How to Become a Full Stack Developer At Home

It is possible to become a confident and highly qualified Full Stack Developer without ever stepping foot in a classroom--which doesn’t mean you won’t be learning. The advent of high level online courses and the proliferation of free video tutorials means you can explore every aspect of software engineering and web development from home. Perhaps you have a job in a related field and are looking to level up, or perhaps your current field is no longer the right fit for you: in either case, you can fit in Full Stack Developer training on your own time, right from home, which will allow you to make a seamless transition to a new position simply by leveraging the power of the internet.

What is a Full Stack Developer?

The job of a Full Stack Developer often involves managing the process of software development from the very beginning--and continuing to both maintain and upgrade the software once it has been launched. A Full Stack Developer will lean heavily on coding skills, and will also need to be comfortable working through the build and analyzing along the way. The development process is likely to include both oversight of program testing and feedback as well as follow-up with management as the testing progresses. Any changes that are needed will be implemented by the development team, and the process of testing and feedback will start over again.

While the back end development process relies on technical know-how, the front end process depends equally on an understanding of the needs and usage patterns of the intended audience. A Full Stack Developer should be comfortable with designing the graphical user interface, or GUI, that users will encounter and interact with directly. These elements include navigation menus, images, buttons, and graphs, along with other design elements. 

Full Stack Developers will engage with the entire web development team on a regular basis, including Designers, Project Managers, Product Managers, and any area-specific developers, whether Front End or Back End. Depending on the individual workplace and industry--anything from corporate to nonprofit to government agencies--a Full Stack Developer might be working in-house or remotely. Wherever they’re working, they’ll need to be easily accessible--web development is a fast moving field, and good communication is key to effective implementation and maintenance.

Can I Learn to be a Full Stack Developer from Home?

Learning both back and front end technologies may seem intimidating at first, but perhaps it will help to consider that you can pick up those skills while sitting on your couch, a cup of coffee in hand. This is not to imply that it’s quick or easy: learning to be a Full Stack Developer will require patience, determination, and months of hard work. If you like the novelty and challenge of learning skills that you can implement right away, however, the process will feel energizing and fun. And given that it will primarily involve project-based learning, you will have the satisfaction of completing tasks that can be listed on your resume and included in your portfolio--all in bite-sized pieces.

What are the Advantages of Learning from Home?

One major benefit of learning the skills to become a Full Stack Developer from home is that you can make your own schedule. Whatever your circumstances, there’s a path to learning that can fit your needs. Say you have a new baby and your sleep schedule is topsy-turvy: you might watch tutorials on your phone while the baby sleeps on your chest, or take a nap yourself during the day and practice coding when the baby finally falls asleep for the evening. Or maybe you’ve got a dull full-time job that you’re desperately hoping to quit: you can begin working on projects during your lunch break and when you’re home in the evenings, while still bringing in a salary until you can make that big transition to a new career. You can also dedicate as much or as little time as you need, doing anything from a crash course to a months-long, slow and steady exploration of front and back end technologies.

Another advantage to learning at home is the freedom to decide how much money you’re willing and able to spend on your new career. Pursuing a full-time degree can be cost-prohibitive, whereas you can pick up many of the skills you’ll need for a fraction of the cost at home. There are plenty of free resources that can help you get an understanding of some of the basics, and there are classes and bootcamps that, while not free, are both reasonably priced and designed to target the industry-specific skills you’ll need to learn to thrive in your new career. 

What are the Disadvantages of Learning from Home?

Of course, the very same aspects of at-home learning that make it easily accessible can also get in your way. Distractions abound at home, from the people you live with who may have demands on your attention, to that sink full of dishes that seems to call your name when online learning gets hard. Even the fact that learning at home is so reasonably priced can be problematic: when you’ve invested a lot into your education, you may feel more of an obligation to get your money’s worth. Still, these are mostly a matter of a mindset shift. Consider ways to carve out time from your life and commit to the process because you know the benefits will be tangible, creating a reliable source of income and a career path that you’ll actually enjoy.

What Resources are Available to Help Me Become a Full Stack Developer at Home?

Any job in tech will require a certain level of comfort with computers, but before even powering on your laptop you may want to grab a few books on Full Stack Development and get the ball rolling. There are plenty of free resources online, as well, and exploring them will give you a sense of what skills to focus on first. You also have access to on-demand classes at home, which can be especially useful if you need the structure of a class with the flexibility of an open-ended schedule. Best of all are live online classes and bootcamps, which will take your learning to the next level.

