Software development is a booming industry, one that is ripe for growth opportunities. But developing a product will mean investing in important resources such as skilled and experienced developers and a technology stack suited to the needs of the project.
Essentially, a tech stack is made of a framework, tools, and a programming language – all critical in creating a good software product. Knowing the right kind of stack to get means understanding both back-end and front-end technology needs of the project.
Below are nine essential tips in choosing the right technology stack for your project.
1. Select Stacks Based on The Needs Of The Business
Choosing a technological stack depends greatly on the context of the business, which sector, and how critical it is for the product. The type of project you want to develop and its system requirements also have a role in the kind of stack you will choose.
For example, if the software is small, it’s expected the delivery will need to be done quickly so you will use technologies like WordPress for faster development.
2. Make It Future Proof
When choosing a stack, consider the future as well and how the business is going to evolve. Choose a stack that’ll be able to cater to the needs of your business in the future like:
- new features and modules;
- storage capabilities;
- managing large amounts of data;
- as well as integration with other external solutions.
3. Start Small and Simple Over Being Techy
It’s best that you first test your idea. Build a prototype to know what the developmental limitations of the product are before you do detailed research on the type of stack you should get.
For example, if you know that most of your end-users will be using smartphones primarily, your stack should include framework and technology aimed to cater to smartphones.
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4. Speed of The Project
Besides project requirements, you should also keep in mind the performance and speed you want to roll out the project.
Software developing companies need to factor in loading times as this can become a big issue in system development. Choose a stack that is agile in order to optimize the performance of your project.
5. Product Users
You also have to keep product users in mind when you’re choosing a stack for your business since software products are made for them. The company needs to consider who its target audience is as well the user experience they want to provide as this will inform them of the best technological stack for the development of their project.
6. Security and Migration Needs
Unlike buying a spy camera, the security needs of a stack should be a top priority when choosing a tech stack. Make sure that the stack matches with your resources, compliant with policies, secure, and learned quickly.
Similarly, in narrowing down the options for your technological stack for your software product development, it’s important to consider if there’s a need to integrate legacy systems or migrate existing systems into the new system.
7. Expertise Available
In selecting a technological stack, you have to choose one with a good community and vendor support. This will help your developers solve issues that might arise during the product development phase.
Also, pay attention to the ease with which software and technologies can be tested. Make sure that you choose stacks that are well suited for development testing environments.
8. Scalability
Programming languages go through cycles of change every 5 to 7 years, CMS every 1 to 2 years, and frameworks every 2 to 3 years. With this in mind, scalability and flexibility of the system should be top of mind when choosing a tech stack. Choose a stack that can be scaled vertically as well as horizontally. Developers need to think ahead when choosing technologies for a product, especially for complicated projects. The stack should be able to scale vertically as well as horizontally.
9. Development Cost
Hiring skilled and dedicated developers will help inform you about the development cost of a software product. This will play a crucial role when you choose a technology stack. Although many technologies are free and open-source, you might need to get licensed technologies and it will add up to the cost of the system.
It’s important that you have a good grasp of what you will encounter when developing a software product. You’ll need to factor in a lot of things including cost, usability, scalability, as well as vendor support.