After spending several years deep in the e-commerce trenches with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, I found myself craving something different. Not just another JavaScript framework tutorial or a "build a todo app in 10 minutes" speedrun, but a proper, comprehensive deep dive - not into the unknown, but into refreshing what I already knew and discovering new corners of full-stack JavaScript.
That's when I stumbled upon Full Stack Open from the University of Helsinki.
Why This Course Hit Different
Let's be real - the internet is drowning in coding courses. So what made FSO stand out?
- University-backed quality: This isn't someone's weekend project. It's an actual university course, taught by professors who know their stuff
- University-recognized credits: You can earn real ECTS credits through the University of Helsinki’s Open University - formal European university credits that may count toward degree studies, or simply serve as official proof of your learning via transcript.
- The price tag: Free. Completely. No "premium" upsells, no paywalls after lesson 3
After years of fragmented tutorials and "just trust me bro" explanations, finding a structured, academic approach felt like discovering clean code after debugging spaghetti for hours.
What's Actually in Parts 0-7?
These first seven parts focus on the MERN stack and give you enough knowledge to start contributing to real-world projects:
The Tech Stack:
- Frontend: React, Redux, React Query (because state management debates never get old)
- Backend: Node.js, Express, MongoDB, REST APIs, JWT authentication
- Testing: The whole spectrum - unit tests with Vitest, integration tests with SuperTest, E2E with both Playwright and Cypress
- Deployment: To cloud PaaS platforms like Render and Fly.io (goodbye, localhost:3000!)
The course includes around 153 exercises, but here's the beautiful part: there's no ceiling. Complete the basics? Great, you pass. Want to go deeper and polish every edge case? The playground is yours.
How I Approached the Course
Since I wasn't completely new to these technologies, I decided to challenge myself:
Part 5 - The Testing Showdown
Instead of picking one E2E framework, I implemented tests in both Playwright and Cypress. Nothing teaches you the pros and cons of each tool quite like writing the same test suite twice.
Part 7 - The Ultimate Comparison
I built the final BlogApp project twice with different tech stacks:
- Redux Toolkit + TailwindCSS (for that utility-first satisfaction)
- React Query + Material-UI (because sometimes you want components that just work)
🚀 Check Out the Demo
Want to see the code in action? I built a dedicated landing page with details about the project, the tech stack, and even time-tracking logs. There you’ll find links to both versions of the app, which you can try out. Each version also includes an About page with technical notes, design choices, my impressions and other details.
🌐 Demo App
📦 GitHub Repository
Who Should Take This Course?
- Developers who already know JS/React and want to see the full picture of full-stack development.
- Anyone who wants to brush up on their full-stack skills.
- Those who value a structured roadmap and the bonus of earning university credits.
What the Course Doesn't Cover (Yet)
Let's keep it real - no course is perfect. Here's what you might want to supplement:
- Redux thunks and custom middleware aren't covered. You'll want to explore these for handling complex async flows and error boundaries
- Caching strategies get a surface-level treatment. In production, this becomes critical (and no, you can't just memorize it - experiment and break things!)
- Advanced authentication patterns like refresh tokens, session management, and token rotation are left as "exercises for the reader"
I ended up implementing database seeding for demo environments - not required, but incredibly useful for testing and showcasing your work. But I left some features untouched - the infinite like counter stayed as is. Let’s just call it an artistic choice.
The Golden Rule
Don't rush through it like you're cramming for an exam. Use FSO as your foundation, then build on top of it with what you actually need in your day-to-day work. The course gives you the blueprint; you're the architect.
What's Next?
Maybe later I’ll also write about other parts I’ve completed - for example, GraphQL, CI/CD, and Docker. Each part adds another layer to your full-stack toolkit.
For now, if you're looking to build a rock-solid foundation in the MERN stack with proper testing and easy (non-DevOps) deployment practices, Parts 0-7 are your launchpad.
Happy coding, and remember: console.log() is a perfectly valid debugging strategy, no matter what anyone tells you. 😉
💬 Share Your Experience
Have you taken Full Stack Open? What was your experience? Drop a comment below - I'd love to hear about your approach to the exercises!
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