Choosing the Best Tech Stack for Developing Web Applications

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When it comes to web application development, it is fair enough to say that there is no multipurpose solution. The best tech stack for your project depends on several factors, including the project’s nature, budget, and team’s skill set.

Not to mention, there are multiple technologies to choose from, and it can be hard to know which ones will work best for your project. For example, if you’re building a simple website, you might work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

However, if you’re building a more complex web application, you’ll need a more robust tech stack. This includes a server-side language, a database, and a front-end framework. So, things get a bit confusing here when choosing a startup tech stack.

Well, no worries. To help you make the best decision for your project, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular tech stacks for web development. I’ll review each stack’s pros and cons and help you decide the best fit per your project requirements.

Let’s dig in.

Defining Tech Stack

Starting with the technology stack, it comprises databases, frameworks, operating systems, servers, and programming languages required to create a website or web application. It is usually a mixture of front-end and back-end technologies tailored to meet client and user-side requirements.

Although there are a variety of startup tech stacks you can choose from, the ones we shall be discussing here are LAMP, MEAN, MERN, MEVN, and Django. But before we dig into the details, here are a few things you should consider.

Choosing Technology Stack: Things to Consider

If you are a web applications development company, a part of your decision relies on your project’s nature, your team’s skill set, and your budget, do take the below-appended factors into account.

Identifying Your Needs

First and foremost, for successful web application development, you need to clearly understand the goals you intend to achieve through your product. You must know what your product is, what it will do, and its requirements to obtain desired results.

Conduct Market Research

Next, analyze your target audience, and identify your direct and indirect competitors. Moreover, take a moment to seek out unmet needs and consider them opportunities.

Assess the Viability of Your Product

Moreover, developing a prototype is always a good idea as it helps in assessing your product’s viability. Therefore, create a minimum viable product (MVP) and test it with your target audience to determine its utility.

Consider Scalability

Additionally, think about how you will accommodate more users without sacrificing quality or control as your product expands? What scaling solutions do different technology stacks provide?

Ensuring Security

Security is a major concern, and you should explore every possibility to ensure that your users’ data is not compromised.

Cost Comparison

Lastly, since tech stacks differ in terms of costs and resources, do compare them and choose the one that best suits your business needs.

Well, we are done with the prerequisites for now, so without further delay, here are some of the most preferred tech stacks.

LAMP

LAMP stands for Linux as an operating system, Apache as a server, MySQL as a database, and PHP, Perl, or Python as programming languages. It is a classic tech stack empowering reputed high-traffic websites such as Wikipedia, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Let’s have a look at each of LAMP’s components in detail.

Linux

Linux is an open-source platform and a preferred choice for many developers since it is free and offers extensive customization. The LAMP stack is built on the Linux operating system. On the contrary, Windows is a closed-source platform and comes with certain limitations.

Apache

Being used since the 90s, Apache is a cross-platform open-source server capable of handling vast volumes of data and traffic. On top of that, it is fast, reliable, and, most importantly, secure. Moreover, since it’s modular, it can be easily customized for enhanced performance.

MySQL

When it comes to organizing your data in rows and columns and presenting it in tabular form, MySQL is your best choice. It is an open-source, easy-to-use relational database management system capable of handling massive volumes of data. However, extensive databases might lower its performance and efficiency.

PHP

Offering enhanced compatibility, PHP is one of the most popular programming languages utilized in the LAMP stack. It comes packed with a wide array of libraries and frameworks, and on top of that is easy to learn.

Perl

Perl, on the other hand, is a bit tough for beginners to grasp because of its complex syntax. However, it is a powerful, high-level, interpreted, object-oriented dynamic programming language offering a wide range of use cases.

Python

Popular among many developers, Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. Known for its readability and comprehensibility, it can be used to create various programs.

Here are a couple of Pros & Cons of the LAMP stack.

Pros	Cons
Open-source Non-proprietary Extensive Support Highly flexible Easy to use and set up Cost-effective Many web hosts support MySQL & PHP	Limited scalability Not a preferred choice for large apps MySQL is not a good choice for high-performance applications Shared servers have a negative impact on performance

MEAN

MEAN stands for MongoDB as a database, Express.js as a framework for Node.js, Angular.js as a client-side framework, and Node.js as a server. It adheres to a three-tier stack pattern, which includes the display tier (Angular.js), the application tier (Express.js and Node.js), and the database tier (MongoDB).

Here is an explanation of each of MEAN’s components.

MongoDB

It is an open-source database used to store JSON documents that are created by Angular.js after being processed by Express.js. It offers cloud compatibility and can easily store large volumes of data as well as allow data exchange between client-side and server at faster rates.

Express.js

Running on top of Node.js server, Express.js is a lightweight back-end web development framework that can effectively handle URL routing and HTTP requests. It is responsible for receiving and processing JSON documents from the framework and storing them in the database.

Angular.js

Angular.js is a lightweight, open-source front-end framework allowing you to add metadata to your HTML tags. Using it, you can create dynamic and interactive web experiences. From form validation to establishing communication with back-end service, Angular.js has all you need from a front-end framework.

Node.js

It is an asynchronous event-driven open-source server environment that offers cross-platform compatibility. I can run effectively on Linux, Unix, Windows, and macOS, utilizing a JavaScript engine to execute JavaScript code outside a web browser.

Let’s have a look at the MEAN stack’s pros & cons.

Pros	Cons
Rapid development Based only on one programming language that is JavaScript Open-source Free to use Offers extensive customization Wide array of modules Model View Controller architecture Offers cloud compatibility Offers direct deployment of web applications to the server	JavaScript is a difficult and complex language Offers no testing suite For mobile application development NativeScript is required.

MERN & MEVN

Both MERN and MEVN are variants of MEAN, where MERN utilizes React as an additional component and MEVN uses Vue.js.

Let’s start with React and then move on to Vue.js.

React

Used as a front-end framework for MERN; React is an open-source, scalable, and fast JavaScript library. Although a bit slower, what makes React the preferred choice of many developers is its virtual DOM.

Why? Because manipulating elements on a web page becomes quite easier with it. In addition to this, React’s component-based library works like a charm when it comes to reusing code across different parts of the application. It is easy to learn, and if you are already familiar with JavaScript, you will master it in no time.

Vue.js

Based on Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architecture, Vue.js is a progressive framework that considerably simplifies integrating new features or functions into your projects. Its easy-to-read syntax makes it the preferred choice for many developers.

Django

If you are looking for a high-level web development framework that is easy to use and has a flexible architecture, Django is your best choice. In addition, it offers fast development with well-organized code; however, it can be a bit challenging to learn for beginners.

Although your preferences for the server and database might vary depending on your preferences. This tech stack will always have Django as a web framework and Python as a programming language.

For example, you could utilize Django as a web framework, Python as a programming language, Apache as a server, and MySQL as a database.

So, what are its pros and cons, you might wonder? Well, here you go.

Pros	Cons
Development is relatively faster Support for internalization Support for localization Extensive libraries MVC architecture	Difficult to learn There are no general coding conventions Variables and rules that must be learned prior to Django deployment

Conclusion

Overall, although all of these startup tech stacks offer versatile functionality having pros and cons of their own, by the end of the day what matters most is your project requirements. Once you streamline your goals, you can leverage any of these tech stacks per your requirements to meet the desired objectives.