Some dev stacks have become go-to choices for developers, teams and companies and one of those stacks definitely is the MERN Stack.
Including MongoDB, Express, React and Node.js, what is MERN Stack? How does each element work to build end-to-end digital products? Let’s check it out!
What is the MERN Stack?
The MERN Stack blends four techs —MongoDB, Express, React and Node— to deliver full-stack JS development environments and end-to-end JavaScript applications.
Since all elements harness JavaScript, it narrows down the complexity of big-sized products despite project requirements.
As a result, the MERN Stack is often praised for its simplicity, as it allows developers to use a single programming language throughout the entire application stack.
Since it leads to faster application development, it's broadly used in the software development industry for building modern, real-time web applications.
MERN Stack Components
M- MongoDB on MERN
MongoDB is a popular open-source, document-oriented and non-relational Database Management System.
Within MERN, Mongo stores data, such as content, user profiles, or uploads, in flexible documents, allowing for dynamic schemas and easy application integration.
This document database has a wide array of applications, including eCommerce platforms, real-time analytics and Mobile App Development.
It's also helpful in Content Management Systems and both Progressive-Web and Single-Page Applications.
Mongo provides official drivers for various programming languages, easing interactions with the database from application frameworks to query languages!
As Mongo supports horizontal scalability and has speedy query language performance, it's an amazing tool for any project that needs flexible and scalable data storage.
E- Express on MERN
Express.js is a popular server-side framework for Node.js, known for being minimalistic and unopinionated, as well as for providing flexible features for building Web Apps and APIs.
Likewise, Express defines routes to handle different HTTP URLs and methods, providing a simple and intuitive way to map URLs to specific functions or handlers processing requests.
As it provides server-side logic for apps, Express helps build single-page, multipage and hybrid web apps, as well as RESTful APIs.
The framework supports template engines that allow dynamically generating HTML pages by embedding data in templates.
Likewise, Express.js simplifies the delivery of static assets to clients directly from directories, including images, CSS stylesheets and JavaScript files.
Express is asynchronous, single-threaded, efficient and scalable. Its simplicity, flexibility and extensive ecosystem make it popular for building server-side applications with Node.js.
R- React on MERN
Although many think of it as a framework, React js is a front-end JavaScript library. Most known as React, it focuses on building interactive User Interfaces (UIs).
React follows a component-based approach, allowing devs to create reusable UI components that efficiently update and render when data changes.
This component-based architecture eases the development and maintenance of complex interfaces as it compresses both its logic and state.
What’s more, components can be nested within each other, forming a hierarchical structure, and these components have states to represent their data states.
When the state changes, React's state management automatically re-renders components and updates the UI accordingly to enable users to get richer experiences.
React follows a unidirectional data flow pattern, where data flows from parent to child components through props, ensuring predictable and easy-to-understand data flows.
Among its main features, React is widely used by companies of all sizes because it’s declarative, simple, server-side supporting and component-based.
Likewise, React is often used with frameworks or libraries like Redux to build feature-rich and scalable web applications with efficient rendering and component reusability.
N- Node.js on MERN
Node.js (known simply as Node) is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment for scalable network apps.
Built on the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, Node is asynchronous and event-driven, cross-platform, single-threaded, fast and scalable.
Node.js follows a non-blocking, asynchronous programming model with an event-driven architecture that allows multiple I/O operations to be processed concurrently.
As this process does not block the execution of other tasks, it makes Node well-suited for handling a wide range of concurrent connections for highly scalable software applications.
Node.js is cross-platform, supporting Windows, macOS and various Linux distributions, allowing devs to write code once and run it on different OS without significant changes.
Its benefits include improved stack developer productivity and satisfaction while cutting development costs. Node also has an easy learning curve and a large community.
If you want to see an example of the Node.js runtime environment in action, check out our work with Marathon Kids!
How does the MERN Stack work?
The MERN Stack uses a three-tier architecture that comprises all front-end, back-end and database aspects.
First, the front-end display tier harnesses React’s dynamic client-side application components for rendering the User Interface and handling user interactions.
