The best resource to learn MERN Fullstack for free
There are countless resources on the internet that promise you to teach React, Express, and MongoDB.
As a self-taught developer, I tried many of them, and the best one is Full Stack Open.
It establishes a solid foundation on the MERN stack, and you will not forget what you learned after a month as it tests your knowledge in every step.
Full Stack Open
I never liked to learn from videos as the speaker’s speed is always slow, and I have to watch it 2x. It is hard to jump back and forth.
I learn from reading text. You decide how fast you want to go. You can scan the document and find what you are looking for in an instant.
I also learn from writing. When I sit down and start writing code, I realize the little things I missed while reading.
Since I will read the documentation of libraries a lot, I find it essential to strengthen the reading muscle.
Full Stack Open is the best resource for those who like to learn from reading and writing.
It is also free!
It is a comprehensive course. You cannot finish it in a day or even in a week.
I do not like Udemy courses as they are not making your hands dirty. They always hold your hand while learning.
Full Stack Open teaches you concepts in bulk, and at the end of the page, it asks you to build something with those.
Most of the time, you will not remember anything you just read as you were not paying that much attention to little details. But by mixing reading and writing code, you will reinforce your knowledge.
As the tasks are not simple, you will get stuck a lot. But that is fine. I spent more than 4 hours on some of those tasks.
The best thing about the Full Stack Open is that it teaches you everything to start building web apps.
For Frontend, it teaches you React with functional components.
For Backend, it teaches you Express and how to test it.
For Database, it teaches you MongoDB and how to use MongoDB Atlas.
It even teaches you the trendy topics such as TypeScript, GraphQL, and containers.
As the course states at the beginning, you need to know JavaScript before starting the course as it is not an introductory course.
MDN, The Odin Project, and freeCodeCamp are all great for learning the fundamentals of JavaScript.
I stopped at part 8 as I thought I did not need GraphQL and TypeScript.
After I finished part 7, I started building my first application, Boun Çim, which was a huge success. It both improved my coding ability and enabled me to land my first job.
I had to check StackOverflow and tutorials to build the Boun Çim regularly; however, my base knowledge was solid, thanks to Full Stack Open.
I hope other self-taught developers use this gold mine to start their journey on being software developers.
