The demand for Web development is rising and there is no doubt that having these skills will land you a high paying job in 2022. The skill that every company is looking for is Full Stack Development: developers who work in both backend and frontend environments. I’ll go over the steps that I took to become a full stack developer (and land my first job) in 6 months.
Month 1: HTML & CSS
HTML and CSS are the fundamentals of web development. Learning these technologies set you up to learn other programming languages down the line.
HTML has fundamental concepts that are transferable to programming in general. Understanding how a website is structured with HTML tags and how CSS targets specific HTML elements helps you think like a programmer. Get familiar with the HTML and CSS syntax and most importantly, understand HOW a web page is rendered.
I want you to not only learn, but APPLY your knowledge to practical use. Start off slowly by creating a simple index.html and explore. Do small challenges such as creating a table and giving the table cells different colors. COMMIT to learning HTML and CSS this first month.
Month 2 & 3: Javascript, JQuery
Javascript is the most important skill in web development and will almost always come up in interview questions. JQuery is a very common Javascript library that is used almost all the time in web development. Some topics you should familiarize yourself with are:
Traversing the DOM
Learn how to navigate through the DOM using JQuery selectors. These selectors are similar to CSS selectors, so you should already have a basic understanding of selecting certain elements in the HTML page.
Modifying the DOM
Play around by adding elements to the page. Additionally, delete elements and move elements around using Javascript. Learn to hide and unhide elements.
Event Handling
Almost all code on the web is called when an event is triggered. One of the most popular event handlers are on page load, on hover, on click, etc. Understanding these events is absolutely essential for full stack developers.
Scope
Arguably the hardest concept to grasp for me was scope, especially being such a new developer. Simply put, the only two scope that you need to know are global scope and local scope. In a small project, this concept is easy to understand but can quickly become very complex.
Understanding and applying these concepts early will build a solid foundation for you to become a full stack developer.
Debugging with Dev Tools
Oftentimes, you won’t know how your code is running simply by reading the code top to bottom. Every internet browser comes with a built in dev tool. Become very familiar with this feature as you’ll most likely use it for the rest of your career.
The dev tool gives you insight that you would not otherwise have. Learn how to inspect individual elements and use the developer console to interact with the webpage.
Asynchronous Communication
Better known as AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) is a key concept in modern web development. AJAX gives you the ability to load data without refreshing the page. One benefit is that it enhances the user’s experience by decreasing load time and the page remains consistent without blinking.
Month 4 & 5: C#
At this point, you should be familiar with the basic concepts of front end development. There are many server side languages to pick from. I’m went with C# is my first server side programming language because there was demand for .NET developers in my area.
I won’t go over in too much detail about C#. I have a separate blog post discussing 8 reasons why you should learn C#.
The main takeaway is this:
C# has been around for 20 years and is utilized by thousands of businesses. Chances are, a company in your area is using Microsoft technologies to run their day-to-day operations. Being a C# developer makes you stand out from other candidates.
Month 6: SQL
Finally, you need to store data in any web application. You’ll read plenty of discussions as to which database management system is the best.
The simple answer is SQL.
I’m not saying SQL will always be better than other database systems. It’s the best database for what you’re trying to accomplish when you started this new career path: to become a developer and make money.
SQL is just too common in the tech industry to ignore and almost all positions that I’ve applied for (and I’ve applied for many) required knowledge is SQL.
Now which SQL server should you pick up? My personal bias would say Microsoft SQL Server because I’m sticking to a single technology stack. Oracle and MySQL are also popular in the tech industry as well.
Last but not least…
It’s been 6 months and you’re almost a full stack developer. Your last step is, well, apply to become one. I’ll go over in detail what your mindset should be in a later blog post but the key takeaway is this:
You’re not interviewing to get a job. You’re interviewing to prepare for the next interview.
You’ll most likely be rejected in your first few interviews, and that’s ok! Rejection is natural at this stage of your career because you’re just getting started.
If there’s a will, there’s a way. And if you truly devote yourself to becoming a Full stack developer, I promise you will reap the benefits like I have.
I hope that helps. Happy learning!
-Bao