Web development is one of the more sought-after career paths that individuals these days choose and take. It’s no wonder, really - being a web developer, there are a lot of different perks involved! To further help you start your web development journey, today, we’ll be looking at the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree.
In other words, in this article, we’ll discuss one of the more-popular and often-referenced courses on the topic in question. I’ll let you know all about the pros and cons of this particular full-stack web developer Udacity course, and help you decide if it’s the right program for you.
Picking out a single online course in order to study a subject that’s important for your career path and education can be a really difficult thing to do! That’s why other student feedback can be a crucial point to consider - we’ll discuss that, too!
Table of Contents
- 1. What is a “Full-Stack” Web Developer, and Why Should You Care?
- 2. Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree (ENROLL HERE)
- 2.1. Not an Ordinary Course - A Fully-Fledged Nanodegree!
- 2.2. Taught by Professionals in the Field
- 2.3. Receive Professional Feedback and Technical Help While You Study
- 2.4. Receive a Custom-Tailored Learning Plan
- 2.5. Career Path Support
- 3. What are the Shortcomings?
- 3.1. A Course for Intermediate / Advanced Learners
- 3.2. No Accredited Certificates
- 4. Pricing + Financing Options
- 5. A Single Step in the Web Dev Career Guide?
- 6. Summary
- 7. Conclusions
What is a “Full-Stack” Web Developer, and Why Should You Care?
First things first - let’s get the obvious questions out of the way, shall we?
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The popularity of the web developer career is projected to grow over 8% in the upcoming 10 years[1]. That’s a significant increase! Evidently, this is slowly becoming a very popular career path to take - if you’re reading this Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course review, you probably know that by now, though.
On top of that, you likely have a pretty good idea of why you want to become a web developer, in the first place. Having said that, though, why take the “full-stack” path? What are the benefits of being this type of developer?
Well, for starters, you should be aware of the fact that there are three types of web developers - front-end, back-end, and full-stack.
Front-end developers care about the visual part of a website, while back-end devs make sure that everything is running smoothly and how it’s supposed to. Full-stackers, on the other hand, take care of both.
Something that you won’t really find mentioned all that often among student Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree reviews is the fact that this is the most difficult type of web development you can study, since it encompasses both types of the aforementioned devs. This, naturally, comes with some pros and cons.
On the benefit side of things, full-stack web developers can expect to receive the best possible salaries in the industry. It, yet again, makes perfect sense, since these professionals are trained to handle both the visual aspects of a website, and also the technicalities that lie “under the curtain”.
To add to that, full-stack web developers should also have the least amount of issues when it comes to finding a job, in the first place. As mentioned earlier on in the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course review, this career path is very lucrative, in general - however, full-stackers are surely the most sought-after professionals in the field!
Financial aspects aside, there’s also the fact that, being a web developer, you will have the opportunity to constantly develop your skills and learn new things, and also be at the forefront of technological innovations and IT-related developments. That’s awesome!
Finally, it’s crucial to mention the aspect of job security, too. The recent global situation has shown the painful volatility of the job market. IT sector professionals, however, were among the less-impacted - this is because web developers can do their work almost anywhere and at any given point in time.
This provides a lot of flexibility, and ensures that you should be able to not only find a job rather easily, but also maintain it for a long time to come.
All in all, naturally, there are many different benefits that come with this specific career path - if you’re reading this full-stack web developer Udacity course review, you do also probably have your own reasons for studying the subject, too. All of that said, however, let’s move on to discussing the actual course in question, and trying to figure out whether or not it’s the right choice for you!
Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree (ENROLL HERE)
- Platform: Udacity
- Duration: 4 months (5-10 hours / week)
- Price: €1236
- Certificate: YES
- Level: Intermediate - Advanced
- Where to apply? HERE
Taking a single look at Udacity - or many other online learning platforms, too -, you will quickly learn that there are quite a few different courses and programs available for you to study in regards to web development.
Judging by the student feedback and various Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course reviews, however, this particular Nanodegree is considered the best all-in-one program for anyone who’s interested in a full-stack web development career.
It’s worth mentioning, though, that the course isn’t going to be for everyone - it does have some quirks and specific criteria that a student needs to meet in order to get the best possible results out of their studies.
What are those criteria? Well, read on and find out - we’ll begin by taking a look at the main benefits that the course has to offer, though!
Not an Ordinary Course - A Fully-Fledged Nanodegree!
Evidently, this is probably something worth addressing straight from the get-go, granted that it’s something that affects the whole entire course, as a whole.
