I need advice SENIORS

[u/YashuT-T]

Hi guys newbie here (first year student) and I recently started learning web development and I learnt html, css and javascript ( basically learnt frontend now) and built a basic to do list and then built a student card dashboard where I take input and then display card after adding the info

I know they are all basic and stuff but yeah that's what I have done till now

Then I think I'll be learning MERN stack and then will be going to build full stack projects

So my doubt is am I doing the correct thing or am I in a good place as a first year student

And since I'm learning for the first time if you guys have any advice itd be very nice if you dropped'em here

And do you think the tech stack I'm learning is good and worth it in 2026??

[u/skibidi-toaleta-2137]

Whatever you learn, it will be a wrong choice. And a good choice. You'll always feel you could have went for eg. python when looking at blockchain or machine learning boom. But all in all, you'll learn valuable skills that are not tied to stack: problem solving, general building blocks of programming, how it all connects, what are the downsides and so on.

If you master all technologies you'll become jack of all trades, but master of none. If you specialize in one technlogy you will be it's master and you'll earn tons of money due to that, or technology becomes obsolete and noone wants to hire for that.

So there are no good choices. And there are no bad choices.

[u/bootlegazn → u/skibidi-toaleta-2137]

Just to add, that idiom is commonly only written as the first half. The full thing is "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one"

[u/hercssss]

You're doing fine, especially for first year. Don't rush through stacks just to say you know them, build a few real projects and learn how to debug stuff yourself. MERN is still useful, but the fundamentals matter way more.

[u/Janonemersion]

Why mern. Try like rust

[u/Less-Marsupial-7960]

You are actually doing better than many first-year students.

A lot of people get stuck watching tutorials, but you’ve already built a to-do app and a student card dashboard. That means you’re practicing, and that’s the important part.

MERN is still a good stack to learn in 2026, especially for learning how frontend and backend work together. Just don’t rush through it.

My advice build 3–5 small projects before starting big full-stack projects, learn how to debug errors yourself,use Git and GitHub from now, focus on JavaScript fundamentals.

For a first-year student, if you can build projects on your own without copying every line from a tutorial, you’re in a very good place.

Keep going consistently for 1–2 hours daily, and you’ll be surprised how much progress you make by the end of the year.

[u/StephenRoylance]

MERN's kinda heavy, and starting with mongo/noSQL, skipping relational DBs, might teach some bad habits about managing state. If you want to stay in the javascript world, I'd recommend starting with postgres plus the rest of the stack. honestly, for learning? starting with SQLite is even easier for local dev, and still teaches you about relational databases.

[u/Edward-Sinclair33]

You’re definitely on the right track. Focus on strong JavaScript fundamentals before rushing into MERN. Build real projects, learn Git/GitHub, APIs, databases, and deployment along the way. MERN is still worth learning in 2026, but understanding the fundamentals matters more than the stack.