How to Choose a Technology Stack for Web Applications?

Do you want to build a web application? Are you wondering how to choose the best technology stack for web development? This article explains it all!

There are many different factors that contribute to the success of a web application. One of the main ones is the technology stack for web development you choose. This article will help you make the right choice.

When it comes time to pick a technology stack for web development you can come away feeling overwhelmed and confused by the amount of options available. This article will help you choose the best option for your specific web application idea.

Do you want to build a next-generation web application but don’t know where to start? We’ve got you covered!

This article will describe the steps you need to take when deciding on what web application development technologies to use when creating your cutting-edge web application. This is a very important factor in the eventual success of your product. The technology you choose will influence many different aspects, like the ease of technical support, maintenance, and how difficult it will be to scale and keep up with consumer demand. This is not a choice to be taken lightly. Let’s get started!

Web Application: How it Works?

So what is a web application anyway? A web application is a piece of software that is web-based. They do not run on your device or rely on a physical server, and are hosted on the web. Web applications tend to be more complex than just simple websites. They typically have a comparable level of functionality and the same complexity as enterprise-level desktop applications.

Web applications are popular as it is quite cost-effective to have a basic prototype up and running quickly. The web-based nature of web applications also makes it easier to scale, as you do not need to purchase more and more servers to keep up with demand. Building a web application has never been easier. Let’s start by discussing some of the main components that make up a technology stack for your web app.

Web Application architecture

Main Components of Technology Stack for Web Development

The technology stack that is usually deployed for web development can be split into two groups:

1. Front-end technologies
2. Back-end technologies

Front-end Technologies

The “front-end” of a web application stack is what the user typically interacts with. It is the web interface, complete with web elements like search bars, navigation bars, headers, scroll bars, and text. The technology that supports these interfaces is typically HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. React and Angular are notable front-end frameworks to also keep in mind. These frameworks are exploding in popularity and support a lot of modern web applications that you see today.

Back-end Technologies

The “back-end” of web development stacks handle the logic and fetches the correct data to be displayed to a user. The back-end is also largely responsible for security. There are many databases out there that support large-scale applications. Popular examples include PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and newer entries like the “NoSQL” database MongoDB that is gaining popularity.

How front-end and back-end work together

Imagine using a credit card on a website to purchase something. You use the front-end interface to enter your credit card details and all other relevant information. When you click the “Confirm Purchase” the back-end technology stack comes into play. It is responsible for fetching that credit card data and handling the purchasing logic. If the purchase is successful the back-end will send a message or successful response code to the front-end. When the front-end receives this success code, they can display a “Your purchase was successful” message to the user. This is how the front and back end work together in a complete web app stack.

How to Choose the Best Technology Stack for Web Application Development?

So how do you go about selecting specific technologies for your software idea? The best place to start is by searching for what each technology does well. See how the leaders in the industry make use of a specific technology, and follow the best practices. A popular example is this blog post from Uber that explains why they swapped from PostgreSQL to MySQL and the circumstances that led to that decision.

Let’s discuss some of the biggest factors that could influence your decision to go with one technology over another.

1. Cost

How much will it cost to implement this technology? Will you have to pay for a license or is it an open-source technology? Many of the most popular databases are open-source and will cost you very little to implement. You also have to consider the cost of maintenance for the chosen technology. You can find case studies and developer blogs online that chronicle the process of adopting a particular technology.

2. Community and Support

Is there enough of a community in existence for your chosen technology? A larger community means more documentation, more StackOverflow questions and answers, along with conferences, training, and even certifications. For example, JavaScript is the most widely used programming language as stated by the 2020 StackOverflow Developer Survey, which means there will be a massive amount of support and content available for when developers get stuck on an issue.

3. Talent Pool

This is somewhat related to community and support, but I thought this point deserved its own section. Developers are notorious for staying at a particular company for short periods of time. For example, this blog post on HackerLife explains how software engineers in San Francisco typically spend an average of 3 years at each company. This means that if you have a software company, you’re going to need to constantly hire more developers to replace those who leave.

For this reason, you’ll want to select a tech development stack for your web application that has a robust talent pool behind it. It will make the task of finding talented software developers so much easier.

4. Security

When looking into a potential technology, make sure you take some time to analyze how secure it is. Some technologies will have a strong reputation for being secure and others will unfortunately not be fair as well. Thankfully software security is a hot topic and there are many resources that explain and compare the security levels of various technologies. This is very relevant to the database management system you choose for your application, as you may be storing user data and private credentials. Check out this extensive list of open-source and free database options provided by G2, one of the world’s largest tech marketplaces.

5. Future-proof

Technology moves fast. The longevity of a particular technology depends on a lot of factors. You will have to be careful to choose a modern web development stack that will still be in use for many years to come. You do not want to build your application from scratch, only to have to migrate to newer technology in a few years.

Keep these factors in mind when you are looking at the potential web application technology stacks. Let’s discuss the experience we’ve had with building web applications at Integrio Systems.

Our Web Application Experience

Here at Integrio Systems, we have created many web applications from scratch for our clients. For each project, we assess what technology would be the best fit, given the circumstances and needs of our clients. We have become experts at assessing the benefits and potential drawbacks of a given technology. You can learn more details of our work by checking out our case studies.

We’ve found that having expert-level developers and project managers in our corner is instrumental in assessing the validity of a proposed technology for building web applications. If you are a complete novice in front and back-end technologies and creating web apps, it might be worth consulting with a proven software development company that will be able to guide you towards the best technology stack for web development. For example, Integrio Systems is able to provide a quote for a project if given a sufficient level of detail, all you have to do is fill in this form!

Final Thoughts

We’ve covered a lot in this article along with how to select a technology stack for web applications. We’ve explained what web applications are. We’ve broken down the definitions of front-end and back-end technologies, along with providing some examples of each. We discussed some of the factors to keep in mind when choosing your technology like cost, community, and how future-proof the technology is.

We also touched on the benefits of having a proven expert in your corner, whether that’s a consultant or a proven web application company that can help you choose a web technology development stack.

Integrio Systems provides such a service, and getting started is easy! Simply fill out the contact form and we’ll get back to you with an estimate and the next steps you can take to ensure your web application is a success.