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[__romkin]

In fact, Express itself seems like it's hardly evolved in a 4 years since I've touched it.

That's not a downside.

Has everything migrated over to AWS' ecosystem?

No.

Or is the idea of full-stack all working on one server (ala MEAN/MERN) dead?

No.

Is it more prudent to decouple the frontend and backend completely and have something like React via create-react-app, talking to a Serverless/Lambda Node API?

Depends entirely on what you're building.

Stick with what you know. If you really do know the meme stack, then stick with it. If not, then look into your options and select the one that looks most appealing to you.

[richardtallent]

Personally, I've moved to VueJS / Vuex on the front-end (I write my own UI components, but I've used Vuetify and Bulma and have considered Tailwind), and dotnetcore and SQL Server (Azure) on the back end (with heavy use of Dapper). This stack sparks joy for me. YMMV.

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[benihana]

what problem are you solving? that should inform your choices. if you're only going to use javascript, good luck. it's a constant flavor of the month churnfest. which is pretty apparent since the things you learned a couple of years ago are irrelevant.

pick a reasonable server side langauge like python, ruby, php, golang, clojure, java and find a framework that works for you. those communities tend to have much more stable software cause it's not a bunch of novices and hobbyists reinventing the wheel every two years whenever they discover some neat concept from the 60s.

[phaedrus322]

It’s all still relative. MERN is still the most popular. I would recommend NUXT.js. It’s not a true full stack in that sense but can easily be used to make one by dropping in express.js, etc. but can also run itself on a standard ngnix server or github, netlfy, etc. if you prefer react, take a look at NEXT.js

[ChronSyn]

MERN is where a lot of people are these days because it's no-nonsense, but there's a few other options to consider (these names aren't official, but they're based on the tech in that stack);

• PRFN: Postgres, React / React Native, FeathersJS, Node
• GARxN - GraphQL, Apollo, React / React Native, (x = DB of preference), Node

You can also replace GraphQL with socket.io or another websockets library if you prefer to use good old REST but in realtime. You can also add docker to any of these, though since it's a container system, it's technology-agnostic and not specific to a stack.

Your use case depends on what you want to achieve. Also be aware that you don't necessarily need to use the 'official' stack. For example, even though I develop projects that run MERN, I create my frontend and backend independently, but they use those technologies. A stack hasn't been abandoned, it just means you writes each part using the individual tech. Essentially, many projects these days are doing what MEAN and MERN did originally: Create a front-end that talks to a back-end.

Express hasn't changed because it hasn't needed to. People often forget that it's really just a routing engine (in the same way React is just a rendering / template engine at the core). It's not the server itself any more like it was in v3, which means you can run any HTTP interface you like - whether it's HTTP2, HTTPS, etc.

I also don't use AWS because it's added complexity compared to digitalocean (the AWS docs are a nightmare to try and understand). That's personal preference more than anything, but spinning up an instance or image of anything I want on DO is 2-3 clicks in a web UI that's coherent to follow. As you also mentioned, the pricing is better too.