LAMP vs. MEAN Stack: Choosing the Right Fit for your Project

MEAN vs. LAMP

E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Alibaba, etc. provide the best user experience and that’s the reason they are always on top of trends and can respond to millions of requests within seconds.

It is all because they have used the best business model which is supported by influential technology. Have you ever thought how huge such kind of system would be? What it would take to reach such great heights?

Let’s figure it out…

To develop such a web-driven application, it should be supported by technology like Apache Tomcat as the web server and PHP and J2EE as the development framework. For years, LAMP is serving as the go-to technology as it is involved in Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, Perl, and Python.

Although LAMP is a good technology to deal with, it is a conventional approach to handle large database web applications. So, this technology is replaced with MEAN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and NodeJS) to provide faster and more efficient web development due to JavaScript compatibility.

Since it works on the REST API, web apps can be developed by multiple front ends and the same back end; hence reduces the cost of developing the back end. Moreover, you can replace Angular.js with any framework that suits best the system.

Why MEAN is the Best For Your Enterprise Compared to LAMP?

  • MongoDB vs. MySQL:

MongoDB is considered a modern NoSQL database with a number of features and compatibilities. The strength of MongoDB lies in the relational databases compared to MySQL. When a relational database is used in MySQL, it feels like data is pushed into the table forcefully.

The system works perfectly when a single entry fits into every single format but fails badly when it doesn’t happen. On the other hand, MongoDB offers a document structure that is more flexible. So, if you wish to add new fields then simply add the field to the form, roll it up with the rest of the Data in the JSON document, and put it into the MongoDB collection.

This is great for the data dealing with dynamic data which is difficult to constrain in table form.

  • Makes your UX better with front-end

One of the major reasons to shift from LAMP to MEAN is to migrate from server-side page generation to client-side single-page applications. In MEAN, Express.js works on the REST structure and handles server-side routing and Angular.js handles client-side views.

The web-page presentation and control flow task in LAMP which was handled by PHP, Perl, or Python is taken care of by Expres.js and Angular in MEAN. Additionally, Angular.js also handles the data presentation of an application. Hence, this shift is from synchronous to asynchronous processes and page-centric views to component-oriented views of an application.

Moreover, being back with an excellent JavaScript front-end framework, the web app runs efficiently, making the UX smoother. With all such parameters in the mean stack, it enables the web application to run on desktops, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc.

  • The Code

MEAN makes use of Express.js and Angular.js to drive the web page presentation and control flow. Express.js serves as a controller layer, controlling application flow and organizing data for Angular.js, which handles data presentation. The importance of this is, it has simplified back-end architecture.

If you write the code for Node and decide to place it in Angular, you can do it with ease. This flexibility makes MEAN-based apps significantly easier. You can have the added benefit of having an entirely single language and don’t have to look for additional developers like a PHP expert, JavaScript experts, or front-end or back-end specialists – just a front-end javascript developer to trace all the way down the stack without having to learn another programming language.

  • Node.js simplifies the server layer

Navigating various layers of the LAMP stack is like dancing on many hats; going through the various config files with different syntaxes.  This sounds a bit clumsy. But, when it comes to MEAN, it simplifies this with the help of Node.js.

Sprinkle in some JavaScript whether you want to change how your app routes requests or want to change the logic used to answer queries you want to rewrite URLs or construct an odd mapping and let Node.js do the rest of the work.

The MEAN stack in combination with Node.js keeps everything in one place and one language. You don’t have to read the pages of PHP, generate different config files, etc as in LAMP. Having everything in one place reduces the chances of errors and confusion between multiple layers.

To be precise…..

Technology LAMP MEAN
Performance Supports Horizontal scaling which is not good for high read-writes It achieves high performance by trading off clustered setups with the help of MEAN. High-speed, flexibility, and infrequent data loss
Database MySQL(RDBMS): Traditional database system NoSQL database: Supports document-oriented database system, JSON-style, documents making integrations of data into certain applications fast and, easy
User Development Front-end development, multiple layers with different config files and syntax Front-end and Back-end development. JavaScript is the ruler
Scalability Low scalability as read/write ratios grows High Scalability
Through-put Synchronous Asynchronous
Cost High as you require front-end and back-end specialist Cheaper as you require only a JavaScript specialist

LAMP stack has surely become a conventional approach but it holds good efficiency in the market over the years as many CMS still rely on LAMP. However, MEAN Stack becoming a new player provides new and innovative ways to cut the grounds.

MEAN web development has its own list of benefits to offer for flexible web development, especially for an organization that is looking to move its focus from LAMP to an advanced Mean stack technology.

Looking to develop your next big project in MEAN?  We are just a call away!! Let’s connect.

Building Modern and Scalable Enterprise Apps with MEAN Stack

MEAN Stack development

Why you Should Choose the MEAN Stack For Your Modern Business Apps

Today, web programming being one of the challenging tasks, especially in case of enterprise applications, business owners look for the technology that provides high performance and scalability.