Whilst checking out the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course, you will quickly notice that it’s called a “Nanodegree”, instead of a simple course or set of courses. This is a term that Udacity uses for some specific courses that it provides, on a variety of different topics.
What’s so special about Nanodegrees? Quite a lot, actually!
For starters, unlike standard courses, Nanodegrees are very in-depth - they allow you to study the topic through and through, and act more like full university courses, instead of some standalone class.
This is something that is evident by observing how long they take to finish, too - for example, the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree will take you around 4 months to complete, if you spend 5-10 hours per week on your studies.
To add to that, Nanodegrees do also come with a lot of perks attached to them - technical assistance, financing options, career services, and so on. While we’ll cover most of these features a bit more in-depth in just a second, it’s worth stressing that you won’t only receive a standalone course, but also some additional benefits, too!
Lastly, multiple student Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer reviews will tell you that this Nanodegree (same as any other Nanodegree offered by Udacity!) is of the highest quality, and will provide you with actually-useful information concerning the topic that you want to study.
Naturally, quality is something that you should consider at the very beginning of your search for the best full-stack web developer courses. Thankfully, there is one criterion that acts as a tell-all sign - the competence of the instructors behind the course.
Taught by Professionals in the Field
In the past few years, online learning has really gained a lot of traction. There are more and more individuals coming into this space every single day - this is especially true due to the aforementioned global situation.
Why do I mention this, in the first place? Well, mainly because with the increase in online learning popularity, there’s an increase in various scams and cheats, too.
Today, there are significant numbers of these cheaters in the online learning world. While they are most prominent among business-based courses, IT-related ones are no exception, either.
How should you go about auditing the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course? How do you know that it’s legit, and not created and taught by people who are barely familiar with the topic?
It’s rather simple, really - a quick background check on the instructors of the course will reveal everything. And in regards to this particular Nanodegree, it seems that you really have nothing to worry about.
The course is taught by 4 different instructors - all of which have notable backgrounds in the field of web development, or similar specialties. Let’s take a closer look, though, shall we?
- Amy Hua - more than 6 years of experience in the field of software engineering, has worked on various projects.
- Caryn McCarthy - prior experience as a software developer and Experience Manager at Code Next over at Google.
- Gabriel Ruttner - CTO of Ursa & Tech Advisor for Start-Ups. An experienced professional in cloud-based machine learning and natural language processing.
- Kennedy Behrman - a veteran consultant, specializes in cloud solution implementations for early start-ups.
If you’re interested in getting a better understanding of the instructors behind the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course, you can check the course’s landing page for more info. However, at this point, you should have a pretty good idea regarding the expertise of each individual instructor.
So - nothing but true professionals in their respective fields. That’s awesome! However, what else does that mean for the student?
Well, in addition to remaining assured about the complete legitimacy of the course, there is also the factor of course quality, too.
With the above-given list of instructors, anyone who’s considering taking the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course can rest assured that the quality of the information found within it is going to be truly high. Following that, the course does lend itself to be a viable method of learning full-stack web development, and thus, taking the first steps towards this career path!
Receive Professional Feedback and Technical Help While You Study
One of the more-underrated aspects of the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree is the fact that you will actually get the chance to receive some professional feedback regarding your tasks. On top of that, if you do run into technical issues (or have technical questions), there will always be help available, too!
Evidently, these perks aren’t necessarily this course-specific. They can be found with most of Udacity’s Nanodegrees! However, you’d likely struggle to come across a course that would require such features more than the one in question.
Learning full-stack web development can be a daunting task - it’s not easy! Naturally, you could use all the help you can get. The feature in question is amazing in that it’s quite rare - most online courses are sold as standalone products, and if you need any help with the course materials found inside, you’re usually left figuring things out for yourself.
Not the case with this full-stack web developer Udacity course, though! Here, you can expect all the help that you’ll need, whether it be regarding course materials, technical aspects of the Nanodegree, or else.
It’s worth mentioning that the help isn’t going to come from some random strangers, either! Udacity has professional teams of project reviewers and technical staff - the feedback that you’ll receive will be both constructive, and helpful for your studies, too!
Receive a Custom-Tailored Learning Plan
One of the biggest appeals of online learning is, without a doubt, the fact that you can learn at your own pace, at any given point in time. Not feeling like learning? No worries - just take the course or the specific class tomorrow, or the day after!
While it can be a bittersweet experience (postponing things too far is never a good idea), it's still a welcome change from the traditional model of education, where you have to be in class at a specific time, and sit through the whole lectures with no breaks in between.
