If you want a working backend with minimal effort, because actually the React part was the fun thing
Firebase (Firestore) :
This gives you, sort of, an autogenerated backend, if only you describe the structure of your database. I’d mainly recommend this if you’re not interested in writing a backend but you still want things to work as if you built an amazing backend.
The main disadvantage is it will be different from what many databases look like.
You could skip the “subscribe for changes” feature and only use the “read” feature and it will be a bit more realistic, but I don’t actually recommend that.
If you want to write backend in a way that will push you towards best practices, using a technology that is very popular (and specifically documented well for beginners)
Django
A big disadvantage is you’d need to learn some pyhton, and you might be reading this because you already built a fun React project and you want to get it done without learning lots of new tech
DB:
Postgres is the default normal DB for most use cases. SQLite might be easier for local development (on your laptop), and is missing some features that you’ll almost surely not notice, so please don’t care about them until a concrete problem comes up.
Things that automatically override this advice:
If you’re picking technologies for your startup or something then remember this wasn’t written for you.
If you have a senior developer who will mentor you if you work on some different technology that they know well, then probably go with them.
Backend recommendations:
I’m much less confident about this.
If you want a working backend with minimal effort, because actually the React part was the fun thing
Firebase (Firestore) :
This gives you, sort of, an autogenerated backend, if only you describe the structure of your database. I’d mainly recommend this if you’re not interested in writing a backend but you still want things to work as if you built an amazing backend.
The main disadvantage is it will be different from what many databases look like.
You could skip the “subscribe for changes” feature and only use the “read” feature and it will be a bit more realistic, but I don’t actually recommend that.
If you want to write backend in a way that will push you towards best practices, using a technology that is very popular (and specifically documented well for beginners)
Django
A big disadvantage is you’d need to learn some pyhton, and you might be reading this because you already built a fun React project and you want to get it done without learning lots of new tech
DB:
Postgres is the default normal DB for most use cases. SQLite might be easier for local development (on your laptop), and is missing some features that you’ll almost surely not notice, so please don’t care about them until a concrete problem comes up.
Things that automatically override this advice:
If you’re picking technologies for your startup or something then remember this wasn’t written for you.
If you have a senior developer who will mentor you if you work on some different technology that they know well, then probably go with them.