How Long Does it Take to Learn Full-Stack Web Development?

Like many aspiringWeb Developers, you might want to learn full stack web development but worry that it will take too much time. Full stack web development isn’t a single skill. Instead, it is many complementary skills, so the time it takes to learn full stack development will vary depending on how much prior coding knowledge you have. A student who has never coded before may take months to years to learn everything there is to know about full stack development. By contrast, a student with significant JavaScript experience can fill the gaps in their knowledge in as little as a few weeks. Of course, this depends on several factors. Keep reading to learn about how you can learn full stack web development and some resources to help speed the process along.

What is Full Stack Web Development?

Full stack web development is the name given to a process of web development that handles the programming and coding of front end (user-facing interactive elements of a web application) and back end (server-side infrastructure that handles issues like databases and is hidden from users). It represents the most complete kind of web development, since both front end and back end development infrastructure is required for web applications to run properly. Many different combinations of programming languages are used in the process of full stack web development and Full Stack Web Developers often specialize in specific sets of programming languages.

Some of the most commonly used full stack web development languages include HTML/CSS, JavaScript, SQL, Python, and Ruby on Rails. This list is far from exhaustive, but it is a good place to start considering your path to learning full stack web development. JavaScript, in particular, is an important language for Full Stack Developers to learn because it is versatile enough to handle all of the elements of full stack development, with programming frameworks that allow it to handle the server-side back end functions of a webpage. While there is no set path that a Full Stack Developer must follow in terms of learning how to code, learning a variety of programming languages will be a requirement.

Read more about what full stack web development is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Full Stack Web Development?

Full stack web development is a beneficial skill to have because it teaches you every element of the technical side of running a webpage or application. You will learn to use languages like HTML/CSS and JavaScript to create stunning, visually evocative web pages. You’ll learn back end languages or frameworks, like Python or the MERN stack, to build the server-side infrastructure that allows webpages to function. Thus, learning full stack web development will teach you how to find work building any aspect of a web application or system. It will set you up for future success in fields adjacent to these programming languages, like data science, cybersecurity, or machine learning. With Full Stack Web Developers being in high demand, learning these skills is a great way to break into a high-paying, diverse career field.

For students not looking to pivot to a new career, learning full stack web development is an ideal way to begin building your own web presence. Whether you are starting an advocacy organization, building a small business, launching a new product idea, hoping to create vibrant personal projects, or just starting a freelancing career, learning full stack web development will let you take care of every aspect of the web development process. The internet offers various creative and professional opportunities for you to take advantage of. Learning how to handle every step of the development process is an ideal way to ensure that the digital presence you are building works the way you want it to work.

Average Time it Takes to Learn Full Stack Web Development

On the whole, there is no real average time it takes to learn full stack web development since every Full Stack Web Developer is going to take a different path to learning the skills needed to start working in the field. That said, a student with zero coding experience who starts a professional training program can expect to learn the necessary skills to begin full stack work in a few months to a year, depending on how you space out your lessons.

Other Factors

The most important factor that will influence the time it takes to learn full stack development is the number of programming languages you need to learn. Beyond that, factors like your personal learning speed, your comfort level with programming, and the style of instruction you are receiving.

Programming Background

Students with a background in coding and experience with web development skills will be able to learn the skills required for full stack development faster. They can do this because they will both have experience working with programming languages, and they may already have some of the skills required to build a full stack in their repertoire.

Learning Style

One factor in how long it will take you to learn a new skill is your personal learning style and your level of comfort with technical programming skills. Some students have more difficulty learning programming languages and syntax than others and will find that learning the skills involved in full stack web development will take longer than it might take them to learn skills they are more comfortable with.

Style of Instruction

The style of instruction you receive will significantly impact the time it takes to learn full stack web development. Students enrolled in a live instruction class learn skills more quickly than others because they have the advantage of working with a professional instructor who can guide them through the learning process. Students in asynchronous classes may learn slower than their counterparts enrolled in live courses.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

Full stack web development represents the most training a non-specialized Web Developer can reasonably expect. As such, it is among the more challenging aspects of programming to learn, since you will need to learn many different languages with many different applications. This is mitigated by the fact that learning the basics of these skills will make learning intermediate skills easier, which will then make advanced training easier. So, while learning full stack web development can be difficult, guided instruction can help scaffold difficult concepts so that even novice programmers can eventually become experts in the field.

