Why Choose MEAN Stack As Your Next Web Development Project

Choosing the right stack when developing a flexible, efficient, reliable and scalable web application or dynamic website can turn out to be an overwhelming process. Striking the right balance between variables involved with front-end functionality, database management system, web server, and the server scripting language is crucial. In recent times, the MEAN stack has established itself as one of the most preferred web development solutions. Let’s dive into this web-stack and shed some light on what makes MEAN stack the ideal choice for web development.

MEAN stack is an open-source JavaScript-based software stack comprising of MongoDB, Express, Angular and Node.js. All these components support programs are written in JavaScript leading to the complete web application being written in a single programming language.

• MongoDB:

It is a cross-platform NoSQL database which stores data as JSON documents. The architecture of this database allows it to be scale seamlessly. Other important features such as indexing, replication and load balancing are also at the developer’s disposal.

• Express:

It is a light and flexible Node.js application framework. It eliminates the need for the developers to handle low-level protocols and processes thereby speeding up the development routine.

• Angular:

A frontend JavaScript MVC framework maintained by Google to facilitate the rapid development of web applications especially single page applications. It enables a consistent interface across web, mobile or desktop.

• Node.js:

A powerful JavaScript runtime environment which allows developers to write command line tools for server-side scripting to generate the content for the dynamic web pages. It brings event-driven programming to web servers resulting in fast servers.

Now that we have learned about what is MEAN stack lets get in to ‘Why’ aspect of it.

1. Cost-effective development:

Everyone involved in the development cycle favor MEAN stack as it does offer a way of creating fast responsive web apps while being easy on the wallet. As all the major components are open source and free, at the same time based on JavaScript the costs involved with hiring resources with diverse skills are cut down significantly. And with the backing of a dynamic and vibrant community, there is also the added advantage of code reuse and sharing within the stack.

2. Improved development speed and scalability:

The number of modules, frameworks, and libraries which can be reused within the stack is tremendously high. These pre-existing components can be integrated directly into the code and can trim down the development time. The 4 major components of the stack are open-source and regularly maintained, making them perfect for scalable applications.

3. Smoother project management:

The productivity of developers working on a MEAN stack project is relatively high due to the fact that there are fewer pitfalls in internal communication as everyone involved is a JavaScript developer. This makes the team more collaborative and eliminates the roadblocks associated with projects involving developers from different backgrounds.

4. Performance Improvement:

Node.js has a non-blocking architecture which makes it exceptionally fast thus improving the rendering times for the content-rich dynamic web pages. Combined with AngularJS, which is known to provide fast and clean UI, applications based on MEAN stack often outperforms apps built on other stacks. Benchmarking data from various sources only make this argument stronger for this technology.

This modern approach has propelled MEAN stack to become the ideal choice for the development of any web application and dynamic web pages. This technology is also improving and getting refined every single day. The level of trust the community has put into this technology can be validated by the fact that big players such as PayPal, Netflix, and the NY Times have decided to give this a go.