Technology Stack for Web Application Development

Technology Stack for Web Application Development

Developing a software project or digitalizing your existing project are bound to succeed if the choice of the technology stack for web application development is thorough. However, before starting everything off, take care of all the preparation work required before the actual web development process. In simple language, you have a startup idea or you want to expand your business.

In this matter, you need to develop a web application. You have got your anticipation of how this app is supposed to function and what performance it should conduct. Thus, how do you make it work? That is what web technology stack is, the set of programming languages, tools, frameworks and software to help your project succeed.

What is a technology stack for web application development?

Our Intelvision team prefers to perceive web application stack as a sandwich. In other words, the combination of technologies for web application development you choose is like choosing ingredients for your sandwich. Make sure you wanna taste it! You should also bear in mind that the right web development stack has to be determined from the very beginning as changing that or another project is way more difficult after you have started developing it.

One could ask, “Why would you choose a few web development technologies instead of picking up just the single one?” The answer is simple.

The right combination of the proper technology stack for web application development enables you to achieve your business goals, as they supplement each other.

Components of Technology Stack for Web Application Development

Although there are different projects, which differ in nature, purpose and functionality, there are two broad categories of web application tech stack, which are client-side (front-end) and server-side (back-end).

Hence, with so many options to choose from, it is better to cooperate with professionals. They could help you define and choose those front-end and back-end web application development services that would fulfill your web application goals. The performance of your project will be optimized not only by the selection of the appropriate set tools and programming languages but also by analysis of all the aspects needed to be covered. This will help you develop your business on a daily basis. Our tech sandwich consists of layers that your web app can’t do without.

Client-side Development

The important layer of the tech stack for web development is front-end development. It is basically the exterior of your project, the fact that it can be found on a browser, the way users see it and make use of it. 

There are three main web stack technologies that belong to client-side programming: HTML, CSS and JS. HTML or Hypertext Markup Language is responsible for the way browsers display information and data. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the most creative part of it as it corresponds to the whole style of this information, which are fonts, colours, layouts and background. JavaScript (JS), in turn, is the most interactive tool as it defines how visitors use web applications. Moreover, this is a part when you can add up various animated components to web pages.

Front-end developers use their expertise and programming skills to create the most dynamic, functional and visually attractive web applications. The important thing about client-side programming is that modern developing companies include front-end processes in web app architecture and business logic is strongly influenced by them as well. Even though HTML, CSS and JS are considered traditional, the right combination of an experienced team and proper instruments may bring your web app to a new level.

There are also widespread frameworks that are used in terms of client-side programming. Our dedicated software development team mostly uses Angular 13 and React. Angular is innovative and gives an opportunity to carry out the best web app development. It is one of the best and top 10 frameworks in 2021. React is an open-source and free JS library. It builds interfaces on the basis of UI components. As it is open, it has a lot of community support and different plugins. Though they are similar, they serve different purposes depending on your project needs. Moreover, they work hand-in-hand with back-end technologies.

Server-side Development

Intelvision team is rather rigorous when picking a technology stack for web application development for our clients. Especially when it comes to server-side web app development. This server-side part of the development process is not visible for users but very crucial for web applications as it makes them run properly. This is like a secret ingredient for our sandwich.

Back-end development is comprehensive and consists in selecting a programming language to write a code, a database to store the data and a web server to process all the requests, and they all should align with an operating system. With back-end programming, web applications have logic, carry out the communication between all components and establish the interaction between a user’s inquiry and web pages. We have already mentioned about logic. Logic is reached by a code with the help of that or another programming language or framework.

There are different frameworks to choose from. We prefer to exploit Node.js and .NET. It is widely known that for the last few years there has been a drastic growth in the importance of creating web apps for your business ranging from entertainment and ending with those that change the banking or improve business processes. Node.js has definitely proven to be a perfect solution in most cases. Considering the experience of companies like Netflix, LinkedIn, Twitter, eBay and many others, we can surely say that Node.js is the framework you can build on and trust.

The .NET is another software platform that includes FCL and makes it possible for every programming language to use the code written in other languages. It is like a cross-platform when you need to make websites, consoles and apps run. This platform allows building web applications for such operating systems as Windows, Linux, iOS, macOS, Android and the like.

When speaking about database technologies, our Intelvision development team uses relational (MS SQL, Postgre SQL, My SQL, SQLite) and non-relational databases (ModngoDB, Azure Cosmos DB, Firebase, DynamoDB and Elasticsearch).

Nowadays, there is no service that does not ask for at least customers’ contact information. That is why the right database for your project is significant. In order to choose between relational and non-relational databases, you should clearly understand what your project goals are. The server pick is not that various as for databases. It comes down to the alternative between Nginx and Apache.

