Tech Stack Decisions Skill¶
Frameworks and practices for making technology choices.
Principles¶
1. Boring Technology is Good¶
- Proven technologies have known failure modes
- New/shiny often means unknown problems
- Innovation tokens are limited - spend wisely
- Default to well-established solutions
2. Right Tool for the Job¶
- No technology is universally best
- Context determines appropriate choice
- Consider team expertise and ecosystem
- Avoid resume-driven development
3. Total Cost of Ownership¶
Consider the full picture: - Initial development time - Learning curve for team - Maintenance burden - Operational complexity - Hiring/training costs - Migration costs later
4. Reversibility¶
- Prefer decisions that can be changed
- Minimize lock-in where practical
- Use abstractions at integration points
- Document escape routes
Evaluation Framework¶
Must-Have vs Nice-to-Have¶
Must-Have (Non-negotiable) - Security requirements - Compliance requirements - Performance minimums - Integration requirements
Nice-to-Have (Trade-offs) - Developer experience - Community size - Documentation quality - Future roadmap
Weighted Scoring¶
| Criterion | Weight | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Functionality | 25% | Does it solve the problem? |
| Maturity | 20% | Proven in production? |
| Team Fit | 20% | Team experience/learning curve? |
| Ecosystem | 15% | Libraries, tools, community? |
| Performance | 10% | Meets requirements? |
| Cost | 10% | Licensing, infrastructure? |
Technology Categories¶
Languages¶
Consider: - Type system (static vs dynamic) - Runtime performance needs - Ecosystem and libraries - Team expertise - Hiring market
Frameworks¶
Consider: - Problem fit (don't use a hammer for screws) - Opinionation level (convention vs configuration) - Learning curve - Community activity - Long-term maintenance
Databases¶
Consider: - Data model fit (relational, document, graph, etc.) - Scale requirements - Consistency requirements - Query patterns - Operational complexity
Infrastructure¶
Consider: - Team expertise - Vendor lock-in - Cost at scale - Compliance requirements - Multi-cloud strategy
Red Flags¶
Technology Red Flags¶
- No production users
- Single maintainer
- Inactive repository
- Poor documentation
- Breaking changes frequently
- No migration path from alternatives
Decision Process Red Flags¶
- "Everyone is using it"
- "It's the newest thing"
- "I want to learn it"
- No evaluation of alternatives
- No consideration of team skills
- Ignoring operational costs
When to Adopt New Technology¶
Good Reasons¶
- Solves a problem existing tools can't
- Significantly reduces complexity
- Team has evaluated and agreed
- Migration path is clear
- Risk is contained (can revert)
Bad Reasons¶
- It's popular/trending
- Resume building
- Boredom with current stack
- "Because Google/Facebook uses it"
- Fear of missing out
Migration Considerations¶
Before Migrating¶
- Document current pain points
- Quantify benefits of new technology
- Plan migration path
- Identify rollback strategy
- Get stakeholder buy-in
Migration Strategies¶
- Strangler Fig: Gradually replace components
- Big Bang: Replace all at once (risky)
- Parallel Run: Run both simultaneously
- Feature Flag: Toggle between implementations
After Migrating¶
- Document lessons learned
- Update team knowledge
- Remove old code completely
- Update monitoring/alerting