"How do I choose my tech stack?" is one of the most common questions engineers have when starting a new project. Are you leading an engineering team at a startup or bringing a side project idea to life? Are you building a website, mobile app, desktop app, video game, or perhaps something more cutting-edged, like an AI-related application? No matter what, you'll need to carefully choose the technologies you'll use at some point.

Selecting a tech stack can be difficult, especially with hundreds of tools available, and things can get messy along the way, or even from the start many times. This is one of the most difficult challenges for software developers. In this article, we’ll lay out all the factors you need to consider when choosing your tech stack. We will look at how to simplify your tech stack and make decisions that increase productivity and efficiency for everyone on your team. We'll talk about why having a complex tech stack can be problematic and what happens when it happens to your project.

What Is A Tech Stack

Before we dive in, let’s quickly clarify what a tech stack actually is. Essentially, it’s the collection of programming languages, libraries, frameworks, third-party services, and infrastructure choices that you use to build your application.

Check out the most recent version of the Stack Overflow survey to find out which development tools are most popular.

It’s important to note that a tech stack doesn’t include everything you might use during development. Your IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for example, your operating system, or version control tools like GitHub aren’t typically considered part of your tech stack. Similarly, project management tools aren’t part of it either. However, programming languages like TypeScript, frameworks like React, and execution environments like AWS Lambda definitely are, because they directly contribute to building and running your application.

There are some well-known tech stacks often referred to by acronyms. For example, the "MERN" stack stands for MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. Another example is "LAMP," which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and either PHP, Perl, or Python. These acronyms are catchy, but your tech stack can be much more extensive than just four components.

Cloud computing has also made the serverless stack popular. This stack typically includes serverless frameworks and platforms like AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions, which allow you to build and deploy applications without managing servers.

What Can Go Wrong with a Complex Technology Stack?

Why is a complicated tech stack such a major issue? First, it creates logistical challenges, beginning with the sheer number of tools required. When your project relies on a large number of software tools, frameworks, and libraries, it can be difficult to stay productive. While new technologies can be appealing, the primary goal of most software projects is simple: to complete the task efficiently. A complex technology stack might distract developers' attention away from this goal, making it difficult to focus on delivering results.

Another significant issue is the ongoing need to make decisions. With a complex technology stack, you're frequently faced with decisions such as "Which library should we use?" or "Is this tool better than that one?" Should you try something new, or stick with what you already know? Repeated decisions can deplete mental energy and waste valuable time. Instead of moving forward with development, teams can become bogged down in endless debates, eventually slowing down the project.

Integration challenges are also a common issue. When adding a new library or tool, simply ensuring that it meets the project's requirements is insufficient. You should also think about how it integrates with your existing tools, how long it will take new team members to get up to speed, and how much additional knowledge will be required to keep it running throughout the project's lifecycle. These integration issues can deteriorate as your technology stack grows, resulting in unexpected complications later on.

Cost is another important consideration. Modern tools, particularly those with advanced features such as AI-powered functions, frequently come with high subscription fees. However, the financial impact does not end there. Aside from the cost of purchasing or licensing the tools, you must also budget for the ongoing cost of training your team to use them effectively. As your technology stack grows, keeping your development team up to date on the necessary skills becomes more difficult and costly.

Finally, a complicated technology stack can cause concentration problems. Developers may find themselves spending more time troubleshooting, diagnosing obscure errors, or managing updates for various packages than working on what is truly important: completing the project. The more fragmented the stack, the more fragmented the team's attention, resulting in delays, frustration, and decreased overall productivity.

While having a diverse set of tools and technologies may appear beneficial at first, it frequently creates more problems than it solves. Simplifying your technology stack can help you stay focused, increase productivity, and ultimately lead to better project outcomes.

How To Build a Simple Stack That Does the Job

How can you simplify your tech stack and make it easier for people to get work done while still having the right set of tools? The goal is to choose a set of technologies that will enable you to build the most effective solution. This process involves considering several key factors.

Understanding the Learning Curve

One of the first factors to consider is the learning curve (the relationship between the effort invested in learning and the level of proficiency achieved) associated with each technology.

Different technologies have varying learning curves. Some may have a short learning curve, while others might require more time and effort to master. Importantly, you don’t need to reach the top of the curve to build something with the technology and be productive.

