Software development has its stars and starlets, and the area of web development stacks is no exception here. Undoubtedly, trends regarding data ecosystems called programming stacks are worth looking into. Why? Well – they greatly influence what programmers choose, what’s their experience when developing, how the end product looks like, and how fast it hits the market.
So what’s in the limelight in the year 2022, concerning the web development stack? Let’s see!
In this article, we’ll discuss the following threads:
1. Web development stacks – what’s in stock
2. Full-stack, front-end, and backend web development – the essentials
3. Top web development stacks in 2022
4. Choosing a web development stack – how to do it right?
Web development stacks – what’s in stock
Web development stack (a development stack may also be called a technology stack, tech stack or software stack) is an interesting and very broad term, embracing a selection of tools and technologies, including frameworks, databases, libraries, and programming languages underlying building and running an application.
And those choices – made for a given project, team, or the whole organization – influence a lot, and not only the workflow of developers who decided to use them. They craft the way web applications millions of people use daily look like and operate, shaping their functionality and user experience as well as viability and competitiveness.
Web development stacks usually come in sets of particular tools developers or the whole companies treat as their main ones and decide to focus on. For instance, Facebook’s tech stack comprises such elements as React, Hack (previously PHP), Swift, Hadoop, GraphQL, and Cassandra, to name but a few, and has been updated and rebuilt quite recently.
Stacks may embrace both front-end and back-end, as well as full-stack elements, underpinning all aspects of web development.
Some of the widely-used stacks include:
- LAMP stack (JavaScript + Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP),
- MEAN stack (JavaScript + MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, and Node.js),
- Django stack (JavaScript + Django, Python, and MySQL)
but there are many more that are popular or trending, such as:
- Ruby on Rails Tech Stack,
- MEVN Technology stack,
- TensorFlow Stack.
Full-stack, front-end, and backend web development – the essentials
When speaking about web development, we cannot ignore the well-established division on front-end and backend technologies.
Frontend, which may also be referred to as client-side, covers developing client software and web- and mobile-based applications. It embraces the visual or interactive elements directly accessed by end-users, as well as their experience. Backend web development, on the other hand, is about developing server software and encloses things like administrative panels, databases, and other aspects of technical background average users don’t even see.
A full-stack web developer is undoubtedly the most versatile one, combining, at least to some extent, the knowledge and the skills of the front-end and backend ones. Programming a browser, a server, and a database is all that that kind of programmer should be able to do. Also, their role tends to be more and more complex and responsible, and shifts towards being a communicator between front-end and backend teams.
Top web development stacks in 2022
With a proper software or web development stack, any programmer may improve the quality of end products, and align them to what’s most up-to-date, loved, and wanted at the moment. What’s also important, the most popular solutions may provide better support for users, and meet the expectations of the masses.
Which top development stacks are bound to succeed or at least are in the limelight in 2022?
1. The MEAN Stack
The useful MEAN stack called the best web app technology, has multiple applications, including developing cloud apps. It comprises JavaScript, MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js and is based on open-source technologies that offer superb community support. It enables reusing code within the whole application, and one language (JavaScript) may be used for both server-side and client-side.
2. Flutter Stack
This stack, sometimes called a revolutionary one or a game-changer, is ahead of competitors in many ways, including timely and cost-efficient delivering functional apps of high performance. Website speed remains high also when adding new features and fixing bugs. It’s perfect for cross-platform development, utilizing the same UI and business logic everywhere. A single codebase enables developing applications across Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Web, and Linux, and less effort is put into things like development and testing. This stack includes Flutter engine, Dart, Foundation library, and design widgets.
3. The Serverless Technology Stack
Cloud computing involves web development, too, and serverless computing platforms make it easy to go serverless and build applications based on the cloud infrastructure. This stack is perfectly suited to the user’s needs and cost-efficient but proper to rather short-term endeavors. It enables scalability and the ability to quickly adapt to the changing number of users and offers the best processors and storage in the market.
4. Django Stack
A high-level stack that covers tools and technologies such as JavaScript, Python, Django, and MySQL. Its advantages embrace being a versatile, multi-use, consistent and secure stack, used for quick web applications creation without installation or dependency problems. Instead, the development is rapid, secure, and scalable, and enhanced by clean, pragmatic design.
5. Meteor.js Stack
It is a simple, time-efficient, and integrated open-source development platform that enables using the same code for multiple purposes like building easy, proficient, and scalable applications for many devices, including web, desktop, iOS, and Android ones. It may be easily integrated with other tools or technologies that the developer already uses.
Choosing a web development stack – how to do it right?
Choosing the right web development stack is not an easy thing, at all. Sticking to the old good stack may be detrimental for an endeavor but so is changing stacks too often, based on trends only. What we also should avoid is making decisions based on competitors’ choices, personal preferences, previous projects, or simple online research. Instead, it’s good to pay attention to factors such as tools’ security, development, and maintenance cost, but also making sure that the solution in question proved to be useful over time and is well-supported.
Every candidate software stack should be analyzed in terms of all pros and cons possible. First of all, the web stack we are planning to choose should solve problems we’re dealing with, like the need for scalability or willingness to stop using archaic, outdated solutions. It’s also good to acknowledge that many popular stacks are based on JavaScript so it’s definitely worth mastering, and, of course, not only for this reason.
Depending on the choice we make, we shape the application’s operation, as well as its scalability and the possibility to expand in the future. Time to market is also an issue, and it may be reduced when utilizing technologies that are used more often. Likewise, a wrong decision means huge trouble and giant expenses so if we’re not sure which stack to choose, we’d better ask a professional software company for assistance.
