JavaScript and MongoDB

MongoDB is a document-based NoSQL database that stores data in BSON (JSON-like) format.

JavaScript is unanimously the most popular language for building web applications. It can also be used for building server-side applications usingNode.js.

Node.js is a runtime environment that embeds a JavaScript engine to execute JavaScript. Node.js applications are event-driven and asynchronous.

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript (JS) is a multi-paradigm high-level programming language based on the ECMAScript language specification.

Modern web browsers embed sophisticated JavaScript engines that use just-in-time compilation to improve the performance of the executed JavaScript code. However, the usage of JavaScript engines is not limited to the browser. The V8 engine which powers the browsers Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge is also used by the Node.js and Deno runtime environments. Node.js and Deno allow you to execute JavaScript code outside the browser and build server-side applications.

Does MongoDB support JavaScript?

MongoDB supports JavaScript through the official Node.js driver. You can connect your Node.js applications to MongoDB and work with your data.

MongoDB is well suited to storing data that changes frequently, even if it is not structured. Web applications can access this data quickly in the back end using Node.js, while the application is running. Read the MongoDB and Node.js JavaScript tutorial to learn how you can use the Node.js driver to perform basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

Compatible MongoDB JavaScript frameworks

Now that we have established how MongoDB makes it easy to work with data in your Node.js applications, let’s look at the JavaScript frameworks that you can use to build end-to-end applications:

MEAN/MERN stack for building end-to-end MongoDB JavaScript web applications

Like we mentioned before, we can create end-to-end web applications using MongoDB and JavaScript frameworks alone. This is done using the MEAN stack, i.e., MongoDB - Express - Angular - Node.js. A variation to the MEAN stack is the MERN stack that uses React in place of Angular.

Express.js for building HTTP APIs on top of Node.js

Express.js (or simply Express) is a minimalist back-end web framework used on top of Node.js. Express simplifies the server creation process and routing and provides a host of HTTP utilities and middleware to quickly create web applications and services. Express is also part of the MEAN/MERN stack for building JavaScript applications. To learn more, check out this in-depth MongoDB JavaScript tutorial on building a REST API using Express, Node, and MongoDB.

Angular

Angular is a JavaScript platform for developing web applications. Angular provides many built-in utilities, from forms to animations, that make it easier to create modern applications. Angular is used for building the client-side application as part of the MEAN stack. You can choose a serverless approach for your Angular JavaScript application but still connect to a database such as MongoDB. Read more about both strategies in the dedicated Angular and MongoDB article.

React

React is a JavaScript library to build user interfaces, mainly for single-page web applications. It is declarative, component-based, and widely adopted by the JavaScript community. Developers can create reusable components using JSX (JavaScript syntax eXtension). React is a part of the MERN stack.

Meteor.js

Meteor is a JavaScript platform for building desktop, web, and mobile applications. It is written on top of Node.js. Meteor allows us to create real-time applications by default. Meteor uses MongoDB for the data layer because MongoDB is scalable and has rich features for JSON. Meteor is based on MongoDB and JavaScript but can also integrate with other open source tools and frameworks. Read why Meteor and MongoDB are an excellent choice, particularly for mobile apps.

Next.js

Next.js is a development framework for building server-rendered React applications. Server-side rendering (SSR) is a core feature of Next.js, as opposed to the default client-side rendering which React offers. With SSR, the web browser requests a page from the server. The HTML content for the page is rendered by the server and is sent back to the client. SSR improves the discoverability of the page by search engines, the page load speed, and the performance on low-end devices.

Whether we have an existing Next.js project or want to build a new one, we can quickly integrate Next.js with MongoDB.

What are the benefits of JavaScript?

JavaScript is a modern and widely-adopted language. Browser vendors have spent a large amount of time and effort to optimize their JavaScript engines. Modern JavaScript engines provide JIT (just-in-time) compilation which greatly improves the execution speed and performance of JavaScript. Here are some of the main benefits of using JavaScript nowadays:

JavaScript and MongoDB Atlas

With MongoDB Atlas, the Database-as-a-Service for MongoDB, we can focus on building Node.js web applications, while the infrastructure is taken care of. Atlas comes with many important features like scalability, end-to-end encryption, and most importantly, it fully secures and supports the data layer of the MEAN/MERN stack. Try it by creating a free cluster today to experience the benefits of using MongoDB Atlas for your JavaScript applications.