MEAN Stack vs. MERN Stack : Which is Better Stack
Understanding full stack development can be an easier task for some developers and a difficult one for others. It is crucial to know about full-stack development, and a better approach to it is the consistent development of custom web applications. Doing so will drive you into understanding the principles underlying MERN stack and MEAN stack hence the principle differences between the former and the latter. Knowing the MERN and MEAN stack is essential for selecting the most appropriate stack technology to drive any web development project success.
It is also crucial to understand that big data is currently taking center technology and, therefore, push agile methods an extra mile. With the demand for advancements, we anticipate that any software product built in this era is robust and can easily flex with the changing technologies. Therefore, it develops into choosing a proper stack that will continually enhance scalability, flexibility, and cost-effective performance. In establishing the best stack to help handle a web project properly, developers must have a bigger picture of both alternatives — MERN Stack and MEAN Stack. However, it is crucial to first what full-stack development entails. Before we zero down to the two specificities, let us delve into it with an in-depth understanding of its functionalities.
Full-stack development
In the web development environment, we’d consider full-stack development revolving around four dimensions: mobile app, testing, frontend, and backend. With the growth of technology and demand for modern workplace requirements, companies are now looking for experts who’ve more excellent knowledge in all four spheres of web development. However, this was not the case previously, and most companies hired staff that knew in at least one sphere. Exploring each dimension is crucial if you desire to be a full-stack developer. Let’s cut across the four spheres to understand an overview of each of them.
First, the frontend requires you to understand better frontend development tools such as JavaScript, CSS, Angular, React, among other renowned tools.
The backend commands a mastery and expertise of backend technologies such as Django, Python, PHP, Caching, and NodeJS. It would help if you also knew databases such as SQLite, MongoDB, MySQL, among others. It is also crucial to understand the underlying principles in DevOps and Mobile apps.
As a full-stack developer, you will need the primary role of managing the whole design structure of the web development project. Such a developer will always experience shifts between frontend development and backend development as per the requirements of the project at hand since full-stack developers have to equip themselves with problem-solving capabilities and quickly solve problems related to different web architectures. After adequately understanding what entails full stack development, let’s delve into the main idea to understand the MERN framework and the MEAN framework properly.
MEAN stack vs. MERN stack
The MEAN and MERN frameworks have the most significant capabilities — support for reliable abstraction at the User Interface. We anticipate more of Angular JS with MEAN stack while MERN stack comes with the ReactJS as a more significant supportive component. The MERN stack and MEAN stack come with a more remarkable combination of crucial tools for proper functionality development of web products. It can therefore be challenging to establish which platform is good over the other for a developer. Consequently, it is crucial to go through the daunting task of understanding the most basic to complex specificities in each to understand a proper stack that will facilitate any web development project properly.
We shall help you venture into this task fully and understand both MERN and MEAN to understand the two frameworks properly. Let’s delve into everything pertaining MEAN stack and MERN stack. More importantly, let us venture into the benefits developers would achieve if they considered using either of the frameworks.
Benefits of MEAN stack
Any seasoned developer with prior experience using the MEAN stack will continuously sync because the framework is just a bundle of Java-related tools. A section of them includes Express, MongoDB, among others. One of the essential open source developments facilitates easier mobile application development and web application development. Another critical factor about the MEAN stack is the support for interacting with the frontend and the backend during development. Moreover, without necessarily having to discontinue a process to perform a different activity. The critical components of the MEAN stack include AngularJS, a frontend framework that supports running code on the user browser. NodeJS is the second component, a runtime system that offers implementation of JavaScript on the back end of a web application development project. MongoDB is the third and offers faster database services such as storage of data in backend applications. The storage occurs through JSON files.
A key feature that puts the framework on top includes the usage of JavaScript code. We can therefore consider the framework an easier one for the beginner. It is, therefore, easier to master, learn and understand. The MEAN stack will always provide the developer with more accessible ways to reduce development costs and time with the most excellent features. With a range of solutions offered, MEAN stack developers will continuously develop scalable products through less strenuous procedures.
Benefits of MERN stack
On the other hand, we should also have an in-depth understanding of the MERN stack. It is a crucial JavaScript platform that entails React, MongoDB, Node, and Express. The stack implements Java technologies, which are essential to creating the best products that capture the eye easily through reliable database access and practical application logic. Some of the crucial components underlying this great framework include NodeJS, a runtime environment that supports running JavaScript on a machine. MongoDB is document-oriented and supports no SQL as a data store. ExpressJS stands out to support the backend functionality of a web project as well as its structure.
Therefore, the MERN stack is also a crucial framework and has extensive testing capabilities. It is also responsible for taking the developer through the entire software development life cycle. It is thus not strenuous to the developers because all they need is a little knowledge of JSON and JavaScript. Moreover, it also has extensive React features that ensure the code runs on both the browser and the server. Therefore, there’s the reduction of the developer’s job into a state where the business environment becomes more accessible than ever before.
Factors influencing the choice between MERN stack and MEAN stack
After exploring the real possibilities and differences between the two frameworks, you choose to go for the best. Therefore, it is crucial that you first understand the critical differences between the frameworks to identify the best. For instance, a thorough exploration between the two frameworks will depict that the Mern stack uses ReactJS while its counterpart, AngularJS. With AngularJS, there’s excellent abstraction and proper management of project files. ReactJS supports faster code development. The following are the critical factors in establishing the best framework between MEAN and MERN stack.
The user interface requirements
Many companies often prefer robust yet simple user interfaces that render correctly as per the device in use. MERN stack is a superb choice for such developers because it can generate frames with quicker display rates. It is thus an incredible source of smoother interaction.
Robust applications
For robust applications, the MEAN stack is a perfect fit. It is, therefore, a good fit for e-commerce projects which usually, are large-scale applications. The MEAN stack is the central point for creating dynamic web applications and supports the proper organization of the projects.
Enterprise-level projects
For any developers working on enterprise-level projects, it is crucial to understand the need for maintaining comprehensive architectures. It is for this reason that the MEAN stack proves essential. With the framework, developers will enjoy the proper organization necessary for the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. However, both the MERN and MEAN support the MVC architecture. The MEAN stack is more diligent with code manageability and upgradability.
Third-party support
In every project, it is crucial to incorporate third-party support through third-party libraries. Therefore, the MEAN stack is an essential consideration because it has a more significant concern for third-party extensions. MERN will only call for additional configurations to enable third-party support.
The ease of using third-party libraries is another factor to consider when working on enterprise-level applications. MEAN has AngularJS, which has built-in features to support calls and connect to the backend. However, ReactJS has additional libraries to bring in the same functionality. MEAN takes care of third-party extensions in a plug-and-play fashion, whereas MERN requires other configurations to do the same.
Niche projects
With the MERN stack, any experienced developer will quickly deploy a CRUD application from the start of a project to its end. With React, it can always be easier to adapt to the changing data while at the same time focusing on a proper interface. For smaller projects from given niches, MERN would be a more fantastic choice.
Conclusion
From the in-depth exploration of both MERN and MEAN stack, you will realize that neither is a silver bullet. Therefore, you must understand the features available in each framework and establish what suits you best.
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Originally published at https://www.aalpha.net on October 20, 2021.