MEAN (software bundle)

Common logo used to represent MEAN stacks.

MEAN is a free and open-source JavaScript software stack for building dynamic web sites and web applications.^[1]

The MEAN stack is MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS (or Angular), and Node.js. Because all components of the MEAN stack support programs are written in JavaScript, MEAN applications can be written in one language for both server-side and client-side execution environments.

Name and history

MEAN was given by Valeri Karpov, a MongoDB developer. He introduced the term in a 2013 blog post.^[2]

The logo concept, initially created by Austin Anderson for the original MEAN stack LinkedIn group, is an assembly of the first letter of each component of the MEAN acronym.^[3]

The components of the MEAN stack are as follows:^[2][4]

• MongoDB, a NoSQL database
• Express.js, a web application framework that runs on Node.js
• Angular.js or Angular, JavaScript MVC frameworks that run in browser JavaScript engines
• Node.js, an execution environment for event-driven server-side and networking applications

A number of variations on the traditional MEAN stack are available by replacing one or more of the components with similar (typically Javascript-based) frameworks. For example: In a MEEN stack, the JavaScript MVC framework Ember.js is used instead of Angular, and likewise for the MERN stack, where React.JS is used as a substitute.^[5]

Variants

Some popular alternatives includes MERN with React.js, MEVN with Vue.js, or MEN with Vanilla JS.

See also

• LAMP (software bundle)
• List of all Apache/MySQL/PHP solution stacks
• LYME (software bundle) – a solution stack based on Erlang

References

Further reading

• Haviv, Amos Q. (2014). MEAN Web Development: Master real-time web application development using a mean combination of MongoDB, Express, Angular JS, and Node.js. Birmingham, UK: Packt Publishing. ISBN 978-1783983285.
• Holmes, Simon (2015). Getting MEAN with Mongo, Express, Angular, and Node. Shelter Island, NY: Manning Publishing. ISBN 9781617292033.
• Dickey, Jeff (2014). Write Modern Web Apps with the MEAN Stack: Mongo, Express, AngularJS, and Node.js (Develop and Design). San Francisco, CA: Peachpit Press. ISBN 978-0133930153.

External links

• mean.io uses a customised tool called 'mean'. Its approach is self-contained packages that have code for both client and server files.
• meanjs.org is a fork of mean.io. It uses a tool called 'Yeoman' to generate Angular CRUD, routes, controllers, views, and services.
• MEAN Stack User Registration and Login Tutorial