Tech stack: languages, frameworks and tooling

Home Office recommended languages, frameworks and technology, including information on technologies in the complete tech stack.

Selecting languages, frameworks and technology

Our recommended languages for application development are:

Javascript (NodeJS)
Java
Scala

If you want more information on recommended technologies or to use something not on this list, email CentreOfExcellenceCentral@digital.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Recommended common tooling

Home Office Forms (HOF)

Home Office Forms is an open source set of libraries for quickly building accessible, government styled forms. It’s intended to be flexible enough to do anything with, yet have the basics covered so you can move fast.

Application Container Platform

Our application container hosting platform is built on Docker and Kubernetes. Our technical service requirements must always be followed. The platform developer guide describes how to use its components.

NCSC Web Check

NCSC Web Check lets you monitor the security status of your public URLs. It checks the TLS (HTTPS) setup for your site, including server certificate validity and warnings for certificates about to expire.

It’s important to note that as this tool is in alpha it comes with the usual caveats for an alpha service. To use the tool, contact the Centre of Excellence at CentreOfExcellenceCentral@digital.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Collaborative tooling and remote pairing

Some teams use Screenhero (only available on Macs) and Chrome Remote Desktop.

You may find our technology and architecture training courses useful.

The GOV.UK Service Manual technology section also has content on:

choosing technology
development
integration
hosting
testing
security and maintenance