Step-by-Step Plan for Becoming a Full-Stack Developer
Introduction
The road to becoming a full-stack developer can be intimidating. There are a ton of programming languages, frameworks, and systems out there. Where do you start?
Your first goal should be to gain the skills and knowledge to build simple, fully-functioning applications. There are many different ways to do this, including:
Getting a computer science degree
Enrolling in a coding bootcamp
Teaching yourself through online courses
No matter what route you take, you need to be curious and excited to create software that solves problems.
You’ll also need a portfolio to land jobs. Complete the steps below, and you will be in a good position for a career as a full-stack developer.
Financial Recommendation
Keep student loan debt below $89,384. This will ensure your student loan debt-to-starting salary ratio is below 1.25x.
Assuming a 6.8% interest rate and 10-year loan repayment, your maximum monthly payment would be $1,029 or 17% of a starting salary of $71,507.
Career Plan
🎓 Education
Coding bootcamps can prepare you for a job faster and at a lower cost than a traditional computer science degree. However, you will need to go above and beyond basic bootcamp projects to create a portfolio that stands out.
💵 Cost: $20,000 - $30,000
⏳ Time: 6-7 months
You don’t have to get a degree to become a developer—but it can help establish a stronger base of foundational knowledge.
💵 Cost: $35,348 - $172,256
⏳ Time: 4 years
🗃 Hard Skills
From the very beginning, you should use a source control process. Source control—with Git being the most popular—provides an environment for storing, modifying, and collaborating on applications.
💵 Cost: Free!
⏳ Time: 1-3 hours
HTML and CSS are what you will use to visually structure websites. These two components are core principles in web development.
💵 Cost: $0 - $139
⏳ Time: 10-30 hours
🧠 Where to learn
Responsive Web Design Certification
By: freeCodeCamp
Cost: Free
Time: 30 hours
Introduction to the Front End
By: The Odin Project
Cost: Free
Time: 10 hours
The Web Developer Bootcamp by Colt Steele (2020)
By: Udemy
Cost: $139
Time: 30 hours
🔖 Projects to build your portfolio
HTML and CSS provide the visual structure for websites, Javascript provides the functionality. Javascript is an essential component in modern web development. It is used for the front-end and the back-end (NodeJS).
💵 Cost: $0 - $139
⏳ Time: 30-300 hours
🧠 Where to learn
The Web Developer Bootcamp by Colt Steele (2020)
By: Udemy
Cost: $139
Time: 30 hours
The Modern Javascript Bootcamp by Andrew Mead
By: Udemy
Cost: $85
Time: 30 hours
Javascript Algorithms And Data Structures Certification
By: freeCodeCamp
Cost: Free
Time: 300 hours
Javascript Basics
By: The Odin Project
Cost: Free
Time: 60 hours
Most front-end development is now accomplished using a Javascript framework. There are several different options, including ReactJS, Angular, and Vue—with React being the most popular.
💵 Cost: $0 - $100
⏳ Time: 2-300 hours
The back-end is what happens behind the scenes. It’s the algorithms, logic, and interactions with databases that get translated to the front-end.
💵 Cost: $0 - $85
⏳ Time: 1-48 hours
🧠 Where to learn
Introduction to Node.js
By: NodeJS
Cost: Free
Time: 6 hours
The Complete Node.js Developer Course by Andrew Mead
By: Udemy
Cost: $85
Time: 35 hours
Node.js Tutorial for Beginners
By: thenewboston
Cost: Free
Time: 1 hours
Server-side Development with NodeJS, Express and MongoDB
By: coursera
Cost: Free
Time: 48 hours
Databases are where you will write and store information to be accessed later. They are a key component of nearly every application.
💵 Cost: $0 - $95
⏳ Time: 1-20 hours
Application programming interfaces (APIs) are a set of tools for building applications. APIs allow programs and components of programs to communicate and pass data between one another.
💵 Cost: $0 - $139
⏳ Time: 30-300 hours