Tech Stack Learning Path for building a SaaS
hi guys,
As many of you here, my dream goal is to be in a position where I can ship fast small SaaS products and iterate quickly on them.
I am a Data Scientist skilled in R & Shiny. These skills are very helpful but building a SaaS with Shiny is not ideal.
So I am planning to learn new languages.
For now I use AWS ec2 servers, PostgreSQL database and Docker to setup my platform.
My question is simple what languages should I learn to build a fully customized SaaS that includes:
- User Management (login, SSO etc.)
- Stripe payment
- Very customizable UI
Ideally I could leverage this new languages to launch the SaaS on a mobile version as well.
The languages learning path I have in mind right now is:
HTML>CSS>JavaScript>ReactJS>ReactNative.
Would you agree with this path?
What kind of advice you would give me?
I know in the end the language does not really matter but since I have some time I really want to make sure I learn languages that will be useful to me for a long time.
Thanks a lot,
Learn Rails/Django/Laravel (start with whatever you're familiar with).
I use Rails and all of these things are pretty straightforward (except the 'very customized AI' thing, not sure what you mean b ythat.
Thanks! I wrote very customizable UI (User Interface), in a nutshell the design of the SaaS. Yes I am also very tempted with Python/Django/Laravel
I agree with the advice to start with one of Rails / Django / Laravel. The JavaScript ecosystem is vibrant, but fragmented and most of the backend stuff is not clearly standardized. Plus you can always build a React front end on top of any of those.
Given that you have a data science background I'd favor Python and Django, since that will also allow you to upskill on the other popular ecosystem used in data science (Python, Pandas, Jupyter, etc.). Admittedly, I'm a bit biased since I've been using and loving Django for more than 10 years. :)
If you do go the Django route, I've written a set of guides on building a SaaS with Django that might help you get started. Happy to answer any questions you might have!
hey I'm reading your tutorials and I've gotta say they're fantastic. I'm a student and I just recently picked up django this summer to build a little side project and definitely fell under the server-first method and its like you know exactly what we did lol. That being said, I wanted to try and learn node.js and express to see what the hype is all about but at the same time also want to build things quickly. Have you used those before and what are the differences between using that and the hybrid django/JS framework you talked about in your tutorial?
Thanks, I'm glad they're useful! I learned all of these things the hard way and that server-first write up comes from many personal examples...
I haven't used the node/express combination before. My impression is that it's less of a "complete" solution than Django but more of a "build your own from components" model - which is consistent with my understanding of most of the JS ecosystem.
There are definite upsides to using a JS server (single language for back and front end, more standardized integrations with front-end frameworks, etc.). If you already know Python and you're a student with time, I'd definitely give it a shot and see how you like it! For me I love Python and have never had a need to try anything besides Django or Flask on the back end.
Check out some of the pre-built libraries that include the functionality you want. I'd say Node/Javascript would be the natural environment for you though I'm partial to Python/Django.
I understand that learning development skills is interesting.
However, you have to ask yourself whether you want to become a developer or an entrepreneur. The first is not a stepping stone to the second. They are completely different skills.
If your ambition is to make money with an online business then you should focus on boosting your entrepreneurial skills. Technology is never the determining factor for success. Vision, perseverance, sales qualities are. I would focus on those.