MEAN stack is a collection of JavaScript-based technologies used to develop web applications.
MEAN Stack Acronymn Meaning
- MongoDB
- Express.js
- Angular
- Node.js
These four components work together to create a full-stack development environment for building dynamic and scalable web applications.
MEAN Stack Components
MongoDB
MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database that stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents. It’s designed to handle large amounts of data and provides high performance, scalability and availability.
Express.js
Express.js is a minimal and flexible Node.js web application framework. It simplifies the process of handling HTTP requests, routing and middleware integration.
Angular
Angular is a powerful and comprehensive front-end framework developed by Google. Developers use it for building complex and responsive user interfaces, providing features like data binding, dependency injection and modular structure.
Node.js
Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. It allows developers to run JavaScript on the server-side, enabling them to create scalable and high-performance network applications.
MEAN Stack Architecture
The MEAN stack follows a client-server architecture, where Angular handles the client side and Node.js and Express.js manage the server-side. MongoDB serves as the database for storing and retrieving data. The typical flow of a MEAN stack application is as follows.
- The client side (Angular) sends HTTP requests to the server-side (Node.js and Express.js).
- The server-side processes the request, interacts with the MongoDB database as needed and generates a response.
- The response is sent back to the client-side, where Angular handles the rendering and updating of the user interface.
How Does the MEAN Stack Work?
The MEAN stack uses the power of JavaScript across the entire application stack, allowing developers to use a single language for both client-side and server-side development. Here’s a brief overview of how each component works together.
Angular
Angular is responsible for building the user interface and handling client-side logic. It uses TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript, to provide better tooling and maintainability.
Node.js and Express.js
Node.js runs the server-side code, while Express.js provides a robust framework for handling HTTP requests, routing and middleware integration. This combination enables the creation of application programming interfaces and server-side logic.
MongoDB
MongoDB stores and retrieves data in a flexible and scalable manner. It uses a document-oriented data model, which aligns well with JavaScript objects, making data manipulation and integration easier.
Advantages of Using the MEAN Stack
Full-Stack JavaScript/TypeScript
By using JavaScript or TypeScript across the entire stack, developers can reduce the learning curve by focusing on one language and increase productivity by minimizing context switching.
Isomorphic Code
With Node.js, developers can share code between the client and server, enabling isomorphic or universal rendering, which can improve performance.
Scalability
Both Node.js and MongoDB are designed to handle large amounts of data and traffic, making the MEAN stack suitable for building scalable and high-performance applications.
Open Source and Community Support
All components of the MEAN stack are open source, with active communities contributing to development and support.
MEAN Stack Applications
The MEAN stack is widely used for building various types of web applications.
- Single-page applications
- Real-time applications (e.g., chat apps, collaboration tools)
- E-commerce platforms
- Content management systems
- Social networking applications
- Data-intensive applications
LAMP Stack vs. MEAN Stack
The LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) is another popular web development stack. While both stacks have their strengths and use cases, the MEAN stack offers several advantages.
JavaScript Everywhere
The MEAN stack allows developers to use JavaScript across the entire stack, providing a consistent development experience and reducing the need to learn multiple languages.
Asynchronous and Event Driven
Node.js is built on an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model, making it well-suited for building highly scalable and real-time applications.
NoSQL Database
MongoDB, a NoSQL database, provides better schema flexibility than traditional relational databases like MySQL, especially for handling large amounts of unstructured data.
While the LAMP stack has been a long-standing choice for web development, the MEAN stack offers a modern and efficient approach, particularly for applications that require scalability, real-time functionality and handling large amounts of unstructured data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between MEAN stack and LAMP stack?
The MEAN and LAMP stacks differ in their technology components and programming languages. While MEAN stack uses JavaScript throughout (MongoDB, Express.js, Angular, Node.js), LAMP stack employs a mix of technologies (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python), with MEAN being more suited for modern, real-time applications and LAMP being a traditional choice for server-side rendering.
What is the difference between MEAN stack and MERN stack?
The primary difference between MEAN and MERN stacks is in the front-end framework used. MEAN stack uses Angular for the front-end, while MERN stack replaces Angular with React.js, offering different approaches to building user interfaces and managing application state.