Many enterprise leaders struggle to stand tall amongst competitors – so to deal with such requirements; web development companies have to deal with the host of technologies dealing with security, networking, databases and development of server-side and client-side components.

Although there do exists much powerful communities that provide solutions for the enterprise applications but the one that enables the modern web development is the full stack solution – MEAN Stack.

MEAN – the full-form for MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS and Node.js which was possibly the much needed and awaited revolution for the technical sphere. This stack is crafted by diverse teams and considerable community of developers is also involved that pushes forward the development and documentation of each component.

And now that MEAN Stack is so much into the world of technology and business, every growing enterprise is striving to become MEAN friendly; leaving behind plenty of solutions who are still showcasing their loyalties towards older versions! The core thing in this stack is the centralization of JavaScript as the primary programming language.

  • MEAN makes switching between client and server easier

MEAN is simple & fast and developing the apps in this technology enables the developers to write the code only in one language i.e. JavaScript for client as well as server side. Entire project can be managed by MEAN Stack formula and Node.js developer can deploy the applications on the server directly without the need of deploying it to a stand-alone server.

Additionally, it is OS independent – be it Windows, Linux or MAC. This is the best for startups and enterprises as they just have to accommodate development framework and need not think on technology.

No need to waste time in scanning libraries as all JavaScript libraries can be combined with MEAN stack. The saved time can be utilized for other productive activities which are especially crucial in the case of Startups.

  • Facilitates speedy data storage and retrieval

MongoDB in MEAN Stack uses JSON like documents throughout the database which makes it a documented database. The document structure offered by MongoDB is extremely flexible. No hardcore restriction to forcefully enter data into tables to make it usable.

For instance: addition and deletion of data can be easily done without making any complex accommodations.  MongoDB doesn’t require any predefined database schemas and rules to establish field relations like MySQL.

Hence, when no large schemas are present, the system becomes efficient and fast to use and ultimately benefits the end user increasing their confidence in the start-up offering their services.

  • Uniform code from start till end

With the sufficient knowledge of JavaScript developers, you can manage your entire project with ease. JSON like queries are already available in MongoDB database, hence JSON queries can be used with Express.js and Node.js server and can have similar format for all data transfer.

However, some angular queries can be used on client side using Angular.js. Furthermore, usage of express.js and angular.js on the top of node.js results into technology stack that gives the benefit of single language means the full stack developer can manage the stack easily without learning another programming language like Python or PHP.

The experts in JavaScript can go through the entire MEAN stack themselves and can control both front-end and back-end activities. This is quintessential because developers couldn’t code, if they don’t have core knowledge of all respective technology. Other than that, page load time can be substantially reduced with node.js framework.

  • MEAN stack supports MVC architecture

When it comes to MVC, there are four aspects that help the developers for easy execution; namely – database, server, client and client UI.

In MVC, the model responds to the request for any information or data manipulation according to the controller’s instruction. The controller on the other hand responds to the system that user needs and thus gives instructions to model.

To run MVC framework complex procedures, there are numerous stack frameworks on innumerable different programming languages. With one programming language and flexible database, MEAN stack is considered as influential alternative which can compile with MVC architecture very easily.

This enhances the productivity of developers and enables the application to load faster and also assures quicker project completions.

  • Regular component updates

MEAN stack components are open source, free to use and their respective communities and support channels do come up with frequent releases and updates.

More ideas and insights from the developer community and tutorials on how to overcome hurdles to emerging challenges help keep the products and services relevant to today’s economic of scale.

The overall framework is flexible and easy to understand by making it popular with enterprises and developers.

In a nutshell, many business owners make the use of MEAN stack to revamp their existing websites. It is also ideal for other web content like blogs, media websites, data-intensive and real-time messaging applications.

If you wish to develop you next big project in MEAN, our skilled consultants will help you craft the perfect business plan.

TOPS Infosolutions is a top Enterprise Software development company, having hands-on knowledge to quickly transform your idea into world class application. Powerful IT solution – MEAN and reliable technology partner will give that ‘extra edge’ to your business.

Top Features to Look For in Angular 4.0

Angular 4.0

When Angular 2.0 was released in September 2016, it signaled a remarkable move in enterprise front-end development.
Angular.js was completely revamped with Typescript which is Microsoft’s strongly typed super-set of JavaScript. With such paradigm shift, type-safe languages such as Java, C# and Scala were welcomed into the world of modern front-end development. And now Angular 4.0 has been rolled out with the features of semantic versioning.

In order to remain on the toes with the user expectation and deliver the latest features in a mobile app, it is necessary to keep updating the technology with the latest frameworks.

Angular 4 is one such framework and core focus of this update is all about reducing the size of the code generated and to keep framework aligned with the release time. They skipped out version 3 and directly shifted to version 4 in order to sync up the Angular router’s version 3.x.

The Angular 4.0 holds SEMVER i.e. Semantic Versioning which means unbelievable improvements that should be explored by mobile app developers to see if it can handle the development process uniquely.

This kind of release is classified into major, minor or patch release based on the nature of software release.  The software version will get bumped up accordingly.

