What Is A Tech Stack And Its Importance
What is Netflix’s Tech stack? Has LinkedIn changed their Tech stack? You must have heard people having such conversations. Everyone seems to be curious about techstack. But what’s the real buzz around this word? What is a tech stack and why is it important?
Our guide will help you understand everything about techstack.
Let us dive into it!
What Is A Tech Stack?
“In computing, a solution stack or software stack is a set of software subsystems or components needed to create a complete platform such that no additional software is needed to support applications. Applications are said to “run on” or “run on top of” the resulting platform.”
Source: Wikipedia
In short, a techstack is a combination of multiple tools, softwaand re, technologies used behind a product or a website. This includes web servers, operating systems, databases, programming language, frameworks, etc.
All this combined – is a techstack or a solution stack.
Why Is A Techstack So Important?
Now you know what is a techstack. But do you know that deciding on a techstack before you start a project is necessary for any development team?
But why so?
Techstack Determines The Scope Of The Project.
The scope of your application or product is dependent on what kind of techstack you use. It determines whether you’ll be able to scale in a particular area or not. Each techstack has its benefits as well as limitations. And hence, deciding upon a techstack becomes a crucial part before starting to code.
Techstack Influences Hiring Decisions.
Your techstack also determines the expertise you need to build your application. For example, your techstack includes javascript and CSS but you do not have a person who knows both in your team. Then you’ll have to hire such a person or lookout for some alternative that can suit your developer’s skillset. Hence, techstack has a great impact on hiring.
Knowing A Techstack Behind A Software/Application Is Insightful.
If developers would know a techstack behind a similar application (or competitor’s application) as theirs, it would change and better a lot of things for them. Right from hiring decisions to deciding upon scaling, integrating, and growing a particular product will change. And the process will be much better.
Categories Of A Modern Tech stack
Well, you got to know what is a tech stack. Now let us dive into another major fact – categories of a techstack. There are majorly two main categories of a techstack: Frontend and Backend. That is usually referred to as “Client-side” and “Server-side”. But that’ll be unfair to sum it up in that way. Old techstack(s) were simpler; like LAMP = Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) which was a standard-go-to solution for web apps.
But today, there is a plethora of resources; and newer platforms and tools are coming up every other day.
So options are plenty and flexible, but you have to play smart!
Here are some categories of a modern techstack –
Operating systems: There are various Operating systems and which one you choose depends on the application and device you’re building it for. For example – if you want to build a mobile app, you’ll be looking for iOS or Android and likewise.
Programming Languages: This will depend on which programming language you and your team are familiar with. Also, it will depend on how much flexibility you can be with your programming framework, too.
Web servers: Web servers are mostly pre-decided by the company owners while purchasing the domain. This will affect your application in terms of scalability and functionality. The better the server, the better you can scale the application.
Backend frameworks (Databases): This layer of the tech stack decides how efficiently you can store data, shoot queries, and fetch the data. This layer comprises all your data warehouses, relational and non-relational databases, etc.
Frontend Frameworks: This is a client-side functionality of the product. This is a combination of technologies that will enable you to provide a great user interface.
Business Intelligence (BI) Solutions: Today’s Business Intelligence tools can help a business take smarter decisions by gathering and analysing old and current data. Some of the examples are Tableau, Microsoft’s Power BI, etc.
APIs: APIs are nothing but integration mediums that let two applications/technologies talk with each other.
Martech OR Marketing Stack: Martech or Marketing stack includes tools and platforms that enable marketers to monitor and track the performance of the website/product. This data helps decision-makers to make better and smarter decisions for the organization.
Sales Stack: Sales stack is a combination of multiple software/tools that help organizations analyse user behaviour. Based on this data, businesses can make decisions in the respective buyer’s journey, leading to more sales.
Popular Techstacks
There are numerous tech stacks available today, but here are some popular ones –
LAMP
The LAMP tech stack is an acronym for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHS/Perl/Python. It is one of the most popular techstack for web applications. Developers prefer LAMP particularly if they’re using Linux operating system. However, Windows also goes well along with the other technologies in the LAMP stack.
MEAN
MEAN tech stack is short for MongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, and Node.js. It’s quite popular among software developers as this tech stack is all they need to code a product. MEAN stack is an end to end solution and is quick to implement.
MERN
MERN is the acronym for MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. It’s an alternative to the MEAN stack for developers who do not want to use Angular. This is also a popular choice of tech stack as it is highly interactive and easy to implement.
How To Choose The Correct Techstack
So far you have seen what is a techstack and why is it important. Now, let us see how to wisely choose a techstack before starting to develop your website/product.
Know Your Requirements
Understand your requirements beforehand so that you can plan your tech stack smartly. You should consider platforms, Operating systems, type of product, etc before deciding on your techstack.
Calculate Your Budget
Your budget would also affect the techstack you choose. You should choose a techstack that fits well with your budget as well as your project requirements.
Consider Future Growth
If you want to scale your product in the coming future, you should opt for a techstack that gives you the flexibility to do that. Every technology has its pros and cons. That’s why deciding on your techstack that will also suit your future plans is crucial.
Lookout On the Internet For Open Source Solutions
The developer community across the globe has evolved over the years. There are innumerable open-source resources available on the internet today. These resources are tested, trusted by the developers, and gives other developers credibility. Developer forums are also open to listening to questions and concerns. Thus, always look out for open source alternatives on the internet before going for huge applications that are heavy on your wallet.
Consider Your Team’s Expertise
You should consider your team’s skillset before deciding upon the techstack. It does not necessarily have to be according to the team’s expertise. But if you could utilise a maximum of their expertise, you would save a lot of money and time for hiring another resource. Another way is to train your team for new technologies in your tech stack.
Consider Breeze Tool
Breeze Web App gives you a clear picture of the techstack behind any website or software.
3 Steps to fetch a techstack behind a website –
Login to the Breeze web app.
Add a website inside your workspace.
Go to ‘Techstack’ on the left-hand side panel and click on fetch.
You will be able to get various types of technical details within a click such as –
Landing page builder, Web frameworks, Tools used in Marketing stack like Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, etc. and a lot more.
If you have any queries regarding Breeze Tool, feel free to contact us