Best Tech Stack for Web App Development in 2024

In the ever-evolving landscape of web development, the tech stack you deploy isn’t just about coding — it’s about carving a path to success, as an ideal tech stack is creating digital experiences that users relish.

Research by Stanford University proves that as much as 75% of users judge a company’s credibility based on its web page design, and as much as 40% of visitors will leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load, shares BrowserStack.

Fively, as one of the leaders in custom software development and testing, always integrates the latest and most efficacious technologies into our bespoke solutions. Drawing from our vast experience and industry insights, we’ve curated this comprehensive guide to assist you in selecting among the most popular tech stacks in 2024 and choosing the optimal one for your web applications.

Journey with us as we unveil the tapestry of choices that can elevate your web presence!

What Is a Technology Stack?

As we explained in our recent article on the best tech stack for startups, the technology stack is the spinal column of your web application, an amalgamation of all software tools and technologies chosen to design, construct, and power your digital platform. Each segment of the tech stack performs its pivotal function, ensuring the web application resonates with efficiency, speed, and reliability.

Let’s delve deeper into its intricacies and vital components.

1. Front-end Tech Stack

This side of web development is what users interact with directly. It includes everything that users experience visually on the webpage: text, colors, styles, images, graphs, and more. Typically made up of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/TypeScript, with frameworks like React or Vue.js enhancing interactivity.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language):

Think of HTML as the structural framework of a house. It’s a foundational markup language employed to design and exhibit digital documents, essentially shaping and positioning content on a webpage.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets):

CSS is like the paint, wallpaper, and interior decor of that house. It dictates the aesthetics of a webpage, encompassing elements like fonts, colors, layouts, and more. For enhanced dynamism and manageability, developers often turn to frameworks such as SASS and LESS, and methodologies like BEM (Block Element Modifier) for maintainability. Emphasizing responsive design through CSS ensures your web applications are mobile-friendly and accessible across all devices.

JavaScript: 

This is the electricity and automation system of the house, bringing it to life. It’s a pivotal programming language that breathes interactivity into web pages. With tools and frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue, developers can craft rich, dynamic web experiences. Additionally, TypeScript is becoming the preferred choice for many, offering a more structured approach than traditional JavaScript.

Frameworks and Libraries:

React.js:

This library has become a standard for building interactive UIs. For more advanced applications, integrating React with frameworks like Next.js enables features like server-side rendering and static site generation, enhancing performance and SEO.

Vue.js and Angular:

These frameworks offer comprehensive solutions for building scalable and reactive web applications. The choice between them should depend on your project’s specific needs and your team’s familiarity with the framework.

Performance and Optimization:

With the increasing importance of site speed and user experience, optimizing your front-end stack for performance is critical. This includes minimizing load times, efficient rendering, and responsive design.

2. Back-end Tech Stack

The underpinnings of a web application lie in its backend, often referred to as the server side of the tech stack. It’s analogous to the backstage crew in a theater performance. While they might remain out of sight, their pivotal roles ensure the show runs without a hitch.

Key components of the backend stack include:

• Programming Languages: These form the essence of the logical operations for websites and apps, bridging the gap between the user interface and the database. Notable examples:

JavaScript (Node.js):

Continues to be a popular choice due to its non-blocking, event-driven architecture ideal for real-time applications.

Python:

Known for its simplicity and readability, Python is widely used, particularly with frameworks like Django and Flask that speed up development.

C#:

Often overlooked, C# in combination with .NET Core is a powerful option for building modern, scalable web applications.

Frameworks:

Frameworks play a crucial role in standardizing the development process. They provide a structure for building web applications and handling common tasks. Some top-tier examples:

 Node.js:

It’s not just a runtime environment but also acts as a framework for building scalable server-side applications.

Django and Flask (Python):

These frameworks are known for their “batteries-included” approach (Django) and simplicity and flexibility (Flask).

.NET Core (C#):

A versatile and high-performance framework that can be used for building a variety of applications.

Web Servers:

Think of these as the gatekeepers, orchestrating and managing requests from clients. Industry stalwarts in this space include:

Nginx and Apache:

Remain the giants in this space, widely used for their robustness, flexibility, and active community support.
IIS (Microsoft’s Internet Information Services): A comprehensive option for those in the Microsoft ecosystem, especially with .NET-based applications.

Databases:

The choice between SQL (like PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (like MongoDB) databases depends on the specific requirements of your application.

SQL Databases:

Ideal for applications requiring strong data integrity and complex queries.

NoSQL Databases:

Offer more flexibility and are better suited for applications with large amounts of data and scalability requirements.
Plus, apart from the front-end and the back-end layers of the app, developers use various tools to host the app in the cloud and do all the needed integrations, test the app to eliminate all the bugs, and effectively manage the software project.

Software Development Tech Stacks:

As we stand in 2023, several technology stacks are at the forefront of the tech scene. Here’s a deep dive into some of the most common and popular tech stacks, complete with their advantages and disadvantages:

LEMP Tech Stack

A modern iteration in web development, LEMP is acclaimed for its high performance and efficiency, particularly favored for handling high-traffic websites.

• Combining Linux, Nginx, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python, LEMP is open-source, efficient in resource usage, and provides a flexible environment for developers, especially with Nginx’s capability to handle high concurrent loads.

• It may present challenges in ultra-scalable environments, and transitioning to Nginx from Apache could involve a learning curve due to different configurations.

Example: High-performance web applications and content management systems, similar to WordPress, can effectively utilize the LEMP stack for enhanced concurrency handling and efficiency.

MEAN Tech Stack

MEAN, with its comprehensive suite of tools, presents an appealing proposition for those vested in the JavaScript ecosystem.

