How to become a Java full stack developer with no degree

In this article, let’s take a look at the step by step on how to become a full-stack java developer in detail without a degree and no experience and also get a job from scratch.

This is the most comprehensive article you can find online on this topic so I would recommend you to bookmark and share the article.

So without further ado let’s dive right in.

What is a full stack developer and his duties?

Basically a full stack developer is someone who manages both front end and back end of the website.

For those of you who do not know what front end or back end of the website, basically the front end of the website is something that you as a person can interact and engage with the website, front end of the website includes things like, Text colors and styles, images, graphs and tables, buttons, colors, and navigation menu

Everything that you can see on the website like how the website is being responsive in different devices like mobile phone or desktop and also the colours content and everything I mentioned earlier comes under front and development and the one who manages this is called as front end developer.

Now when it comes to backend development, the job of a backend developer is quite opposite to its counterpart, backend development is something that you cannot interact or engage with on the website,

It happens behind the website like security of the website, database, storage, logic of the website, code, servers applications and database, all of these things comes under back and development.

Now as I mentioned earlier full stack developer is someone who manages both front and back end of the website which means he has the knowledge and skill of both the ends of the website,

as a full stack java developer your job is to work both with designers to create amazing design and visuals for front end of the website along with that you also have to develop and maintain the back end of the website like API, security server and other things that are like the foundation of the website.

I hope this makes it very clear for you between the difference of both and what full stack development is all about.

How to become a full-stack java developer with no experience and degree?

If you have no experience of any degree but want to become a full stack developer in Java then here is a step by step process to become one.

1.      Learn front end

Basically the first thing you need to learn to become a full stack developer in Java is to learn front end of the website.

As I already mentioned earlier that front end is something that you see and engage with the website, It includes text colour tables buttons visuals images and all that stuff on the website.

In front end of the website there are three languages you need to learn which are,

  • HTML-hypertext markup language, It is used to structure the website or web page, headings, text, tables, lists, paragraphs, photos, links, images, etc can be added with this language
  • CSS- Cascading Style Sheets, This is used for style and layout of the web page, using this you can add things like font colour and size on your web page
  • JavaScript- This is used for create dynamic and interactive web content, using this language you can add all the interactivity on the website like when you click some button on the website and you get new information or colour changes, animation, etc things

Because In this article I will explain to you how you can become a full stack developer without joining a college or getting a degree so some of the best ways to learn these languages are mentioned below,

  • You can learn all these three things by visiting various programming websites like geeks for geeks, w3schools, code academy, hack reactor, free code camp, khan academy, edx, etc
  • You can also purchase various programming books on Amazon and in your local bookstore to learn this languages
  • You can also find various interesting YouTube channels regarding programming like geeks for geeks, code academy, etc to learn this languages,
  • You can also find various programming and full stack development courses on udemy and Coursera for very cheap prices
  • You can also learn and interact with other developers on forums like stack overflow
  • Last but not least you can also attend a coding boot camp if you want but it is a little bit more expensive option as compared to those i mentioned earlier.

After You start learning all of these languages, You need to install a software called VS code on your browser which is free of cost code editor and using this you can write various programming languages on your laptop or desktop and convert it into output, You can check and download the software here.

Important Note:

I know you will be having several questions in your mind regarding learning all of this languages as a complete beginner but let me tell you, front end development is actually very easy to learn as compared to back end, It would take you not more than

3 weeks to completely learn HTML and other a couple of weeks to learn CSS in a whole you can learn HTML and CSS in couple of months. On the other hand it can take you another couple of months to learn JavaScript.

Front end development is actually very easy to learn as compared to back end because of HTML and CSS.

In order to learn and practise all these skills you need some tools like

2.      Learn the frameworks of front end

After you learn all the front end languages it’s time for you to learn frameworks and libraries of front development and obviously you can learn this by visiting various websites and taking online courses on udemy and Coursera.

Now you might be wondering what is framework and library that I’m talking about, basically framework is reusable code that is written by somebody else which you can use on your development process

in order to both speed up the development and add new features fast, similarly library is also basically collection of various files and code or scripts that you can use in your development process.

For Example when you want to create a front end development of website then you will have to add various features in the website like carousels buttons and many more and you can pick various amazing code

from libraries and frameworks on your project which will increase your development process, security can be ensured because you don’t have to create it from the scratch which might take a lot of time.

Some important frameworks and libraries you should be learning in front end are as follows,

  • React
  • Angular
  • Bootstrap
  • jQuery

It can take you a couple of weeks to learn this frameworks.

3.      Learn back end language

Now that you have got good knowledge about front end development it’s time to move to the back end and as you all know back end is something that you cannot interact with on the website and it includes things like API applications server code logic security storage data files etc.

Since this article is about how to become a full stack Java developer, obviously you need to learn Java which is a backend language for web development.

