MERN-Stack Development Mastery

A comprehensive, 7-month project-driven syllabus to become a MERN stack specialist.

Month 1: JavaScript Deep Dive & Node.js Fundamentals

  • Advanced Scope, Hoisting, Closures
  • Asynchronous JavaScript: Event Loop, Promises, async/await
  • Functional Programming: map, filter, reduce, composition
  • Object-Oriented Programming in JS
  • Node.js Architecture: V8 Engine, Libuv
  • Modules: CommonJS vs. ES Modules
  • NPM Scripts & Package Management
  • File System & Streams API

Monthly Project

Build a command-line tool (CLI) using Node.js to manage a to-do list, interacting with the local file system.

Month 2: Express.js & RESTful APIs

  • Routing, Middleware, and Controllers
  • Request & Response Handling
  • Building a complete RESTful API
  • Error Handling Strategies
  • JWT (JSON Web Tokens) for Stateless Authentication
  • Password Hashing with Bcrypt
  • Implementing Protected Routes
  • CORS and other security headers with Helmet.js

Monthly Project

Develop a secure RESTful API for a blog platform with user registration, login, and CRUD operations for posts.

Month 3: MongoDB & Data Persistence

  • MongoDB Core Concepts: Documents, Collections
  • Data Modeling for NoSQL
  • CRUD Operations with MongoDB Shell
  • Indexing and Performance Optimization
  • Schemas, Models, and Validation
  • Advanced Queries and Population
  • Middleware and Plugins
  • Connecting Express to MongoDB with Mongoose

Monthly Project

Integrate MongoDB into the blog API, allowing users to create, read, update, and delete posts that are stored in the database.

Month 4: React Fundamentals

  • JSX, Components, Props, and State
  • The Virtual DOM and Reconciliation
  • Handling Events and Forms
  • Conditional Rendering
  • useState, useEffect for State and Side Effects
  • useContext for Global State
  • useReducer for Complex State Logic
  • Creating Custom Hooks

Monthly Project

Build the frontend for the blog platform using React. Users should be able to view posts, register, and log in.

Month 5: Advanced React & State Management

  • Client-Side Routing with React Router DOM
  • Dynamic Routes and URL Parameters
  • Nested Routes and Layouts
  • Programmatic Navigation
  • Redux Toolkit for predictable state
  • Actions, Reducers, and the Redux Store
  • Async logic with Redux Thunk
  • Introduction to Zustand for lightweight state management

Monthly Project

Enhance the blog frontend by adding features for creating and editing posts, accessible only to authenticated users.

Month 6: Connecting Frontend & Backend

  • Making API requests from React to Express
  • Handling Authentication State in React
  • Displaying data from the backend
  • Submitting forms to the backend API

Monthly Project

Connect the React frontend to the Express backend, creating a fully functional MERN stack application.

Month 7: Deployment & Production

  • Environment Variables
  • Building for Production
  • Error logging and monitoring
  • Deploying a Node/Express backend (e.g., on Render, Heroku)
  • Deploying a React frontend (e.g., on Vercel, Netlify)
  • Connecting to a cloud MongoDB instance (MongoDB Atlas)
  • CI/CD with GitHub Actions

Monthly Project

Deploy the MERN stack blog application to a live production environment.