Be MEAN and Lean in Web App Development – Build Apps with MEAN Stack

MEAN

As developers, we know the importance of full stack of development technology putting our lives at ease. While LAMP stack started this trend many years back, we now see another trend fast catching up in the development universe- the MEAN stack

Simply put, this technology bundle consists of 4 components

1. MongoDB – The database

MongoDB is a widely popular schema-less open source NoSQL database system. Its design makes it easy to pass data to and fro from the server to the client.

2. ExpressJS – The development framework

This agile framework lets developers build single and multipage web application easily and quickly.

3. AngularJS – The front end solution

AngularJS is an open source JavaScript framework ensures quick time front end development. Angular has become popular after Google started backing it. It is used to create RICH Internet Applications (RIA), especially single-page web applications. Which means, With lesser lines of codes, developers can build applications that are running functionally rich applications.

4. Nodejs – The server side environment

The JavaScript-based execution environment helps to build concurrent network applications that are robust and scalable. It’s  built on Google’s Chrome V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js has an event-driven framework and has non-blocking Input/Output model, hence making the applications run efficiently.

The benefits of learning this stack are obvious: a developer with skills in these 4 technologies under his belt can bring about enormous value added than 2-3 different programmers with various expertise adding substantial HR cost overheads to the company. The immense ROI presented by this talent makes MEAN developers highly in demand in the market.

MEAN stack provides amazing facilities with these 4 technologies. Utilizing the combined prowess of these technologies, developers can easily build enterprise grade web apps. What’s more, the stack also has multiple utilities like Passport and Mongoose pre-built into the stack. The brains behind MEAN have strived to tackle the key problem of bringing together multiple popular environments and frameworks and solving integration issues.

Downloading the components

1. MongoDB can be downloaded here and there is a very good Installation tutorial which you can find here.
2. Express can be installed post Node.js download. This has Express as one of the Node.js Package Manager with the command – $ npm install express
3. Steps for installing AngularJS can be found here
4. Nodejs can be downloaded here and there is another good tutorial on npm (nodejs package manager) installation.

Tried your hand at MEAN stack? Let us know your thoughts on your experience on this versatile technology stack.

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