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MERN STACK
Developer
ROADMAP FOR
BEGINNERS
2024 EDITION

Level Up Your Career

MERN STACK DEVELOPER ROADMAP FOR BEGINNERS Swipe

Who is a MERN Stack Developer?

Proficient in MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js.

They handle both front-end and back-end.
Write code for interactive interfaces (React), server-
side functionality (Express.js), and data storage
(MongoDB).
Integrate these for a smooth user experience.
Keep applications running well, fixing issues that arise.

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1 Introduction
A popular tech stack used to build web applications.
Combination of MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and
Node.js.
Allows developers to build both front-end and back-end
web applications using JavaScript.
A rich ecosystem of libraries, frameworks, and tools to
streamline development workflows.
A vibrant community of developers, contributors, and
open-source projects.
Supports horizontal scaling and distributed
architecture for handling large-scale applications.
MERN stack applications can easily scale to handle
increasing loads.

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2 Why Learn MERN Stack?

Can build the entire web application independently.
Reduces the need to learn multiple programming
languages
Leverages the flexibility and versatility of JavaScript-
based technologies.
Abundant job opportunities and industry demand.
Streamlined development process with reusable
components and modular architecture.
Extensive community support and rich ecosystem for
continuous learning and development.
Following Organizations use MERN Stack:

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3 Web Development
Fundamentals
Learn the fundamental web languages (HTML, CSS, and
JS) for developing web application structure, styling, and
interactivity.
1. HTML:
Learn about elements, attributes, and how to
structure a basic webpage using HTML.
2. CSS:
Understand how to control layout, colors, fonts,
and visual elements using CSS selectors.
Master Bootstrap’s in-built classes to enhance the
layout.
3. JavaScript:
Learn about variables, data types, control flow,
functions, and DOM manipulation with JavaScript.
Master Functions, Hoisting and Prototypes.
Understand objects and their properties/methods.

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4 Version Control System

Git is an essential tool for MERN Stack developers, allowing
them to manage code changes and collaborate seamlessly
via branching and merging.
Understand version control basics repositories,
commits, branches, and merges.
Install & configure Git.
Create a project repository with git init.
Stage changes with git add, commit with git commit.
Manage branches with git branch, git checkout, and
git merge.
Connect local repo to remote (e.g., GitHub) with git
remote add, push/pull changes with git push, git pull.
Learn popular Git workflows (e.g., feature branching,
Gitflow).

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5 Development Tools
Use Visual Studio Code or Sublime Text for efficient
coding.
Learn testing frameworks like Jest, Mocha or Cypress
for testing of MERN stack applications.
Master npm or Yarn for managing dependencies and
package installation for Node.js.
Learn Git to track changes and collaborate effectively.
Use webpack for compiling and bundling JavaScript
modules, CSS files, images, etc.
Make the use of MongoDB Compass, a GUI tool for
managing MongoDB databases
Understand CI/CD pipelines with tools like Jenkins or
GitHub Actions for automated deployment.

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6 Familiarity with React

You must know these React concepts before moving to the
development part:
Learn React library for building user interfaces (UIs).
Learn about React's core concepts: components, props,
state, and JSX (JavaScript XML).
Learn about the React component lifecycle.
Know functional and class components.
Explore React Router for routing in React.
Learn how to handle user events using event handlers.
Learn conditional rendering based on state or
conditions.
Practice submitting form data to APIs and handling
server-side validation responses.
Know Redux for state management in React apps.

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7 Backend Development
with Node.js
Node.js is a JavaScript runtime environment. Executes
JavaScript code outside of browsers on the server side.
Learn about Node.js' event-driven design and how to
handle asynchronous events.
Discover Node.js' modular structure for code
organization and reuse.
Understand the Node.js' single-threaded, non-
blocking I/O for concurrent tasks.
Explore global objects in Node.js(i.e. require, process,
module, Class:Buffer etc)
Explore file system operations such as reading and
writing files, creating and deleting directories.

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8 Backend Development
with Express.js
It is a minimalist and flexible web application framework for
Node.js that simplifies the process of building web
applications and APIs. You should learn core concepts like:
Explore the core concepts of Express such as routing,
middleware, request handling, and error handling.
Understand static file serving and how it enhances web
application performance.
Integrate Express.js with MongoDB using a MongoDB
driver like mongoose.
Implement user authentication and authorization
using middleware like Passport.js.
Learn testing frameworks like Mocha and Chai for
writing unit tests for Express applications.

