From zero to full-stack — my journey and what I'm building next

A few months ago I had never heard of TypeScript, APIs, Git, or deployment. I was a beginner with basic React knowledge and that was it.

I just shipped my first real project — a Weather Dashboard built with React + TypeScript + Vite, connected to the OpenWeatherMap API, version controlled on GitHub, and deployed live on Vercel.

What I learned in that one project:

• React components, props, useState, useEffect

• TypeScript types and interfaces

• Fetching real APIs with async/await and try/catch

• CSS, media queries, responsive design

• Git — init, add, commit, push

• Environment variables and deployment

  Now I'm ready to go full-stack. My next project is a LeetCode clone — not to replace LeetCode, but to understand how platforms like this actually work under the hood.

  Planned stack:

  • Frontend — React + TypeScript (what I know)

  • Backend — Node.js + Express (new territory)

  • Database — PostgreSQL (learning from scratch)

  • Auth — JWT

  • Deploy — Vercel + Render

  I come from a Java background but chose Node.js so I can stay in one language while learning backend concepts — REST APIs, databases, authentication, and connecting a real frontend to a real backend.

  If you've built something similar or have advice on the stack, I'd love to hear it. And if you're also a beginner trying to go full-stack — let's connect. We're all figuring this out together.