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Why is the MERN Stack in demand in 2021?

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In today’s day and age, customers expect their web and mobile apps to be responsive, provide a richer user experience and have aesthetic UI elements that load rapidly. Developers have to ensure that the applications they deliver are customized, while performing exceedingly well, and have the ability to be scaled as needed. Languages like HTML and CSS just don’t make the cut anymore- because of the simple reason that the applications created through them are rigid in nature and cannot scale as required. This has given rise to the adoption of “technology stacks”, that can help developers create amazing applications, whilst providing customers with a good user experience.

Technology stacks can efficiently create high-quality, customized web and mobile applications that can be churned around quickly to completion. These stacks include programming languages that work together seamlessly, to create an application’s front-end, connect the user interface (UI) to a back-end and carry on seamless communication between the front-end and the back-end using scalable APIs that serve as the bridge between the UI and the database.

The MERN stack is one such technology stack that has become exceedingly popular in 2021. Developers prefer this stack for creating intuitive web and mobile apps.

This article will take you through the MERN components and individual component advantages that are the biggest reasons for its rapid adoption in the technological community.

The MERN Stack

The MERN stack comprises four key JavaScript frameworks- MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.js.

MongoDB: This is an open-source, document-oriented, NoSQL database that can be queried using indexes. Data is stored in a document format and can be retrieved using the JSON language.

Express or ExpressJS: This is a backend framework that operates on top of NodeJS and is used for building REST APIs (that communicate between the UI and DB) to create efficient mobile and web applications.

React: This is the JavaScript-based frontend library created by Facebook and can be used to develop attractive user interfaces.

Node.js: This is the JavaScript runtime engine that can be used for web and mobile app testing and evaluation.

The MERN enables developers to create the entire 3-tier architecture of the mobile or web application (Frontend, Backend, and Database) using JavaScript and JSON. The frontend tier is developed using React.js “Components” and can be rendered as seamless HTML elements. The backend tier is created through Express.js which runs inside a Node.js server, and it handles URL routing along with HTTP responses and requests. The database tier is created using MongoDB, which stores data in a non-relational and schema-less model.

Let’s take a look at the individual component advantages of the MERN stack that is taking the technological scene by storm.

Advantages of MongoDB:

  1. The flexible document structure is utilized to store huge amounts of data MongoDB is schema-less, which means that any type of data can be stored in various documents.
  2. MongoDB uses the concept of “sharding” to scale horizontally as and when the amount of data to be stored increases
  3. Data is divided across several replicated clusters. This helps in backup and recovery in case of data failure/ security issues
  4. Since the data load is distributed over multiple servers, MongoDB ensures that data query response times are minimized
  5. JSON is used to query, fetch, index, and create extensive documents very easily

Advantages of Express:

  1. Since Express is based on Node JS, it is very easy to write server-side code .
  2. Code that is written once in the application can be reused in different parts of the application- which means that express facilitates faster and efficient app creation due to code reusability.
  3. APIs created using Express are known to develop scalable and robust applications.
  4. Express’ simple, minimal architecture is easy to configure and customize. Its various middleware modules and components can be used to customize certain tasks in the application which is the main reason for developers preferring this language. .

Advantages of React:

  1. React uses repetitive Document Object Model (DOM) elements for faster code execution.
  2. The Virtual DOM is a lightweight replica of the original DOM object. Whenever a developer needs to make certain alterations to the code, the lightweight virtual DOM is updated. Then the two DOMs are compared, and changes in the virtual DOM are replicated in the original DOM.
  3. React supports code reusability, again catering to efficient programming practices.

Advantages of Node.js:

  1. Node.js is built on Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine] and supports quick code execution.
  2. Node.js APIs are asynchronous in nature and perform requested tasks without waiting for the API to return data.
  3. Node.js executes JavaScript code outside a browser, ensuring faster code execution time.
Summarizing the Benefits of MERN

#1 Performance

Web and Mobile apps developed using the MERN stack are easy to deploy and test. Node.js is a fast and resilient web server whose event-driven architecture and non-blocking I/O helps businesses cut back on costs, troubleshoot server CPU and I/O problems and help in application scaling. Likewise, MongoDB has the ability to scale as your business expands and the load on the database increases. React and Express implement code reusability for faster app development and efficient performance. MERN also includes testing tools to ensure your app performs well, without any bugs.

#2 Faster Learning Curve

All the MERN components use a single language in all the 3 tiers- JavaScript. This means that developers need to be fluent in only one programming language. JS is easy to learn and implement. Additionally, JS has a huge learning community that ensures developers get the required support they need.

#3 Cost-effectiveness

Another advantage of having all the MERN components based on the JS framework is that you need not hire multiple professionals to build the application. This will save a lot of business capital and time in hiring, training, and upscaling (if needed) professionals affluent in various programming languages, as only seasoned JS developers can be onboarded in the team. The same team of developers can work for the entire web/mobile app development cycle, instead of hiring different professionals for different phases (Like UI creation, backend development, QA and testing, etc.)

Additionally, all the MERN components are open-source, which further eliminates the issue of proprietary licensing.

#4 Quick Turnaround Time

Since all the MERN components are based on JS, the application can be developed quickly. Further, all the MERN components can easily interact with each other, which is unlike the traditional model where developers use a mix of programming languages to create the application. This leads to issues where languages do not sync well with each other easily. Your business then has to invest more time and capital to find out solutions to make the application work.

Additionally, MERN gives developers the freedom to create customized and interactive components that load pretty quickly because of the concept of Single Page Applications(SPA). A SPA avoids refreshing a web page to display new content edits on the page. It only renders that part of the page that has changed, instead of rendering the whole page in its entirety- thereby saving on the page load time and impacting performance.

Final Thoughts

Every component of the MERN stack helps create highly efficient applications. The MERN reduces development time and is a perfect fit for apps developed using an Agile development approach.

Our team of professionals is well seasoned in the use of the MERN stack to create exceptional applications and can help your business achieve its goals by creating custom web and mobile applications.

For more information, send us an email at contact@fargowiz.org or request the below quotation form.

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