Technology Stack Selection Model for Software Design of Digital Platforms

Evgeny Nikulchev,Dmitry Ilin,Alexander Gusev

doi:10.3390/math9040308

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the development of a mathematical model and methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of integrating information technology solutions into digital platforms using virtual simulation infrastructures. The task of selecting a stack of technologies is formulated as the task of selecting elements from sets of possible solutions. This allows us to develop a mathematically unified approach to evaluating the effectiveness of different solutions, such as choosing programming languages, choosing Database Management System (DBMS), choosing operating systems and data technologies, and choosing the frameworks used. Introduced technology compatibility operation and decomposition of the evaluation of the efficiency of the technology stack at the stages of the life cycle of the digital platform development allowed us to reduce the computational complexity of the formation of the technology stack. A methodology based on performance assessments for experimental research in a virtual software-configurable simulation environment has been proposed. The developed solution allows the evaluation of the performance of the digital platform before its final implementation, while reducing the cost of conducting an experiment to assess the characteristics of the digital platform. It is proposed to compare the characteristics of digital platform efficiency based on the use of fuzzy logic, providing the software developer with an intuitive tool to support decision-making on the inclusion of the solution in the technology stack.

Highlights

The proliferation of web applications, driven by their platform and hardware independence, ubiquity of use, interfaces, data transfer protocols, and programmable capabilities, has defined the development of the IT sector—the creation of digital platforms
The introduced decomposition of the selection problem allows us to reduce the dimension of the original problem and reduce the number of options under consideration, the effectiveness of which can only be assessed by conducting experiments including each of the information technology solutions into the digital platform
A methodology for the selection of information technology solutions for a technology stack of digital platforms based on fuzzy logic has been developed

Summary

Introduction

The proliferation of web applications, driven by their platform and hardware independence, ubiquity of use, interfaces, data transfer protocols, and programmable capabilities, has defined the development of the IT sector—the creation of digital platforms. In high load systems with integrated modules used, it is difficult or impossible to assess theoretically their effectiveness In these conditions, a model and an approach are proposed, which consist of identifying a subset of technologies of the required technology stack and choosing based on an assessment of quality characteristics in conditions that simulate a real environment, e.g., parameters of network loading, parameters of virtual machines, data transfer rate, and so on. When choosing technological solutions based on minimizing the consumption of a resource, the key indicator is not the specific number of bytes or microseconds spent on the execution of an algorithm that changes slightly from experiment to experiment, but a qualitative estimate of whether resource consumption is “high”, “medium”, or “low” in accordance with the developer’s goals and perceptions.

Related Works

Technology Stack Selection Model

Experimental Virtual Environment

Examples

Conclusions