MERN Stack - A Full Guide With Introduction & Examples

Table of Contents

MERN Stack – An Overview

When you think of web apps, the first thing that comes to mind is MERN stack. It is a stack of technologies used to develop apps that have massive demand in every industry. Companies are expecting the applications to fulfill their business needs and allow their customers to perform tasks seamlessly. The apps should also be up round-the-clock and handle complicated scenarios besides giving enhanced user experience.

These are mainly built using JavaScript and communicate with different components in the application through web APIs. There are different stacks of technologies used in MERN. These technologies are a group of frameworks and tools that are widely used by developers to develop software applications. You can use the frameworks, tools and libraries to work simultaneously in developing complicated software.

About MERN Stack

Some of the technology stacks available today are:

MERN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS, NodeJS)
MEAN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, NodeJS)
LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)

There are different stacks available while few have become common while few others have become popular. These are quite easy to use. The most widely used stack is MERN which contains the following:

M is for MongoDB. It is the most popular NoSQL database system that follows a non-structured query language to query the database.
E stands for Express. It is a powerful middleware that you can find on the server end. The best example of this is NodeJS.
R for React is a client-side library you can use to develop a seamless user experience.
N for NodeJS is a JavaScript web server development environment that allows you to develop backend code efficiently.

MERN stack is a JavaScript stack that is simple and easier to use. It is widely used by companies to develop complex apps. You can take the MERN stack development course to learn about different frameworks and tools and get job-ready. After completion of the training, you will be ready to handle simple to complex apps. The MERN stack allows smoother interaction between the frontend and backend. Both of them use JavaScript.

Here is how the MERN stack is making a huge impact in developing apps using it:

Budget-friendly: It is open-source and the whole backend and frontend can be developed having Javascript knowledge. With less investment, you can develop complicated apps.
SEO-friendly – MERN stack is SEO-friendly. The websites developed using the MERN stack are optimized with SEO techniques. The pages are ranked well without having to do SEO.
Improve performance – There will be a quick exchange of response between the front-end, back-end and database so the website speed will be swift, thus giving a better experience to end-users using the applications.
Boosts security – There are different processes and methods used to protect servers and applications along with APIs.

Also read: MERN Stack Development Roadmap for 2024

MERN Stack Components

There are four different types of MERN stack components you can see in this article. MERN will have a 3-tier architecture that has three different layers, which include the Front-end tier of the web, the middle tier for the server and the backend tier for the database.

Web or front-end – It is the first tier that is handled by React js. It is an open-source JavaScript library that can be used to build web apps. It is used to create client-side apps and used to create complicated interfaces. The best thing about this is that you can reuse the code anywhere you want.

Server or middle-tier – It is the next layer after the top layer that handles both Express.js and React.js. In Express.js, the server-side framework is maintained that would run in the Node.js server. It develops both the dynamic APIs and web servers simultaneously while adding new functionalities to Node.js. On the other hand, node.js is a cross-platform run-time environment that would execute Javascript code outside of the browser.

Database or backend tier – It is the critical level in the MERN stack wherein MongoDB comes into the picture. It stores all the data related to the application. It has records and maintains replicas of files to retrieve if any of the files fail. The best thing is that it can retrieve the information you want quickly and is considered to be a NOSQL database.

MongoDB

It is a widely used No-SQL database and open-source. It is also document-oriented.
It is a non-relational database that does not have any kind of fixed schema and stores the data in various formats and different tables.
The data stored format is BSON in MongoDB
The structure has length and different information types. It allows you to parse the data briskly. The data is also scalable and has a good document structure
Faster compared to the relational database and has excellent indexing techniques
Does not possess any schema and stores the data in a separate document
Supports flexible document model that allows the developer to create the files in no time
You can scale up this database by adding more servers

Express

Javascript-based server-side of the framework that will run within Node.js
It is used by the backend developers to write the logic. It helps developers to create robust servers.
Easy to build and design web and mobile apps.
Let developers build APIs and web servers easily
Functionalities are efficient and is easier to connect to MongoDB and handle errors
Comes with third-party add-ons to improve functionality and security

React

Open-source library written in Javascript and is used to build front-end apps.
It is a library that was developed by Facebook.
Allows you to create reusable UI components that are easier to scale up.
Used as a combination of Javascript libraries and frameworks
Performance is quick due to data immutability

NodeJS

Open-source environment used to do server-side coding. It can execute Javascript code even outside of the browser.
Not a programming language
Used to build and develop backend services for both web and mobile.
Robust and offers quick services
Builds real-time web apps as it can synchronize faster
Asynchronous in nature and lets you perform all operations smoothly
Offers caching properties to cache and execute the same lines of code

Also read: 12 Best Full Stack Web Development Courses in India

Use Cases of MERN Stack

The MERN stack has gained huge popularity and many are showing interest in learning the stack of technologies to stand out from the rest. Knowing the MERN stack allows you to develop mobile and web apps with ease.

Calendars and to-do applications

When a developer is learning the MERN stack, the first project that they should execute is the calendar and to-do application. Doing these apps will allow them to learn a lot about the MERN stack and use all the technologies in this stack. For this type of app, you can design the user interface using REACT and backend with NodeJS and store the data or retrieve the data from MongoDB.

Highly interactive forums

The best use case that developers can take and develop is interactive forums like the social media platform to allow users to share messages with others and communicate seamlessly.

Conclusion

People who are working as a developer have hands-on experience with Javascript and they can easily learn the technologies in MERN stack to develop complicated apps. If you are a developer who is looking for an opportunity that can pay well, then why not learn MERN stack to create the finest applications?

Also read: 10 Engineering Jobs To Apply In Bangalore with MERN Stack as First Priority

FAQs

What is the MERN stack?

MERN stack is a combination of different technologies such as MongoDB, Express, React and NodeJS. These four technologies together make this stack. Developers knowing all these technologies can develop apps without any dependencies from others. It helps them develop full-stack apps.

What is the difference between MEAN and MERN stack?

The key difference that you notice between the MEAN and MERN stacks is that in the MEAN stack Angular JS is used in the front end to develop the user interface whereas in the MERN stack, React JS is used. There is only one difference in the framework picked.

Why is there a huge demand for MERN stack developers?

The demand for MERN stack development is increasing day by day and is an ideal choice for companies to hire MERN stack developers to develop the apps based on the requirements.

Does the MERN stack cover both front-end and back-end frameworks?

Yes, the MERN stack covers both front-end and backend development. So, the person who has knowledge of the MERN stack and develops the whole application. The companies do not have to hire front-end or back-end and database engineers separately to develop an app.