Software development has been one of the most long-standing innovations of the digital era. Developers worldwide are seen using modern methods to build scalable apps while adhering to industrial standards. With changing times, the face of development also changes and what we see today is a whole different picture.
Present-day developers make use of the stack to build the front end as well as the back end of the software. But before we dive in what these different kinds of the stack are, let’s have a quick look at what does the term stack apparently means.
Stack
In layman’s term, the stack is basically the fusion or integration of different technologies, tools, or framework — these help in developing software in real-time while disregarding the pitfalls as faced when developers use standalone technologies.
As a matter of fact, the two main types of the stack are –
- Mean stack
- Full-stack
Full Stack
As a developer, you might be aware of the fact that building a software comprises of different elements. Starting from front end development to back end, mobile application to the database, software development is an amalgamation of distinct modules, each with its own spec of requirements. Now, earlier there was a trend of hiring individual experts for each of the segment, which means that there would be a separate front-end developer, a back-end coder, an application developer, etc.
However, realizing the ever-growing competition and rising needs, the present-day developers choose to excel in all. That is, a single developer would be capable of creating an entire application, both the front end and the back end, followed by database management. This is where the term full-stack comes into the picture.
Alongside, this is beneficial considering the viewpoint of organizations as they need to hire less and get more work done. With a single employee working on a project from scratch, building the application to sky-high, companies cut down on the cost of hiring while improving the quality of development.
Benefits
Still not convinced on why opt for a full-stack?
- Prompt switching between the front end application and the back end framework on the basis of requirements of the project. This prevents time lapse between raising an issue and solving it
- View the entire development module as a single unit and work on it as and when needed.
- Narrow down the hiring cost by choosing a single full stack developer instead of separate developers of front end and back end development
- Sole ownership of design and code implementation
- A full-stack developer can focus on the entire project and embed tools and technologies that can enhance the overall project development.
- Cross-domain compatibility leads to flexibility in working on the project
- Works on the root of the problem instead of focusing simply on finding a solution
- Suit best for the SMEs as a single developer can take over the task of software development.
Mean Stack
Mean stack can be defined as the modified version of the full stack. Meaning that the mean stack developer makes use of standardized java based technologies and frameworks to design and develop web or mobile-based apps. Or to be precise, mean as we say boosts the process of app development by using the best in class technologies. These are pretty direct and tailored to get the best out of the development.
The four significant technologies as used by a mean stack developer to get a software developed comprises of
- Express JS
- Node JS
- Angular JS
- MongoDB
Whether you want to develop a basic website or a complex, user-specific dynamic website, mean stack entails all. Presently, most of the responsive web pages are backed by mean stack technology.
Further, the mean stack is regarded as one of the fastest-growing frameworks that support open-source web development. Such a stack helps the developers with a list of tools and technologies enabling better and quicker software development while reducing the system administration time. If you aren’t sure or much aware of what the technologies are, have a run through at each.
- MongoDB or to be specific the Document database is used by developers to create the back-end application which further store data in the form of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) documents
- Express (also referred to as the Express.js): This allows running of the Back-end web application framework over the Node.js layer
- Angular (earlier named as Angular.js, and now it is known as Angular 2): This is the framework that supports Front-end web app development. Angular runs the code of JavaScript in the user’s browser, in a way allowing the UI of the application to be dynamic
- Node.JS: Runtime environment of JavaScript. Node JS helps you implement the back end of the application in JavaScript code.
Benefits
Knowing what each element of technology in the mean stack does would have till now given a taste of the development. To make the idea much more ideal, we here state the benefits of using the mean stack as the development tool for your next project.
- Mean stack development suggests the idea of using a single JavaScript language both for the front end and back end development. Meaning that if you excel in JavaScript, you would be an excellent mean stack developer. Also coding in a single language allows easier switching between the front end infrastructure and the back end design.
- Mean stack helps to transfer one code written in a particular framework to another one. That is, it allows isomorphic coding. Present-day companies use this to leverage their development phase.
- Mean stack allows easy and quick cloud integration. As soon as the application is developed, developers can test the same on the cloud. Using MongoDB one can easily make changes and add information it forms.
- JSON or JavaScript Object Notation is compatible with NodeJS and AngularJS. In addition to the above, MongoDB is a relational database that is component-based and enables users auto to save their documents in the form of JSON. However, this is only for the companies at its intermediate level.
- Mean stack proficient developers can take care of the entire process of development and hence companies need not hire individual developers, which means that the lesser the number of developers, the less is the cost to the company.
- Node.js is both speedy and also ascendable owing to the architecture of non-blocking. Further, Angular.js is one of the JavaScript frameworks that are open source and enables testability, maintenance, and reusability.
Conclusion
Now that we have seen each in a different light, you might take the call of choosing either of them. Remember, it’s not the technology that needs to be picked but features that map your requirements, which means that before assessing the stack, define your project requirements and map them with each to find the one that best suits the project. Both of these have their own set of benefits, and further, enhance the quality of the developed software.