With the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course, you do receive a lot of freedom with your timetables. Not to the extent where you would postpone your studies for a few years to come, but enough to allow you to cater to your priorities, while still also learning something new every day or two.
This is, yet again, a feature of the Nanodegrees. These programs from Udacity are perfect when it comes to catering to your personal schedules, since they have flexible timetables, and can be adjusted and fit to your wants and needs.
It’s also perfect for individuals who are already working in a specific field of expertise, and might want to either improve their knowledge further (say, shift from back-end development to full-stack), or change their career paths, altogether. With the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course, you will be able to work as usual, and study whenever’s the best time for you!
Career Path Support
Taking a course on a set topic is awesome and all, but that’s also only the beginning - it’s a sentiment echoed by multiple student Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree reviews, too.
What do I mean by that? Well, say you’ve decided that the career path of a full-stack web dev is the right choice for you. You find a course on the topic, study it, and once you’re done… What now?
With many courses available online, that would frankly be it! You would be left alone, and would have to figure your further plans out for yourself. Thankfully, though, this is not the case with the course in question.
The full-stack web developer Udacity Nanodegree has career support options, for anyone interested. What this means is that you will have the opportunity to receive support with things such as your LinkedIn profile, Github, and also resume building.
This is something that’s pretty unique to Udacity’s Nanodegrees! While it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the course itself, it’s definitely a much-appreciated feature to have!
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What are the Shortcomings?
By now, you’ve probably figured out that the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course is almost universally beloved by students from all over the world, and that it comes packed with some awesome features and Nanodegree-specific benefits.
However, is everything really as awesome as it looks? Or are there any issues that should be addressed before deciding if this is the right learning path for you?
Well, “issues” is a bit of a strong word. Students do claim that the course isn’t going to be for everyone, though - the main reason for this are the prerequisite requirements.
A Course for Intermediate / Advanced Learners
I’ve mentioned this a bit earlier in the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer review, but full-stack web development isn’t an easy topic to study and learn. It’s kind of hidden in the name itself - the field requires you to have at least some sort of understanding when it comes to front- and back-end development intricacies.
This is evident when you take a look at the prerequisite requirements for the course in question, too. Among some general understanding in regards to web development, you do also need to have prior experience with writing and testing software with the Python (or some other project-oriented) programming language, Git version control, and also front-end development, too (CSS, JavaScript, HTML, etc.).
That’s a hefty list of prerequisites! It also means that you won’t really be able to jump into this course blind, without any prior experience or knowledge in the field.
Is it an “issue”? No, evidently, it’s definitely not an issue for most. Granted that we’re discussing a course that’s aimed at teaching you the intricacies of full-stack web development, it makes perfect sense that there would be pre-existing requirements.
- Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
- Offers quality content
- Gamified in-browser coding experience
- Free certificates of completion
- Focused on data science skills
- Flexible learning timetable
- High-quality courses
- Nanodegree programs
- Student Career services
- Nanodegree programs
- Suitable for enterprises
- Paid certificates of completion
- A wide range of learning programs
- University-level courses
- Easy to navigate
- University-level courses
- Suitable for enterprises
- Verified certificates of completion
No Accredited Certificates
This is, notably, probably the only real issue that students have with the full-stack web developer Udacity course in question. It’s also an issue that plagues all of the courses offered by the platform, though.
Accredited certification is often the key selling point for many online courses. It tends to get viewed as the “ultimate proof” for the legitimacy of a particular course. Not without good reason, either.
Accredited certificates are very valuable when you go to a job interview, since they act as proof that you’ve actually completed a curse that has some “official” backing. Imagine if you complete a course on full-stack web development that’s accredited by Microsoft - that’s significant!
In regards to the program in question, though, student Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree reviews will tell you that this course does not provide you with accredited certification.
To be more exact, however, it’s worth mentioning that none of Udacity’s courses have accredited certificates.
At the end of the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course, you will receive a certificate, but it’s going to be a Nanodegree-specific one, and not an accredited one. While multiple potential employers are starting to recognize Nanodegree certificates as valid proof that you do possess a lot of knowledge in the field that you’re trying to land a job in, this still isn’t always the case.
Whether it’s a huge issue or not, it does kind of depend on your own, personal opinion regarding the matter. Do keep in mind that the lack of accredited certification does not imply the quality of the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course - that’s something that remains of a high standard.
Pricing + Financing Options
As with most things in life, pricing is often a rather contentious topic when it comes to online courses. The prices can vary drastically, and there are seemingly endless amounts of variables to keep in mind.
