Full-stack No-code developer roadmap

In this article, you can find a detailed product roadmap, that will help you become a professional no-code developer.

By learning this stack, you will able to build scalable and performant web apps without code and without design limitations.

But before we get started, let’s answer an important question:

What is a full-stack developer

A Full Stack Developer is someone who knows how to handle both client and server software.

Beside HTML and CSS, a Full Stack developer also knows how to:

• Program clients that run in a browser (front-end)
• Program a server (back-end)
• Program a database (back-end)

Traditional development vs No-code development

In traditional development, both the front-end and the back-end are coded by hand. A traditional full-stack developer needs to know how to:

• write HTML, CSS and JS
• use the terminal
• handle versioning control
• host websites and applications
• use package management
• program databases
• design, development and architectural principles
• more

A no code developer on the other hand doesn’t need to think about almost any of that. Instead, all of these processes are handled by the tools they use. Each process action or process is performed visually or automatically.

Is no-code development better than traditional development?

The short answer is, it depends. 😄 No-code development is usually way faster, but traditional development offers more flexibility.

No code tools enable anyone to create websites and apps fast, whereas in traditional development you need to know how to read and write code, which only a fraction of people know.

However, each no-code tool has its limitation, whereas with code, you’re only limited by your own (or your clients) imagination.

What if one of these technologies gets outdated or if something better comes along?

Learning these tools will help you understand how each piece of the puzzle fits together, and which actions can or should be performed on the front-end and the back-end.

You will also build the right conceptual models, so no matter if you’re going to learn how to code, or just learn another no-code tool, you will have a strong foundation to build upon.

When a programmer learns a new language, it usually doesn’t take them too long, since they already mastered the basic concepts. They just have to learn the syntax.

It’s the same with no-code tool. If you learn how to structure a requests in one app, it’s not hard to figure out how to do it in another. So no matter if one of the tools from this stack gets deprecated, you will be well equipped to learn another!

Learning path recommendation to build professional web applications with Wized

Frontend tools

What tools can you choose from? Why choose the Webflow / Wized route?

Master Webflow

If you want to build Wized applications, you need to master Webflow first. Mastering Webflow is one of the most valuable skills that you can have as a no-code developer. With Webflow alone, you can build amazing websites, and you can export your code if another developer needs it.

The best place to get started is Webflow University. They have lots of funny and entertaining tutorials that will help you master each feature. Once you’ve built a few projects, and you know your way around, start learning how to do things the right way.

Learn how to use a naming convention like Client-first, to become a better developer, and to stay more organized. Also, if you want to learn how to develop websites faster, watch the Webflow productivity series on Youtube.

The browser

Build the habit of testing and debugging your Websites and apps across browsers. You can either install several browsers on your device, or you can use a tool like Lambdatest.

Learn Wized

Once you know how to build components in Webflow, it’s time to start learning Wized.

Wized is a no-code tool that provides a robust logic layer on top of Webflow, that allows you to turn your website into a web app. You can think of it as a front-end framework, similar to Vue or React, just without code.

Wized lets you receive data from any source and render it in your app, as well as send data  anywhere you want. Wized also allows you to add user authentication, content protection, listen to user inputs to perform actions and much more.

Learning Wized will allow you to take on projects that you never even considered before.

Backend tools

Learn Airtable

Once you start learning Wized, you’ll inevitably have to learn how to connect your app to a database. Airtable is definitely the simplest and easiest tool to start with.

Just keep in mind that Airtable is not a “real” database, and that it has it’s limitations. However, for most use cases, and simple apps, it’s more than enough.

In case your building an app that will have thousands of requests and lots of items to store, it’s better to use a professional no-code backend like Xano or Canonic.

Zapier or Make.com

If you need to build some automations and business logic on the backend, check out Make.com or Zapier. You can connect Wized to both of these tools with ease. Also, both of these tools can be connected to almost any app out there.

Learn how to use a real database

If you need to build a scalable and performant app, you should definitely choose a real database like Xano, Canonic, Supabase or Firebase.

With these backend tools, you can build blazingly fast, and highly scalable apps without writing any code. But beside the performance benefits, these tools also offer additional authentication options. For example, with any of these backends you can let users sign in with Google, Facebook or Github.

So if you’re building a web app, that needs to handle lots of user requests or if you’re planning on having a lot of items in your database, then definitely pick one of these options.

Optional step: Learn HTML, CSS and Javascript

I know what you’re thinking, why the hell should I learn how to code? I want to be a no-code developer…

Hear me out.

Learning the basics of HTML, CSS and JS will help you become a much better no-code developer.

HTML and CSS

With HTML and CSS alone, you can overcome many Webflow limitations, build cool animations and much more.

Also, by learning the basics of HTML and CSS, a lot of Webflow concepts will fall into place. You will quickly start understanding valuable concepts such as inheritance, style cascading, best practices for staying organized, semantic tags and technical SEO, aria-labels and more.

You don’t need to know everything, just understand enough to Google your way through issues. This way, you will be able to find answers for your problems outside of Webflow forums, which will ultimately save you a ton of time and headache. You will be able to translate HTML and CSS concepts from Stackoverflow and other sources to Webflow in no-time.

Learn the basics of JavaScript

For me, HTML and CSS were quite easy to learn, since Webflow teaches you how things work. Also, it’s easy to understand HTML and CSS by just reading the code.

JavaScript is way more complicated if you don’t have any programming experience. However, it’s incredibly valuable, and it’s worth the struggle.

Learning the basics of JavaScript will take a few months, but once you get the basics, you will feel limitless.

So many Webflow, and Wized limitations can be overcome with a few lines of code.

Also, learning how requests work, and how to read documentation, will also help you become a better no-code developer. By understanding the basics of JS, you will be able to “translate” a lot of concepts to Wized and Make.com.

Another benefit is that, you will be able to automate a lot of laborious tasks. For example, recently, I had to completely rearrange a Google sheet, and import a collection into Webflow CMS.

The problem was that there were over 500 records, which would take me a whole day if I would do it manually. By writing a simple Google Apps Script with 20-30 lines of JavaScript, I was able to complete the task in 5 minutes.

And I’m not even good at JavaScript.

The same can be done in Airtable and other tools too!

If you can embrace the struggle, and push yourself through it for a few months, you will acquire a valuable skill that will serve you your whole life.

Soft skills

Beside your no-coding and coding skills, you should also always work on yourself. There are lots of skills that you should work on developing that are just as valuable as your hard skills.

These are skills that can make or break your career.

Here are some valuable skills that you should master:

• Improve communication and people skills
• Problem solving skills
• Time management
• Teamwork

Never stop learning and don’t give up!

Being a developer is a never-ending journey. There are always new emerging tools and technologies, and before you know it, your favourite tool is becoming obsolete.

That’s why it’s important to always keep on learning new concepts, tools and soft-skills.

The best thing that you can do is put aside some time each week to learn new things.

You don’t need to take a holiday to learn a new technology. If you spend each morning 30 minutes reading, and spend one day a week working on a side-project, where you apply the new-gained knowledge, you’re gonna master a lot of tools in a year.

Learning how to code and how to no-code can be frustrating at times. Sometimes, you will feel like you’re not smart enough to understand a concept. Sometimes, you will think that you have a simple task in front of you, but you’ll bang your had against the wall after hours of debugging…

But that’s just part of the process.

Over time, concepts will just click, and you will get better and better at building apps.

The most important thing is to never give up!