A 7-day full-stack sprint: spin up a backend, hook it to React, deploy to production. For developers who already know React and want their first end-to-end shipped product by Sunday.

One week. Backend up, frontend wired, production deployed. This crash plan is for developers who can already build React apps and want to learn the other half of the stack as fast as possible — by shipping, not reading.

Who this is for

You can build React apps comfortably (hooks, state, fetch) but have never touched a backend
You have 3–4 hours per day for the next 7 days
You want a deployed, public, full-stack URL by Sunday

If you’re new to React, start with Frontend in 1 Week first. If you want depth, jump to Full-Stack in 1 Month or Full-Stack in 3 Months.

Pick your stack (Day 0, 30 min)

The whole week assumes you’ll commit to one stack. Don’t switch mid-week.

Easiest: React + Supabase (Postgres + auth + storage in one)
Most flexible: React + Node.js/Express + PostgreSQL
Modern: Next.js + Prisma + tRPC

The plan below is stack-agnostic — every step works on all three.

The plan

Day 1 — Scaffold + first endpoint (~3 hours)

Spin up your backend project. Get a /health endpoint returning { ok: true }.
Open Find Movies on BigDevSoon — this is your full-stack flagship for the week.
Commit: empty backend, repo pushed to GitHub.

Day 2 — Schema + seed data (~3 hours)

Design your movies table. Columns, indexes, foreign keys for user_id.
Write a migration. Seed 20 sample rows.
Drill: Sign Up Page — you’ll connect this to real auth on Day 5.

Day 3 — REST endpoints (~3 hours)

Build GET /movies, POST /movies, PATCH /movies/:id, DELETE /movies/:id.
Add input validation (Zod, Joi, or your stack’s equivalent).
Drill: Create Account markup — you’ll wire it on Day 5.
Practice: Two Sum to keep your JS sharp.

Day 4 — Wire up React (~4 hours)

Hook your React frontend to the backend with fetch + React Query (or SWR).
Implement loading, error, and optimistic UI for create/delete.
Don’t skip the error states — they’re what separates “code that works” from “code I’d ship.”

Day 5 — Auth (~4 hours)

Add sign up + sign in flows. JWT or session — your stack’s idiom.
Protect routes: only logged-in users can create/edit movies.
Wire the Sign Up Page and Create Account markup from Days 2–3 to your real backend.

Day 6 — Polish (~3 hours)

Loading skeletons. Empty states. Toast notifications on success/error.
Drill: Messages — bonus realtime if your stack supports it (Supabase realtime or Server-Sent Events).
Practice: Group Anagrams.

Day 7 — Ship it (~4 hours)

Deploy frontend to Vercel.
Deploy backend to Railway, Fly.io, or Render (or skip backend hosting entirely with Supabase).
Set up environment variables on both sides. Run smoke tests on the live URL.
Tweet/post the live link with “Day 7 of full-stack in a week — built this!” — public shipping compounds.

What you’ll have at the end of Week 1

A deployed full-stack app with a real database, real auth, and a public URL
Backend code you wrote yourself (not copy-pasted from a template)
A working understanding of the request → DB → response loop
Two completed BDS challenges and two solved practice problems
Real proof for your portfolio that you can ship full-stack work

Is this enough to apply for a senior full-stack role? No. Is this enough to confidently call yourself “full-stack” at a junior level? Yes — and it’s more than 90% of bootcamp grads ever ship.

Next steps after Week 1

Don’t stop. Move to Full-Stack in 1 Month — Week 1 of that plan reinforces the fundamentals you just rushed through, then layers on real-time, state management, and a flagship app.
Build one more thing. Pick Any Chat and add realtime messaging on top of what you learned this week.
Use Merlin AI for code review. Open the editor and paste your tricky bits — AI review beats no review.

Ready to start Day 1? Open Find Movies and let’s go.

Full-Stack in 1 Week (Crash Plan)

Week-by-week plan