12-Week MERN Stack Development Roadmap (Zero to Hero)

Week Topics Explanation Hands-on Projects YouTube/Resources

1-2 HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Basics Learn HTML structure, CSS styling (Flexbox,

Grid), responsive design, and JavaScript basics

like DOM manipulation, events, and ES6+

features. 1. Responsive Portfolio

2. To-Do
HTML & CSS
List App
- Traversy Media

https://youtu.be/mU6anWqZJcc

JavaScript - Mosh

https://youtu.be/PkZNo7MFNFg

3-4 Advanced JavaScript &

React.js Deep dive into JavaScript (closures, promises,

async/await). Learn React fundamentals:

components, props, state, React Router, and

hooks. 1. Weather App (API fetching)

2. Expense
React - freeCodeCamp
Tracker

https://youtu.be/bMknfKXIFA8

JS ES6 - Net Ninja

https://youtu.be/NCwa_xi0Uuc

5-6 Node.js & Express.js

(Backend Basics) Learn Node.js core concepts, Express.js for

building REST APIs, middleware, routing, and

handling HTTP requests.

1. Simple REST API

2. Task Manager
Node.js - TraversyAPI
Media

https://youtu.be/fBNz5xF-Kx4

Express.js - Academind

https://youtu.be/SccSCuHhOw0
7 MongoDB & Mongoose
Understand NoSQL databases, MongoDB CRUD

operations, schema design, and use Mongoose

for database interactions.

1. User Database API

2. Blog API- freeCodeCamp

MongoDB

https://youtu.be/ExcRbA7fy_A

8 Authentication (JWT, bcrypt,

OAuth) Learn authentication methods: JWT for stateless

auth, bcrypt for password hashing, OAuth for

third-party logins (Google,

1. JWT-based
GitHub).User Authentication API

2. Google
JWT - Net OAuth
Ninja Login

https://youtu.be/7Q17ubqLfaM

9 Full-Stack Integration

(Connecting Frontend &

Backend) Learn how to make API calls from React frontend,

handle responses, and

1. Full-Stack
React-Node
manage global
Integration
Notesstate.
App - Traversy Media

https://youtu.be/mrHNSanmqQ4

10 Deployment & Hosting

(Netlify, Vercel, Render,

MongoDB Atlas) Deploy frontend on Netlify/Vercel, backend on

Render/Railway, and connect MongoDB Atlas for

database hosting. Deployment

1. Deploy a Full-Stack
- TraversyMERN
Media App

https://youtu.be/1wD8MdAwHhI

11-12 Project-Based Learning &

Best Practices Learn code structuring, performance optimization,

security best practices, and build a

production-level app.1. E-Commerce Website

Features:
MERN Stack
Auth,
Guide
Cart,- freeCodeCamp
Payments

https://youtu.be/7CqJlxBYj-M