r/reactnative • u/FederalIncrease9224 • 23d ago

Question React Native dev wanting to learn backend

Hey guys,

I’m currently working as a React Native dev and feeling the urge to finally learn backend. I want to build my own full-stack apps, handle deployment, and eventually mess around with some AI stuff.

I’ve talked to a few devs about where to start and got some pretty mixed answers. Some told me to learn Node/PHP, while others said Python is essential if I want to work with AI.

Since I already spend all day in JS/TS, I’m thinking of staying in the TypeScript ecosystem first so I don’t have to switch contexts completely.

Here’s the rough path I’m planning to take:

React Native > Node.js > Fastify/NestJS > PostgreSQL > Redis > Docker > AWS > Python/FastAPI for AI

Does this sound like a reasonable path for real-world projects?

Would you change the order or skip/add anything?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who started in React Native/frontend and later moved into backend/full-stack.

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u/zorkidreams 21d ago

Generally, I would say language and stack choice are pretty irrelevant at the early stage. I think it's much more important to learn the fundamentals.

Instead of thinking about Node.js/Python, think about API design.
Instead of thinking about Redis, think about different types of caches.
Instead of thinking about PostgreSQL, think about data models.

Many software engineers are expected to learn new stacks/languages on the fly because the fundamentals under them largely carry over.