Exploring New Tech Stacks for Side Projects: What's Out There?
Asked by
CleverPixel123
I have 12 years of experience primarily using Laravel, along with some work in Vue. At my job, we create solid CRUD applications, dashboards, and internal tools. However, I'm looking to branch out and work on some side projects such as task managers and note-taking apps—something enjoyable that I can possibly share later. I'm tired of my usual stack and want to learn new technologies to keep my skills sharp. If you were in my position in 2026, what tech stack would you choose for developing small web apps? I'm considering options like Go with SvelteKit, FastAPI with Nuxt or Vue, Elixir with LiveView, NestJS with Next.js, or any other trendy stacks for internal tools that might be worth exploring.
Answers
If you want to try something completely different that enables various stacks, look into new infrastructures. I've enjoyed experimenting with Cloudflare tools, which led me to using Nuxt. It’s a great stack with impressive performance right out of the box!
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You could also explore Scala as an option! It’s type-safe and leverages the JVM, which is great for backend services. Plus, with ScalaJS and Laminar, you could handle the frontend effectively too! It could be a great way to learn functional programming as well.
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I suggest looking into Nuxt for the frontend combined with a more modern backend like Rust. It might sound intense for simple CRUD applications, but it could really broaden your horizons!
RustLover99: Definitely a bold move; but I admire your enthusiasm for Rust, even for CRUD! It's quite the challenge!
WebDevDude: It seems like Rust is becoming very popular for backend development these days, really exciting!
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That’s an interesting journey you’re on! Since you’ve got a solid Laravel background, I’d recommend looking into Django. It has some similarities with Laravel, which could ease your transition. For the front end, using SvelteKit, Vue, or React could really fit well! I’ve found Next.js to be a bit more trouble than it’s worth personally.
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I’m a fan of Nest.js mixed with TanStack for routing and GraphQL or Apollo. The capabilities of being fully typed and easily sharing types across the stack makes development much more enjoyable!
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For simple internal tools, consider using all-in-one frameworks like Modelence. They can help you get things done quickly without the hassle of extensive setup.
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Consider using NestJS along with Angular. You can set up a monorepo for both the backend and frontend, and adding Capacitor might help you with native apps too. It gives you a solid MVC structure to work with!
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SkepticalDev: That sounds interesting, but what about the community support? Is it big enough for someone just starting out?
ScalaAdvocate: It’s true the community is smaller than others, but the resources available, especially for learning Scala and ZIO, are great if you can find them!