Learning full stack web development entails learning a wide array of different programming languages that all come together to serve different functions in the operation of a web application. You’ll almost certainly need to learn HTML/CSS and JavaScript, and then you will need to learn programming languages like Python and SQL, or you’ll learn advanced programming frameworks like React, Node.js, or Express.js. Either way, you’ll end up learning many programming languages that compound upon each other. This means that the prerequisite knowledge you’ll need will depend on your path and the languages you opt to learn. However, many full stack development courses will cover different options for students with different skill levels. For example, Noble offers comprehensive classes for students with zero programming experience and classes for students with extensive JavaScript training.

Almost all programming languages and efficiency tools are open source and don’t require programmers to pay to use them. You’ll need to use a code editing application to compile and build code, but most of these are free or have free versions available, meaning that you will only have to pay if you want to access some fairly specific features and tools. For some Full Stack Web Developers, if you want to host your own website, you will have to pay a fee to some service to run the application. 

Read about how difficult it is to learn full stack web development.

Watch a Free Full Stack Web Development Online Course

Full stack web development is a rewarding skill set to learn, but it can also be intimidating, especially for students who don’t have a lot of experience in computer science. Full stack development students will need to learn a lot of different programming languages and will need to learn advanced skills in several of them. One way to judge whether or not a full stack development education is right for you is to take advantage of free introductory materials and courses that give students an overview of the field. In these courses, you’ll learn basic aspects of programming and coding and the general concepts that go into programming full stack programs.

Noble Desktop offers a wide variety of free resources and materials for students looking to become comfortable with full stack development. These resources include a collection of articles on learning programming languages and skills at their Learn Full Stack Development hub and a collection of Learn Hub articles in focused skills like HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Web Development. In addition, Noble offers students a wide range of free seminars, including a comprehensive Intro to Front End Development seminar. These tools won’t be sufficient to make you a professional web developer. Still, they will help make you comfortable enough with your understanding of web development work to feel ready to enroll in a more advanced professional training program.

Read about more free full stack web development videos and online tutorials.

Learn Full Stack Web Development with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Becoming a full stack developer will take a decent amount of time and energy since it will require students to learn many different programming languages. While these languages all complement one another and learning one will make learning another easier, students will still need to spend a decent amount of time training as programmers. One of the best ways to learn a complex set of new skills is by enrolling in a professional training program, such as those offered by Noble Desktop. In these classes, professional instructors will provide students with guided instruction and give them hands-on experience in all aspects of full stack development. These classes are available in-person and live online classrooms, and regardless of the delivery method of the course, class sizes will remain small. Students will be able to work directly with their instructors. Noble also offers a free retake option for all of its courses, meaning that after you’ve completed a seminar, you can retake that course for additional training anytime in a calendar year.

Noble’s most comprehensive training option is its Full Stack Web Development Certificate program is its comprehensive training option. This course is designed with programming novices in mind, meaning you don’t have to have any programming background to succeed in this course. Students will learn how to program the front-facing aspects of a webpage using HTML/CSS and JavaScript, and they will receive hands-on experience working with common developer tools like VSC and Git. After this, students will learn the important JavaScript frameworks and libraries like React, Node.js, and Express.js that give JavaScript full stack development capabilities. In addition, every student who enrolls in this course will have the opportunity to take an SQL course, which will teach them the basics of programming functionalities into databases.

Noble also offers a wide array of shorter, more skills-focused bootcamps that will teach students one or more elements of the full stack development process. This training can include narrow career-certificate programs, like the Front End Development Certificate program, which will cover lessons in HTML/CSS and the interactive elements of JavaScript, and the Python Developer Certificate program, which teaches students how to use the Python programming language to build back end server and database infrastructure. 

These classes are ideal ways to learn significant elements of the full stack development process, though students should know that some of these courses have requirements. For example, Noble’s JavaScript Development Certificate program is a great way to learn full stack web development skills using JavaScript, but it will require students to know HTML/CSS to enroll. Students looking for a slightly more accelerated lesson that is still beginner-friendly may want to consider enrolling in Noble’s Software Engineering Certificate program, which provides training in all of the elements of full stack web development and compliments that training with lessons in Python so that developers can utilize back end languages other than JavaScript frameworks.

Regardless of your goals or prior experience levels, Noble Desktop is here to assist you with a full stack web development class built to suit your needs.

Key Insights

• Full stack web development refers to a collection of skills and techniques required to build the front end and back end elements of a web application.
• The time it takes to learn full stack web development will depend on your experience with computer programming. Experienced programmers filling skill gaps can learn the skills in only a few weeks, while novices may fake a few months to a year to master the required skills.
• There are a few factors that can impact the time it takes to learn full stack web development, most notably your prior coding experience and your comfort level with the technical skills that go into learning how to code.
• Another easy way to learn full stack web development faster is to enroll in a live skills training program. Noble Desktop offers a wide variety of comprehensive web development training courses, available in person and online.