Node.js Template engines and MVC frameworks. Versus or Feat?

Question

JavaScript

I am actively learning Node.js and writing a web service prototype. The basis of my knowledge is the screencast by Ilya Kantor, about which, I think, all the developers on the node have heard a lot.
So Ilya does not say anything about the so-called. (if I don't confuse anything) client-side MV* frameworks such as Angular, Ember, Backbone and others. But there is also MEAN stack, a set of technologies recognized among monsters, among which the mentioned Angular is available.
And I can not understand why these frameworks are actually needed? Are they extensions of templating functions or is it a different story?
Describe, please, in a nutshell, what's what with these frameworks, is there a rake waiting for me because I don't use them, or is it possible to develop simple and almost simple services without such frameworks?

Answer 1

NodeJs - backend js
Angular, Ember, Backbone - frontend frameworks may or may not be used, it all depends on the specific task

Answer 2

If you are not building a single-page application, take any template engine ( swig , jade ) and go. Client frameworks are used to organize data and code on the client side, to communicate with the backend server. By the way, Ilya Kantor still uses the ejs-locals template engine in his screencasts , but it is no longer maintained by anyone.
PS In the screencast about express, Ilya has far from the most elegant solutions, with the same loading of models, for example. Many interesting things can be seen in the code of the same MEAN - read its code.

Answer 3

In the frontend frameworks, the MVC structure is almost completely organized - the backend only issues information on request (for example, product data, authorization data), it turns out it works like a REST API. There are no more templates in the backend. You can, in theory, leave part of the logic in the backend.
Of the benefits (in my amateurish opinion) - increasing the speed of the web application, because only data is loaded. Therefore, the applications are very similar to the native applications of the same smartphones (and therefore the term Single Page Application was invented for them)
The use of these front-end frameworks is not necessary at all - you will simply have the view generated on the server in the old fashioned way.