New: Roadmaps ordered paths through our cheat sheets and flashcards, so you always know what to study next.
Explore themSee what's new on GitHubFrom an empty HTML file to a deployed, database-backed application running in production.
A 15-step learning path. Follow it in order, or jump to what you need.
This path is for anyone who wants to build and ship a complete web application on their own, not just one layer of it. Plan on about 8 to 13 weeks at a few hours a week to work through it. It moves faster through each half of the stack than the dedicated Frontend Developer and Backend Developer paths, and it skips deep infrastructure work like Kubernetes and Terraform; that's the DevOps Engineer path's territory. By the end you can build a typed React front end, wire it to a JWT-secured Node API backed by PostgreSQL, and deploy the whole thing to production with CI/CD running behind it.
No prior experience needed. Start from zero.
Every layout you style in step 2 and every component you build in React later starts from the semantic markup you write here.
Turns the bare HTML from step 1 into a layout users actually want to look at, and the cascade rules here explain every styling decision you'll make in React later.
Promises and the event loop are where most learners stall; expect to revisit this section once fetch calls in step 9 force the question.
You can build a styled page that reacts to clicks and keystrokes without a framework in sight. Next up: working the way real teams do, with Git and typed components.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Every project from here forward assumes you can commit, branch, and open a pull request, the exact workflow GitHub Actions in step 14 will automate.
Types you define here follow your data from the React props in step 6 through the Postgres rows in step 10, catching mismatches before a user ever sees them.
Turns the DOM skills from step 3 into reusable components, closing out the frontend half of the stack before you cross into the backend.
You can ship a typed React interface and push every change through Git the way a team would; a few due flashcards on HTML and CSS keep them fresh while React takes the spotlight. Next up: the server that will actually feed this interface data.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Moves you across the frontend and backend divide: the same JavaScript from step 3 now runs on a server instead of in a browser.
Gives the raw HTTP handling from step 7 real routes and middleware, the shape every endpoint in step 9 builds on.
Names the rules your Express routes from step 8 should already be following, so any client, including the React app from step 6, knows what to expect.
Gives your API something to remember between requests, the database layer every endpoint from step 9 has been waiting to write to.
Securing the API is where most learners get stuck the first time: token storage and refresh feel fiddly until you've debugged one expired session, and step 12's pages will check this on every request.
You can stand up a REST API in Express, persist real data in PostgreSQL, and lock it behind JWT auth the same way production apps do. Next up: wiring this to your React front end and putting the whole thing on the internet.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Puts the frontend from step 6 and the API patterns from steps 8 to 11 inside one framework, so a single deploy in step 15 ships both halves together.
Take this if you want your full-stack app to catch regressions on its own: Vitest wires automated tests into the React and Node code from steps 6 and 7, and step 14 will automate running them.
Automates the git workflow from step 4 so tests from step 13 and builds run on every push instead of only on your machine.
Pulls together everything from the HTML in step 1 to the auth in step 11 and puts it on a real URL, the moment your project stops being local and starts being an application.
You went from a blank HTML file to a typed React and Node application, backed by PostgreSQL and secured with JWT, live on a real URL with CI/CD behind it. That's the Full Stack Developer badge: you can build, connect, and ship a complete application on your own.
Finish this section to unlock.
+100 XP
Finish every required step, at least 70% of them genuinely done (not skipped), to earn this badge and 500 XP.