full stack javascript

Introducing the Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree Program from Udacity

Every developer worth their salt knows JavaScript — the most-used language for 2020 according to Github’s recent State of the Octoverse report. In fact, using JavaScript to create an app from scratch is a highly coveted skill, and more than 25,000 jobs have been posted in the last year looking for people with “full stack JavaScript” skills according to a Burning Glass Labor Insights report.

With the demand for full stack JavaScript developers only increasing, Udacity is launching the newest addition to our School of Programming: the Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree program. The Nanodegree program will focus on teaching a breadth of knowledge for all things JavaScript, including client, server and database layers of an app. 
While Udacity already has the Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree program, this new program focuses solely on JavaScript.

What Does It Mean for a JavaScript Developer To Be ‘Full Stack’?

When looking at an application, it’s common to refer to the part that the user interacts with — the user interface — as the “frontend,” and the coding that powers the interactions as the “backend.” Often, developers will choose to increase their depth-of-knowledge in one area and become specialized in frontend or backend development.

On the other hand, full stack developers go for a breadth-of-knowledge. Instead of spending all of their time on frontend or backend development, full stack engineers learn how to work on all parts, and understand how it all works together.

Full stack engineers are able to not only competently jump into frontend or backend work, they’re also able to take a project completely from start to finish, covering backend development, frontend development and even deployment procedures.

In the tech industry, there is a definite need for both specialized developers who study frontend or backend development only, and for full stack developers who understand the entire process of application development as a whole. 

Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree Program Details

The Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree program will prepare you to build an app from scratch, from initial frontend implementation to deployment. This course starts off with instruction on how to build a great user experience with UI and UX, then follows the data into the backend to cover server-side business logic and building APIs. Finally, the course finishes with instructions on how to store, process and retrieve data in an application, and how to deploy and host the app.

To get the most out of this course, it’s important to have a solid programming foundation, including coding fundamentals (loops, conditionals, objects, functions, etc), object-oriented programming, HTML and CSS for basic webpages, JavaScript syntax including async/await and the ability to read and write JSON objects. 

If you don’t quite have the prerequisites down, check out Udacity’s Intro to Programming Nanodegree program and the Intermediate JavaScript Nanodegree program first, then you’ll be ready to become a full stack JavaScript developer.

In as little as four months (at 10 hours a week), students who enroll in the Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree program will complete projects focused on backend development with Node.js, API development with PostgreSQL and Express, frontend development with Angular and deployment with AWS.

Hands-on Projects Include

Project 1: Image Processing API

Design an API that allows the user to visit a URL and resize an image based on URL parameters. This project uses Node.js for writing and executing JavaScript, introduces Typescript and includes work for writing unit tests with Jasmine.

Project 2: Build a Storefront Backend

Develop an API, including architecture, endpoint structure and database schema, to help a frontend “coworker” design a store. The API for the fictional store connects with a SQL database and should perform basic CRUD operations. Additionally, authentication and authorization will be established for the API.

Project 3: My Store with Angular

Use a backend API to create various interactive Angular components to build out a store front. This project focuses heavily on frontend development and concepts such as components, rendering, views and data.

Project 4: Hosting a Full Stack Application

Create an automated deployment pipeline for a full stack application by provisioning AWS infrastructure and preparing the application for hosting. This project includes writing scripts for building both frontend and backend web apps, and complete suites of automated testing. 

Learn From Top Full Stack JavaScript Developers

To develop this program’s world-class curriculum, we collaborated with professionals from top-rated tech companies, like Shift and Filevine. Each of these collaborators contributed guidance and feedback to focus the program on the most in-demand skills. All of the instructors have extensive full stack JavaScript development and teaching experience. 

Instructors

Enroll Today

If you’re a developer looking to expand your area of expertise, or if you’re a newcomer to the tech space and want to build up an exciting new career path, the Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree program is the right one for you. 

Full stack JavaScript developers not only enjoy a wide range of interesting work projects — from backend and frontend development to deployment — they also get compensated well for their breadth of knowledge. According to Glassdoor, the average base pay for a full stack JavaScript engineer is $105,000, but more experienced workers report making close to $150,000 a year.

With Udacity’s combination of hands-on project-centric learning, mentorship and industry-aligned careers services, there’s no better way to meet the demand than by registering today for the Full Stack JavaScript Developer Nanodegree program. 

Enroll now to learn more!

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Jennifer Shalamanov
Jennifer Shalamanov
Jennifer is a content writer at Udacity with over 10 years of content creation and marketing communications experience in the tech, e-commerce and online learning spaces. When she’s not working to inform, engage and inspire readers, she’s probably drinking too many lattes and scouring fashion blogs.