Since you’ve made your way to this post, you must have already set off on the amazing road of your new website development. But are you struggling with the question of which stack to go with? Or are you still confused if you should go with stack at all? We understand how crucial such decisions are; it is these that determine the future of your website. And now that you’re here, you can simply wipe off your tension and by the end of this read, we promise you’ll have all the answers. But before we go on to the topic of this blog post, MEAN and MERN stack, let’s dig in a little deep to understand them better. Both MEAN and MERN stack form a part of the Custom Full Stack Development. Stack development, unlike the popular CRM that’s built upon a predetermined framework, allows you to go out-of-the-box and tailor-make features to suit your requirements. Each of these full-stack members is a group of software systems for both back-end and front-end development.
While these software systems have revolutionized the industry by providing high customization opportunities, they’ve also posed challenges for developers. One of the biggest is choosing from the numerous options available yet, these MEAN and MERN stacks have gained a spotlight. Scroll down to know what these two popular stacks have to offer.
MEAN Stack
MEAN is a short form of MongoDB, Express.js, Angular and Node.js. Together, these technologies are used to develop complex websites, progressive and responsive web apps, and hybrid mobile apps. All these technologies that form a part of the MEAN stack use Javascript, making it a developer-friendly solution by simplifying and speeding up the development process.
Benefits Of MEAN Stack
Since both client- and server-side systems utilize the same coding language, it’s easy to switch between the two. You do not require a 3rd party server and can easily open your application directly on Node.js.
MEAN stack offers the flexibility of performing activities that are not just limited to web application development. Here, you can host your application on a cloud for testing. Also, since its database system (Mongo DB) is cloud-based, as you put your device on the cloud, it would automatically start sharing and clustering support across systems.
The stack is backed up by a huge online community. Thus, if you search any issue on Google, you’ll be able to find infinite comprehensive solutions.
MVC architecture requires to divide an application into 3 different but interrelated components, namely, Model, View and Controller. This helps developers in separating the internal representation of information and how the final user will see it.
MVC compatibility provides MEAN stack with a high-level of productivity.
MEAN stack web applications are supported by automated testing. Thus, in case there’s some feature break-down, it instantly notifies the developer. This makes quality-check easy for companies.
MERN Stack
MERN stack is another full-stack web development framework that derives its name from the constituting technologies, namely, MongoDB, Express.js, React.js and Node.js. Again, it’s a Javascript-driven stack used for building web applications. As even a layman can notice, the main difference between MEAN and MERN stack is the use of Angular and React respectively. But this small difference of a letter is what makes all the change. Let’s see how.
Benefits of MERN Stack
It follows Javascript for both client-side and server-side development which makes coding easy and fast. This is because, with one language followed throughout, there’s no requirement of switching contexts.
It’s compatible with MVC architecture, resulting in a smooth development process.
It uses React.js for front-end development that has already empowered brands like Airbnb, Dropbox, Tesla, Facebook, etc. React.js supports SPA (single-page application) which eliminates the hassle of loading a new page for every action.
MERN stack is backed-up by a set of pre-existing testing tools which provides quality assurance to developers.
React provides developers with a huge library of tools to create your application. You can enjoy the complete freedom of choosing from the library’s functions.
The Difference Between MEAN & MERN Stack
The key difference in MEAN and MERN is the shift in technology from Angular to React. While Angular has enjoyed all the attention for a long time, React seems to take over in the past few years. The latter offers a better documentation system than the former. However, Angular being a complete framework enhances productivity. So how to choose between the two? It’s factors like the size of your project, focus on performance, productivity & error prevention, and long term maintenance that helps us make the choice.
Size of Project: If you have a large project, then MERN is a perfect choice since it offers uni-directional data-binding (Unidirectional data-binding provides a better data overview and makes large projects easily manageable).
Productivity: MEAN stack turns out to be both times- and cost-effective as Angular in itself is a complete framework which makes upgrading codes easier than React.
Performance: React can update the virtual DOM and thus, has proven to have an edge over Angular in performance.
Error Prevention: If you’re working on projects where there are chances of making errors, the MEAN stack has your back. It eliminates the chances of coding errors with Angular use of Typescript that takes care of it at the coding stage itself.
Future Maintenance and Alterations: While both Angular & React enjoy almost an equal share of popularity, React is the one that has recently come to the spotlight. React is fast-gaining popularity because of which many developers are keen on working on it. Thus, there are more chances of finding React developers in future for maintenance and web application alterations.
Conclusion
The advanced technologies have undoubtedly simplified our lives, but the number of stacks available has made the choice difficult for developers. Each of them offers unique yet sometimes overlapping benefits. With MEAN and MERN stacks, both share similarities but are suitable for different kinds of projects. It’s your overall requirements and priorities that can help you determine the best stack for your project on the basis of the aforementioned factors. Stay tuned for more information.
