How to Become a Full Stack Developer in Simple Steps:

A Comprehensive Guide

Becoming a Full Stack Developer is an in demand skill that opens up numerous opportunities in the tech industry.


Full Stack Developers are highly sought after for their ability to work on both the front-end and back-end of web applications, making them versatile and invaluable team members.


If you’re looking to become a Full Stack Developer, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you on your way.

1. Learn Linux

The foundation of your journey starts with learning Linux. Understanding Linux is crucial because it’ the most widely used Operating System on the Server and the defacto standard for web development. You’ll need to familiarize yourself with:

  • Unix Commands: Knowing basic Unix commands is important for navigating the file system, managing files, and running scripts. Commands like ls, cd, grep, awk, and sed will be part of your daily toolkit as a developer.
  • Git: Git is an essential tool for version control. It allows you to track changes in your code, collaborate with other developers, and manage project versions. Learn how to create repositories, commit changes, branch, merge, and use pull requests.

2. Learn Scripting

Scripting is another essential skill for automating repetitive tasks and enhancing productivity. Start by learning a scripting language like Bash and Python.

These languages are powerful for writing small programs and scripts that can automate tasks like file manipulation, system monitoring, and task scheduling.

An example of scripting is creating a project creation script that sets up a project, which may include creating a git repository, the setting up the frontend, backend and database and pushing the project to GitHub.

Another example is running a management command on a cronjob. This could be a Django Management command updating the project analytics and sending daily emails to your users.

3. Learn Programming
Programming is the core skill

for any developer. As a Full Stack Developer, you’ll need to learn both backend and frontend programming:

  • Backend with Python:
    • Python is a versatile language that’s great for backend development. It’s easy to learn and has a wide range of frameworks like Django and FastAPI that can help you build robust web applications. 
    • Focus on understanding the basics of Python, such as data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming, before moving on to web development.
  • Frontend with JavaScript:
    • JavaScript is the language of the web and is essential for any Full Stack Developer. It’s used for building interactive user interfaces. 
    • Start by learning the basics of JavaScript, including syntax, DOM manipulation, and event handling. Once you’re comfortable with JavaScript, you can move on to learning a frontend framework.
  • Fundamentals of CS:
    • An understanding of Computer Science is a must. By learning things like BigO notation you can calculate how efficient your code is and that directly impacts things like cloud compute costs.

4. Learn a Framework

Frameworks simplify the development process by providing pre-built components and tools. They can significantly speed up your development time. As a Full Stack Developer, you’ll need to learn both frontend and backend frameworks:

Frontend Frameworks:

Frameworks simplify the development process by providing pre-built components and tools. They can significantly speed up your development time. As a Full Stack Developer, you’ll need to learn both frontend and backend frameworks:

  • Frontend Frameworks: 
    • Choose between popular JavaScript frameworks like React.js or Vue.js. These frameworks help you build dynamic and responsive user interfaces with reusable components.
    • React.js is widely used and has a large community, making it a great choice for beginners. Vue.js is known for its simplicity and flexibility, making it another excellent option. 
    • React is very popular in the Startup Space, but it pays less because of the large supply of React Developers, Vue is less popular with employers but has a higher pay for the developers that use it.
  • Backend Frameworks: 
    • For backend development, learn frameworks like Django or FastAPI. Django is a batteries-included Python framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. 
    • It comes with many built-in features, such as an admin panel, authentication, and ORM. FastAPI is a modern, fast web framework for building APIs with Python 3.7+ based on Pydantic’s type system. 
    • Django is used at large companies and small startups, while FastAPI is gaining market adoption and may have a higher pay because of its novelty in the current market

5. Learn Docker

Docker is a tool designed to make it easier to create, deploy, and run applications by using containers. Containers allow a developer to package up an application with all the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies, and ship it all out as one package.

Learning Docker is crucial for Full Stack Developers as it helps in building, managing, and deploying applications efficiently.

Docker also solves the age-old problem developers have faced, the “It works on my Machine” problem. Docker creates a standardized environment for you code to run in, making working in a team fast and easy.

6. Learn DevOps

DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the development lifecycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality.

As a Full Stack Developer, understanding DevOps principles and tools can greatly enhance your ability to manage the entire application lifecycle:

  • GitHub Actions:
    • GitHub Actions is a powerful tool for automating workflows directly in your GitHub repository.
    • It can automate testing, building, and deploying your applications whenever there’s a change in the codebase.
  • GitOps:
    • GitOps is a form of Devops.. It works by using Git as a single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and applications.
    • Understanding GitOps can help you manage infrastructure and deployments in a more streamlined and efficient manner.

7. Learn Databases management

Your app needs to be able to store and manage data to be truly production ready. This is done with a Database. Databases come in two overall types, SQL and NoSQL databases.

The most popular SQL database at startups and Fortune 500 companies is Postgres DB. Postgres is known for its performance, scalability and reliability. It is used at large companies like FaceBook(Now Meta) and Twitter(Now X) and small startups.

Although SQL Databases are used at large enterprises, many startups prefer the simplicity of NoSQL databases like MongoDB.

NoSQL DBs are popular with Micro-Frameworks like FastAPI and Flask and at startups looking to build features fast and do not need to model complex relationships. NoSQL databases use a Key:Vaule pair to store data.

Bailey Burnsed