MERN stack development is a lucrative career with an excellent job outlook. But how exactly do you become a MERN Stack Developer? What technologies do you need to learn and in what order? In this guide, you’ll learn about the components of the MERN stack plus the six basic steps to take to become a MERN Stack Developer.
What Is a Stack?
A stack refers to the combination of tools and technologies used to create a website or web application. Stacks can be referred to by various names, including tech stacks, solutions stacks, and web development stacks. Stacks include all the programming languages, frameworks, libraries, servers, software, etc., that Web Developers use to complete a project. While developers are free to create stacks based on their own needs, some tech stacks work so well together that they’ve become standards in the web development industry—the MERN stack is an example of this. Web development stacks are used repeatedly by the same team, allowing them to work more efficiently, eliminate excessive errors, and speed up the development process.
What Is the MERN Stack?
The MERN stack is one of the most popular stacks currently used in web development. It’s composed of MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. Various stacks are similar in composition to the MERN stack, including the MEAN and MEVN stacks. While these other stacks are popular options, usage of the MERN stack has surged in recent years thanks to one key feature: React.
React is the most popular library in the world. The popularity of React is primarily due to its ability to simplify the creation and management of an application’s user interface (UI) and improve overall site performance. It has also benefited from the support of its creator, Facebook, and an enthusiastic community of users.
When you put React together with MongoDB, Express.js, and Node.js, the result is a JavaScript-based tech stack that’s highly customizable, developer-friendly, and cost-effective, as it’s completely open-source. The MERN stack works especially well with social media platforms, news aggregation applications, and workflow management. It’s currently being used by several prominent companies, including Netflix and Uber.
6 Steps to Become a MERN Stack Developer
Becoming a MERN Stack Developer may seem overwhelming at first; with so many different components, it can be difficult to know what exactly you need to learn and in which order. To help guide you toward your career goals, here are the six essential steps you need to take to become a MERN Stack Developer.
1. Learn the Foundational Languages of Front End Web Development
The first step toward becoming a MERN Developer is to learn the three foundational front end languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Each one of these programming languages can be learned through the documentation on the official website, online guides, video tutorials, or web development classes. Let’s look at each language and what they’re responsible for.
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language used to create documents that will be displayed on a web browser. HTML instructs the browser on how to display data on the page. These instructions often cover the layout of the page, fonts, colors, headings, title, tables, and graphics.
CSS: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a language that’s used to style the text, color, buttons, and tables of a website plus structure how its pages are laid out. CSS allows for content and formatting to remain separate so web pages can adapt to different types of devices of various sizes.
JavaScript: JavaScript is a language used to program the behavior of web pages, making them more dynamic and interactive to engage the user. For example, JavaScript can be used to play audio or video, display animations, progress through a slideshow of various pictures, and alter a button’s colors when a mouse hovers over it.
2. Learn How to Use Front End Tools
After you’ve learned the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it’s time to turn your attention to essential front end tools that will help speed up your programming. Here are a few suggestions of the most useful front end tools to learn.
Visual Studio (VS) Code
Created by Microsoft in 2015, VS Code is a free open-source code editor that can be used on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. Since its release, the popularity of VS Code has skyrocketed; in Stack Overflow’s 2021 annual survey, 70% of professional Web Developers reported that they use VS Code, which would make it the most popular developer environment tool in the world.
This popularity can be attributed to the flexible, streamlined, feature-rich nature of VS Code. VS Code simplifies coding and helps eliminate potential errors by providing smart code completion, syntax highlighting, and built-in debugging. Web Developers also like the fact that they can easily use VS Code with a variety of programming languages and add extensions to customize the application to meet their needs.
Git
Git is an open-source version control system that helps developers manage the changes made to their code and allows them to return the document to a previous state if any errors are made. While there are other version control systems available on the market, Git is by far the most popular choice. Many Web Developers prefer Git over other options because it’s fast, scalable, decentralized, and available at no cost. Git also allows a team of programmers to work together on the same code without overriding each other’s changes.
Sass
Sass, which stands for Syntactically Awesome Stylesheet, is a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) preprocessor. One of the three core front end development languages, CSS is used to structure website layout and style elements on the site such as color, font, and buttons. CSS coding has a reputation for being repetitive and time-consuming; SASS was developed to solve this problem by simplifying the process of styling a website and reducing repetition.
