March 13, 2023
Why is Angular Perfect for eCommerce Web App Dev...
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A technology stack refers to the technologies you use to build your software. And hence, a web development technology stack refers to all the programming languages, databases, frameworks, and other tools that you use to build your web application.
The web development tech stack has a major impact on how your website looks and performs. Therefore, as a business owner, you should pay a lot of attention to your web development tech stack.
If for some reason, you end up choosing the wrong option for even one aspect of your tech stack, the entire web application performance may be hugely impacted. Let’s see what exactly might happen if you fail to choose the right technology stack for web application development.
When it comes to choosing the technology stack for web development, you must absolutely consider the likelihood of technology becoming obsolete in the near future.
For example, if you use a front-end framework today for building your app, and that framework becomes outdated in the near future, developers just wouldn’t be interested in working on it anymore. Ember is a good example of a JS framework that once was hit and then, it quickly faded out of the JavaScript ecosystem.
If this happens in the case of your business web application, you will have to switch to different technology and upgrade your app from the ground up. Alternatively, you will have to spend a lot of time finding the developers and then paying them a lot for working on your app.
Both these options will prove to be tremendously expensive for your business. So always choose technologies that are and will remain relevant in the future.
The instability of technology is as dangerous to your app as obsolescence. What exactly do I mean by the term instability? Let me explain with the help of an example.
AngularJS, the first version of Angular was released in 2010 and quickly gained momentum. Many enterprises built their web applications using the super useful features of the AngularJS framework.
However, in the year 2016, Google realized there was a better way to build modern web apps. They rewrote the AngularJS code and turned the framework into Angular. The suffix JS was removed and Angular 2+ versions were totally independent of the original AngularJS framework.
Now, by the end of 2021, Google will no longer be supporting AngularJS. The end of official support means there will be security risks for all the AngularJS web app. Also, adding new features will be a daunting task unless the app owners opt for migration to Angular 2+.
Therefore, it’s vital to build your web application using technologies that will remain stable in the foreseeable future.
We need different technologies to build even one piece of software because every tool has its own advantages and limitations. No tool has been built to take care of every aspect of a web application.
Now imagine yourself in a situation where you decided to go ahead with a particular tech stack without putting in due consideration. Two months into the development stage, you realize you absolutely need to add a feature that you hadn’t thought of before. What happens if your chosen technologies are just not built with the capacity to develop that particular feature?
You will either have to compromise on the features or again, you will have to start everything from scratch. This time, with new technologies. New technology stack doesn’t just mean a new development process but also fresh business analysis and new web design.
Such a scenario may end up digging huge holes in your pocket or you may also have to let go of the app idea altogether. Therefore, conduct thorough market and business research before you choose a tech stack for your website.
Web development technology stack is made up of two components – the front-end (also known as client-side) and the back-end (also known as server-side). When you combine the technologies used to build both these aspects of your web app, that set of technologies together becomes the tech stack of your web application.
The front-end is the part of the web app that a user can see and interact it. Thus, it consists of technologies that are responsible for making the website visible on the browser. Plus, it consists of tools that enable the website to be interactive.
There are three main technologies involved in the front-end development of a web application:
HTML: This is a programming language that developers use to create the structure of a web page. Hence, HTML defines elements like page headers, paragraphs, and paragraph breaks. It is also used to embed images, videos, or other media on a web page.
CSS: As a style sheet language, CSS enables developers to interact with and organize the HTML elements from the design perspective. In simple words, if HTML structures, then CSS designs the web page in terms of fonts, colors, layouts, etc.
JavaScript: As the most popular programming language, the job of JavaScript is to make the structure and the elements on the web page interactive. So, when a user clicks on an element on a web page and gets a response from the web page, it is JavaScript that is making this communication happen between the user and the web application.
Thankfully, you don’t need the developers to build everything from scratch for the front-end development of your web application.
There are lots of tools that provide ready-to-use components that your developers can use to create user interfaces. When they use these tools, they have to do less of the work manually. This results in fewer development hours and hence, fewer development costs.
CSS frameworks as a part of web development technology stack
JavaScript frameworks as a part of web development technology stack
The back-end powers a website with the business logic necessary to make the website functional. While the front-end has to deal with everything that takes place on the browser, the back-end has to take care of everything that happens on the server.
Also, it is the back-end code that enables the front-end to interact with the user. It understands a user’s input, figures out what the output should be, and communicates that output to the front-end. That is how, finally, the user sees the output on a web page.
The back-end development of a web application is majorly made up of the following three aspects:
Remember how the backend supplies the front-end with business logic? It’s the programming languages that create this logic as a part of a web app’s backend.
There are many programming languages that you can choose from, considering the unique needs of your business.
Here’s a quick overview of popular programming languages that you can use to build the backend of your web application:
PHP
A large number of very popular websites are built using PHP as their backend programming language. In addition to the fact that PHP has been around since 1995, the reasons behind its popularity are many.
