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Finnish Education in Tech: My Experience with FullStackOpen Course

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Dear dev readers, ✌

I'm excited to share with you my experience with the FullStackOpen course offered by the University of Helsinki in Finland. This course is a comprehensive, 13-part series that covers everything you need to know about full stack web development using React, Node, Express, and MongoDB. 💻

It states the following:

Learn React, Redux, Node.js, MongoDB, GraphQL and TypeScript in one go!
This course will introduce you to modern JavaScript-based web development.
The main focus is on building single page applications with ReactJS that use REST APIs built with Node.js.

What sets this course apart from others is that it provides exercise proposals on GitHub, where a teacher will review your work and you can earn up to 14 ECTS credits on the University of Helsinki transcript, as well as a certificate upon completion. And the best part? It's all completely free!

Parts of the course:

  1. Part 0
  • Fundamentals of Web apps
    • General information
    • Fundamentals of Web apps
  1. Part 1
  • Introduction to React
    • Introduction to React
    • JavaScript
    • Component state, event handlers
    • A more complex state, debugging React apps
  1. Part 2
  • Communicating with server
    • Rendering a collection, modules
    • Forms
    • Getting data from server
    • Altering data in server
    • Adding styles to React app
  1. Part 3
  • Programming a server with NodeJS and Express
    • Node.js and Express
      • Deploying app to internet
      • Saving data to MongoDB
      • Validation and ESLint
  1. Part 4
  • Testing Express servers, user administration
    • Structure of backend application, introduction to testing
      • Testing the backend
      • User administration
      • Token authentication
      • Testing the frontend
  1. Part 5
  • Testing React apps
    • Login in frontend
    • props.children and proptypes
    • Testing React apps
    • End to end -testing
  1. Part 6
  • Advanced state management
    • Flux-architecture and Redux
    • Many reducers
    • Communicating with server in a redux application
    • connect
    • React router, custom hooks, styling app with CSS and webpack
  1. Part 7
  • React router, custom hooks, styling app with CSS and webpack
    • React router
    • Custom hooks
    • More about styles
    • Webpack
    • Class components, Miscellaneous
    • Exercises: extending the bloglist
  1. Part 8
  • GraphQL
    • GraphQL-server
    • React and
  1. Part 9
  • TypeScript
    • Introduction to TypeScript
    • React with types
    • Node.js and Express
    • React Native
  1. Part 10
  • React Native
    • React Native
    • Expo
    • Communicating with server
    • Testing React Native apps
  1. Part 11
  • CI/CD
    • CI/CD
  1. Part 12
  • Containers
  1. Part 13
  • Using relational databases
    • GraphQL
    • Database
    • User administration
    • Login
    • Testing
    • Token authentication
    • Fragments and subscriptions
    • Database
    • User administration
    • Login
    • Testing
    • Token authentication
    • Fragments and subscriptions

My personal experience with the course 🤓

I personally completed parts 3 and 4 of the course, which focused on programming a server with NodeJS and Express, and testing Express servers and user administration. And let me tell you, I was blown away by the quality of the content and the teaching style.

Here is the really simple app but with a lot of features that I built during the course: nodebackend.fly.dev
The backend and frontend is deployed in a completely free Virtual Machine on Fly.io The database is a MongoDB Atlas free cluster.

The course is updated regularly, and the team behind it goes above and beyond to ensure that the information is current and relevant. It's no wonder why Finnish education is considered the best in the world, and it's a privilege to have access to such high-quality education.

What I liked the most 💕

What I love about this course is that it's not just about the technical aspects of full stack development. The instructors provide a personal touch, sharing their experiences and opinions, and offering references to expand your knowledge beyond the course materials.

Additionally, the course offers multiple scenarios and alternative processes, so you can develop a deeper understanding of the material and apply it to real-world situations.

Free, high-quality education with the top-notch Finnish education system! 😎

Bet you can't beat that!

And if all of that wasn't enough, the course is completely FREE, including absolutely ALL of the technologies involved in it.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the FullStackOpen course to anyone interested in full stack web development. It's an incredible resource that offers high-quality education, a personal touch, and endless opportunities for growth and learning.

Thanks for reading, and happy coding!

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