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 MEAN stack and MERN 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 tech stack to help handle a web project properly, developers must have a bigger picture of both alternatives – MEAN stack and MERN 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 MEAN and MERN 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.

Disadvantages of MEAN Stack

While MEAN Stack has a lot of benefits to offer, it also has a set of pitfalls, which include the following:

• UI rendering

MEAN Stack uses Angular for UI rendering. This is a disadvantage when compared to MERN Stack. Developers will face challenges in UI rendering due to Angular’s two-way data binding, especially when handling complex UIs or UIs that keep changing. React comes with virtual DOM, which is effective in changing and providing regular updates.

• Steep learning curve

A developer who wants to use MEAN Stack must understand and comprehend Angular. A developer who doesn’t understand Angular cannot use MEAN Stack, which is contrary to MERN Stack, which uses JavaScript, a unified language. Angular requires extensive knowledge, skills, and a better understanding of TypeScript and Reactive Extensions for JavaScript and dependency injection features.

• Less flexible

MEAN Stack uses Angular, which follows a specific structure. It becomes hard for developers to implement creativity and create instant solutions during the project development process. Although this has some benefits in some ways, it denies developers the freedom to exercise creativity by forcing them to follow specific processes.

Benefits of MERN stack

On the other hand, we should also have an in-depth understanding of the MERN stack benefits. 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.

Disadvantages of MERN Stack

Just like MEAN Stack, MERN Stack too has a set of disadvantages, which include the following:

• Complexity

React is more of a library that relies heavily on other libraries and third-party tools to function effectively. This is unlike Angular, which is a full framework. Developers, therefore, face challenges when using the MERN stack due to the architecture’s complexity caused by React.

• Limited to some projects

Although MERN Stack is an excellent choice for small projects, it lacks some components that are useful for building complex and large-scale apps. However, React offers room for flexibility and creativity for developers, but in the end, developers face challenges in maintaining the processes and architecture, especially when the project grows bigger and bigger. This makes it not ideal for some projects.

• Security

MEAN Stack uses TypeScript, which has built-in tools and resources that offer protection against some form of risks. This is contrary to the MERN stack, which uses React and JavaScript programming language. JavaScript has loopholes for more bugs and errors, thus posing some security challenges.

MEAN Stack Vs. MERN Stack: Top differences

The summary below shows the main differences between the MEAN stack and the MERN stack depending on the framework used, community support, scalability, performance, learning curve, and popularity.

• Frontend Framework

MERN Stack uses the React framework for frontend development, while MEAN Stack uses Angular for frontend development.

• Community support

MEAN Stack has a large and well-established community support with extensive resources. This makes it the best, even for beginners or inexperienced developers.

MERN Stack, on the other hand, is an active community support that is still growing. This makes it suitable for highly experienced developers.

• Scalability

MERN Stack is ideal for small and medium projects. MEAN Stack, on the other hand, works best with large and complex projects.

• Performance

MEAN Stack performs better on the server side, while the MERN stack is excellent with UI rendering.

• Learning curve

MEAN Stack is easy to learn and master; hence, it is ideal even for beginner developers. MERN stack, on the other hand, is quite complex and is, therefore, ideal for experienced developers.

• Popularity

MEAN Stack is well-established, while MERN stack is still growing and gaining popularity.

MERN stack vs MEAN Stack: which one should you choose?

Both MEAN stack & MERN stack development have their strengths as well as weaknesses. Choosing one depends on a number of factors or considerations as far as the project is concerned.

However, choosing the right stack will help you complete your project successfully. Depending on the project’s dynamics and objectives, you can choose either MERN or MEAN stack development.

For instance, when developing large-scale corporate apps like logistics, healthcare, and banking apps that need complex data management and processing, go for the MEAN stack.

Again, apps or projects that require high involvement levels and complex user interfaces, such as real-time chat applications, ecommerce websites, and networking platforms, are best with the MERN stack.

So, before you choose either MERN or MEAN stack, factor in elements such as project requirements, developer expertise, development costs, and scalability, among many other considerations. Should you feel stuck along the processes, our expert teams at Aalpha Information Systems, will help you through and ensure your project meets all the requirements and is completed successfully.

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 MEAN and MERN 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.

MERN Stack vs. MEAN Stack FAQs

How can I choose the right stack between MERN & MEAN Stack?

Choosing between MEAN and MERN stack is a simple process. You simply define the goals you need to achieve, know your audience, do some research, choose, try, and implement.

What is the difference between the MEAN stack &MERN stack?

The key difference between MERN and MEAN stack technologies is the frameworks. While the MERN stack uses React, the MEAN stack uses Angular. Again, the MERN stack uses MongoDB or any NoSQL database. MEAN Stack, on the other hand, uses MongoDB as its core database.

The main similarity between MERN and MEAN stack technologies is that they both use the Node.js backend framework.

MEAN Stack or MERN Stack: which one is better?

Both MERN and MEAN stacks are significant technologies in the development field. Choosing either MERN Stack or MEAN Stack depends on the project dynamics and requirements. While MERN Stack uses React, which offers flexibility during project development, MEAN Stack uses Angular, a more established framework that enables developers to access materials and resources when working on a given project.

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