Meteor as a Frame

25 Oct 2017

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It is said that in dancing, the men are to act as the frame to provide a basis for their partner to create. A good leading role will become a sturdy frame for their partner. At the same time, a bad partner will not know how to utilize the frame. This is similar to the Meteor framework.

The Meteor framework was one heck of a journey. Getting started with any framework is tough, but this one seemed to take the cake. I’ve dealt with other frameworks such as React and Angular before, but Meteor has caused me the most frustration. I don’t think another framework has made me wonder about the ins and outs so much while developing. However, I do see the benefit of developing a Meteor application. It takes care of both the server side and client side code in javascript. In comparison to the popular framework React, React only takes care of front end DOM manipulation with the help of Redux or Flux. It needs a backend such as Node to create a fully functioning web application. This is where the acronym for MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js (MERN) comes from due to the need for multiple different parts to create a fully functioning application. Meteor encapsulates the Node backend, routing, and the DOM manipulation into one package which can simplify the development quick prototyping of applications.

With all the confusion I went through, I honestly would probably replace Meteor with React or Angular in a future project. However, I do see how Meteor can provide a strong foundation for application developers. It provides a one-stop-shop for many required features for web application development and simplifies the model. For me, I would rather have a web stack that is much more segmented so I can clearly see the differences between client-side development, server-side development, routing, and database manipulation.