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Ken Sparks
Ken Sparks

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Explain a Tech Stack Like I'm 5

Can you explain the concept of a Stack/Tech Stack in an simplistic way?

Top comments (4)

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mauryarohit profile image
mauryarohit

I came across an post on social media that compared the working of a restaurant with how things go around in application development. I think a 5 yo can also understand the analogy.
This is how it is:

  • Backend: The kitchen is where all the processing happens and the user or customer doesn't need to see how it is working under the hood i.e. how the chef is preparing the food.
  • Frontend: This is where the user places an request(order) to the backend(kitchen). The presentation also happens here(the UI of the application).
  • APIs: The waiter works as an API that carry out users' request to the backend from the frontend.

However, this is not the best analogy that would explain the whole "Tech Stack". But somewhat give an idea about the same.

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kallmanation profile image
Nathan Kallman

In this analogy, the "Tech Stack" would be things like:

Friers, Red Shirt Uniforms, Drive-thru

vs

Ovens, Tuxedos, Candle-lit tables

There's innumerable combinations; some are more popular than others. And some setups are better at particular types of service.

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kensparksdev profile image
Ken Sparks

Excellent Analogy! I'll be using that going forward.

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