Tech stack or technology stack is a term that many of us are familiar with but never understand what exactly they are used for.
A Tech Stack is a blend of programming language, libraries, frameworks, software, servers, and UI/UX solutions used by application developers to build and power up a mobile or a web application. In an era where businesses are moving towards digitization, the tech stack is gaining importance for simplifying and improving business operations.
In terms of structure, the tech stack has two elements: frontend or client-side and backend or server-side.
Let's dive into it and find out the main components of the tech stack and its benefit.
What is a Tech Stack Frontend?
The frontend of tech stack allows for the interaction between the server-side and the user. The frontend technologies are the ones that are responsible for what the users see on their screens. Its development provides optimization, configuration, and operation of all the interface elements.
What is a Tech Stack Backend?
The backend of a tech stack is the part of the application which is not visible to the end-user. The backend is responsible for storing and managing data. This end is also responsible for facilitating the front end.
Technologies included in Frontend and Backend of a Tech Stack
Some of the frontend technologies include; JavaScript, CSS, HTML/HTML5 and UI-frameworks. The backend technologies include; Programming languages, Databases, frameworks built over programming languages, Web servers, Operating systems, and Cloud infrastructures and services. When the two ends are combined, they develop a stack.
When you have a well-developed tech stack, it will ensure that the work is done efficiently. However, for the tech stack to be effective for your business, you should make sure that you pick out the tech stack that meets your requirement.
Now let us look at what you might want to consider when investing in a tech stack. Also, its benefits to your business and how to choose the tech stack that works best for you.
Does Your Business Need a Tech Stack?
Every business has its growth objectives. To achieve these objectives, a company needs a well-selected tech stack. The tech stack will provide tools that make it easy for an organization to improve operations and gain a significant market share.
Suppose you want to grow your business and improve your organization's profitability. In that case, you should have a tech stack that is picked out with the organization's needs in mind.
What Kind of Tools Can Tech Stack Offers for Organizations
Before we look into the benefits of tech stack, it is worth knowing that an adequately designed technology stack will offer you many organizational tools, which include;
5 Benefits of Having Tech Stack in Your Business
Let's look at some of the benefits that tech stacks can provide businesses to run their operations smoothly:
1. Data Security
You don't want a data breach in your business or organization. A well-designed data ecosystem sees to it. Your tech stack should also be designed to manage and analyze data for you.
2. Fast and Efficient Operations
For any company, one of the main concerns should be the efficiency and speed of operations. Therefore, having a good tech stack will improve the speed of your operations. For instance, a tech stack that automates processes will make the tasks simpler and error-free, which will result in better efficiency of the operations.
3. Allows for Intuitive Marketing Option
A well-developed tech stack can help a company to get customer insights through intuitive marketing principles. In addition, it can assist in collecting and analyzing data that can help companies know what their consumers want and their goals without making them distracted and irritated.
So, the tech stack can help companies target the right customers and offer customized products and services. This way, companies can increase sales and build long-term relationships with their consumers.
4. Employee Motivation
High employee turnover is the main challenge that many employers face daily. When a job is challenging, employees tend to lose interest. A good tech stack makes the employees' work more manageable, and it also improves their productivity, which keeps them motivated.
5. Offers a Competitive Edge
It has become challenging for new businesses to compete and for established companies to retain their market share. Having the right tech stack will offer you a competitive edge and increase the chances of gaining a significant market share.
11 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Tech Stack for Your Business
1. Stage of your Business
The technology stack plays a vital role at each stage of the business. Each step requires different solutions; for instance, when a company starts, the primary goal would be to launch the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) fast. Therefore, any tool, language, or framework that will allow you to create a working prototype in a short time will be ideal.
2. Project Features and Requirements
When a company is developing a tech stack, it should consider the purpose and size of the project. The larger the project, the more complex the tech stack would be. However, you should avoid loading a project with technologies that are not required. Only those technologies that are required to carry out a task should be included.
3. Resources and Experience
When choosing a tech stack, you need to think of your technical capability. Therefore, before you pick any technology, you need to know all about it and the functions it can perform.
It is advisable to choose the technology that you are confident about. You should also choose one that you and your team have experience with. The previous knowledge of any technology will save time and effort.
Secondly, you need to think about the available resources for implementing your project. Choose a collection of technologies that are affordable and within your budget.
4. Architecture Scalability
The application's architecture should be scalable. Scalability is the primary element of whether the application can handle the number of technologies added to it. Scalability is in two categories; vertical and horizontal.
Vertical scalability refers to adding new features to the application, while horizontal scalability refers to the application's ability to work on different gadgets. For good scalability, strong coding is the key.
5. Maintenance Requirements
For an application to work effectively, it should be regularly maintained. The maintenance of the application is dependent on the architecture and codebase. The app should be easy to maintain even after you scale.
6. Data Security and Management
The users using applications are always concerned about the safety of their data. So, it is crucial to choose technologies that offer data security features when developing tech stacks. This is especially important for applications handling online payments.
7. Development Speed
The project development speed is also a factor that you should consider. Suppose an application needs to be developed within a short time, then it is best is to choose a ready-to-use tech stack. Ready-made solutions reduce the development time by offering third-party integration.
8. Time to Market (TTM)
Time to market is also an important factor, especially for startups. The faster a company can develop and launch an application, the more likely it will get exposure and a higher chance to capture the market. So you should optimize your development and marketing process to have a better impact.
9. Third-party Integration
When choosing a tech stack, you should ensure that it supports third-party integration. This will allow you to integrate it into the features you need for mobile applications or the web.
10. Developer Availability
To create a great web application, you need an experienced team. In addition, the developers you choose should be comfortable in using the tools you pick out.
11. Testing
Before you decide to finalize the tech stack, you should run a test on your chosen platform. The tech stack you choose should be easy to use; you should be able to change features and fix bugs within a short time.
Top Four Trending Tech Stacks
There are so many tech stacks in the market that choosing one can be challenging. Here are some of the top trending tech stacks
1. MEAN Stack
MEAN (MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node ) stack is an end-to-end JavaScript. This stack supports one language across the application on both the client and server-side. All its technologies are open source and free.
2. MERN Stack
MERN stack is similar to MEAN but uses React. React uses JSX, which enables smooth component work. React is a popular framework used in developing high-end, single-page applications.
3. MEVN Stack
MEVN stack uses Vue as a frontend framework. As a result, this is a lightweight solution when compared to Angular. Vue.js combines the best features of React and Angular to improve performance with a few sets of tools.
4. LAMP Stack
The LAMP is a classical stack common in the delivery of web applications. It is a favorite among many developers because of its simplicity, stability, and power.
Final Word
Note that you will need to update your tech stack from time to time. So be on the lookout for better versions of your tech stack and new products based on their performance.