Free Resources

Web developers all over the world post videos to YouTube that can act as free tutorials to learn anything from HTML and CSS to Node.js, Express, and React. Feel free to poke around online and find the developers and programmers whose tutorials are the most straightforward and whose style fits your own. Then go through their entire catalog, experimenting alongside them. There are also developers who write blog posts detailing their projects, and who you can follow to understand the basics of coding, frameworks, and libraries, among other things. You can take your time and rewatch or reread these resources until they really click.

Videos and blog posts have their limitations, however. While their accessibility--and the fact that they’re free--means you can check them out anywhere, anytime, you may find that using them exclusively will leave gaps in your knowledge and understanding. It can be a challenge to piece together enough of these resources to design your own course; you may find that free resources are a good start but that you do, eventually, need more. 

On-Demand Classes

On-demand classes offer students the flexibility of learning full stack development in their own time, and at their own pace. This type of class is ideal for those who have learned what they can from free online resources and would like to take the next step, but don’t have the commitment level to enroll in a multi-week course. One major benefit is the ability to move through the material as quickly as desired, which will be especially helpful if you’re a fast learner and don’t want to waste time working on a topic that you’ve already mastered. It can be advantageous for slower learners, too--you can take whatever time you need to work through each unit until you understand the concept and can move on.

The downside is that you may find there’s a concept or skill you’re having trouble understanding, even after taking plenty of time to work through the steps provided, and then you’ll be on your own to figure it out. Without a live instructor to help you through the challenging parts, you can find yourself slowed down--or even at an impasse. While it may be possible to skip ahead or find other resources to bolster your learning, in the end you will ultimately be entirely responsible for getting yourself unstuck.

Live Online Classes and Bootcamps

For many students, live online Full Stack Developer classes and bootcamps offer the ideal combination of flexibility and tailored instruction. A skilled instructor guides each class, which means students receive feedback on their work--and equally importantly, instructors are available to answer questions and help troubleshoot. Oftentimes, live online courses are offered to small groups, which allows for a true discourse with the instructor. In that way, hares can receive as many benefits as tortoises: if you’re a quick study, an instructor may be able to provide you with tools for deeper learning or engage in nuanced conversations about the lesson while the other students are catching up.

While live classes are available in-person at specialized training centers, it can be more efficient and comfortable to join them live online from home. The classes are often taught via video conferencing platforms like Zoom, and can offer the same kind of direct instruction and camaraderie as in-person classes without having to commute to a training center.

Live online classes and bootcamps offer an opportunity that in-person classes do not--the chance to use your own devices, which will allow you to become wholly familiar with them while working on your developing skills. Though you will need to figure out how to get the software you’re using for the class, much of it will be open access. If you’re planning to work from home anyway, this will mean you start off your career as a Full Stack Developer with all the tools loaded onto your computer and ready to go--a major bonus.

An important factor to consider in deciding whether you can sign up for a live online class or bootcamp is how to manage the inevitable distractions you may encounter in your home environment. Considerations will vary, but may include anything from needing childcare to ignoring self-made distractions like browsing the internet or folding laundry while in class. In other words, you’ll want to set yourself up for success by determining ahead of time how to minimize distractions and make your at-home classroom environment the ideal place to learn.

Learn the Skills to Become a Full Stack Developer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop’s award-winning Full Stack Web Developer Certificate program offers learners the hands-on training and industry-oriented expertise that will allow for a seamless transition into the software engineering and web development workforce. You’ll learn the fundamentals of coding both the infrastructure on the back end and the user-facing visuals on the front end. Expert instructors provide engaging, hands-on learning through projects that will ensure you both understand and retain the material--and that you stay interested throughout the session.

Noble Desktop’s certificate program offers several advantages, including its competitive pricing structure, flexible schedule, and options for in-person learning in New York City or remote from anywhere. The Full Stack Web Developer Certificate program represents a class bundle that’s offered at a 15 to 25% discount, and Noble Desktop is happy to provide an invoice if you’d like to seek tuition reimbursement from your employer. Plus, you can retake the class for free within a year, allowing you to brush up on your skills as needed.

Perhaps you’d like to start on a smaller scale--and that’s okay too. Rather than diving into the Full Stack Web Developer Certificate Program, you could begin with a boot camp that teaches individual programming languages, like Noble Desktop’s React Development Bootcamp, Flexbox, Grid, and Bootstrap class, or Web Development with HTML & CSS course. All three offer instruction on individual skill sets that can get you started, and help you determine if your interests are on the front end, back end, or both.

With the relevant training and experience, landing a role as a Full Stack Developer will be straightforward. Noble Desktop can help.