Supported Technologies

As is the case with all parts of the Handbook, this is a living document in which changes are encouraged as our practices mature and develop. This is version 2024.1

Introduction

Given the ever-shifting technology environment, as well as our own love of learning and exploring, it is easy to take on new technologies as we enter new projects.

However, there are many reasons to limit the number of technologies that CDS can support, including:

Leveraging the same knowledge across multiple projects
Making projects more sustainable in the long run—e.g. by easing the hand-off between personnel for existing (or legacy) projects
Building on existing expertise in order to provide high-quality service (and limiting staff stress associated with supporting unfamiliar technologies!)
Focussing staff professional development time and resources
Clearly defining the expertise requirements when posting for jobs or consultants

Having said that, our strategy must acknowledge that technology is constantly in a state of flux, and while we can’t chase every new tool as it appears, we also need to allow for eventual change and not remain married to seriously outdated solutions (or we’d all be Flash and ColdFusion programmers!).

The following is a list of technologies that form a core set. Any additions must be established, stable, actively maintained, and have a strong user community with ample documentation (and/or learning opportunities). If an addition functionally takes the place of another, older, member on the list, then there must be a plan in place for supporting existing projects that rely on the older technology, and no new projects should be added that rely on the older technology.