Introduction to Full Stack Development

From idea to deployment: understand the roles, layers, and workflows in modern web apps.

What is Full Stack?

Full stack development spans the front end (interfaces users see), the back end (servers, APIs, business logic), and supporting layers like databases, authentication, CI/CD, and cloud hosting. In this beginner-friendly book, we focus primarily on client-side technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap) and provide a high-level map of the full system.

  • Front End: Structure (HTML), presentation (CSS), and behavior (JavaScript).
  • Back End: APIs, authentication, and data persistence.
  • DevOps: building, bundling, testing, deploying, and monitoring.

Architecture at a Glance

Typical web architecture includes a browser client, CDN for static assets, an API gateway, application servers, and a database layer. Even when you start with front-end only, understanding the bigger picture helps you make better decisions.

Tip: Learn to separate concerns: content (HTML), style (CSS), and logic (JS). This improves maintainability.

Skill Map

  1. UI Layer: HTML (structure), CSS (styles), JS (behavior).
  2. Data Layer: APIs, JSON, HTTP methods, authentication.
  3. DevOps: version control (Git), CI/CD, hosting (static & serverless).

Developer Workflow

  1. Plan features and UI flows.
  2. Design semantic HTML and accessible structures.
  3. Style with responsive CSS and Bootstrap utilities.
  4. Add behavior with JavaScript (DOM, events, fetch).
  5. Test across devices, then optimize and deploy (e.g., GitHub Pages/Netlify).

MERN Stack Overview

The MERN stack is a popular full stack JavaScript framework used for building modern web applications. It combines four key technologies that work seamlessly together:

  • MongoDB: NoSQL database used to store application data in JSON-like documents.
  • Express.js: A lightweight back-end framework for building APIs and handling server-side logic.
  • React.js: A front-end library for building dynamic and reusable user interfaces.
  • Node.js: A runtime environment that allows running JavaScript on the server.

This stack is entirely JavaScript-based, making it efficient for developers to use one language across both the client and server. A typical MERN application flow:

  1. User interacts with the UI built in React.
  2. React sends HTTP requests to Express routes on the server.
  3. Express processes the request, interacts with MongoDB, and returns data.
  4. React updates the UI dynamically based on the server response.
Tip: Mastering the MERN stack helps you transition from front-end only projects to full-stack development.

HTTP in 60 seconds

GET /articles   → list
POST /articles  → create
GET /articles/1 → read
PUT /articles/1 → update
DELETE /articles/1 → delete

Sample: Fetching data from a public API (front-end only)

This example demonstrates fetching JSON and rendering a list.

async function loadUsers(){
  const res = await fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users');
  const users = await res.json();
  const list = document.getElementById('user-list');
  list.innerHTML = users.map(u => `<li>${u.name} — ${u.email}</li>`).join('');
}
loadUsers();
  • Open in your own page to run.

Deployment Options

  • Static Hosting (GitHub Pages/Netlify) — ideal for this project.
  • Serverless APIs when you add backend later.
Try It Yourself (HTML + CSS + JS)
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