How I Choose My Tech Stack: Solo Developer Guide

How I Choose My Tech Stack: An Independent Developer's Reflection

Technology stack selection is one of the most crucial decisions an independent developer faces. Unlike large teams with specialized roles, we need to handle everything from frontend UI to backend APIs, from database design to deployment operations. How do we choose the right tools in this diverse technology landscape?

This article shares my tech stack selection philosophy and the specific choices I've made, hoping to provide some reference for fellow independent developers.

My Tech Stack Selection Principles

1. Velocity: Speed is King

As an independent developer, time is your most precious resource. I prioritize technologies that allow rapid prototyping and iteration:

• Learning curve: Choose technologies I'm already familiar with or have gentle learning curves
• Development efficiency: Frameworks that provide rich functionality out of the box
• Debugging experience: Good error messages and debugging tools
• Hot reload: Instant feedback during development

2. Full-Stack Capability

I prefer technology stacks that allow me to handle both frontend and backend with a unified language and ecosystem:

• JavaScript/TypeScript everywhere: From frontend to backend to build tools
• Shared code: Common logic, types, and utilities between frontend and backend
• Context switching minimization: Avoid frequently switching between different languages and paradigms

3. Low Maintenance Overhead

Products need long-term maintenance after launch. I choose technologies that minimize maintenance burden:

• Managed services first: Prioritize cloud services over self-hosting
• Auto-scaling: Services that automatically handle traffic fluctuations
• Security updates: Platforms that handle security patches automatically
• Monitoring and alerting: Built-in observability features

4. Community and Ecosystem

Strong community support means faster problem-solving and richer resources:

• Active community: Frequent updates and active discussions
• Rich documentation: Complete official docs and tutorials
• Third-party libraries: Abundant packages and plugins
• Problem-solving resources: Easy to find solutions on Stack Overflow

5. Cost-Effectiveness

Especially important in the early stages, I need to control infrastructure costs while maintaining service quality:

• Free tiers: Services with generous free quotas
• Pay-as-you-scale: Pricing models that grow with usage
• Transparent pricing: Predictable cost structures
• Value for money: Good performance-to-cost ratio

My Current Tech Stack

Frontend: Next.js + React + TypeScript

Why I chose Next.js:

• Full-stack framework: Handles both frontend and API routes
• Multiple rendering modes: SSG, SSR, CSR flexibility
• File-based routing: Intuitive and efficient
• Built-in optimizations: Image optimization, code splitting, etc.
• Vercel integration: Seamless deployment experience

Why TypeScript:

• Type safety: Catch errors at compile time
• Better IDE support: Excellent autocomplete and refactoring
• Team collaboration: Self-documenting code through types
• Gradual adoption: Can be introduced incrementally

Code example:

// Shared types between frontend and backend
export interface User {
  id: string;
  email: string;
  name: string;
  createdAt: Date;
}

// API route with type safety
// pages/api/users/[id].ts
export default async function handler(req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse<User | { error: string }>) {
  const { id } = req.query;
  const user = await getUserById(id as string);

  if (!user) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: "User not found" });
  }

  res.json(user);
}

Styling: Tailwind CSS

Why I chose Tailwind:

• Rapid prototyping: Quickly build interfaces without writing custom CSS
• Consistency: Built-in design system
• Responsive design: Mobile-first responsive utilities
• Customization: Easy to customize design tokens
• Production optimization: Automatic unused CSS purging

Usage example:

// Responsive card component
function ProductCard({ product }: { product: Product }) {
  return (
    <div
      className="
      bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md overflow-hidden
      hover:shadow-lg transition-shadow duration-300
      sm:max-w-sm md:max-w-md lg:max-w-lg
    "
    >
      <img src={product.image} alt={product.name} className="w-full h-48 object-cover" />
      <div className="p-4">
        <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 mb-2">{product.name}</h3>
        <p className="text-gray-600 text-sm mb-4">{product.description}</p>
        <button
          className="
          w-full bg-blue-600 text-white py-2 px-4 rounded-md
          hover:bg-blue-700 transition-colors duration-200
          focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-blue-500
        "
        >
          Add to Cart
        </button>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

Database: Vercel Postgres + Prisma

Why I chose Vercel Postgres:

• Managed service: No database administration needed
• Automatic scaling: Scales with application load
• Built-in backups: Automated backup and recovery
• Vercel integration: Seamless integration with my deployment platform

Why I chose Prisma:

• Type-safe queries: TypeScript-first ORM
• Database migrations: Declarative schema management
• Great developer experience: Excellent tooling and debugging
• Multi-database support: Easy to switch databases if needed

Schema example:

// schema.prisma
model User {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  email     String   @unique
  name      String
  posts     Post[]
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
}

model Post {
  id        String   @id @default(cuid())
  title     String
  content   String
  published Boolean  @default(false)
  authorId  String
  author    User     @relation(fields: [authorId], references: [id])
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt
}

// Type-safe database queries
async function getUserPosts(userId: string) {
  const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({
    where: { id: userId },
    include: {
      posts: {
        where: { published: true },
        orderBy: { createdAt: "desc" },
      },
    },
  });

  return user?.posts || [];
}

Deployment: Vercel

Why I chose Vercel:

• Zero-configuration deployment: Git-based automatic deployment
• Global CDN: Fast content delivery worldwide
• Automatic HTTPS: SSL certificates managed automatically
• Preview deployments: Test every pull request
• Edge functions: Serverless functions at the edge
• Excellent Next.js integration: Built by the Next.js team

Alternative Considerations

When I might choose differently:

For mobile apps: React Native or Flutter For real-time applications: Node.js with Socket.io or Go For data-heavy applications: Python with Django/FastAPI For high-performance needs: Go or Rust For enterprise projects: Java Spring Boot or .NET

Technology Selection Process

1. Define Requirements

• What type of application am I building?
• What are the performance requirements?
• How much traffic do I expect?
• What's my timeline?

2. Evaluate Options

• Create a comparison matrix
• Build small prototypes with different stacks
• Consider long-term maintenance implications
• Assess learning and migration costs

3. Start Small and Iterate

• Begin with familiar technologies
• Gradually introduce new tools
• Monitor performance and developer experience
• Be prepared to refactor if needed

Lessons Learned

1. Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Don't get paralyzed by choice. Pick something reasonable and start building. You can always refactor later.

2. Consistency Over Perfection

It's better to use a "good enough" technology consistently than to switch between "perfect" technologies for different parts of your stack.

3. Future You Will Thank Present You

Choose technologies with good documentation and active communities. Future you (or your team) will appreciate the time saved on troubleshooting.

4. Measure What Matters

Focus on metrics that matter to your users: page load speed, uptime, feature delivery speed. Don't optimize for vanity metrics.

Conclusion

Technology stack selection is deeply personal and context-dependent. What works for me might not work for you, and that's okay. The key is to understand your constraints, define your priorities, and make informed decisions based on your specific situation.

My current stack (Next.js + TypeScript + Tailwind + Prisma + Vercel) works well for my needs as an independent developer building web applications. It provides the right balance of developer experience, performance, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness.

Remember: the best technology stack is the one that helps you ship value to your users quickly and sustainably. Everything else is secondary.

What's your tech stack philosophy? I'd love to hear about your choices and the reasoning behind them.