects. To put it simply, a tech stack is a combination of software services useful for application development.
Also sometimes referred to as a solutions stack or technology infrastructure, a tech stack generally combines programming languages, front-end tools, back-end tools, frameworks, and a database. Tech stacks have become more popular in web application development.
A tech stack has a front-end and back-end or client-side and server-side. The front-end technologies include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and UI frameworks and libraries. Meanwhile, the back-end technologies include back-end programming languages, operations systems, servers, and back-end frameworks. Some popular and commonly used back-end programming languages are Python, Java, PHP, JavaScript, C#, C++, and Go.
5 Best Trending Technology Stacks you can Consider for Your Next Software Project
Now, I will walk you through the best technology stacks available out there that you will require in your development process.
1. The LAMP Stack
LAMP is an acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. It is the backbone of many popular high-traffic websites, including Facebook, Tumblr, and Wikipedia. Besides, many popular content management platforms, including WordPress and Shopify, are powered by LAMP. It serves to be one of the most exceptional tech stacks for creating robust web applications.
Along with being stable, simple, and reliable, LAMP is capable of managing dynamic web pages that can incorporate new content on the fly.
The LAMP stack includes the following technologies:
- Linux: It is a free and open-source operating system popular among developers. With a huge community of developers and excellent documentation, Linux is a customizable operating system due to its open-source nature.
- Apache: It is a free and open-source HTTP web server compatible with various platforms, including Windows, Open VMS, and Unix-like systems. This fast, reliable, and secure web server has the capability to handle vast volumes of traffic coming to your website.
- MySQL: It is a free and open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). It is used to store data in a tabular format, i.e., in the form of rows and columns.
- PHP/Perl/Python: All of them are back-end programming languages. Basically, PHP is preferred in the LAMP stack. However, many times, developers also use Perl and Python.
The variants of the LAMP stack are WAMP and MAMP. Only the first component of both stacks is different; the rest are the same. In WAMP, W stands for Windows, and in MAMP, M stands for macOS.
2. The MEAN Stack
MEAN is a short form of MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js. It is considered a popular JavaScript web framework for building responsive websites. When you use the MEAN stack, the only programming language you need to learn is JavaScript. This is because all the technologies of this stack, except MongoDB, use JavaScript as their language.
Along with LAMP, MEAN is another widespread tech stack among developers. It powers two renowned streaming platforms, namely Netflix and YouTube. If you are familiar with JavaScript or excel in it, using the MEAN stack will definitely accelerate your development process.
The MEAN stack consists of the following components:
- MongoDB: It is an open-source NoSQL database that stores data in the form of JSON-like documents. It is a cross-platform and schemaless database that can store, manipulate, and process vast volumes of data. The best part is it is compatible with the cloud.
- Express.js: It is a free and open-source back-end framework that runs on top of Node.js. What it does is it takes JSON-like documents from the front-end framework (AngularJS) and processes them to get stored in the MongoDB database. URL routing and HTTP request handling are major features of Express.js.
- AngularJS: It is a free and open-source front-end web framework primarily used for creating single-page applications (SPAs). It follows the MVC (Model, View, Controller) architectural design pattern and simplifies the development and testing of web applications.
- Node.js: It is a back-end runtime environment for JavaScript that runs on top of the V8 JavaScript engine. It is an asynchronous and event-driven environment that allows you to use JavaScript for server-side scripting and develop command-line tools.
You can use this stack for creating applications of different types, such as new aggregation sites, expense-tracking applications, calendars, etc.
3. The MERN Stack
The next popular stack is MERN, which is a variant of the MEAN stack. It stands for MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. Instead of Angular.js in MEAN, the MERN stack uses React. Dropbox and Airbnb are two popular use cases of this tech stack.
Both MEAN and MERN stacks provide the same benefits. However, as React has a lower learning curve than AngularJS, you will find MERN easy to learn.
The following are the different components of the MERN stack:
- MongoDB: a database
- Express.js: a back-end web framework
- React: It is a free and open-source JavaScript-based library for creating user interfaces (UIs). The most interesting feature of React is that it provides virtual DOM, which makes it easy to manipulate elements on a web page. Also, it is a component-based library that encourages the reuse of components. Besides everything, it is simple and easy to learn.
- Node.js: a server
Use the MERN stack to create workflow management applications, social platforms, and news aggregation websites.
4. The MEVN Stack
Another variant of the MEAN stack is MEVN, which stands for MongoDB, Express.js, Vue.js, and Node.js. MEAN has AngularJS for A, and MERN has React for R; likewise, MEVN has Vue.js V. This is what is the primary difference between all three stacks: MEAN, MERN, and MEVN.
This stack powers many popular websites, including Alibaba, Behance, and GitLab.
The following are different technologies of the MEVN Stack:
- MongoDB: a database
- Express.js: a back-end web framework
- Vue.js: It is an open-source JavaScript front-end framework for creating single-page applications and user interfaces. It has a very low learning curve and allows you to add new features and functions to a project easily. It follows the model–view–viewmodel (MVVM) architectural design pattern.
- Node.js: a server
5. The Serverless Stack
Serverless stacks are cutting-edge stacks that let you build applications on the cloud infrastructure. They help you manage all your data within the cloud platform. Also, they provide all tools and services you need to develop applications, simplifying the management of infrastructure for you.
One of the most interesting things about serverless stacks is that they allow you to scale your applications overnight. Also, serverless computing is more cost effective than traditional stacks. This is because you only need to pay for the space that you use. You do not even have to worry about security.
AWS Lambda and Google Cloud are among the leading serverless platform providers.
Which Tech Stack Should You Use?
Now you know about the popular technology stack. You can figure out which stack is suitable for your project and fits your requirements.
I would recommend you choose the LAMP stack if you are a pro programmer and want to have flexibility in choosing the back-end programming language. Meanwhile, if you are an experienced JavaScript developer or well-versed in JavaScript, I would suggest you go with either of the MEAN, MERN, and MEVN stacks.
Using traditional stacks is always better if you want to uplift your skills.
Lastly, serverless stacks are beneficial both in terms of cost and management.
Conclusion
While choosing the tech stack, I always figure out the project requirements, understand what kind of hardware I need, and determine the type of back-end tools I need. Based on these aspects, I choose the tech stack for developing applications.
Another thing I would like to mention here is that try using different stacks, as you will get knowledge of different technologies. You get an opportunity to add new skills to your arsenal.
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