Preface

The MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express.JS, AngularJS, and Node.JS) is a killer JavaScript full stack combination. It provides agile development without compromising on performance and scalability. It is ideal to build responsive applications with a large user base.

All topics in this course have been covered in individual modules so that you develop your skill after the completion of a module and get ready for the next. Through this comprehensive course, you'll learn how to use MEAN for web development from scratch to finish!

The first module will help you set up your environment and explain how to connect the different MEAN components together using the best modules. You'll be introduced to the best practices of maintaining your code clear and simple and how to avoid common pitfalls. We'll walk through building your authentication layer and adding your first entity. You'll learn how to leverage JavaScript nonblocking architecture in building real-time communication between your server and client applications. Finally, we'll show you how to cover your code with the proper tests and what tools to use to automate your development process.

The second module will teach you how to create your own e-commerce application using the MEAN stack. It will take you step by step through the process of learning and building parallelly. Using this guide, you will be able to show a product catalog, add products to shopping carts, and perform checkouts. It will cover product categorization, search, scalable deployment, server setups, and other features. At the end of this module, you will have a complete e-commerce application that is fully tested, scalable, and alive. Additional topics on how to scale the application, server deployment, and security will also be discussed.

In the last leg of this course, serves as a guide and a higher perspective of applications built using the MEAN stack. It is a showcase of different scenarios of building applications using the MEAN stack. Probably it's not the only way of doing things, but it should provide you with a starting point, or give you an insight into how certain parts of an app are built.. It will jump right into action and showcase six built-from-the-beginning applications, each with different use cases and solving a high-level problem.

What this learning path covers

Module 1, MEAN Web Development, Starting with MEAN core frameworks, this project-based guide will explain the key concepts of each framework, how to set them up properly, and how to use popular modules to connect it all together. By following the real-world examples shown in this tutorial, you will scaffold your MEAN application architecture, add an authentication layer, and develop an MVC structure to support your project development. Finally, you will walk through the different tools and frameworks that will help expedite your daily development cycles.

Module 2, Building an E-Commerce Application with MEAN, This module will show you how to create your own e-commerce application using the MEAN stack. It will take you step by step through the parallel process of learning and building. It will also teach you to develop a production-ready, high-quality e-commerce site from scratch and will provide the knowledge you need to extend your own features to the e-commerce site. By the end of the module, you will be able to build and use your own e-commerce app in the real world and will also be able to add your own new features to it.

Module 3, MEAN Blueprints, each chapter in this module covers a complete, single, advanced end-to-end project. You'll learn how to build complex real-life applications with the MEAN stack and few more advanced projects. You will become familiar with WebSockets and build real-time web applications, as well as create auto-destructing entities. Later, we will combine server-side rendering techniques with a single page application approach. You'll build a fun project and see how to work with monetary data in Mongo. You will also find out how to a build real-time e-commerce application. By the end of this course, you will be a lot more confident in developing real-time, complex web applications using the MEAN stack.

What you need for this learning path

Module 1:

This module is suitable for beginner and intermediate web developers with basic knowledge in HTML, CSS, and modern JavaScript development.

Module 2:

For this module, you need a basic understanding of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. You will also need the following tools:

A text editor or IDE (for example, Sublime Text, Cloud9, Eclipse, Notepad++, Vim, and so on)
A command-line terminal
NodeJS (https://nodejs.org/)
MongoDB (https://www.mongodb.org/)
Accounts on social network (for example, Facebook, Twitter, or Google+) and, optionally, accounts on PayPal.
Access to a cloud server, either Heroku, Digital Ocean, or similar.

Module 3:

You will require any modern web browser (such as Chrome's latest version or IE 10+), the Node.js platform installed on your machine, and version 3.2 or higher of MongoDB. Optionally, you can install any web server, such as Nginx, Apache, IIS, or lighttpd, to proxy requests to your Node.js application.

Who this learning path is for

This learning path is for web developers who are experienced in developing applications using JavaScript. This course is for developers who are interested in learning how to build modern and multiple web applications using MongoDB, Express, AngularJS, and Node.js.

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