There are a variety of CSS preprocessors currently available but as the first one ever created, Sass is considered a pioneer in the field. First released in 2006, Sass has maintained its popularity thanks to the features it adds to CSS including variables, mixins, imports, inheritance, nested rules, and built-in functions. To this day, Sass is still considered the most reliable, powerful, and well-supported CSS preprocessor on the market.
Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a UI tool created by Twitter in 2011; it’s an open-source CSS-based framework with optional JavaScript templates that allow programmers to quickly design and customize responsive websites.
Currently in use on more than 22% of all websites, Bootstrap has become a go-to framework throughout the industry due to its flexibility and ease of use. Developers use Bootstrap to create the basic structure of a website and set HTML style definitions instead of having to repeatedly program each element individually. Having this framework in place helps to ensure that the website has a uniform appearance that remains consistent across various browsers.
3. Learn the Basics of Website Design
After learning the technical side of front end web development and how to use its most essential tools, you can move on to the next step, which is exploring the design aspect of website creation. Web design involves constructing the overall look and feel of a website through the use of various colors, fonts, and layouts. The overarching goal of web design is to create a site that’s responsive, engaging, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly so people are more willing to remain on the website longer.
4. Learn How to Use React
The next step in the process is to learn how to use React, the open-source front end library created by programmers at Facebook. There’s a variety of ways you could acquire React skills; if you’re the type of person who prefers learning on your own, there are many online resources available for self-learners. One of the best places to start is the React website—there you’ll find the official documentation for React plus an in-depth tutorial to help you learn how to use the library and its various features. If you prefer to learn through video instruction, you can find an abundance of options available on YouTube.
5. Learn the Back End Portion of the MERN Stack
Once you’ve mastered the front end, it’s time to turn your attention to MERN stack's back end components, which includes Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB. Let’s look at each one of these technologies and what they do.
Node.js
Node.js is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment (RTE) built on Chrome’s V8 engine for use in back end development. It enables the execution of JavaScript code outside the confines of a web browser and makes it possible for developers to easily create fast, scalable server-side web applications. As you start working with Node.js, it’s also a good idea to learn how to use Node Package Manager (npm). This indispensable tool simplifies the management of multiple code versions and quickly resolves dependency conflicts between various code packages.
Express.js
Express.js is a back end framework that works inside Node.js to help design and build single-page, multiple-page, and hybrid web applications. The most popular back end framework among professional programmers, Express.js has become a popular choice because its powerful application programming interface (API) makes routing easy; the framework also helps organize web applications on the server side into the more manageable model-view-controller (MVC) architecture while remaining fast and lightweight. And since Express.js only requires the use of JavaScript, it’s possible to build web applications and API with very little effort.
MongoDB
MongoDB is a document-oriented NoSQL database program that’s prized for being flexible, scalable, and easy to use. MongoDB also has the ability to meet the most complex requirements at any scale plus a capacity for high-volume data storage and drivers available in dozens of languages. Web developers also choose to work with MongoDB because its ad hoc queries, indexing, and real-time aggregation provide powerful ways for users to access and analyze data. Thanks to these many compelling qualities, MongoDB has become the number one NoSQL database in the world, with more than 28% of professional developers reporting regular usage in 2021.
6. Keep Practicing and Improve Your Skills
That’s it—you now have all the essential skills to become a MERN Stack developer. Now all you have to do is keep practicing and refining your skills. Take on small projects to continue developing your skills so you can build up confidence in your abilities. In time, you‘ll have the skills and confidence necessary to secure your first position as a MERN Stack Developer.
The Fastest Way to Become a MERN Stack Developer
Are you ready to start your career as a MERN Stack Developer? The best way to do this is by enrolling in a full stack web development bootcamp. Bootcamps are specialized skills-focused programs that operate on an abbreviated schedule; they’re considered an excellent alternative to university education because they can get you career-ready in several months as opposed to the four years required to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Depending upon your location, you may be able to find a web development bootcamp in your area. If none are available, a viable alternative would be enrolling in an online web development bootcamp. By taking your bootcamp online, you get the same expert instruction and live feedback as you would from an in-person class except you don’t have to deal with troublesome traffic.
If you’re not quite ready for an immersive bootcamp, another possibility would be enrolling in individual web development classes that cover each component of the MERN stack. That way you can get started on your learning journey while testing your interest in pursuing web development as a career. If you’re trying to fit your education in with a full-time job or busy home life, online web development classes might be the best choice. They offer you maximum convenience with the same high-quality curriculum as in-person classes.