💻Technology Stack

The reason for the selected technology stack is based on market demand, project specs, and the skill of potential participants.

Frontend

Technology: React (with Electron) and Typescript

Reason for Choice:

• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Electron allows us to build a desktop application using web technologies that runs seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

• Component-Based Architecture: React's component-based architecture makes it easy to manage a complex UI and re-use code, enhancing both development speed and application consistency.

• Strong Community and Ecosystem: React has a vast community and a rich ecosystem of libraries, which helps in finding solutions and support quickly.

Backend

Technology: Node.js with Express and Typescript

Reason for Choice:

• Performance and Scalability: Node.js is known for its non-blocking I/O operations, which allows it to handle many connections simultaneously, crucial for real-time applications like Intracom.

• Ease of Development: JavaScript is used both on the frontend and backend, which simplifies context switching for developers and reduces the learning curve.

• Robust Middleware Support: Express framework provides a thin layer of fundamental web application features, along with a robust routing API, facilitating rapid development of APIs.

Database

Technology: MongoDB

Reason for Choice:

• Schema Flexibility: MongoDB stores data in a JSON-like format, allowing flexible and dynamic schema. This is particularly beneficial for Intracom as it evolves and scales.

• Scalability: MongoDB offers powerful sharding and replication features that support horizontal scaling, which is ideal for managing large volumes of data generated by Intracom.

• Developer Familiarity: MongoDB is widely adopted in the industry, which generally lowers the barrier to entry for new developers joining the project.

Containerization

Technology: Docker

Reason for Choice:

• Consistency Across Environments: Docker containers wrap the software in a complete filesystem that contains everything needed to run, ensuring that it works uniformly despite differences among development and staging environments.

• Rapid Deployment: Docker containers can be used to quickly set up or tear down applications without the overhead of traditional virtual machines.

• Isolation: Containers are isolated from each other and the host system, improving security and reducing conflicts among software dependencies.

Continuous Integration and Deployment

Tools: GitHub Actions

Reason for Choice:

• Seamless Integration with GitHub: GitHub Actions integrates directly into GitHub repositories, streamlining the workflow setup and execution without the need for additional services.

• Automation: GitHub Actions automates all aspects of the software development workflow, including testing, building, and deploying, directly from GitHub. This makes it simpler to manage CI/CD pipelines within the familiar GitHub environment.

• Customizable Workflows: It supports complex workflows that can be triggered by GitHub events like pushes, pull requests, or even scheduled events. This flexibility allows Intracom to adapt and react to development changes in real-time.

• Container Support: GitHub Actions is compatible with Docker, allowing workflows to build, run, and push Docker container images, which aligns perfectly with the containerized approach of Intracom.

• Cost-Effective: For public repositories, GitHub Actions offers unlimited runner minutes, which is highly cost-effective, especially for open-source projects like Intracom.

• Community and Marketplace: There is a growing marketplace of actions that can be reused and integrated into workflows, which reduces the need to write custom scripts and speeds up the development process.

Version Control

Technology: Git

Reason for Choice:

• Distributed Development: Git allows each developer to have a full history of the codebase, enabling offline work and reducing dependency on a central server.

• Branching and Merging: Git's branching and merging capabilities make it ideal for managing new features, fixes, and releases in an efficient and isolated manner.