The PERN Stack stands as a widely favoured technology stack, and this article aims to provide an introduction to its fundamentals and demonstrate how it can be employed in application development.
What is the PERN Stack?
The PERN Stack, like MERN, LAMP, MEAN, and MEVN, is among the various sets of technologies available for constructing web or mobile applications. As its name implies, it comprises four primary elements: PostgreSQL, Express, React, and Node.js. When integrated, these components enable the creation of full-stack applications with CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality.
Understanding Each Component
PostgreSQL is an open-source ORDBMS supporting both SQL and JSON queries, known for adhering to ACID principles. It utilizes a table-based structure with strong support for constraints, triggers, and roles, enabling the creation of data relationships and providing benefits such as extensibility, scalability, reliability, and high performance.
Express is a popular, open-source JavaScript web framework designed specifically for Node.js. Its main role is to facilitate the quick and straightforward development of web applications and APIs. Express provides a rich set of tools for managing routing, middleware, and the processing of HTTP requests and responses, serving as the backend component within the PERN Stack.
React, a JavaScript library designed for building user interfaces assumes the role of the front-end component in the PERN Stack.
Node.js serves as a JavaScript runtime that simplifies the development of server-side and network-based applications, including web servers.
How to Set Up the PERN Stack Now that you have gained a better understanding of this stack, let's transition to the practical aspect: a step-by-step demonstration of how to establish the PERN Stack.
Prerequisites: To begin, ensure you have the necessary tools and software for a successful implementation, including the following:
Node.js: visit Node's official page to download and install Node.js.
an IDE (e.g., VSCode)
npm: stands for "Node Package Manager", and default package manager for JavaScript's runtime Node.js.
Postman: this will be used to test, and manage our RESTful APIs. watch this YouTube video by Automation step by step, to get started with Postman
nodemon.
If you've already installed all these tools, you're well-prepared to begin your journey.
This is one of five series, and this series will provide a comprehensive guide that elucidates all the crucial steps for putting the PERN Stack into action.
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