DEV Community: Akshat Sharma

Why MERN Is Still One of the Best Stacks for Ambitious Side Projects

Akshat Sharma — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 13:27:29 +0000

Every few months, a new JavaScript framework drops and the internet collectively screams:

“This will replace everything!”

Meanwhile, I’m over here quietly building with MERN like:

“bro… it just works.”

MERN isn’t the newest, shiniest, or trendiest stack anymore —
but honestly?
It’s still one of the most powerful and reliable stacks for modern side projects.

Here’s why.

💡 Why I Still Choose MERN

When you’re building something ambitious (or chaotic), you want tools that don’t betray you at 3AM.
MERN gives you that stability, simplicity, and familiarity.

MongoDB → flexible
Express → clean
React → powerful
Node → fast

It’s all JavaScript, all the way down.
Which means your brain doesn’t have to context-switch languages every two seconds.

🧱 Reason #1 — Build Anything With One Language

Frontend? JS.
Backend? JS.
Database queries? basically JS.

It makes the full-stack workflow way easier for beginners and pros.

There’s something magical about using the same mental model across your entire app.

🧱 Reason #2 — React Is Still a Beast

People love talking about the “React alternatives.”
But React still dominates for THREE reasons:

HUGE ecosystem

Endless UI libraries

Battle-tested design patterns

And if you love components, reactivity, animations, and smooth UX… well, React still delivers.

🧱 Reason #3 — MongoDB Is a Lifesaver for Fast Builds

Schemaless = speed.
You can ship features quickly without rewriting your database every time your idea changes.

Perfect for side projects where the idea evolves…
and sometimes mutates.

🧱 Reason #4 — Express + Node = Simple, Clean, Predictable

Express is that friend who never overcomplicates things.

Need a route? Done.
Need middleware? Easy.
Need an AI endpoint? Plug and play.

It’s perfect for:

REST APIs

Authentication

Payment integrations

AI model requests

Real-time sockets

No unnecessary drama.
Just pure backend goodness.

🧱 Reason #5 — Perfect for AI-Powered Projects

With AI becoming part of almost every modern app, MERN just… fits.

You can easily:

call AI APIs

store chat logs

save generated images

manage credits

run webhooks

handle real-time chat

And if you pair it with tools like Socket.io or ImageKit, it becomes even more powerful.

😭 But Yes… MERN Can Hurt You Too

Let’s not pretend it's all magical.

Here are the things that almost made me quit the stack more than once:

🔥 CORS (why does this thing have anger issues?)
🔥 JWT tokens expiring at the worst possible times
🔥 MongoDB connection errors that appear out of nowhere
🔥 Deploying Node servers—always an adventure
🔥 Environment variables disappearing in production

MERN is strong, but it definitely keeps you humble.

🌟 What I Learned

MERN is still one of the most practical stacks

It scales well with your ideas

It’s beginner-friendly but powerful enough for pros

AI + MERN is a dream combo

Deployment is still a villain arc, but manageable

You ship faster because the ecosystem is massive

But the biggest takeaway?

You don’t need the newest stack — you need the stack that lets you build.

🎉 Final Thoughts

MERN may not trend as loudly as it used to, but it continues to be one of the best choices for:

fast projects

ambitious apps

AI integrations

real-time systems

collaborative platforms

or your next masterpiece

If you’re looking for a stack that helps you go from idea → real app without losing your sanity…

MERN is still that stack.

And honestly?
It’s probably going to stay that way for a long time.

10 Mistakes I Made As a Beginner Full-Stack Developer (That You Can Avoid)

Akshat Sharma — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 13:22:41 +0000

Becoming a full-stack developer sounded cool in my head… until I actually tried doing it.
Suddenly I was juggling databases, APIs, UI, state management, servers, and bugs that personally attacked me at 3AM.

Learning full-stack felt exciting, chaotic, confusing, and—let’s be honest—emotionally damaging in a character-building way.

But hey, that’s the full-stack journey.

Here’s what I learned the hard way.

💡 Mistake #1 — Building “Big Brain” Projects Too Early

I kept starting massive apps with 0 understanding of the basics.
Spoiler: they all crashed.
And so did my confidence.

Start small. Your future self will thank you.

💡 Mistake #2 — Avoiding the Backend Like It Was a Horror Movie

I used to think:

“Backend? Nah bro, I’m a UI guy.”

Until I realized you can’t build real apps without touching APIs, auth, DBs, routes, errors, and all the backend pain.

Backend is scary… until it suddenly makes sense.

💡 Mistake #3 — Not Using Git Properly

I coded directly on main.
No branches.
No commits.
No version control.

One mistake and my whole project disappeared like Thanos snapped it away.

💡 Mistake #4 — Not Learning Deployment Early

I waited too long to deploy anything.
And when I finally tried it?

