Full-Stack Development
Build complete web applications end to end — front end, back end, databases, and deployment. You'll create a React front end, design and build a Node.js and Express back end with REST APIs, model data in PostgreSQL and MongoDB, add authentication, write tests, and ship to the cloud with CI/CD.
About This Course
This Full-Stack Development course teaches you to build and ship complete web applications from the ground up. You'll work across the entire stack: a responsive React front end, a Node.js and Express back end exposing REST APIs, relational data in PostgreSQL, document data in MongoDB, secure authentication, automated tests, and a production deployment pipeline.
Rather than learning each technology in isolation, you'll see how the layers connect. By the end of the course you will have built a full-stack capstone application — with a React client talking to a tested Express API backed by a database, secured with token-based auth, and deployed to the cloud through a CI/CD pipeline.
What You'll Learn
- Build responsive user interfaces with semantic HTML, CSS, and React components
- Manage application state and data flow in a React single-page app
- Design and build RESTful back-end services with Node.js and Express
- Model and query data in PostgreSQL and work with MongoDB for document storage
- Implement secure authentication and role-based authorization with JWTs and hashed passwords
- Connect a front end to a back-end API and handle async data, errors, and loading states
- Write unit and integration tests and deploy with CI/CD to a cloud host
Requirements
- A computer with internet access (Windows, Mac, or Linux)
- Basic programming familiarity is recommended — comfort with variables, functions, and loops
- Our Web Development Fundamentals course is a good starting point if you're new to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- A code editor such as Visual Studio Code (free) and a modern web browser
- Node.js installed locally (we walk through setup in the first module)
Who This Course Is For
- Developers who know some front-end basics and want to learn the back end and databases
- Self-taught coders ready to build complete, deployable applications
- Front-end developers looking to become full-stack engineers
- Bootcamp graduates who want a structured, end-to-end project to deepen their skills
- Anyone preparing for junior full-stack or web developer roles
Refresh the building blocks of the browser layer: semantic HTML structure, modern CSS layout, and responsive design that adapts to any screen. This sets the foundation for the React work that follows.
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1.1 Course Overview and Tooling Setup
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1.2 Semantic HTML and Accessible Markup
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1.3 CSS Layout with Flexbox and Grid
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1.4 Responsive Design and Media Queries
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1.5 Exercise: Build a Responsive Layout
Master the modern JavaScript features that power today's front ends, then build component-based user interfaces with React using hooks, props, and state.
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2.1 ES6+: Modules, Arrow Functions, Destructuring
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2.2 Async JavaScript: Promises and async/await
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2.3 React Components, JSX, and Props
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2.4 State and the useState Hook
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2.5 Side Effects with useEffect
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2.6 Client-Side Routing with React Router
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2.7 Exercise: Build an Interactive React App
Move to the server. Learn the Node.js runtime and module system, then build HTTP servers with Express using routes, middleware, and structured error handling.
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3.1 The Node.js Runtime and npm
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3.2 Building an Express Server
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3.3 Routing and Route Parameters
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3.4 Middleware and Request Lifecycle
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3.5 Error Handling and Logging
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3.6 Exercise: Scaffold an Express API
Design clean, predictable REST APIs. Cover resource modeling, HTTP methods and status codes, request validation, versioning, and documentation.
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4.1 REST Principles and Resource Modeling
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4.2 HTTP Methods and Status Codes
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4.3 Request Validation and Input Sanitization
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4.4 Pagination, Filtering, and Versioning
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4.5 Exercise: Document an API with OpenAPI
Store and query data with both relational and document databases. Learn SQL and schema design with PostgreSQL, then explore when and how to use NoSQL with MongoDB.
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5.1 Relational Modeling and Schema Design
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5.2 SQL Queries and Joins in PostgreSQL
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5.3 Indexes, Constraints, and Migrations
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5.4 Connecting Express to PostgreSQL
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5.5 Intro to NoSQL and Document Modeling
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5.6 Working with MongoDB and Mongoose
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5.7 Exercise: Persist API Data to a Database
Secure your application. Implement user registration and login, hash passwords, issue and verify JSON Web Tokens, and protect routes with role-based authorization.
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6.1 Authentication vs. Authorization
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6.2 Password Hashing with bcrypt
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6.3 JSON Web Tokens and Sessions
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6.4 Protected Routes and Role-Based Access
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6.5 Exercise: Add Auth to Your API
Wire the React client to your Express API. Fetch and submit data, manage loading and error states, handle CORS, and keep the UI in sync with the server.
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7.1 Fetching API Data from React
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7.2 Loading, Error, and Empty States
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7.3 Forms, Mutations, and Optimistic Updates
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7.4 CORS, Environment Config, and Proxies
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7.5 Exercise: Full CRUD UI Against Your API
Build confidence in your code. Write unit tests with Jest, test React components with React Testing Library, and verify API endpoints with integration tests.