Pitfalls of Choosing a Technology Stack

As you could see, the web technology stack defines the reality and success of your project.  The important thing to remember is that you should take your time in order to make a proper decision as it may lead to some negative consequences in terms of time, money, human resources and outcomes. There are a number of underwater stones to be aware of. Let’s discuss what could possibly confuse you even if it seems reasonable to consider:

• Competitors’ projects. Remember it once and for all: even though there are successful web development technology stacks (which we are going to discuss later in this article), it does not mean it will work for your project. What is more, you could miss out a chance to create something better than already exists.
• Personal preferences. This point is more about web app developers, as it allows for being in touch with current trends. Make sure that the team, who is working on your projects, is well aware of the best software solutions when picking technologies, and not just using those they are familiar with.
• Google. No matter the issue, we all love googling stuff! No wonder why the initial research is conducted online. However, take into account that different sources provide you with different solutions, and you need to select the one that suits you the best.
• Earlier experience. This one is similar to the first point, and it also comes down to the fact that something that is suitable for one project does not necessarily work for another one.

What would Intelvision recommend? Contact us today, rely on your web development software partner and determine your business needs.

Criteria for Choosing a Tech Stack for web application development

In order to pick an appropriate web development technology stack for your web app, you should take into consideration a few important aspects. 

• First of all, it is timing. Every project has its time to market. So, it defines whether you have a long or short span for launching the app. This feature is especially important for startups and small businesses. Having determined this criterion, it is much easier to select the web development stack. For example, MEAN is probably the best stack for “urgent” projects.

• Secondly, it is the type and complexity of your project. In most cases, the bigger the business, the more complicated technologies it requires. That is why it is so important for you to define if your project should be regarded as small, medium-sized or large. For small projects, tech solutions could be using React and Node.js, for example, or just using React (everything depends on your project’s needs). However, more complex projects demand more scrupulous selection.  Medium-size projects are, for instance, e-commerce web apps.

For this matter, we would recommend you to use MEAN or MERN package (we will discuss them more in detail further in this article). While, for large projects, it is much better to choose some core technologies based on needed functions. Ready-to-use stacks are not appropriate for large-scale projects as there are too many aspects to consider. In this case, such technologies as Angular or React, for example, and .NET are regarded as core and one may combine them with other required tools, programming languages and features. 

Another important feature to consider is business expansion. Make sure you clearly foresee your project’s future and have a strong intention to scale it up, and choose the right technologies at the development stage. In terms of business expansion, Angular is at the top of all lists. 

Of course, you should not forget about money criteria and people factors. When speaking about money, there is no wonder that different projects have different needs of budget for further web app development. However, it is an essential component, without which the decision of the tech stack will be curved. The people factor is related to both your staff and third-party web developers. Everyone should have the same vision and availability in order to make things work and project succeed. 

Once you have found out all the needed criteria, you may start selecting more precisely the web application stack for your project.

Technology Stacks Behind Successful Web Projects

As we have already mentioned, the type of technologies stack you choose is not the sole decision to make. However, there are some common and winning sets of tools being at your disposal. There are a few popular web development stacks, which are the following:

• LAMP
• MERN
• MEAN
• MEVN

We have superficially mentioned some of them. Let’s look at them a bit closer. 

• LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, My SQL and PHP . It is one of the most secure, flexible and customizable stacks, that is why full-stack web developers do prefer this type for web apps.
• MERN is MongoDB, Expres.js, React (or Redux) and Node.js. It is a perfect match for responsive web applications.
• MEAN is an abbreviation for MongoDB, Express.js, Angular and Node.js. As you can see, the main difference from MERN is about the use of React or Angular. MEAN is mostly common for scalable projects and brings out their high performance.
• MEVN is another popular tech stack, which is different from MEAN in the use of Vue.js (not Angular.js as the MEAN stack allows for). If you are looking for some far-fetched solutions for your projects, MEVN should be definitely taken into consideration.

Moreover, there are various winning tech stacks for such platforms as Facebook, Slack, Netflix, Amazon and the like. 

Nevertheless, our Intelvision team would like to share with you one more successful project – Broadsoft. Our task was to develop web software for broadcast management.

The main idea of the project consisted in creating and using the proper tech logic. For this purpose, we selected the following web development technologies – .NET Core Web API, Angular 7, Identity server, SQL and EF. With the use of these technologies, we have reached such goals as:

• Improving existing functionality
• Implementing another logic to make the whole system work
• Fixing the problem of generating reports
• Creating the opportunity to store data and conduct analysis

The project lasted for 7 months, with a team of 2 full-stack developers, 1 business analyst, 1 QA and a project manager. As a result, our clients got custom reports, an established identity server integration that provides a higher level of security, the functionality for storing data, and the improved radio-analytical module we established campaign management for marketing purposes of the project.

The Bottom Line

Picking the appropriate web development technology stack for web development may easily define the future of your project. What is more, it demands a rigorous preparation process of analyzing criteria to choose the right technology stack. The best advice one could give in this matter is to recommend you to cooperate with people who are the best at software solutions and may help you put your ideas into practice.

If you are looking for a software development partner, which would line up your needs with web application technology stacks, Intelvision is there for you!