A comprehensive guide to mastering the art of full-stack development.
Software development is about more than shipping features - it's about building code that stands the test of time and remains adaptable to changing requirements. This book teaches principles of maintainable software design, demonstrating how key patterns apply across REST APIs, front-end state, or tiny scripts.
You’ll see domain logic, data access, and transport layers in action, and learn to manage clarity and flexibility. Through practical examples like splitting monolithic handlers or extracting front-end logic, you'll learn to handle complexity with confidence.
We cover duplication, reusability, and more, showing why some repetition may beat overkill abstractions. By the end, you’ll refine your taste in code, knowing how to create maintainable software in any environment.
Full-Stack Tao uses popular technologies to explain key concepts. However, the principles and rules discussed in this book are applicable across all programming languages and technology stacks. The goal is to teach you timeless software design principles that you can apply throughout your career, regardless of the specific tools you're using.
This is a code example from one of the chapters in the book. It shows how we apply the concept of locality of behavior to react-query. Even though it's a concept conceived long before this library existed, it's a great example of how good design principles can be timeless.
Normally, we'd keep the HTTP request logic in "services" following the idea of separation of concerns. We'd hold the schemas separately, and keep the query in the component it's used in. But things that change together should be close together - this gives us better maintainability.
We don't make changes to all our requests at once, nor do we change all our schemas together. When we have to make changes to any of them, it's most likely in the context of a single request. So we often have to modify the query, the schema and the function making the API call. It's better to keep them together.
export const createCommentInputSchema = z.object({discussionId: z.string().min(1, "Required"),body: z.string().min(1, "Required"),});export type CreateCommentInput = z.infer<typeof createCommentInputSchema>;export const createComment = ({ data }: { data: CreateCommentInput }): Promise<Comment> => {return api.post("/comments", data);};type UseCreateCommentOptions = {discussionId: string;mutationConfig?: MutationConfig<typeof createComment>;};export const useCreateComment = ({mutationConfig,discussionId,}: UseCreateCommentOptions) => {const queryClient = useQueryClient();const { onSuccess, ...restConfig } = mutationConfig || {};return useMutation({onSuccess: (...args) => {queryClient.invalidateQueries({queryKey:getCommentsQueryOptions(discussionId).queryKey,});onSuccess?.(...args);},...restConfig,mutationFn: createComment,});};
While Full-Stack Tao covers advanced topics, it's designed to be accessible to developers at all levels. It starts from fundamental concepts and builds up to more advanced topics. Beginners will find it challenging, but rewarding.
No, you don't need to be an expert in all the technologies covered. The book focuses on universal principles that can be applied across different tech stacks. Familiarity with React & Node.js is recommended but if you're proficient in other technologies you will still be able to follow along.
Full-Stack Tao doesn't teach you the syntax of a library or how to build applications with a specific stack. It teaches you principles of good software design so you can build maintainable products.
The book shows a lot of practical examples, but it's not a project-based book. It focuses on principles and every chapter examines a particular problems.
While the core principles remain constant, I try to keep the book up-to-date with latest trends. If the technologies used in the examples change drastically, the book will reflect these changes.
Drop me a line and I'll give you a full refund. No questions asked. This has always been my policy and I've kept it for my previous books as well.
Just read this one. It's the best one I've written so far and it covers both front-end and back-end development.
You buy me dinner and I tell you everything I've learned about software design throughout my career. It's a good deal.
Alex Kondov is a seasoned software engineer with over a decade of experience in the industry, working for both early-stage Sillicon Valley companies and large corporations.
Full-Stack Tao is a collection of everything he's learned about building maintainable software. Tired of rewriting codebases and dealing with messy legacy code, Alex set out to learn the principles of good software design. This book is a collection of all the ideas that have proven to work in his career.
His other works include Tao of React, a book focused on React.js fundamentals, and Tao of Node, a book about Node.js best practices. Follow his writing on his blog, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter)
I share my write-ups and thoughts on software design and architecture, together with the most interesting articles and books I find.