Most Popular Tech Stacks in 2022
With every new year, thousands of new apps are developed all over the world, amounting to millions of dollars, and with every new advancement, new tech stacks become in-demand.
The list of programming languages, development frameworks and software tools used to build a software product, commonly known as tech stacks, are an essential part of the app web development process.
Discover which are the most popular tech stacks in the market in 2022 below.
1. The MEAN Tech Stack
Topping the most popular web development stacks is MEAN, which comprises of MongoDB (NoSQL DB), the backend web framework, Express.js, the front-end framework, Angular.js and the open source cross-platform server, Node.js. This tech stack is mainly used in mobile and web responsive complex applications.
One of the most popular programming languages and the only language in this stack is Javascript, and the code can be reused seamlessly across the app. This stack is particularly popular because it allows developers to create extremely efficient software applications in very little time.
There are several benefits to using MEAN:
- The technologies are open source, free and used by a large community.
- The database can be scaled on demand and can easily handle usage spikes.
- Apps created with MEAN are more flexible, extensible and, because they have their own servier, they can be hosted on the cloud.
- It has several plugins and tools that can significatively save development time with web apps, websites and APIs, as well as money.
- Products built with MEAN can integrate with server panels faster.
If you currently use MEAN or are thinking of learning it, you can clear any doubts by visiting the Stack Overflow Q&A.
2. The MERN Tech Stack
MERN has definitely earned its place on the list of tech stacks with the highest demand in 2022. It actually has several similar features to MEAN. The biggest difference between these two top web development stacks is that instead of Angular.js, MERN is composed of React, which is also one of its greatest advantages since it not only provides a strong library source, but it can also be used for front end and back end development projects and you can use codes on both servers and browsers at the same time.
Additionally, because React uses JavaScript XML and Virtual DOM, any component work and changes can be implemented without running into any complications. It is a flexible tool, ideal for UI, and it’s mostly performance-oriented and cost-effective, which makes it particularly useful for applications with a smaller scale.
What makes MERN one of the most popular tech stacks today is:
- Its open source code, which can be constantly improved and modified by developers all over the world, which means you don’t have to develop from scratch.
- The possibility of accessing complete templates online, which can significatively shorten development times.
- The great amount of documentation available, making it easier to understand, use and deploy, which can be especially beneficial for developers who are just starting out.
3. The MEVN Stack
Among the 2022 top web development stacks is another variation of the MEAN stack, known as MEVN, where essentially the front end framework Angular.js is replaced by Vue.js, a particularly popular framework in the last few years because it includes some of the best features from React and Angular.
This is a lighter solution than Angular, but offers a wide array of tools and creative functionality, which can be extended through third-party services. Additionally, prototypes, interactive graphics and animations can also be handled seamlessly with Vue.
Some of the biggest advantages of adopting MEVN are:
- Using Javascript, one of the most popular website programming languages in the world, on every development level, making the entire development process more efficient and simple.
- Back-end development is easier to complete, mainly because the MVC architecture organizes the server aspect of the project.
- The framework is also easy to use and learn, and it’s best for web apps.
However, Vue is a relatively new framework, and as such it has a smaller community and not as many plugins as more established frameworks like React or Angular do.
4. The Ruby on Rails Stack
Ruby was one of the most popular programming languages in 2021 and continues to be highly demanded as part of the Ruby on Rails (ROR) stack in 2022. Ruby on Rails is an open source web application development framework that can build very different types of applications and can span both the front and the back end. It provides a pre-built structure that provides everything you need to build any web app.
It also works in conjunction with HTML, CSS, and JS to develop interactive user interfaces, as well as with JSON and XML for data transfer. It is one of the most popular Ruby libraries, ideal for projects with complex business logics and a limited budget that need a web app delivered fast.
Additional benefits of ROR include:
- Multiple solid safety measures built into the tool.
- The fact that it’s free as well as its ability to seamlessly work on Linux.
- Ruby can be easily combined with other third-party libraries, which can be extremely useful to build features fast.
- Its ability to test the entire code internally, without any third-party tool.
5. Flutter
The list of most popular web stacks for 2022 cannot be complete without mentioning Flutter. This open source user interface software development program is great for developing any type of mobile app accomplishing all of it from a single codebase.
This stack uses Dart as its development language, the Flutter engine, the Foundation Library and design widgets. Among some of its many benefits, this revolutionary framework helps significatively reduce development times, while also allowing you to add new features or fix bugs without affecting website speeds, and it can be easily used in IntelliJ, Visual Code Studio or Android Studio.
Because it’s a pretty new stack, Flutter has addressed some of the shortcomings from other stacks like LAMP or MERN, which makes it even more appealing.
However, because it’s new, Flutter still has limited tools and libraries, as well as a lack of password manager support. Nonetheless, this tool will definitely help you build high quality apps in shorter times as well as high-end integrations.
6. The LAMP Tech Stack
LAMP is one of the most common stacks for web development, and has become almost a standard in the industry. Constituted by the Linux operating system, the http server Apache, MySQL, the database management tool, and PHP as the main programming language, LAMP is open source and free to use. It can easily run on any operating system and it’s a great tool in terms of performance, flexibility and efficiency.
One of the greatest advantages of this tech stack it’s that the components are interchangeable: you can adopt MacOs (MAMP) or MS Windows (WAMP) instead of Linux, or swap PHP with Perl or Python.
Some of the greatest benefits of using LAMP is its stability, dynamism, reliability and user-friendliness, but also the fact that there are several documents to help developers and businesses navigate and exploit its capabilities to the fullest.
7. The Django Tech Stack
Django is also a top web development stack and comprised by Python, which is considered among the top programming languages of 2021-2022, the Django framework, the Apache server and MySQL for database management. This tech stack offers a clean, logical design and promotes fast development.
It offers great advantages for development, including the fact that it can run independently on Linux, Mac or Windows, it has several layers of security to keep your projects completely safe, away from prying eyes, and has great documentation available.
Which Tech Stack Should You Learn First?
If you are looking to become a full stack developer, the choice between which tech stack to learn first or specialize in can be particularly hard.
Each programming language offers its benefits and setbacks. Javascript, Python, and Ruby are some of the most popular programming languages to date, but they have differences: Python and Ruby aren’t exactly “front-end” like Javascript, but they are powerful and create easy-to-read, clean code. Javascript can be used both for front-end and back-end and it’s a pretty popular option for full stack developers, even though it’s not as object-oriented as other languages.
MEAN and MERN both use Javascript and JSON, so they are the obvious choice if Javascript is the language you are interested in learning.
However, if you are interested in working on specific projects or for a specific company, looking into what such projects or companies work with may be the best approach. For instance:
- Google uses Python, Java, AngularJS, Dart and C++, among others .
- Uber uses Python, Node.js, React, Java, Mysql and Mongodb, among others.
- Airbnb uses Javascript, React, Java, MySQL and Ruby, among others.
- Facebook uses PHP, GraphQL, React and Tornado, among others.
Bootcamps are a great way of specializing and learning all about tech stacks or specific programming languages and tools that don’t necessarily comprise tech stacks.
If you are interested in learning different tools to work with different clients and in different projects, the list of tech stacks above is a great way of getting started.
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If you are interested in expanding your knowledge in these tools and several others, make sure to visit our Careers section and learn all about the different job offers we have available at this moment.
Also, keep in mind that there is more to a software developer than just technical skills. Soft skills have also become essential for any developer looking to grow professionally. If you want to become a more well-rounded professional, discover which are the soft skills every software developers and how to acquire them in our recent post “Top 8 Soft Skills for Software Developers”