Full stack Vs. Mean stack Vs. MERN stack— Which is better?

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Having a unique web or app idea is good, but putting it into motion requires a professional web & app development approach. Before you plan a web/app development project, you must determine two major factors: the availability of resources (both financial and human), and the tech stack. 

A tech stack decides the level of efficacy that your app will deliver. However, with a boom in technological innovations, choosing the right tech stack for your web or app development has become much more confounding. Most entrepreneurs often need clarification about choosing a full-stack, MEAN stack, or MERN stack to develop their website or business apps. 

Read on for crucial insights around these three tech stacks based on the project scope, level of customization required, agility in development, and their usage scenarios. But, before you dive in deep, let’s have a basic know-how of a tech stack

What is a development stack?

A “Stack” is a set of programming languages, technologies, or even software packages that are used together. The technology stack and the application stack are the two types of development stacks. A frontend framework, a backend framework, database technologies, and other ancillary backend technologies make up a technology stack. These work together to make design decisions, do tedious tasks, and arrange and store data.

Types of tech stacks

There are three major categories of stacks that you can choose from:

1. Full Stack
2. MEAN Stack
3. MERN Stack

#1. Full Stack

Full-stack developers are experts in front-end technologies, back-end development languages, databases, servers, APIs, and version control systems. A Full-stack web developer is a jack for all trades and is competent enough to design and develop websites and web apps. Before you hire a full-stack developer, you must confirm his expertise in any of the following programming languages:

• JavaScript
• Ruby
• Python
• Kotlin
• C++
• TypeScript

A full-stack development project includes the following aspects:

Front-end technologies: CSS, JavaScript, and Single Page Applications

Backend development technologies: Python, Node.js, PHP, and GO

Databases: MySQL, SQLite, and others

DevOps concepts: CI and Cd; and some characteristics of mobile app development using iOS and Android are included in full-stack development.

Also Read: Full Stack Development and Its Role in Web Development

When to choose full-stack development?

The decision to use full-stack development is based on the complexity involved in your project’s requirements and the available budget. Choosing full-stack development may depend on the following factors:

If you are a start-up: Most start-ups often don’t realize the type of app they need and, thus, want to proceed with minimum investment for developing an app.

Building a Prototype: It doesn’t make sense for both start-ups and SMBs to start building a full-fledged app. Starting with an MVP is a much better option for app development.

Limited or uncertain project scope: If you need an app targeting a specific audience’s needs, hiring a full-stack developer may prove to be an affordable and convenient option.

Flexible approach toward app development: Hiring a full-stack developer proves to be well worth it when you are unclear about the changes required in the project. It may not be easy to communicate changes in the middle of the project when working with specialized and expert developers. A full-stack developer can efficiently and flexibly cater to your changing ideas and requirements.

Limited budget: Hiring a team of front-end and back-end experts may prove to be costly, and this is suitable for much more complex projects. Even if you hire a single full-stack developer, he can easily coordinate with your in-house team to manage all front-end and back-end related aspects during the development phase.

Why choose full-stack development?

• A small team means lowered development costs
• Easy and quick deployment
• Hassle-free development & supervision
• Flexible & risk-free approach toward web & app development
• Better coordination between front-end and back-end development

#2. MEAN Stack

This is a set of JavaScript technologies that best supports the development of sophisticated websites and interactive mobile apps. It’s an ideal combination of MongoDB, Express.js, Angular.js, and Node.js frameworks that add to a project’s quality, flexibility, and agility. It includes the most often used plugins and reduces systems management time. This stack is mostly used by businesses that need to speed up the application development process. The different interoperability time optimization tools and advantages for various system administrations are why MEAN is a popular stack among developers worldwide.

Developers leverage this stack to create web pages, apps, and APIs as it offers some of the most popular plugins, resulting in swift development and reduced device management time.  Hire MEAN stack developers from India for assured affordability and unmatched quality in web & app development.

When to choose MEAN Stack Development?

When scalability is a priority: MEAN is a much more competent tech stack if you wish to develop highly scalable websites or mobile apps. It facilitates easy development, testing, and distribution of apps. All the components unite together to create apps that easily handle high-volume traffic with growing business requirements.

Complex project requirements: MEAN is a suitable stack for complex project requirements as it allows MEAN stack developers to reuse isomorphic code in other frameworks. Moreover, its Model-view-controller architecture also ensures an unmatched user interface.

Streamlined development process: MEAN stack also assures a streamlined development process no matter how complex the project’s scope is. The data transfer across different layers is much more flexible with this framework.

The benefits of choosing Mean Stack Development are:

• Fully flexible & adaptable development process
• automates and streamlines the repetitive and routine activities
• supports seamless coordination between server-side and client-side requirements
• Reusability of codes results in quicker deployment
• Consistency of JavaScript assures compatibility of codes across multiple layers

#3. MERN Stack

MERN is a JavaScript stack that aims to make programming easier. It consists of four open-source components: MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js. This stack’s applications will include libraries, numerous frameworks, databases, and other components. All of these elements will assist developers in learning how to support frameworks. MERN stack is gaining popularity due to its well-known and powerful technology. Hire MERN stack developers from India for assured affordability and quality app development with proven expertise.

When to choose MERN Stack Development?

For Single Page Applications: It’s an app that works inside a browser without requiring a page loading whenever you visit a different section. MERN stack is best suitable for SPA development as it offers an end-to-end development environment.

Fit for eCommerce requirements: Node.js offers exceptional processing capabilities with highly scalable and compatible cloud storage with MongoDB. This allows online retailers to manage their eCommerce data effectively from anywhere.

Code Reusability: Developers can leverage React.js to simplify the web app development process as it facilitates writing codes once and reusing them several times across different applications.

Here are some major benefits of MERN stack development:

• Flexible options to develop highly scalable apps
• High-end testing tools with vast community support
• A complete package for front-end and back-end requirements
• Robust data storage and versatile usage
• Assures swift loading & high-performance apps

Full-Stack vs. MEAN Stack vs. MERN Stack: which one is best?

To have a clear understanding, below, we’ve mentioned a table comparing stacks on various attributes. So, take a look!

Attributes                   Full-stack               MEAN                     MERN

Security                      Less than MEAN     High-level                Medium

Third-party support  Enables                    Enables        May require additional libraries

Scalability                   Medium                 Medium                High

Performance                     High                       High                  Comparatively low

Endnote

A full-stack developer is well-versed in multiple programming languages, whereas a MEAN or MERN stack developer is an expert in multiple frameworks within a single programming language. Now that you know the most important things about all three, we hope this information will help you choose the right stack depending on your project and available budget.