JavaScript has come of age. Building an entire web application from front to back with just one language is now possible, using JavaScript. The MEAN stack is comprised of the best-of-breed technologies in this arena. You’ve got MongoDB for the database, Express for the server-side web-application framework, AngularJS for the client-side framework, and Node for the server-side platform.
This book introduces each of these technologies, as well as how to get them working well together as a stack. Throughout the book we build a working application, focusing on one technology at a time, seeing how they fit into the overall application architecture. So it’s a very practical book designed to get you comfortable with all of the technologies and how to use them together.
A common theme running through the book is “best practice.” This book is a springboard to building great things with the MEAN stack, so there is a focus on creating good habits, doing things the “right way,” and planning ahead.
This book doesn’t teach HTML, CSS, or basic JavaScript; previous knowledge of these are assumed. It does include a very brief primer on the Twitter Bootstrap CSS framework, and there’s also a good, long appendix on JavaScript theory, best practice, tips, and gotchas. It’s worth checking out early on. This appendix can be found online at www.manning.com/books/getting-mean-with-mongo-express-angular-and-node.
This book takes you on a journey through eleven chapters, as follows: