MEAN stack vs. MERN stack
If you’re a Full-Stack Developer/SE, you’ve probably come across these terms before, but if you haven’t, I’m going to explain to you what these two are, and what their purpose is. Before we get into talking about MEAN vs. MERN, let’s talk about a stack. People often refer to the term “stack” when speaking of the combination of programming languages, and software underneath the project they’re working on. A tech stack is basically the frameworks, languages, and software used to create said project.
When referring to a Full-Stack Dev, they can easily switch between Front-end and Back-end development roles based on their project requirements. They can look after the design structure of the project during development, engage on solutions throughout the entire stack, and are ideal for small/medium enterprises as they help in compartmentalized web-development.
So now that you know a bit about stack/Full-Stack dev, let’s get started with MEAN.
What is MEAN, and what is it’s purpose?
The MEAN stack is one of the most prominent software stacks, a series
of JS-based technologies most widely used for the creation of Web apps and websites. In simple terms, the MEAN stack is a full-stack JS system that
allows MEAN stack developers to speed up the creation of websites and applications.
MEAN is broken down to four different parts, and those four parts mean:
MongoDB — Used as a document-based NoSQL database.
Express.js — Web framework for Node.js.
Angular — Front-end web framework.
Node.js — Js runtime environment for implementing the application back-end in Js.
Some benefits of the MEAN stack:
- It covers the complete web development cycle using
JavaScript from front-end (client-side) to back-end (server-side) development. - To make the development phase flow smoothly, it supports the MVC (Model-View Controller) architecture.
- Open source and sponsored by strong community support for frameworks.
- Full JavaScript stack requires developers need to be proficient in JavaScript and JSON.
- It comes with a robust set of in-built testing tools.
Different to MEAN, we have the MERN stack. The MERN stack has gained popularity in recent times to build top-end web applications. MERN stack is a stack based on JS that facilitates the seamless flow of processes for web creation. In the MERN stack we have:
MongoDB — Used as a document-based NoSQL database.
Express.js — Web framework for Node.js.
React — Front-end library for UI development.
Node.js — Js runtime environment for implementing the application back-end in Js.
Some benefits of using the MERN stack:
- It covers the complete web development cycle using
JavaScript from front-end (client-side) to back-end (server-side) development. - To make the development phase flow smoothly, it supports the MVC (Model-View Controller) architecture.
- Open source and sponsored by strong community support for frameworks.
- Full JavaScript stack requires developers need to be proficient in JavaScript and JSON.
- It comes with a robust set of in-built testing tools.
While MEAN and MERN have their own set of perks, they are both viable options. However, the choice lies within the demands of your project. Both are open source, and almost use the same technology, it ultimately comes down to whichever you feel would be best for you/team. I hope this blog has helped you with understanding MEAN/MERN.