Let’s just say my first deployment almost ended my career.
CORS, env files, build errors — they all jumped me at once.

Learn deployment early; it’s part of being full-stack.

💡 Mistake #5 — Copy-Pasting Code Without Understanding It

Sure, it worked.
But the moment something broke?

I was staring at my own code like it was written by a stranger.

Understand > copy.

💡 Mistake #6 — Not Taking Notes

I used to fix something, forget how I fixed it, and suffer again later.

Write. Things. Down.

💡 Mistake #7 — Trying to Learn Every Tech at Once

MERN. Next.js. Django. Flutter. Docker. AWS. PostgreSQL.
I tried learning everything.
And learned… absolutely nothing.

Pick one stack. Build with it. Grow from there.

💡 Mistake #8 — Ignoring Basic Computer Science Ideas

Even simple concepts like:

how the web works

how APIs return data

what the backend actually does

… made everything easier once I understood them.

💡 Mistake #9 — Not Debugging Properly

I used to console.log like a maniac.
Now I actually trace code, check network requests, read logs, and use dev tools.

Debugging isn’t optional. It’s a superpower.

💡 Mistake #10 — Thinking “I’m Not Good Enough”

Every dev thinks this at some point.
But every mistake you make is a step toward becoming better.

Full-stack is messy, confusing, and definitely painful sometimes —
but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

🚀 How I Built My First Full-Stack AI Chat Application (…and Survived My First Real Deployment)

Akshat Sharma — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 13:13:23 +0000

Building my first full-stack AI chat application was exciting, chaotic, overwhelming, and—if I’m being honest—emotionally damaging in a character-building way.
It was also the first time I ever deployed a real production-level project, and I faced enough bugs to make my brain blue-screen multiple times.

But hey… that’s the full-stack life, right?

Here’s how it all went down.

💡 The Idea

I wanted to build a platform where users could:

Chat with an AI assistant
Generate images using text prompts
Invite friends and chat together
Track and spend credits
Purchase more credits
Use a clean UI with smooth animations
And enjoy a modern collaborative experience

Basically: Gemini + imagekit + a mini social platform — all wrapped in a full-stack MERN application.

🧱 Building the Core Features

Real-Time Chat System

This was the heart of the app.
Users could message each other, chat with the AI, or do both.
Handling real-time updates, message ordering, and user presence made me question my life choices at least twice.

AI Image Generation

Connecting to the AI API was fine.
Handling the return data and displaying the generated images without breaking everything?
Another story.

Credits & Purchases

A surprisingly fun system to build:

Users earn or buy credits
AI requests consume them
No credits = no AI magic
Payments update instantly

It makes the app feel like a real product, not just a side project.

Clean UI + Micro Animations

I wanted more than “functional.”
I wanted smooth*

chat bubbles animating in
modals sliding out
loading states that actually look intentional

These little touches make everything feel premium.

🧩 The Tech Stack (MERN)

Here’s everything I used:

MongoDB

Stored users, credits, messages, and AI logs.

Express.js

Built the backend API routes and AI endpoints.
React

Handled the entire front-end interface, routing, chat UI, and animations.

Node.js

Powered the backend, real-time interactions, and server logic.

Bonus Tools

Socket.io → real-time chat
Stripe → credit purchases
AI APIs → responses + image generation
JWT Auth → secured everything

😭 The Painful Part: My First Deployment Ever

Let’s talk about the emotional damage.

This was my first time deploying any real project, and I walked straight into a boss-level challenge.

Here are just some things that nearly destroyed me:

🔥 Environment Variables Didn’t Work

Everything was perfect locally…
and absolutely dead on the server.

🧨 CORS Turning Into a Personal Enemy

CORS errors everywhere.
Every attempt to fix them made new ones appear.

💥 Socket.io Behaving Differently in Prod

It worked locally.
It worked in staging.
Then production said: “haha no.”

🫠 MongoDB Connection Issues

One typo.
One.
And the whole backend refused to start.

💀 Build Crashes With Zero Helpful Info

Errors like:

“Something broke.”

Yes. Something definitely broke…
my soul.

But after hours (fine… days), I got it running.
And that deployment success screenshot is now my Roman Empire—I think about it weekly.

🌟 What I Learned

Deployment teaches more than coding
Logs are spiritual guidance
CORS should be studied in therapy
Never trust “it works on my machine”
MERN is powerful but unforgiving
Write. Things. Down.

But my biggest takeaway?

“You aren’t a real full-stack dev until a deployment attempts to emotionally destroy you.”

🎉 Final Thoughts

This project wasn’t just another build—it was a genuine milestone.
I shipped my first full-stack AI application, fought deployment monsters, and came out alive.

And now, here I am—publishing my 'first-ever Dev.to blog post' about the journey.

If you're building something ambitious or chaotic… welcome to the club.
Just know you’re not alone in this mess, and it 'does' get easier.