Comparing Full Stack vs. MEAN Stack vs. MERN Stack

What are some of the essential things when building software for your business? Along with planning your team composition, budget and time, you must choose the right technology stack to build a solution that delights its users.

Choosing the right tech stack will ensure a cost-effective and scalable product and will enable your team to build and maintain the solution according to the customer’s needs. In this blog post, we will be discussing what a tech stack is and will compare Full-stack vs. MEAN stack Vs. MERN stack.

What Is A Tech Stack?

A tech stack, also known as a solutions stack, basically contains a set of tools, programming languages, and technologies that work together to build digital solutions like websites, mobile apps, and web apps. A tech stack consists of two important components: The frontend and the backend

Frontend Component

The frontend component is the clients’ side of the application and refers to anything a user can engage with on the screen. The frontend tech stack is responsible for designing, formatting, and navigating websites or apps. The primary purpose of a frontend tech stack is to provide an excellent user experience by designing an easy-to-use and smooth user interface. The three elements of a frontend stack are:

• HTML: The markup language for creating and displaying web pages.
• CSS: It is responsible for the format and layout of the pages, including font styles, size, layout, and color.
• JavaScript: This programming language enables you to implement dynamic features on web pages and makes them more interactive.

Backend Component

Backend is the server-side of the software development. It refers to the inner workings of a website that a user cannot see and is essential to keep running the operations smoothly. The main components of the backend are:

• Programming Languages: These are essential for coding and creating a website or app. Some popular programming languages are PHP, Python, and JavaScript.
• Frameworks:  Provide support for applications based on a single programming language. Laravel and Django are some of the well-known frameworks.
• Web Servers: Backend servers are needed for the management of client requests. Apache and Nginx are popular web servers.
• Database: Most applications need a SQL or NoSQL database. Some of the common databases are MongoDB, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

There are numerous tech stack models available with their components being regularly updated. Now, we will be comparing tech stacks for beginners and which one is the right choice for you.

Full-Stack

A full-stack refers to developing both the frontend (client-side) and the backend (server-side) components of a web application, including both client and server software frameworks, libraries, and tools to help create apps or websites. As most aspects of computers move towards SaaS delivery, the value of full-stack development skills have shot up.

Some of the technologies included in full stack are:

HTML: It is used for designing the frontend portion of web pages using markup language.

JavaScript: It is a popular scripting language that can be used for frontend and backend programming.

Bootstrap: It is a frontend framework used for creating modern websites and web apps. It is open source and free to use.

Node.js: It is an open source runtime environment for executing JavaScript code outside of a browser. It is used for building backend services like APIs, web apps or mobile apps.

Python: It is a backend programming language that enables you to work quickly and integrate systems efficiently.

C++: It is also a backend programming language used widely for competitive programming.

Here is a list of full-stack advantages:

Cost-effective: Full-stack is cost-effective as the same developement teams work on both frontend and backend.

Flexible: A full-stack developer team offers more flexibility due to the involvement of the server and client side. Seamless communication between both sides decreases cost and time.

Maintenance: It is easier for full-stack developers to maintain or upgrade an app or website as they are involved in both client and server side of the development process.

MEAN Stack

MEAN is a very popular tech stack that is mainly used to develop full-stack web applications. It is a JavaScript-based framework that develops cloud-hosted web apps. The name of this tech stack is actually an acronym that is short for the four technologies that make up the stack.

M- First, we have MongoDB, which is a cross-platform, NoSQL, document-oriented database that enables backend apps to store data as JSON-like documents.

E- Stands for Express (.js), which is a server-side framework for JavaScript. It provides developers with the tools to build and maintain reliable servers. It is the backend part of the stack.

A- Stands for Angular, a structural JavaScript frontend Framework built for efficiently creating web apps.

N- Stand for Node (.js).It is an open source runtime environment for executing JavaScript code outside of a browser. It is used for building backend services like APIs, web apps or mobile apps.

Here is a list of MEAN stack advantages.

Open Source: MEAN is made up of open source technologies, and as a result, developers can make use of publicly accessible libraries during development. Developers can also use developing communities to ask questions, find ideas, and get solutions to any problems they may come across.

Single Programming Language: MEAN stack is written in a single programming language: JavaScript. It is easy for developers to switch between client and server because web apps are built using a single language.

Time-Saver: MEAN is ideal for tight schedules as developers don’t need to create modules from scratch. Instead, they can use the directory of module libraries within Node.js.

MERN Stack

MERN Stack is a web development framework used to create web and hybrid mobile apps. It is a JavaScript stack that was designed for a more straightforward development process. MERN is an acronym for the four technologies that make up the stack.

M- Stands for MongoDB.

E- Stands for Express.js.

R- Stands for React.js. It is an open-source frontend JavaScript library for creating web apps. It’s used to build UI components.

N- Stands for Node.js.

Here is a list of MERN Stack advantages.

Community: MERN has a great community of developers helping each other out on forums and chat rooms. Popular platforms like Netflix and Facebook use this stack.

MVC: MERN provides a Model-View-Controller (MCV) architecture that makes it convenient for developers to develop a product.

Hybrid Apps: MERN is used for making hybrid apps so now you won’t have to invest in native apps.

Which One Should You Learn?

Full stack development is in high demand. According to Indeed, the average salary of a full-Stack developer is $101,615 annually in the U.S. With full stack Development, there is a huge scope for accelerated growth as a full stack developer as companies resort to this board skillset for speed and cost-effectiveness.

MEAN is the most popular tech stack, as JavaScript boasts the most active developer community. MEAN provides a practical approach to creating efficient apps and helps build scalable software products. The average salary of a MEAN stack developer is $99,040 annually in the U.S.

On the other hand, MERN is the fastest-growing tech stack in the world. Learning MERN can be highly beneficial as most of the new products are being developed on MERN. MERN is also the fastest development stack for small web apps. The average salary of a MERN stack developer is $101,335 annually in the U.S.

Now, the decision is with you, you can choose any of the above stacks as all have growth potential and there is no substantial pay gap. If you want to develop Hybrid apps, MERN is the one for you. If you want to become an expert in JavaScript and use it to create web apps, MEAN will be the right choice. If your aim is to learn multiple languages and frameworks, and become a jack of all trade, then go for fullstack development.

Conclusion

Now that we have compared the tech stacks, I hope you’ll be able to choose the right tech stack for you to learn. You can learn considerable I.T. skills by going to a university or getting a college degree or fast-track this move by joining a boot camp. ConsulNet Corporation offers a variety of programs, and you can look here to see which ones interest you. ConsulNet also teaches MERN stacks and has helped numerous students achieve their goals.

I hope you enjoyed this article and it was helpful for you. Feel free to contact us if you have any queries.