MERN Stack Learning Roadmap
🚀 Phase 1: Prerequisites (HTML, CSS, JavaScript Basics)
Time: 2–3 weeks
Learn:
- HTML5 (structure, forms, semantic tags)
- CSS3 (flexbox, grid, media queries)
- JavaScript Basics (variables, functions, loops, arrays, objects)
- DOM manipulation
- Git & GitHub (version control basics)
Resources:
- FreeCodeCamp.org
- HTML/CSS - MDN
⚙️Phase 2: Advanced JavaScript & ES6+
Time: 2–3 weeks
Learn:
- Arrow functions, template literals, destructuring
- Promises, async/await
- Callbacks, higher-order functions
- Array methods (map, filter, reduce)
- this, closures, scope
🌐 Phase 3: React.js (Frontend)
Time: 3–4 weeks
Learn:
- React fundamentals (JSX, components, props, state)
- React Hooks (useState, useEffect, etc.)
- Conditional rendering, forms handling
- Routing with React Router
- Lifting state up and component hierarchy
- Calling APIs in React
Projects to build:
- Todo App
- Weather App
- CRUD App with form
Phase 4: Node.js + Express.js (Backend)
Time: 3–4 weeks
Learn:
- Node.js fundamentals
- Creating REST APIs with Express
- Middleware and error handling
- Routing
- Environment variables
- Working with files and JSON
Projects to build:
- RESTful API for Todo or Blog app
Phase 5: MongoDB (Database)
Time: 1–2 weeks
Learn:
- MongoDB basics
- CRUD operations
- Schema design
- Mongoose (ODM for MongoDB)
- Connecting MongoDB with Node.js
🔗 Phase 6: Full MERN Stack Integration
Time: 3–4 weeks
Learn:
- Connect React frontend with Node/Express backend
- Use Axios/Fetch for API calls
- CORS, proxy setup
- JWT Authentication (Login/Register)
- Protecting routes (Frontend & Backend)
- MVC structure and folder organization
Projects to build:
- Full-stack Blog
- E-commerce app
- Gardening App
🌍 Phase 7: Deployment
Time: 1 week
Learn:
- Hosting frontend on Vercel or Netlify
- Hosting backend on Render, Cyclic, or Railway
- Using MongoDB Atlas for database
- Setting environment variables in production
✅ Tools to Use:
- VS Code
- Postman (for testing APIs)
- MongoDB Compass
- Git & GitHub