Lesson 9: Which technology stack should I choose?
The everyday picture
Choosing a vehicle for a journey. You don't ask "what's the best vehicle?" You ask: how much cargo, how far, what roads, what budget, and who's driving. A truck isn't better than a scooter; it's better for a truck's job.
What it really is
A stack is the set of tools your app is built from: the screen (frontend), the server (backend), the database and the hosting. Choose it by answering these questions, in this order:
- What does it do? Content site, app with accounts, real-time, AI-heavy?
- How many users, and how fast will that grow?
- What data does it hold, and how sensitive is it? Money, health or personal details raise the bar.
- What's the budget for hosting and maintenance?
- Who will build it and look after it? You, AI, a hired developer later?
- How popular and well-documented is each tool? Popular tools have more answers online, and AI writes noticeably better code for them.
Three common, proven starting points:
| Your idea | A sensible stack |
|---|---|
| Information site, blog, small shop | WordPress (PHP) on shared hosting, or a plain HTML/CSS site on an app platform |
| App with logins, records, dashboards (bookings, CRM, orders) | React + TypeScript frontend, Node.js + TypeScript backend, PostgreSQL, on an app platform or VPS |
| App whose heart is AI or data | React + TypeScript frontend, Python (FastAPI) backend, PostgreSQL, a model API |
What it means for your idea
Write your answers to the six questions down before asking AI to build anything. Then ask the AI to propose a stack and explain why, and check its reasons against your answers. After this course, you can judge its answer instead of just accepting it.
Pick this when...
Boring, popular and well-documented beats new and exciting, especially when AI is writing the code. Change the stack only when a real requirement forces you to.
Quick check
An AI suggests a brand-new framework released last month for your booking app. Good idea? Usually not. It will have few answers online, the AI knows little about it, and it may change quickly. Choose a proven option.
Goes deeper in Modules 91–92, 97–99.