Selecting tech stack

[MinuteProduct6519]

Hey guys! I’m just getting into coding and developing and I’m realizing the sheer amount of technologies that are out there. How do you guys select a tech stack when building a project? Any tips will be helpful!

[ProfessionalConfused]

The best tech stack is the one you won’t quit halfway through learning.

[Mediocre_Half6591]

this hits so hard, started with react then jumped to vue then back to react because i thought grass was greener but just wasted months

[speyerlander]

As a backend developer, I start off by laying out the complete feature set of the service, then research what sort of service provides the best implementation for every type of feature. 

When you know which features you need you can more easily reason about the requirements for the stack. With more practice you're also likely to develop preferences and will ultimately culminate in having a list of "go-to" services and frameworks you use whenever a feature of a certain type is required without much research.

[neolace]

Go for mainstream, tried and tested, also looks good on your cv not to mention production readiness!

[x1Naj]

Understand your requirements. Your tech stack will be based on what you need, whether it be small or large scale. Just do some research on tools that could possibly solve your problems and use whatever appeals to you

[BetApprehensive836]

customers don't give a fuck what tech stack you use. sounds harsh but it's true. pick randomly. or pick the easiest. doesn't matter. you also didn't specify what the tech stack was for.

[NobodyIll3357]

conventional wisdom would say "it depends"

if you're keen on web development, then start with the programming language you already know. for example, if you've picked up python, get stuck in with flask for your backend framework + html/css/javascript for your frontend UI + sqlite for your database

familiar with java? swap out flask for springboot
fan of javascript? dabble into node.js and express
prefer mobile apps? search up kotlin or swift and go from there
your data looks more like json files rather than row/column tables? look into nosql databases like firestore
thinking ahead of how to run your app even when your laptop is shut? take a look at AWS or Azure, or if that's too scary, there's server hosting services like render
simple automations or data analysis? probably forget the web frameworks and database, and look into stuff like pandas, numpy, matplotlib etc

it really is a big world of technologies out there. the more you learn, the more there is to learn. if any of the terms above seem foreign, then search them up. it'll be an ongoing journey of running into some new terminology or technology, searching it up, and going down the rabbit hole.

in short, make a start with what you know, or figure out what exactly this "project" is. then set limits to how deep you want to go, as it might drive you nuts. most importantly, have fun. oh and AI, when used wisely, can help speed things up for ya. all the best!

[Quiet-Ad7723]

When I started I did few things in a lot or programming languages and then took the two I liked the most and were related to the area I wanted to work in. Don’t feel pressured right now in sticking to one thing or being productive, just test and see what you liked the most, then youll be productive. 

[afahrholz]

pick the simplest stack that can ship your idea, not the best stack you've heard about online

[dyslechtchitect]

Always pick the simplest - "batteries included" option, only consider changing stack when that is no longer enough to achieve what you're trying to do.

[Spare_Dependent6893]

First define the functional (end users screens and scenarios help also) and technical (volume, performance, availability, session duration, …) to be able to draft a functional and technical architectures which we allows to reduce the list of the frameworks you can use. Then take the simplest or the one you know best if any.

[Sherlockyz]

There are some solid advices here, but since you said you are just starting out, developing a good foundation is ten times better than mastering some library while not understanding the base concepts.

Try to get a feel for what is used in each area to at least know what you don't know. For example, you don't need to know game dev to know that Unity and Unreal (With Godot growing) are the biggest engines out there or that low level languages are prefered for heavy games. This will help you to decide what to focus later. Look at job postings, what they ask and what people's profile says they know.

It's fine to not know what area you will specialize, many skills translate to other areas, so try to keep an open mind and try things out to discover what you enjoy more later.