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8.1 Testing Fundamentals and the Test Pyramid
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8.2 Unit Testing with Jest
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8.3 Testing React Components
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8.4 Integration Testing API Endpoints
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8.5 Exercise: Add a Test Suite to Your App
Work the way professional teams do. Use Git for version control and collaborate through branches, pull requests, and code review on a shared remote.
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9.1 Git Basics: Commits, Branches, Merges
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9.2 Branching Strategies and Pull Requests
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9.3 Resolving Merge Conflicts and Code Review
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9.4 Exercise: Collaborate via a Git Workflow
Ship to production. Containerize your app, build a CI/CD pipeline that runs tests and deploys automatically, configure environment variables and secrets, and host on the cloud.
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10.1 Build Tools and Production Bundles
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10.2 Containerizing with Docker
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10.3 CI/CD Pipelines with GitHub Actions
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10.4 Environment Variables and Secrets
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10.5 Deploying to a Cloud Host
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10.6 Exercise: Automate a Deploy Pipeline
Bring everything together. Plan, build, test, and deploy a complete full-stack application with a React front end, an authenticated Express API, a database, and a CI/CD pipeline.
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11.1 Planning and Architecting the App
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11.2 Building the API and Data Layer
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11.3 Building the React Client
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11.4 Testing and Deploying the Capstone
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11.5 Project Review and Next Steps
Priya Natarajan
Senior Full-Stack Engineer & Educator
About the Instructor
Priya Natarajan is a senior full-stack engineer with over 11 years of experience building production web applications across startups and large product teams. She works daily across the stack — React front ends, Node.js and Express services, and PostgreSQL and MongoDB data layers — and has shipped systems serving millions of requests per day.
Before teaching full time, Priya was a tech lead at a SaaS company, where she designed REST APIs, set up CI/CD pipelines, and mentored junior engineers through their first full-stack projects. She holds a Master's degree in Computer Science and is an AWS Certified Developer.
Priya focuses on teaching how the layers of an application fit together, so students finish able to build and deploy real software rather than just isolated snippets. She is an active open-source contributor and speaks regularly at web development meetups.
Other Courses by Priya Natarajan
Marcus Lee
This is the course that finally connected the dots for me. I already knew React but had no idea how the back end fit together. Building the Express API, wiring it to PostgreSQL, and then deploying through GitHub Actions made it all click. The capstone is genuinely portfolio-worthy.
Elena Petrova
Really thorough coverage of the whole stack. The authentication module on JWTs and bcrypt was especially clear. I'm giving 4 stars only because the MongoDB section is shorter than the PostgreSQL one and I wanted more depth there. Still, this took me from front-end-only to comfortably full-stack.
James Okafor
Priya explains the why behind every decision, not just the how. The testing and CI/CD modules are something most courses skip entirely, and they're exactly what I got asked about in interviews. I landed a junior full-stack role two months after finishing.
Basic programming familiarity is recommended. You should be comfortable with variables, functions, and loops, and have some exposure to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you're starting from zero, our Web Development Fundamentals course is a good starting point before this one.
The course is designed to run over 16 weeks at roughly 8 hours per week, which includes about 68 hours of video plus time spent on exercises and the capstone project. Because you have lifetime access, you can move faster or slower depending on your schedule.
On the front end you'll use HTML, CSS, modern JavaScript, and React. On the back end you'll use Node.js and Express to build REST APIs. For data you'll work with PostgreSQL (SQL) and MongoDB (NoSQL). You'll also use Git, Jest and React Testing Library for tests, Docker, and GitHub Actions for CI/CD.
Yes. You'll receive a certificate of completion once you finish all the modules and the capstone project. You can add it to your LinkedIn profile or resume to showcase your full-stack development skills to potential employers.
Absolutely. The course includes a Q&A discussion board where you can ask questions and get help from the instructor and other students. Priya typically responds within 24-48 hours. There's also a community Discord server where you can connect with fellow learners for additional support.
Yes. We regularly update the course to keep pace with changes in React, Node.js, and the surrounding tooling. When we add new content or make significant updates, you'll receive an email notification, and you'll have access to all future updates at no additional cost.
You'll build progressively throughout the course, including:
- A responsive React front end with routing and state management
- A REST API built with Node.js and Express
- A data layer backed by PostgreSQL and MongoDB
- Authentication with hashed passwords and JWTs
- A full-stack capstone application, tested and deployed to the cloud via CI/CD
The capstone ties every layer together into a complete, deployable application you can showcase to employers or clients.
Ready to Become a Full-Stack Developer?
Join more than 8,900 students already building complete applications in this course