MEAN Stack vs MERN Stack — Which one to choose and why?
Whether you are a student or an IT developer, choosing the right stack matters a lot. But we will get to that later, first, let’s understand what a stack is.
These days the term stack is being frequently used in software development. A ‘stack’ is a combination of programming languages and technologies. This article will discuss the two main technology stacks in web development — MEAN Stack and MERN Stack.
The MEAN Stack
MEAN is the abbreviation for MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, and NodeJs. One of the most popular tech stacks is the MEAN stack, a collection of Javascript-based technologies most commonly used for web application and website development. Simply put, the MEAN Stack is a full-stack JS framework that helps developers accelerate website and application development.
Components of MEAN Stack
MongoDB — It is a very popular cross-platform document-oriented database model. It is a NoSQL database and uses JSON-like documents for database schemas.
Express.js — It is a back-end framework for web development that runs on top of Nodejs.
Angular — It is the front-end framework that displays the results in the browser.
NodeJS — It is a runtime system for Javascript frameworks in the backend.
The Architecture of MEAN Stack
It consists of different tiers:
- Front-End — Anguler.JS is at the top which is a JS-based framework. It allows us to style our application by extending the HTML pages and creating interactive and dynamic web displays seen by the client in the browser.
- Back-End — This tier consists of Node JS and Express. Express is a fast and minimalist framework that runs on top of NodeJS and mainly helps in getting and returning data from the database to NodeJS. It also helps in URL routing and handling HTTP requests and responses. Node.js then parses the requests and returns the request to the front end for the result to be displayed.
- Database — In this tier, we store the data regarding our web application in the MongoDB database. To store data in it JSON documents are created by Angular which sends it to Express, retrieving or storing the data in the database.
The MERN Stack
MERN is the abbreviation for MongoDB, Express.js, ReactJS, and NodeJs. This stack ensures a smooth and easy development process for both web and mobile. It is becoming increasingly popular in today’s market. It also uses various libraries like MEAN stack to build premium-looking web pages.
Components of MERN Stack
MongoDB — It is a document-oriented database NoSQL database model and uses JSON-like documents for database schemas to store data.
Express.js — It is a layered back-end framework build on top NodeJS for web development.
ReactJS — It is a library that enables the user to create components of web applications — mainly for single-page websites.
NodeJS — It is a runtime environment for Javascript frameworks in the backend.
The Architecture of MERN Stack
This stack also consists of three main tiers:
- Front-End — The ReactJS is at the front-end which lets the user build complex interfaces through components and connect them with the backend, then render them as HTML. React also has very powerful tools called React hooks and React States which is suitable for handling stateful, data-driven interfaces with a minimum amount of code.
- Back-End — Then there is ExpressJS and NodeJS tier. ExpressJS is a server-side framework running inside the NodeJS server. By making HTTP Requests from React’s GET and POST, you can connect front-end to back-end.
- Database — It stores the data that is created in ReactJS then send to ExpressJS where the can be processed and stored in MongoDB.
Performance Measures — Tech Side
Performance Measures
App Examples
MEAN Stack: Some of the most popular web apps built on the MEAN stack are: Google, Telegram, Paypal
MERN Stack: Nowadays more and more famous web apps are being built on the MERN stack: Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram.
Conclusion — Why MERN is becoming popular
Although both the stacks have wonderful tools for web developers, the MERN stack still does a better job because of React.JS. It is more trendy and has huge support from the web-dev community, mainly due to its virtual DOM implementation. React versions don’t require many updates, unlike Angular. Also, there are many existing solutions for the MERN stack which speed up the development process.
In the end, it depends on you. If you find yourself more comfortable with a particular stack, if you find you are able to develop perfectly interactive and functional applications in that stack, then it is no doubt that you should stick to it, and perfect your skill even further!
Thank you for reading!