This programming language was specifically built only for web development and it is completely open-source. For these reasons, PHP has gone through many transformations and is currently at its best possible version.
PHP is your ideal choice for backend web development especially if you are building a content management system or an eCommerce website.
Ruby
Compared to PHP, Ruby is a more generic programming language that has become popular mainly because of its framework, Ruby on Rails.
Ruby on Rails gives you a lot of pre-built tools that you can use to speed up the development process. Plus, there is also scope for code reusability in Ruby on Rails. That saves a lot more development time because you can reuse the same code for building multiple components of your website.
Python
Python brings to the table its easy-to-read syntax and a lot of versatility. For that reason, it has become a favorite part of the web development technology stack amongst beginners and veterans alike.
Python facilitates better code readability and pretty easy integration with other programming languages. Additionally, its GUI support for programming is also one of the best in class.
You can learn more about other backend programming languages here.
You should avoid the technology if your ecosystem comprises fewer developers and app examples. It would help to have someone or something to rely upon if you were a technology expert.
The developer community and portfolio are pivotal in selecting the technology stack for your business app.
A database is an integral part of your technology stack for web application development. It stores app data, user data, and all the other data types required for the app to function.
There are two main types of databases – relational databases and non-relational databases.
The basic difference is the manner in which they store the data. A relational database stores data in the form of spreadsheets or tables. In these tables, there is a clear establishment of the relation of each data point with each other.
Relational databases are also called SQL databases because SQL is the language they are written in. Microsoft SQL, MySQL, and PostgreSQL are the top three relational databases out there.
A non-relational database is one in which the data format is not restricted to the tabular form. Instead, it stores the data in one of the following forms – Document Oriented stores, Key-Value stores, Wide-Column stores, and Graph stores.
Popular examples of non-relational databases include MongoDB and Redis.
A server is the lifeblood of your website’s network. It’s the computer software that makes a website magical, that is, it makes a website responsive. A server in the web development technology stack processes inputs from a user, understands them, and provides the right output accordingly.
Without a server, your website may be visible to your users but they can’t interact much with it. That’s because file storage, file processing, web services, encryption, security are all the things that do not come to life without a server. That is why we say we host an application on a server.
In my opinion, Apache and Nginx are the best two server options out of the lot. But you can consider these options while choosing the right web server for your web application.
If you don’t have the technical team of experts to choose individual components of your tech stack, the best way to go about it is to evaluate popular, commonly used tech stacks in the market.
For your ease, I am sharing the top web development tech stacks that businesses usually use to build their web apps.
MEAN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and Nodejs. All of these technologies are written in JavaScript language. So the main advantage of using the MEAN technology stack is the use of one common language (JavaScript) across the full-stack development of your website.
All the technologies in the MEAN stack are open-source and free for commercial use. They use JSON for access to module libraries and data transmission. Plus, Angular makes the front-end of web development extremely easy.
Thus, the MEAN stack is ideal for businesses who want to build fast, efficient, and more importantly, scalable web apps.
MERN is similar to MEAN, except that you use Reactjs instead of Angular. Just like MEAN, MERN too gives you an option for full-stack development using a common language.
So how do you choose between the two? Well, you make a decision based on whether Angular or Reactjs is right for your project.
Angular is a full-fledged front-end framework while Reactjs is a front-end library. This means that Angular gives you a much more refined scaffolding to build your application on. On the other hand, Reactjs merely provides you with pre-built components that you can integrate with other tools to build a scaffolding for your web app.
Angular is ideal for building enterprise apps while Reactjs is ideal for building lightweight, highly dynamic apps like social media apps. So MERN is ideal for building highly interactive apps with great search engine friendliness.
The acronym LAMP here stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP programming language. Because it is based on Linux, the LAMP stack has almost become synonymous with the foundation for all the websites hosted on the Linux operating system.
Again, all the technologies in the LAMP stack are fully open-source and free for commercial use. Being one of the oldest web development tech stacks out there, it has gained a huge community of developers. So if your team decided to work with the LAMP stack, they would have access to readymade solutions shared by others who faced the same issues in the past.
LAMP is another great option for building dynamic websites while you are considering choosing the right technology stack for web development.
Choosing a technology stack for web application development is a complex process that requires a deep understanding of how each technology affects the development process and performance of a website.
For small projects or MVPs, you can consider using Reactjs or Vuejs as your front-end framework and Python and Django for backend development. For enterprise apps, you will need full stack options like MEAN or MERN.
But still, these are generalized options. I recommend you partner with a web development company and consult their experts on which web development technology stack would suit your needs the best.
Space Stem is a leading offshore software development company in India that offers free consultations for all projects. If you have an online business idea and want to build a website, feel free to contact us and our experts will get back to you with all the guidance that you need.
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