5 Powerful Tips for Building a Scalable Technology Stack

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If you want to build a house, you’ll need to start by going brick by brick. The same is true of a technology stack. Your developers need to start by writing line by line, code by code in order to create something truly worthwhile. While it’s easy to create a clear plan for a building since the process has a clear start and an end, this isn’t as clear in the tech space.

The tech world is always changing. What worked today isn’t guaranteed to keep working tomorrow. That’s why you need agile, ready-for-anything development that can adapt to new technology quickly. You can’t predict what these changes will be, but you can make a plan for creating something that’s scalable. That way, you can build upward without worrying about your technology becoming obsolete or outdated.

1. Choosing the right tech stack.

One of the most important parts of building a scalable stack is knowing which tech to choose in the first place. The best choice might not be the most common. While we can all agree that React and Angular are efficient and popular, they might not be the best tool for your specific project.

Think of the type of project you’re planning to build. Are you launching a mobile application? If so, then you might prefer to use Cordova which is a cross-platform development tool for mobile applications. While no two are alike (or perfect!), you can come pretty close with some research. First, look into any resources. How much support can you find for this tech stack? How widely is it used? Next, consider it’s longevity. In the world of technology, things move fast. Can you count on this stack staying relevant? These are the key questions that will help you narrow your search.

2. Stay scalable with your plan.

You wouldn’t start building a home without blueprints, right? So you wouldn’t bother with a tech stack until you had a clear plan either. Well-designed software architecture will make your product future-proof. It’s how you create something that’s adaptable.

Instead of creating one monolithic software, break that into a larger number of independent “services.” These are unique, individual features all under the same project. They’re easier to manage, and they’re flexible. This is known as microservice, and it helps you stay autonomous. You can update a single feature without disrupting the entire logic of the application.

3. Know your infrastructure.

If you have a weak infrastructure, you have no room to grow. As we said before, you need to always be looking skyward. That means preparing for server changes from the start, possibly through a cloud infrastructure. Many of these cloud servers allow you to pay as you go, which means you don’t have to pay an outrageous amount when you only need a little bit of hosting at first. Starting with this scalability in mind will help reduce any headaches later on.

4. Prepare for fast deployment.

Deploying single products or features one at a time is not an effective strategy. Your competition is quickly producing more and more, so you need to have a system for continuous software deployment. This means having a clear system for developing and testing new features quickly and effectively. You can’t have any errors that will slow down your application or scare away potential users. Junkins is a tool that can help you master this deployment.

5. Check for errors.

While we’d all like to believe our code is perfect every time, errors happen. And when they do, you need a plan of attack to get back up and running quickly. From how we deal with exceptions to how we monitor app growth, you need to have everything in a single platform that will track app performance over time such as this tool for application performance monitoring and alerting by AppOptics.

If you’re able to track your performance, you can start to notice when things might go wrong. This allows you to interfere quickly and prevent the problem from happening in the first place, thus strengthening your app. Additionally, if things do go wrong, you have a clear system for tracking these errors.

Be ready for anything.

In the world of tech stacks, anything can happen. While technical errors aren’t always available, they can be prevented with some clear planning and insight. The most important thing you can do is ensure you’re staying agile and productive. There’s no room for slow deployment in this fast-moving industry. Is your company ready?