[xeckr]

>Is MERN stack still in demand?

For getting a job? Express is probably less common in enterprise, but since the whole stack is JS/TS you'll have no problem porting your knowledge from that to any of the newer server-side frameworks. React is to my knowledge still the most widely used framework in modern front-end development.

Regarding self-hosting, make sure you look into isolating the RPi you use to serve your app from the rest of your home network as much as possible, and change the default password.

[boredChimp]

Yep, fully agree about React being the most widely used framework.

And yes, good point on the Pi.