Java is one of the most popular programming languages for web development Because,

  • It is platform independent Which means you can write the code on one operating system like windows and run it on another operating system like iOS and Linux using Java virtual machine
  • It is highly secure because it offers various security features like cryptography ciphers etc
  • It is used in various popular websites like Amazon Facebook LinkedIn Google etc
  • It supports multi-threading
  • It has oops concept and it is very scalable language

Apart from Java you can also learn other languages like Python or JavaScript or PHP for the backend development of the website.

But now let’s stick with Java itself, using the VS code open source software which is a code editor that you installed on your computer you can run and write Java code in that software and practise the language,

there are several websites you can find online which teach Java language for free like those are mentioned earlier, You can also purchase several physical books on Amazon or in your local bookstore,

You can also take various courses on Java programming language on udemy but maybe it is not worth it because there are lots of free resources to learn Java online.

Here are some tips I would like to share with you which will help you with your journey of learning Java.

  • practise practise practise, learning Java is comparatively difficult compared to front end languages and other backend languages like Python so the only way you can succeed is by practising it as much as you can
  • You also need to keep interacting with other developers on forums like stack overflow and reddit
  • You should keep on reading articles and resources of programming online to keep yourself updated
  • You should also regularly solve various challenges and quizzes

I hope all these points will help you with your journey of learning Java and it can take you anywhere between 6 to 8 months to learn Java and You can obviously get better at learning Java by thorough practise.

4.      Learn the frameworks & stacks of the back end

After you learn Java language for backend it’s time for you to learn some important frameworks and libraries which will assist you during the development process.

Some popular frameworks and libraries for Java are mentioned below,

  • Spring
  • Hibernate
  • Grails
  • Play
  • JavaServer Faces (JSF)
  • Google Web Toolkit (GWT)
  • Quarkus

It is not necessary for you to learn all of these frameworks you can learn any one or couple of them, and after you learn this frameworks and libraries it’s time for you to learn JavaStack, SQL which will help you in web development process with database and operating system.

5.      Learn DSA

After you learn the frameworks and stack it’s time for you to learn data structures and algorithms.

Data structures is important for you to learn because it will help you organise the data and structure it properly and algorithm will help you solve the problem and build the logic.

Both of these things are very important for web development journey and you can learn all of these by just visiting various websites and you also need to regularly solve various questions to keep learn them.

Obviously depending upon your learning pace it will take you anywhere between 3 to 5 months to get good at data structures and algorithms.

6.      Build some projects

After that you can work on some projects that you can show to your employer and someone who want to hire you so that they can know that you have the skill required to get a job and more importantly working on some project will help you keep motivated to code and it will give you a lot of satisfaction when you see the end result.

For example you can create any basic website or you can create an e-commerce website or you can create any online conversion tool a calculator any online game any resume builder any course providers any social media website any online streaming website any dating website or blog any portfolio website or anything like that.

Having this as projects in your portfolio you can help you stand out in your resume and grab the attention of the employer.

You can also use tools like Git and GitHub and be a contributor to various open source projects.

7.      Apply for jobs on various platforms

After you build the projects and work on some products you can apply for jobs for full stack developer on various platforms like,

  • Geeks for geeks
  • Stack overflow
  • Authentic jobs
  • Indeed
  • Upwork
  • LinkedIn
  • Monster

You would need to create a resume where you can highlight your skills and projects apart from that you also need to develop soft skills like communication and problem solving to get a job, You can also work as a freelancer web developer or backend developer for various businesses and get international clients from countries like UK and USA.

But since this article is about how you can become a full stack developer of Java without experience and degree so it can be hard for you to get on campus jobs because you don’t have the degree so you should be working as a intern or in any startup and get some initial experience and projects and then you can switch your job and apply for job as web developer or full stack developer in any company after getting some experience and working on some projects, This is how you slowly get the experience and get the job.

And after applying for the job, you will face the interview round where you obviously need to solve some problems, you can click here to check all the interview questions for full stack java developers that are asked, in interview, make sure to present yourself professionally, show your personality, Dont lie and express yourself.

It is very important for you to prepare hard before the interviews by solving all the questions that are asked in the interview in the company you are aspiring to work for and if you’re not interested in interviews or applying for job randomly then you should try to aim for getting some referrals from existing employees of any company and getting referrals to you from these employees can get you job as well.

Here are some mistakes You should avoid and tips I would like to share with you before ending the article.

  1. Always try to be patient and practise as much as possible because you cannot become a full stuck developer in one night, It can take you easily one year to learn and become full stack developer
  2. If you are still not able to understand programming or coding After working so hard then sometimes coding is not meant for you and coding is just like any other skill some people will get better at it and others cant keep good with it maybe you have a passion in something else that you should pursue
  3. Always try to create some projects that you can show to your employer or showcase in your portfolio so that you can get the job and have an active LinkedIn profile so you can get connected with the professional people and having this connections and network and help you a lot for getting a job opportunities in your life

With that said let’s conclude the article.

Concluison

These are all the things you need to know about being a full-stack developer in java from scratch.

Do let me know what are your thoughts about being a full-stack developer in java in the comments section below

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