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Ask HN: What's the best backend right now?

I'm planning to build a multiplatform application (web, mobile, and desktop) with a modern tech stack. I've decided on the following frontend tech stack: - Web: Next.js, Tailwind CSS - Mobile - Android: Jetpack Compose - iOS: SwiftUI - Desktop - Windows: WinUI 3 - MacOS: SwiftUI - Linux: Qt But I'm still unsure about choosing a backend. What backend do you think is the best right now? *assume the team is ready to learn any technology

PaulHoule 3y ago
I still work on a lot of Java projects. As of JDK 17 Java has most of "ML the good parts" and has the same scalable, reliable and high-performance threading Java is famous for. JAX-RS provides a Sinatra style framework that makes it easy to write JSON API back ends. JDK 21 is just about to come out as a long term supported version and it will be even better. .NET is similar in capabilities, I think C# is a better language but Java has a better open source ecosystem. I do my side projects in Python with aiohttp and think it is a lot of fun even though people tell me it is suicide (I guess if you block the thread you are in trouble) I think "Next.js" really wants a node.js backend which has the big advantage that you can share code with the front end and back end. It's basically single-threaded but I know people who are happy with it. The system I'd most like to try is https://www.phoenixframework.org/ https://www.phoenixframework.org/ which is just great if you want to do stuff with websockets that is more interactive than what most people are doing. I think though that developing that many different front ends would drive you crazy: is there a real reason you can't just make it a web app?
- romikusumabakti 3y ago
  Thanks for sharing your insights! For this project, I'm leaning towards more modern backend technologies. While Java and .NET offer scalability and reliability, I'm aiming for a tech stack that's perceived as more modern. Python, while fun, might not be the best fit due to potential performance concerns. This project is actually more of a hobby and learning experience. And I would of course start with the web first. I'm inspired by OpenAI's approach in gradually rolling out ChatGPT – starting with web, then mobile, and maybe finally desktop. Thanks for your suggestions! I might consider Node.js.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - belmont_sup 3y ago
    .net and jvm are still very modern. Use kotlin for with spring or ktor. Or use c# or f# with aspnet. They come with everything included. The time to finish your project would be quicker with all-in-one solutions. Ditch the nextjs part and just return html. Add alpinejs and htmx and you won’t need to waste time creating a typical json api.
Alifatisk 3y ago
"The best" is kind of subjective. Best in terms of what, performance? flexibility? You might want to check out https://awesomestacks.dev https://awesomestacks.dev or https://project-awesome.org/stackshareio/awesome-stacks#back-end https://project-awesome.org/stackshareio/awesome-stacks#back... Hope those helps.
- romikusumabakti 3y ago
  Thanks for the resources! By "best" I mean "truly built for backend services / web APIs", so it has no performance and scalability issues to be used as a backend for multiplatform applications. Any personal recommendations based on that?
  - Alifatisk 3y ago
    Oh okey! I've mostly written my backend with Rails (or Sinatra when its a smaller service), still happy using it when I can because of how quickly I get things done.
  - Two4 3y ago
    I'm a big fan of JDK 21 with Helidon 4/Nima on the backend - most use cases covered, but very tight and light in dependencies and pretty much completely platform independent. You also have the option of compiling it AoT with GraalVM for a very quick-loading and low-memory near-native binary. Virtual threads mean much easier scaling, as you can do thread-per-request with a synchronous API. (Although I'm not sure if Graal supports java 21 yet, I'll have to check)
    - Alifatisk 3y ago
      I’ve wanted to give GraalVM and its native-images a try but haven’t yet. Do you have any experience with it?
      - Two4 3y ago
        Yes - I once wrote an AWS lambda that was having issues with cold boot times, so I compiled it to a binary and bada bing bada boom, boot went from 2 seconds to about 200ms. It's not a silver bullet though - some reflection features aren't supported, and reflection in general requires a bit of config at compile time to make sure all the required classes are loaded. This can make some plugin architectures unworkable, although I maintain that if you need reflection for pluggable code, you're probably doing it wrong.
ndunas 3y ago
I would go with Laravel if you are familiar with PHP. Lots of out of the box goodies available.