A semantic version possesses following three numbers:-

  • 3 – MAJOR: When they released a breaking change, they increase the first number of semantic versioning. It is increased when there is an incompatible change to the API. This is possible for Angular, if newer versions of the utilized library gets adopted to bring modifications in the API
  • 2 – MINOR: When new functionality is supplemented to the existing functions and API is kept stable; there is an increase in the second number of semantic versioning.
  • 1 – PATCH: When any bug is fixed without altering the API, there is decrease in the last number of semantic versioning; thus being backward incompatible.

Additionally, there is an optional – QUALIFIER specifying a version in a more accurate way.

What’s new in Angular 4.0?

  • Instead of TypeScript 1.8+, Angular v4 now requires TypeScript 2.1+
  • OpaqueToken, SimplyChange etc. are some of the interfaces which are either changed or removed completely
  • Every latest feature in TypeScript 2.1+ are now supported by Angular 4

Typescript and the benefits of strongly typed languages

Angular 2 enabled developers to allocate types, interfaces, classes and inheritance to their front-end code. When a Static type was introduced, it ensured that any error conducted by the developers can be immediately caught by TypeScript compiler and the code written are easy to understand and simple to consume.

Features of Angular 4.0:

  • Long-term support (LTS)

At NG-Conf 2017, the team of Angular announced that version 4 is the initial version of Angular which provides Long term support. This means it is benefited for those enterprises that don’t have facility to constantly upgrade Angular entities.

  • Faster Rendering and Smaller Bundle Sizes with AOT Compilation

Ahead-of-Time (AOT) being one of the greatest features of Angular 4 is capable of compiling templates during build time in order to generate JavaScript code. With AOT you can:-

  • Detect template errors at the build time instead of runtime, making application quick start
  • As the package size is smaller, there is no need to ship Angular compiler to the user
  • View Engine: This is capable of producing less code, when AOT compilation mode is used. Hence, the reduced code is generated for your components – 60% in most of the cases. More complex the template, higher the chance of savings.
  • Animation Package: Angular 4.0 have pulled the animations out of @angular/core and into their own package. This means that extra code will not end up into production bundles, if you do not use animation.
  • Better error messages

With Angular 2, cryptic set of error message was somewhat the source of frustration. With the introduction of Angular 4.0, error messages are much clearer and informative. All thanks to new template source maps, they point directly to the lines of code within templates.

  • TypeScript 2.3

Anglular 4 uses the latest version of TypeScript than Angular 2 which enables better type checking and also enables faster compilation time.

  • ParamMap Router

Until now, route parameters was available by standard JavaScript syntax (parameterObjekt[‘parameter-name’]) and was stored as a simple object structure. But, with Angular version 4, parameters are also accessible as map and can be available with the method called (parameterMap.get(‘parameter-name’)).

This is because, it has some benefit in terms of security and traditional structure seemed unsafe (type Params = {[key: string]: any}) as parameters could take any possible values. But, with this new map, parameter value is either a string or an array of strings, depending on the method used.

  • Server-side Rendering with Angular Universal

Google’s server-side rendering library called Angular Universal is compatible with Angular 4. This library enables the developers to render their applications on the server side, which benefits to both users and search engines.

Additionally, most of the universal code is located at @angular/platform-server. With Angular Universal, JavaScript is no more necessary for rendering the page content at the beginners’ level, so website can be enhanced better for search engine. Angular Universal is already used in different programming languages through node-Runtime.

  • *nglf, now with more else

Angular application has the most common *nglf structural directive, is now equipped with an else statement. This means no need to use two *nglf with opposite evaluations. Hence, it is easy for the developers to simplify the conditional templates.

For Instance: <div *ngIf=”userList | async as users; else loading”>

<user-profile *ngFor=”let user of users; count as count; index as i” [user]=”user”> User {{i}} of {{count}}

</user-profile>

</div>

<ng-template #loading>Loading…</ng-template>

  • Pipes

Title case: Changes first letter of each word tot tile case while other remains in lower-case

<p>{{‘abc’| titlecase}},/p>

<!—will display ‘Abc’ –>

HTTP:  Search parameters to HTTP request is made easy

http.get(`${baseUrl}/api/races`,{ params: sort: ‘decending’} });

Before you had to do:

const params = new URLSeaechParams();

params. Append(‘sort’, ‘decending’);

http.get(`${baseUrl}/api/races`, { search:params});

Test:  Overriding a template in a test has also been simplified

TestBed. overrideTemplate(RaceComponent, ‘<h2>{ {race.name} }</h2>’)

Before, you had to

TestBed.overideComponent(RaceComponent, {

 set : { template: ‘<h2>{ {race.name} } <h2>’)} );

Angular core team has made great improvements in Angular 4 and this solidifies its position as ideal front-end framework for enterprise applications.

With such features introduced in Angular 4.0, it is easy for the developers to craft the scalable applications that can perform well and optimized for both server side and client side.

Are you also looking to develop your applications with Angular 4.0? TOPS InfoSolutions is one such company that delivers perfect web-app solutions for your complex business applications.

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