What is the MERN stack?
This is the first in a series of 3 articles dealing with the MERN stack.
This trilogy is made up of the following articles:
- 1. What is the MERN stack?
- 2. How does the MERN stack work?
- 3. What are the advantages of the MERN stack?
Definition of the MERN Stack
To start, MERN stands for:
The MERN stack is an amalgamation of these four technologies. This combination allows developers to create complete websites (back-end and front-end). With the MERN stack, we use JavaScript on the client side and Node.js on the server side.
The MERN stack was created to give full stack developers the ability to develop a site from start to finish, without having to know or use another skill.
Developers can thus create a website or a web application from start to finish, and can manage both the front-end and the back-end. The MERN stack provides the possibility of mastering both the algorithmic and logical part of the backend, as well as the design, user experience and animation components of the front end part.
This translates into recruitment savings for companies that can have a single developer do work that commonly requires two.
The MERN stack represents an alliance of the most powerful technologies on the market.
Another possibility is the MEAN stack, which corresponds to:
- MongoDB,
- Express,
- AngularJS,
- Node.js.
In the MEAN stack, we just replace React front-end technology with AngularJS.
What technologies make up the MERN stack?
MongoDB – the database
MongoDB allows you to manage databases. It differs from SQL. MongoDB is used in the MEAN stack because the data is manipulated in JSON format. It is also really simple to transform JavaScript data into MongoDB and vice versa, thanks to libraries such as mongoose, for example. Data manipulation becomes child’s play, with efficiency and simplicity.
Node.js
Node.js works with JavaScript. These two languages are strongly linked and are able to interact with each other very easily. Therefore, a developer proficient in JavaScript will have no difficulty learning from Node.JS.
In addition, Node.JS has the distinction of being an extremely fast language – one of the fastest languages in computer programming – because it is also an asynchronous language. Renowned companies such as Facebook use Node.js.
Express
Express is a data modeling language that formally specifies data. It provides the ability to develop a complex web application. Express uses the middleware system, which is dedicated to managing highly complex web applications. Express is used for the creation of the REST API. The REST API corresponds to a website that will retrieve data via HTTP requests. These queries are executed with the React.js language.
React.js
React.js is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook since 2013. React.js develops the front-end part of the website, and is renowned for accelerating the loading speeds of websites in general. Animations, uploads and any other transition are made much faster. For example, Netflix uses React.js, and the language is the best technological choice if you want to develop a web application, mobile application or even software quickly.
Bocasay builds teams of React.js, Node.js, and AngularJS developers for its clients. Thanks to our offshore IT development centers based in Mauritius, Vietnam and Madagascar, we have a very diverse pool of technological skills.
What technical skill do you need to strengthen your technical teams or to launch a new web or mobile application project? Let’s discuss it so we can give you a technical solution.
In our next article, we will explore how the MERN stack technologies work together.