PaulHoule 3y ago

I still work on a lot of Java projects. As of JDK 17 Java has most of "ML the good parts" and has the same scalable, reliable and high-performance threading Java is famous for. JAX-RS provides a Sinatra style framework that makes it easy to write JSON API back ends. JDK 21 is just about to come out as a long term supported version and it will be even better. .NET is similar in capabilities, I think C# is a better language but Java has a better open source ecosystem. I do my side projects in Python with aiohttp and think it is a lot of fun even though people tell me it is suicide (I guess if you block the thread you are in trouble) I think "Next.js" really wants a node.js backend which has the big advantage that you can share code with the front end and back end. It's basically single-threaded but I know people who are happy with it. The system I'd most like to try is https://www.phoenixframework.org/ https://www.phoenixframework.org/ which is just great if you want to do stuff with websockets that is more interactive than what most people are doing. I think though that developing that many different front ends would drive you crazy: is there a real reason you can't just make it a web app?

romikusumabakti 3y ago
Thanks for sharing your insights! For this project, I'm leaning towards more modern backend technologies. While Java and .NET offer scalability and reliability, I'm aiming for a tech stack that's perceived as more modern. Python, while fun, might not be the best fit due to potential performance concerns. This project is actually more of a hobby and learning experience. And I would of course start with the web first. I'm inspired by OpenAI's approach in gradually rolling out ChatGPT – starting with web, then mobile, and maybe finally desktop. Thanks for your suggestions! I might consider Node.js.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- belmont_sup 3y ago
  .net and jvm are still very modern. Use kotlin for with spring or ktor. Or use c# or f# with aspnet. They come with everything included. The time to finish your project would be quicker with all-in-one solutions. Ditch the nextjs part and just return html. Add alpinejs and htmx and you won’t need to waste time creating a typical json api.

Alifatisk 3y ago

"The best" is kind of subjective. Best in terms of what, performance? flexibility? You might want to check out https://awesomestacks.dev https://awesomestacks.dev or https://project-awesome.org/stackshareio/awesome-stacks#back-end https://project-awesome.org/stackshareio/awesome-stacks#back... Hope those helps.

romikusumabakti 3y ago
Thanks for the resources! By "best" I mean "truly built for backend services / web APIs", so it has no performance and scalability issues to be used as a backend for multiplatform applications. Any personal recommendations based on that?
- Alifatisk 3y ago
  Oh okey! I've mostly written my backend with Rails (or Sinatra when its a smaller service), still happy using it when I can because of how quickly I get things done.
- Two4 3y ago
  I'm a big fan of JDK 21 with Helidon 4/Nima on the backend - most use cases covered, but very tight and light in dependencies and pretty much completely platform independent. You also have the option of compiling it AoT with GraalVM for a very quick-loading and low-memory near-native binary. Virtual threads mean much easier scaling, as you can do thread-per-request with a synchronous API. (Although I'm not sure if Graal supports java 21 yet, I'll have to check)
  - Alifatisk 3y ago
    I’ve wanted to give GraalVM and its native-images a try but haven’t yet. Do you have any experience with it?
    - Two4 3y ago
      Yes - I once wrote an AWS lambda that was having issues with cold boot times, so I compiled it to a binary and bada bing bada boom, boot went from 2 seconds to about 200ms. It's not a silver bullet though - some reflection features aren't supported, and reflection in general requires a bit of config at compile time to make sure all the required classes are loaded. This can make some plugin architectures unworkable, although I maintain that if you need reflection for pluggable code, you're probably doing it wrong.

ndunas 3y ago

I would go with Laravel if you are familiar with PHP. Lots of out of the box goodies available.