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9 Database Integration
with MongoDB
MongoDB is a document-oriented, cross-platform, NoSQL
database. Here data is stored in flexible, JSON-like
documents.
Understand MongoDB's document-oriented data model,
collections, documents, and fields.
Learn basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
operations using the shell.
Explore embedded documents, references, and
schema design patterns.
Learn about indexing and how to create indexes to
improve query performance.
Understand how to secure MongoDB databases and
collections to protect sensitive data.

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10 Mongoose: MongoDB Object

Modeling Tool
Mongoose is a library for Node.js that provides a
straightforward, schema-based solution to model your
application data.
Get started with Mongoose, MongoDB's Node.js ODM.
Create MongoDB schemas using Mongoose
definitions.
Study MongoDB relationship types.
Use Mongoose features such as validation,
middleware, virtuals, and plugins.
Learn how to use Mongoose to link a Node.js program
to a MongoDB database.

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11 REST APIs
RESTful APIs are messengers for the front end and back
end..
Understand REST Principles like stateless
communication, uniform interfaces, resource
identification, etc.
Study HTTP Protocol like request methods, status
codes, headers, and message formats
Explore authentication methods like JWT and OAuth.
Learn data serialization formats like JSON and XML for
exchanging data between clients and servers.
Familiarize yourself with API testing techniques and
tools like Postman, Insomnia, or curl.

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12 App Deployment and

Hosting

Understand deployment concepts and select appropriate

platforms such as Heroku, AWS, or Vercel.
Learn about containerization with Docker and container
orchestration with Kubernetes.
Update server configurations for production environment.
Update domain settings in your hosting provider's
dashboard.
Test frontend and backend functionality, including database
connectivity.
Use CI/CD tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, or GitHub Actions
for automated testing and deployment.

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13 Node Package Manager

Learn about npm package management, including
installation, updates, and removal.
Check out Add Project Dependencies with Options in
npm install.
To set up the project, create package.json using master
npm init.
Understand the concept of Semantic Versioning
(SemVer) about package versions.
Use npm list and npm obsolete to manage
dependencies.
For script execution in package.json, use master npm run.
Learn how to use npm publish to publish packages to the
npm registry.

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14 Real-time Projects
Social Media Platform: Users can create profiles, post
updates and interact in real-time. Implement features like
news feeds, notifications, and messaging.
E-Commerce Website: Add features for browsing
products, adding items, and processing orders. Implement
user authentication, product search, and payment
integration using services like Stripe or PayPal.
Online Learning Platform: users can enroll in courses,
watch lectures, complete quizzes. Implement features for
course management, user profiles, progress tracking.
Job Portal: employers can post job listings and job
seekers can search and apply for jobs. Implement features
like job search, filtering by location and industry, resume
upload, and employer profiles.

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MERN Stack Tutorial For Beginners

ScholarHat offers concise, insightful React articles. Dive into
ReactJS with clear explanations and practical examples, perfect
for enhancing your skills.

MERN Stack Developer Salary

MERN CRUD Operations
Creating and Querying MongoDB with Mongo Shell
Props in React
State in React
React Lifecycle Methods
Hooks in React
Exploring ExpressJS Routing
Authentication and Authorization in Node.js
Token-Based Authentication In Node.js Using JWT
ReactJS Interview Questions and Answers

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How to follow this roadmap?

At ScholarHat, we believe mastering a technology
is a three-step process as mentioned below:

Step1 - Learn Skills: You can learn Azure Developer

skills by using official docs on MERN Technologies, or
through Videos on YouTube or Videos based
courses. For topic revision and recalling make short
notes. You can also learn Live from Microsoft MVP at
ScholarHat.
Step2 - Build Experience: You can build hands-on
experience by creating a workflow like Login workflow,
cart workflow, payment gateway workflow, Security
workflow. Further build end-to-end real world
applications like Chat Application, fitness tracker,
social media platform etc.
Step3 - Empower Yourself: Build your strong profile
by mentioning all the above skills with hands-on
experience on projects. Prepare yourself with interview
Q&A about MERN Stack to crack your next job
interview.

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Congrats!
You are just one interview away!

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MERN STACK DEVELOPER ROADMAP FOR BEGINNERS

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