MEAN.JS is a full-stack JavaScript open-source solution, which provides a solid starting point for MongoDB, Node.js, Express, and AngularJS based applications. The idea is to solve the common issues with connecting those frameworks, build a robust framework to support daily development needs, and help developers use better practices while working with popular JavaScript components.
Before you begin we recommend you read about the basic building blocks that assemble a MEAN.JS application:
- MongoDB - Go through MongoDB Official Website and proceed to their Official Manual, which should help you understand NoSQL and MongoDB better.
- Express - The best way to understand express is through its Official Website, particularly The Express Guide; you can also go through this StackOverflow Thread for more resources.
- AngularJS - Angular's Official Website is a great starting point. You can also use Thinkster Popular Guide, and the Egghead Videos.
- Node.js - Start by going through Node.js Official Website and this StackOverflow Thread, which should get you going with the Node.js platform in no time.
Make sure you have installed all these prerequisites on your development machine.
- Node.js - Download & Install Node.js and the npm package manager, if you encounter any problems, you can also use this Github Gist to install Node.js.
- MongoDB - Download & Install MongoDB, and make sure it's running on the default port (27017).
- Bower - You're going to use the Bower Package Manager to manage your front-end packages, in order to install it make sure you've installed Node.js and npm, then install bower globally using npm:
$ npm install -g bower
- Grunt - You're going to use the Grunt Task Runner to automate your development process, in order to install it make sure you've installed Node.js and npm, then install grunt globally using npm:
$ sudo npm install -g grunt-cli
There are several ways you can get the MEAN.JS boilerplate:
The recommended way would be to use the Official Yo Generator which will generate the latest stable copy of the MEAN.JS boilerplate and supplies multiple sub-generators to ease your daily development cycles.
You can also use Git to directly clone the MEAN.JS repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/meanjs/mean.git meanjs
This will clone the latest version of the MEAN.JS repository to a meanjs folder.
Another way to use the MEAN.JS boilerplate is to download a zip copy from the master branch on github. You can also do this using wget command:
$ wget https://github.com/meanjs/mean/archive/master.zip -O meanjs.zip; unzip meanjs.zip; rm meanjs.zip
Don't forget to rename mean-master after your project name.
Once you've downloaded the boilerplate and installed all the prerequisites, you're just a few steps away from starting to develop you MEAN application.
The first thing you should do is install the Node.js dependencies. The boilerplate comes pre-bundled with a package.json file that contains the list of modules you need to start your application, to learn more about the modules installed visit the NPM & Package.json section.
To install Node.js dependencies you're going to use npm again, in the application folder run this in the command-line:
$ npm install
This command does a few things:
- First it will install the dependencies needed for the application to run.
- If you're running in a development environment, it will then also install development dependencies needed for testing and running your application.
- Finally, when the install process is over, npm will initiate a bower installcommand to install all the front-end modules needed for the application
After the install process is over, you'll be able to run your application using Grunt, just run grunt default task:
$ grunt
Your application should run on the 3000 port so in your browser just go to http://localhost:3000
That's it! your application should be running by now, to proceed with your development check the other sections in this documentation. If you encounter any problem try the Troubleshooting section.
You have your application running but there are a lot of stuff to understand, we recommend you'll go over the Offical Documentation. In the docs we'll try to explain both general concepts of MEAN components and give you some guidelines to help you improve your development procees. We tried covering as many aspects as possible, and will keep update it by your request, you can also help us develop the documentation better by checking out the gh-pages branch of this repository.
- Use to Offical Website to learn about changes and the roadmap.
- Join #meanjs on freenode.
- Discuss it in the new Google Group
- Ping us on Twitter and Facebook
Browse the live MEAN.JS example on http://meanjs.herokuapp.com.
Inspired by the great work of Madhusudhan Srinivasa The MEAN name was coined by Valeri Karpov
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