What’s the best way to start a full-stack project as a beginner and in which language?

[RaniTayade]

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I’ve seen many people (including myself) struggle when starting their first full-stack project. The confusion usually starts with:

Which stack to pick (MERN, Django + React, Java + Spring, etc.)

How to set up the project structure (frontend + backend together or separate repos?)

What’s a good first project idea that’s not too overwhelming but still meaningful?

I’d love to know from the community:
👉 How did you start your first full-stack project?
👉 What stack worked best for you as a beginner?
👉 Do you recommend starting simple (like EJS templates) or jumping straight into React/Angular?

Your insights can really help beginners (including me 😅) get clarity and confidence to build and ship their first full-stack app. 🚀

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[jfullstackdev]

I started with plain, well-known languages like PHP and Java

but in real-world development, you need at least 2–3 frameworks, like Laravel, or a tech stack like MERN, both are full stack

my first pick was Laravel, and then I explored the famous MERN stack

nowadays, unlike before, web development is in higher demand, especially for creating systems for businesses

previously, I learned languages like BASIC, where you would build programs as .exe files, or Java, where you would build them as .jar files, but now, web development is more common, usually involving building systems for businesses, because it's cloud-based and collaborative

regarding code organization, whether to use a mono-repo or separate repos depends on the project, there’s always a tradeoff, separate repos give you full root access, but the backend and frontend may progress independently, sometimes requiring you to wait for both sides to catch up, if the setup is complex, it’s better to separate them, for mid-sized projects, a mono-repo is usually simpler and more manageable

before diving into frameworks like MERN or Laravel, it’s essential to learn the core of web development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP for backend development

the advent of AI has made learning much more interactive, unlike before, when you had to read and memorize some, copy-pasting code snippets, which could get boring, you can now code as you learn, AI can help you create a project while you study what it’s doing, keeping you engaged and excited because you’re building while learning

also, I came in solid from PHP and Java, and even with good JavaScript knowledge, I found React quite strange at first, I wondered why there would be a need for local states separate from fetching data from the backend because in traditional Laravel, we always fetch data fresh from the server but is less interactive since you need to full reload, hence the need for FE to have independent state variables and useEffect

enjoy coding !

[MattStellisoft]

Hello Rani, you're more than welcome to contribute to Stellify (stellisoft.com). It's a platform that was built from the ground up to allow developers from all over the world to collaboratively build a shared, centralised codebase. Would be great to see you there!

[RaniTayade]

Thank you for the invitation! Stellify sounds like an exciting platform for collaboration. I’ll definitely check it out and see how I can contribute. Looking forward to exploring and being part of the community!

[MattStellisoft]

Hi Rani, did you manage to sign in?

[umunezeromiriam554-debug]

nice