• An acronym for MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js, MEAN embodies JavaScript cohesion. It champions uniformity in language and data exchange, and flaunts formidable performance credentials.

• AngularJS, while powerful, often intimidates newcomers due to its intricate learning trajectory. Also, it might stutter for compute-intensive backends.

Example: LinkedIn, the networking behemoth, harnesses the MEAN stack for its unique capabilities.

MERN Tech Stack

A sibling to MEAN, MERN is a popular tech stack, which primary distinction lies in swapping Angular.js for React.

• Mimicking MEAN but with ReactJS at its heart, MERN basks in React’s modular, component-centric architecture. This often results in enhanced flexibility and a gentler learning slope compared to Angular.

• Like MEAN, it grapples with the limitations intrinsic to compute-heavy backend activities.

Example: Airbnb, a titan in the travel industry, leans on the MERN stack for its web platform.

PERN Tech Stack

PERN stands for PostgreSQL, Express.js, React, and Node.js. Essentially, it’s a MERN stack that employs PostgreSQL as its relational database.

• Embraces the power of React for the front end, coupled with the reliability of PostgreSQL, a well-known RDBMS. Seamless JavaScript integration across the stack.

• Like MERN, it could have limitations in compute-heavy backends.

Example: Many growing startups have begun adopting the PERN stack due to its scalability and efficiency.

Python

Python’s meteoric rise in the tech stratosphere is credited to its potent features and extensive applicability, especially in AI and data realms.

• Python’s immaculate syntax harmonizes with its vast libraries, especially in AI, machine learning, and data sciences. Its versatility spans web development, automation, and beyond. Plus, Python frameworks facilitate rapid development. Django, for example, is known for its “batteries-included” approach.

• Being interpreted, Python may lag behind some compiled peers in speed. Mobile development isn’t its strongest suit.

Example: Spotify, the music streaming juggernaut, taps into Python for various backend services and data analytics. Instagram, although acquired by Facebook, still uses Python extensively for its backend.

ASP.NET/.NET Core Tech Stack

ASP.NET/.NET Core is a versatile and high-performance web development framework from Microsoft, known for its robustness in building enterprise-level applications.

• ASP.NET/.NET Core excels in creating secure, scalable, and modern web applications. It supports multiple programming languages and platforms, offering a comprehensive ecosystem with extensive libraries and community support.

• Its complexity and steeper learning curve can be challenging for beginners. Being a Microsoft technology, it may not be the preferred choice for those inclined towards open-source platforms.

Example: ASP.NET/.NET Core is widely used in enterprise environments for developing complex web applications, such as online banking systems and large-scale e-commerce sites.

Serverless (Jamstack Tech Stack)

Jamstack, another popular tech stack nowadays, isn’t strictly “serverless”, but it promotes decoupling the frontend from the backend. In most cases, it stands for JavaScript and its frameworks, APIs, and Markup.

• Enhanced performance, higher security, and cheaper scaling. Can be combined with headless CMS and serverless functions for dynamic capabilities.

• May not be suitable for apps requiring real-time functionalities.

Example: Netlify, a cloud computing company, is a fervent advocate and user of the Jamstack architecture. Smashing Magazine has also transitioned to this tech stack, benefiting from its efficiency, speed, and security.

Flutter

Developed by Google, Flutter is an open-source UI software development toolkit for creating natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase.

• Offers a rich set of fully customizable widgets to create complex UIs. Uses Dart language, which is easy to grasp for JavaScript or Java developers. The “Hot reload” feature speeds up development.

• Flutter’s ecosystem isn’t as mature as React Native’s. Dart, though powerful, is not as widely adopted as other languages.

Example: Google Ads uses Flutter for its mobile app. Alongside Google Ads, the popular e-commerce platform Alibaba has also integrated Flutter into their application, allowing them to craft high-performance, visually appealing interfaces with ease.

Microservices Architecture

Microservices architecture is a design approach where an application is structured as a collection of loosely coupled services, which are fine-grained and functionally independent.

• This architecture is known for enhancing scalability and flexibility, particularly in cloud environments, by enabling independent deployment and scaling of different parts of an application.

• Managing a system comprised of various independent services can be more complex than a monolithic architecture, especially in terms of inter-service communication and data management.

Spring Boot:

A popular Java-based framework used for building microservices. It simplifies the development process by providing a range of tools and libraries.
Netflix OSS: A suite of services and tools from Netflix, designed to manage microservices effectively. Notable tools include Eureka for service discovery and Zuul for gateway services.
Docker Swarm: An orchestration tool that manages Docker containers, which are often used to package and deploy microservices.
Example: One of the early adopters of microservices, Netflix is using them to manage their rapidly scaling and evolving streaming service.

Amazon is also transitioned to microservices to handle the vast scale of its e-commerce platform, improving flexibility and reducing downtime.

Containerization

Containerization involves encapsulating an application and its dependencies in a container that can run on any computing environment. Docker is a leading platform for containerization, and Kubernetes is the most popular system for orchestrating these containers, especially in a microservices architecture.

• Containerization ensures that applications run consistently across different computing environments by packaging an application with its dependencies.

• Properly understanding and implementing containerization, particularly orchestration tools like Kubernetes, can be complex and requires a significant investment in learning and adaptation.

Docker:

Provides the ability to package applications in containers, ensuring consistency across multiple development and release cycles.

Kubernetes:

An open-source platform for automating deployment, scaling, and operations of application containers across clusters of hosts.

OpenShift:

A Kubernetes-based platform from Red Hat, which provides a complete ecosystem for developing and deploying Docker containers.

Example: Spotify utilizes Docker and Kubernetes to manage its services and rapidly deploy changes.Google also uses containerization extensively across its services, including Google Cloud.

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