Contrariwise, Express works as the backend server, handling incoming requests and performing server-side logic, including all the project files and documentation.
With both ends covered, Express communicates with the MongoDB database to store and retrieve data with flexible schemas and easy integration with other components.
As all this happens, Node acts as the runtime environment for the server-side code, allowing the server-side execution of JavaScript.
MERN Stack Project Ideas
Undoubtedly, MERN is a go-to stack when seeking the best projects for full stack developer, with an array that goes from simple web development to modern mobile applications.
Its selection of cutting-edge and powerful techs provides all the needed tools to build scalable, SEO-optimized and user-friendly digital products.
But what types of solutions can devs, teams, and companies build with the MERN Stack? Let’s dive into some of the fantastic MERN-based full stack project ideas!
1. eCommerce MERN Projects
An e-commerce website seems like one of the most commonly-required digital products a dedicated software company works with.
Here, MERN allows teams to add key functionalities like search bars and shopping carts while ensuring responsiveness, SSL security and payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe.
Looking for an example of a MERN-made e-commerce site? Dive into our KÜHL showcase!
2. FinTech MERN Projects
When discussing full stack projects, it’s key to consider the rise the FinTech industry had over the last few years, with over 200B US dollars in 2021 investments!
As you might have guessed, this led to an increasing demand for FinTech solutions. Yet, building FinTech apps may be too much for a single person.
Since FinTech MERN stack projects can be quite complex and advanced, it often takes whole dedicated teams to achieve quality.
Yet, a few things to consider when developing a FinTech product include user registration, user authentication, and notifications integration.
You can also add transaction categorization and saving goals, depending on the scope you'd like to take.
Do you want some inspo? Take a look at our success cases! While BITA focuses on systematic investments, Showcast is a perfect solution for modern content creators.
3. EdTech MERN Projects
The EdTech field has also been growing exponentially, with analysts estimating its value will reach over 400B US dollars by 2025— also leading to a higher demand for solutions.
To become a key player in this scene, you can start with a basic product that covers the basics, like task management, data validation, message sending and content uploading.
While it's not a full MERN Stack project, you can check our process of building Wurrly's platform to see the versatility of combining React and Node.js.
4. Game MERN Projects
Investing time and resources in building something you love and enjoy is a wonderful idea, and game development allows teams to have some fun!
You can start by choosing a relatively simple game you know the rules of, like Tetris and Snake, to focus on interfaces, environments and functionalities.
A great example is React’s very own Tic Tac Toe tutorial!
5. Portfolio MERN Projects
Within the project structure, you should also pay attention to the intersection between MERN Stack and UX UI Design to showcase your company’s creative processes better.
A key to dominating the learning curve in the long term, from Product Development to Project Management, is to start with simple products in terms of complexity.
Yet, as a key example of MERN Stack practice projects, try to add medium-complexity items, like contact forms, to work with email integrations and other external APIs.
Why Choose MERN Stack?
Let’s answer the question “Why is mern stack so popular?” with our top 3 reasons for choosing MERN!
- JavaScript: The MERN Stack harnesses a single programming language, JavaScript, for both the front- and the back end, simplifying processes and lowering learning curves. MERN projects leverage JS throughout the entire process for efficient development and code reuse.
- Ecosystem: Several of the MERN elements, as well as the MERN stack itself, have large, active communities with a great offering or resources to enhance productivity. Extensive documentation, tutorials, and resources make it easier for full-stack developers to find solutions, troubleshoot, and stay updated.
- Performance: Overall, MERN offers streamlined, faster development processes, efficient UI rendering, scalability, and a large ecosystem of tools and libraries. It’s also a robust choice for building modern, real-time, data-driven applications, as well as a great ally of Agile Development and its different methodologies!
Conclusion
Not only do MERN projects leverage one of the most well-known programming languages, but they also pay attention to UX/UI Design to deliver end-to-end solutions.
As its common use cases rise in terms of demand, mastering MERN projects can be the key to success for both companies offering services and devs answering interview questions.
Ultimately, MERN is a powerful tech stack that offers full-stack solutions with accessible learning processes for both teams and companies. Ready to harness MERN?