This, in turn, can make it rather difficult to find and select the best course for yourself. In regards to the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree, though, there are some ‘saving graces’.
The course is priced at €1236 for the entirety of the 4-month-long learning journey. Admittedly, that’s a significant sum of money! A single look at some of Udacity’s competitors would reveal that there are full-stack web development courses that are quite a bit cheaper than the one in question.
There are some things to keep in mind here, however.
For starters, as mentioned many times in this Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer review already, the course in question is a Nanodegree. This means that it comes with all of the Nanodegree-related benefits, such as career services, feedback on your work, professional instructors, and so on.
To add to that, however, there’s also the option to finance the course, and pay in increments! You would basically pay €359 per month, for as long as you study the course (up to 4 months, that is).
This is a wonderful feature, since it allows you to consider studying the course even if you’re on a tight budget.
As far as the value proposition is concerned, students don’t really have any notable concerns that would come up whilst studying the course materials - it would seem that the quality is worth the price!
A Single Step in the Web Dev Career Guide?
If you prefer, you could look at the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree as a single, standalone course that you would study and then move on to whatever it is that you plan on doing with your newfound knowledge.
That said, though, it’s not actually a standalone course per say, but rather a single part of a bigger picture - a picture that is called the “Web Dev Career Guide”.
If you were to scroll down on the course’s landing page, to the very bottom, you would see what I’m talking about. Here, you will find some additional suggestions for courses that you could study on Udacity - all of which are a part of the aforementioned guide.
What is this all about, you may wonder? Well, the “web dev guide” is something that anyone striving to become a web developer should look into. It’s basically a program that’s made up of multiple different courses, all revolving around the same subject.
For example, some of the related courses here include programming with Python, and also front-end development. Both of these topics are crucial to get down before you start looking into full-stack web development!
In short, if you’re interested in building your web development career path from scratch with the help of Udacity, the platform does allow you to do so, in an organized and professional manner. Surely, each of the Nanodegrees is going to cost some significant amounts of money - however, they are all still going to be much more affordable than your traditional university programs.
Summary
Now, we’ve discussed the course in question rather thoroughly, and took a look at student Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree reviews - both the positive and the negative ones, too.
Before I let you go, let’s have a quick summary so that you don’t forget any of the important information, shall we?
The Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer course is a program designed for intermediate- and advanced-level web developers who want to become full-stack devs. Since the course deals with some complicated topics, it’s not a suitable pick for beginners who have no prior experience with web development.
That being said, it’s actually a Nanodegree - this does come with some inherited benefits! Students will be able to request assistance with their coursework from professional technical teams, and also receive support with all of the questions that they might have whilst studying the course materials.
Furthermore, you will also be able to study the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree in accordance with your own wants and needs, and create a suitable timetable that would allow you to both learn something new, while also maintaining your daily chores and priorities.
Udacity also offers career support services with all of their Nanodegrees. You will be able to receive help with your LinkedIn profile, resume writing, and much more.
In regards to the course in question, though, you can be sure that the information found within is going to be of the highest-quality - this is something that’s guaranteed when you take a look at the instructors behind the program, and each of their backgrounds when it comes to software and web development.
The only real issue that should be noted before deciding if this course is right for you is the fact that Udacity does not offer accredited certificates with the Nanodegree programs available on the site. While you will receive a certificate at the end of your studies, it’s not going to be an accredited one - thus, it might not be as useful when it comes to job interviews!
Pricing-wise, the course isn’t super-affordable, but there are financing options - you can pay for the program in increments, for each individual month that the course spans through.
All in all, the general sentiments regarding the Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree lingering online are rather positive - the vast majority of students are pretty happy with the value that they receive for their money!
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Conclusions
As a final note in this Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer review, let me just say - if you’re wondering if the course in question is worth checking out, it would appear so!
As mentioned in the previous chapter, most students are happy with the information found within the course. Since it’s aimed at advanced learners, you will be able to challenge yourself, and develop your full-stack web dev skill and capabilities exponentially - that’s great!
What's also awesome is that Udacity has career service support, too - what this means is that the platform isn’t only great for studying a particular course or topic, but also for helping you get ready for the job market, too!
On the flip side, though, if the course hasn’t convinced you, or if you’re simply looking for some alternative options, do make sure to check out some of Udacity’s competitors - Coursera and edX might just have what you’re looking for!
All of that being said, though, I’d like to thank you for reading this Udacity Full-Stack Web Developer Nanodegree review! I wish you the best of luck in your web developer career path - cheers!
Scientific References
1. CollegeGrad: 'Web Developer'
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