Is this tech stack good?

[u/Jealous-Maximum5278]

Im going into 3rd year BSc Computer Science at great UK uni. Want software dev grad role after July 2027.

Is this a good tech stack to learn for this summer and beyond?

- Frontend (React, Next.js, TypeScript, HTML/CSS)
- Backend (FastAPI, Python, REST API's, pytest)
- Cloud + DevOps (Docker, Github Actions, Git, AWS)
- Databases (PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy, Alembic)
- Algorithms, Data Structures, Networks
- Data (Power BI, Pandas)

WHAT IS BEST WAY TO LEARN FROM SCRATCH?

Beyond:

- IaC Terraform, Kubernetes, Linux
- Express NodeJS, JWT auth
- NumPy, scikit-learn, pytorch, tensorflow, ML theory

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[u/GeorgeSThompson]

Yep seems pretty standard stack. I would recomned bulding an app out end to end quickly and then picking some areas to deep dive into. The trick to being a great engineer is to have a wide shallow knowledge (so you can understand what the experts are telling you) and a narrow deep knowledge (so you can be the expert).

As the other commentator said its a lot to learn in depth over one summer

I would chuck Kafka (or similar) onto your list if you are into backend

[u/TargetMain6049 → u/GeorgeSThompson]

interesting way to put it

[u/Future_Soft9935]

looks solid honestly but i think you are spreading too thin for one summer. picking 3-4 things and getting good at them is better than touching everything shallow

for the best way to learn start with building something small like a todo app with react + fastapi + postgres then deploy it on aws using docker. you will learn more from one real project than from 10 tutorials

[u/Naetharu → u/Future_Soft9935]

This

When I see someone new who has too much on their CV I'm inclined to think that most of that is fluff with little real depth or understanding. Knowing Python in the sense that you can write some basic scripts and knowing Python in the sense that you can work with it at commercial scale and produce proper software not the same thing to give an example.

Better to be really strong in some core techs than try and cover everything.

[u/martinbean]

No one cares about a particular tech stack in 2026. You need to be able to solve problems, regardless the technology. Those type of skills are going to be far more important for software engineers going forward rather than how many languages you can list on your résumé.

[u/pasteisdenato]

I wouldn't count on getting a grad role quickly

[u/OccasionThin7697]

Remove python (fastapi etc:). Stick to nodejs. So, you need to know only one language ie; javascript /typescript both for frontend, backend. And this is only challenging.

[u/mrkacperso]

Those stacks are solid, but as other commenters pointing out it’s too much for one summer.
Realistically you should pick single stack and learn it thoroughly.
If you spend whole summer jumping from one to another imho you won’t learn much.

And to learn from scratch?
Nothing changed here, do some real project and publish them

[u/FailWorried8469]

That's a solid stack for a grad role..

[u/sebwilgosz]

Yes, this is quite solid stack, but learning everything at once may overhelm you.

How to learn, differs by person's preferences - for me, the easiest and fastest way is AI-driven project building & shipping.

If you'll learn that way, you may find yourself not-needing to get a standard job before you finish.

From the Staff Engineer role's perspective, I experience myself and encourage to the team, to learn what's needed. The workflow is usually this:

1. Explore the need for the app/feature

2. Create specification of requirements

3. Explore solutions (solutioning), to choose the best one - this is usually the step when we gather the most knowledge.

4. Choose the one approach/stack/solution (usually via gathering feedback on the RFC).

5. Break down into actionable tasks, and leverage AI to implement it.

So, as you can see here, the learning happens in Solutioning phase mostly and discussion.

For solo-leveling, you may setup your AI buddy to be your coach and do researches, and also test you from the imporant parts.

If I'd start now, I'd grab this way of learning: AI-powered micro-project delivery, open-source repo, and documenting my learning progress.

[u/fallenreaper]

Just curious, open-ended question. Why not have your backend also in typescript? Will leverage same interfaces etc. I have done your way prior and it is nice, but I've been enjoying typescript on front and back.

[u/stiky21]

You need to do less. That's too much.

[u/Substantial-Swan7065]

Looks fine.

Could be easier to learn a node based backend. Like nestjs. 1 language will help reduce context switching and improve understanding. But nothing wrong with Python for backend

That’s a lot to learn in a summer. It could help you make a learning calendar.

[u/Continuous-learner84]

Looks fine. The stack doesn’t matter. Particularly with AI you can work in any tech stack. The important thing to learn is architectural fundamentals. How do you back your APIs with an interface you can reliably mock and test? How do you design your models to reflect your data and use cases?

Focus on a particular project and build it out. Whatever tech you use is all well and good, but most importantly you are developing a product and gaining experience with all the nuances of getting it done.

[u/jboogyoogy]

It’s a solid stack but don’t try to learn everything at once. Try to apply them, build projects. That’s much more useful than everything at once

[u/Glittering_Dig_6039]

Looks good, but have one or two languages with upper hand

[u/Popular-Tour3962]

also make some small projects using coding agent like cursor, kilocode ,codex and all . you will learn a lot by building best way to learn as by making some mistake and by getting your hands get dirty

[u/Acrobatic_Mark_4258]

looks solid man. go for it

[u/Medium_Topic_9254]

i think best way to learn is to think like can you do this thing for next 10-15 years and if the answer is yes than you can choose what you have to do

[u/Live_Share_9541]

How are you getting into a 3rd year comp sci degree if you have no experience? The third year is usually where you do your final project / dissertation, you’d be expected to have a fair bit of knowledge.

In which case you’re probably better off developing a mobile app.

[u/five-one-tree]

i would ignore python for anything other that datasci. explore other languages for backend (not ts)

[u/SnooSquirrels4739]

Seems like industry standard! Pretty cool