To determine the learning curve of a new technology, consider the quality of its documentation. Comprehensive and clear documentation can significantly accelerate your learning process. Skimming through the first few articles or sections can give you an idea of how well you understand the material, which impacts your long-term learning curve.

Also, evaluate how similar the new technology is to ones you already know. Do you know JavaScript or Java? Great! learning TypeScript will be easier for you. Conversely, if you only have a basic understanding of JavaScript or no programming languages at all, the learning curve will be steeper.

Estimating the learning curve is vital because the faster you or your team can become proficient in a new technology, the sooner you can start building your project.

Nowadays, on many agile projects—whether it’s Scrum, Kanban, or some variation—teams are often under pressure to start immediately. As a result, decisions about technology, frameworks, packages, and cloud platform services are often made just in time.

This is why a common piece of advice for technical founders at startups is to choose a tech stack with which you are already familiar. If you pick a language you know well, the learning curve is essentially non-existent—it’s a straight line upward, allowing you to begin development immediately.

Ensuring Seamless Integration and Flexibility

Selecting tools and technologies that work well together is essential to avoid potential roadblocks during your project development. Ensuring your tech components are compatible can prevent costly and time-consuming mistakes down the line.

In addition to compatibility, it's beneficial to choose flexible tools and technologies. Look for solutions that can handle multiple tasks and adapt to various needs. Technologies ideal for high-traffic applications might be excessive for small projects. Whether you're considering an IDE, a library, a third-party integration, an API, or a programming language, the more a tool can accomplish out of the box, the less time you’ll spend searching for niche packages on platforms like GitHub, npm, or your Python package manager. By focusing on versatility, you can streamline your tech stack and enhance the efficiency of your development process.

Evaluating Community Support

The next factor to consider is community support and the ecosystem surrounding your technology choices. An active community can significantly impact the success of your project. This includes the availability of libraries, frameworks, tools, and plugins that can extend the functionality of your core technology choices.

You should strongly consider exploring the internet and developer communities to see what tools and technologies others are using and to get their input. When there’s a very small or nonexistent community of developers using a tool, it can become difficult to find support or troubleshooting help. While sometimes the value of a lesser-known library or package can justify its use, it’s generally a good idea to consider how many others are using it and are available to provide support. This way, if you roll out a tool on a single project or across multiple projects, you won’t find yourself alone in helping your team use it effectively.

Prioritizing technologies with strong communities can speed up your project’s development and ensure you have the necessary support throughout your application's life cycle.

Building with Your Team’s Strengths in Mind

When building a tech stack, the availability and skill of your development team are very important. If you want to build a team, you should think about how many skilled developers are available in the technologies you're interested in. There may not be as many qualified people working in some technologies, which could make the hiring process take longer or cost more. But if you pick technologies that a lot of people use, it might be easier to find developers with a lot of experience. Aligning your tech stack with the skills of your current or potential team can speed up development and cut down on the time needed for training. This part goes along with the learning curve because it's important to have a large pool of engineers to choose from and a short learning curve.

Keeping Your Tech Stack Up-to-Date and Running

Lastly, think about how effectively the technologies in your tech stack will work in the future. The tech industry changes quickly, and the hottest technologies of today may become old or uncool in the near future. When new needs come up or new technology comes out, you should think about how easy it will be to update or move parts of your tech stack. The best way to keep your project from becoming obsolete is to choose technologies that have a history of regular updates, a commitment to backward compatibility, and a clear roadmap. Additionally, check all the packages, tools, and frameworks you use often and make sure they are up to date. This kind of planning ahead can save you a lot of time and money in the long run and keep your project competitive.

The Takeaway

There are a lot of things to think about when picking the right tech stack for your project but in general an effective rule of thumb to follow is this:

Determine which tools and technologies provide the most value to your team.

If a tool is high-value, simple to configure, and straightforward, it's an obvious choice. If a tool provides niche benefits but requires extensive setup and training, it should be a lower priority. Rather than selecting every intriguing tool, prioritize the high-value ones that benefit everyone on the project.

It's also important to standardize and record how tools and technologies are used after choosing them. Each technology should be useful for all teams, if possible. For every new tool or technology to be useful, there needs to be clear communication about how to use it, training on how to get started, and clear rules for maintenance and updates. Putting on the list of things you need to do to standardize, document, and share your tech stack choices will make it easier to use and increase your productivity.

By carefully evaluating these aspects, you can choose a tech stack that not only meets your current needs but also supports your project's growth and evolution over time.

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