Tips to Choose the Best Tech Stack in 2023

If you’re a software engineer, you often hear the word “tech stack.” Tech stack sets the foundation for a beautiful website, web application, or mobile application. So, choosing the right technology stack is one of the keys to success in software or product development.

Moreover, the tech stack helps you to accomplish the goal you wish to fulfill. Lastly, the tech stack also ensures that you meet the quality standards and customer expectations. Therefore, knowing the basics of the tech stack and how to choose the right one is paramount.

This article will help you understand the basics of tech stack and provide fantastic tips to help you select the right tech stack. We’ll also discuss the factors you should consider when choosing a tech stack. So, let’s dive straight into the topic.

What is a tech stack?

Before going into the nitty-gritty of how to choose a good tech stack, having basic knowledge about what a tech stack means is paramount. So, a tech stack is a set of technologies used to design, develop, launch and run the software, be it a web, desktop, or mobile app.

It comprises programming languages, frameworks, databases, platforms, web servers, etc. So you can say all the components you use to develop a web or mobile app are a part of the tech stack. You can break down the tech stack into front-end, back-end, database, infrastructure, etc.

In software engineering, technology keeps evolving, so the tech stack you use today might not be helpful in a few years. Also, each project has its requirements and specific goals. Therefore, you must choose the correct tech stack based on all these factors.

According to Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022, Javascript is the most popular programming language, MySQL is the most popular database, AWS is the most popular cloud platform, and Node.js is the most popular web framework. It gives you an idea of the current market trend and which technologies are in demand when making up the technology stack.

However, choosing a tech stack is not only about combining the most popular technologies. It’s much more than that, which we’ll explore in the next section.

6 tips for choosing the best technology stack

1. Assess the size and complexity of the project

One of the first things you should consider while choosing a tech stack is the size and complexity of the project. Next, you should ask yourself whether the tech stack I’m choosing will get used for a small, medium, or large-scale project. Some of the technology you use for small or midsize projects won’t be useful for large projects.

Also, the project's complexity plays a massive role in determining the right tech stack. The more complex the project is, the more robust and high-level programming languages, databases, or frameworks you will require. So, choose your tech stack wisely by evaluating this aspect.

2. Analyze the required function, speed, and performance

Size and complexity, function, speed, and performance are vital factors in determining the technology stack. So, first, you need to understand what functions your product or application needs to perform. Then, once the requirements are ready, match them up with the programming language, database, framework, etc. It allows you to be on the right track for the tech stack.

When it comes to speed and performance, you have lots of data available about that, be it programming language, database, framework, or service capabilities. So carefully analyze them and also ask industry experts about which one will be the most suitable for your project. Then, based on these deep-dive analyses, you should be able to pick up the technologies.

3. Evaluate the load-bearing capabilities

All projects are different in size, complexity, and load processing requirements. Some require minimal load, while others require extensive load processing capabilities. If the project needs to process heavy loads, select a programming language, database, server, etc., with ample load-bearing capacity.

Sometimes, the application is simple, and minimal data processing is required. For that scenario, choose a programming language, server, or database with standard processing capabilities. So, select the technology stack that suits your project based on various techniques.

4. Give importance to flexibility and scalability

In today’s day and age of startups and product-based companies, evolutionary software architecture is the need of the art. For that purpose, having a technology stack that is flexible and scalable according to the user demand is exceptionally critical. In addition, you should keep one eye on the future of your product and how it will grow.

Based on that aspect, wisely choose the programming language, database, server, or framework that gives you flexibility and scaling capabilities. So, in the future, you don’t have to change the tech stack entirely. Also, it will help you keep your product relevant for a long time.

5. Take the qualifications of your development team into account

Choosing the best possible technology stack for your product is brilliant. However, that’s not the end of the story. You need a highly qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced team of developers that can work with your chosen tech stack. If that’s not the case, it will be a massive mismatch, leading to plenty of downtimes during the development stages.

To avoid that scenario, build a team of developers based on the tech stack you’ve planned or choose a tech stack based on the level of talent available in your firm. You could also consider outsourcing the project if you don’t have an in-house talent pool for a particular tech stack.

6. Check the current implementation of tech stack in successful products

Before finalizing your technology stack, find the successful brands or products using the same tech stack. It will give you a rough idea of how they have approached software or product development using a particular tech stack. It will also help you to know how they have tweaked their tech stack as the product grew exponentially.

For example, if you’re developing a social media application, you could analyze the tech stacks of Facebook and Twitter. It will give you an idea of the functionality required for the projects and which technology helped them accomplish that functionality. Based on this survey, you could also define a similar technology stack and increase the chances of success.

These were some tips you could follow when choosing a technology stack. However, some factors also affect the choice of the tech stack. The following section will highlight that aspect and provide you with a handy checklist.

6 factors you should consider while choosing a tech stack

1. Needs and resources: Each project has its needs and an allocation of resources. Within those limits, you have to choose the tech stack. So, once you decide on a particular tech stack, evaluate whether it fulfills all your needs and fits within the available resources.
2. Creating an MVP and testing it: Rather than using the tech stack to build a full-fledged application, you should focus on creating an MVP (minimum viable product). If MVP succeeds in the market, you will get business validation and confidence in the tech stack you’ve opted for.
3. Using ready-made solutions: Budget is also one of the core issues you must deal with as a business owner, especially if you’re a startup. Of course, choosing the best tech stack is good, but considering the budget, opting for ready-made solutions could also prove a handful.
4. Start with a simple tech stack: When launching a new product, use a minimal and straightforward tech stack. First, it helps you to establish a footprint in the market. Then, once the product gets validated and you’ve sufficient funds, you can revamp the entire tech stack.
5. Save on cloud hosting solutions: Nowadays, most enterprise solutions get hosted in cloud environments to become scalable and flexible. However, cloud costing can drain a significant portion of your budget if you don't have strategies. So, use cloud cost optimization strategies.
6. Keep an eye on the future: Selecting the best technologies for building a world-class solution is good. However, technologies keep evolving with time, and also your customers will change. So, always choose technologies that can serve you in your future course of action.

In a nutshell

Choosing a perfect technology stack is not a piece of cake. You need to consider many factors from business and technical perspectives. You also have to think about the future growth of your product and whether the current tech stack will match the future requirements.

We hope this article will help you find the best possible tech stack. We also hope you can build unique products or applications using the right tech stacks with the right tech stack.