PHASE 1: Core CS, Advanced JavaScript & Foundational Engineering

Focus: Solidifying computer science fundamentals, mastering JavaScript, and establishing

crucial software engineering practices.

Core Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA) in JavaScript

[ ] Arrays & Strings

[ ] Loops & Conditionals

[ ] Recursion (basics & advanced patterns)

[ ] Linked Lists (Singly, Doubly, Circular)

[ ] Stacks & Queues

[ ] Sliding Window, Two Pointers

[ ] Hash Maps & Sets

[ ] Searching & Sorting (all major algorithms, time/space complexity)

[ ] Trees & Binary Trees (traversals, properties)

[ ] BST operations

[ ] Graphs: DFS, BFS

[ ]Topological Sort

[ ] Disjoint Sets (Union Find)

[ ] Heaps (Min/Max Heap)

[ ] Tries

JavaScript Mastery

JS syntax & idioms

Functions, Classes
File I/O in JS

OOP in JS

Error handling & exceptions

Asynchronous JavaScript: Callbacks, Promises (deep dive), Async/Await (patterns, error
handling)

Event Loop, Closures, Hoisting (advanced concepts)

Modules (CommonJS, ES Modules), Scopes

TypeScript: Fundamentals, basic to intermediate type usage for robustness.

● Software Engineering Fundamentals

○ Unit testing (Jest/Mocha)
○ New: Test-Driven Development (TDD) principles.
○ Git & GitHub (init, push/pull, branches, merge vs. rebase, common workflows like
GitFlow/Trunk-based development)
○ CLI tools (curl, npm, npx, etc.)
○ HTTP, APIs, JSON (deep understanding of HTTP methods, status codes,
headers)
○ Build simple CLI tools
○ New: Software Design Principles: SOLID, DRY, KISS, YAGNI.
○ New: Basic Linux Command Line proficiency (file system navigation,
permissions, process management).

PHASE 2: Advanced Full Stack Development (MERN + Modern Ecosystem)

(Jul 8 - Sep 15)
Focus: Achieving deep mastery of the MERN stack, incorporating modern architectural
patterns, and ensuring robust, scalable application development.

● Front-End Excellence (React)

○ HTML, CSS, JS fundamentals

○ Responsive Design & Flexbox/Grid
○ React Components + Hooks (deep dive into custom hooks, context API)
○ Routing (React Router) + State Management (Redux Toolkit, Context API,
Zustand/Jotai for alternatives)
○ New: Performance Optimization in React (memoization, virtualization, code
splitting).
○ New: Server-Side Rendering (SSR) & Static Site Generation (SSG) with Next.js
(fundamentals).
○ New: Component Libraries & Design Systems (e.g., Material-UI, Chakra UI, Ant
Design).
○ New: Form Handling & Validation (React Hook Form/Formik with Zod/Yup)
○ New: File Uploads & Image Handling (client-side and integration with cloud
storage)
● Back-End Mastery (Node.js + Express)

○ Node.js + Express fundamentals

○ Build REST APIs with Express (design principles, versioning)
○ CRUD + Auth (JWT, Sessions, OAuth 2.0 principles)
 ○ New: Advanced Node.js: Event Emitters, Streams, Worker Threads, clustering.
○ New: Real-time Communication: WebSockets with Socket.IO.
○ New: Introduction to GraphQL (Apollo Server/Client, building a simple GraphQL
API as an alternative/addition to REST).
○ New: Middleware development, error handling best practices.
● Database Expertise
○ MongoDB basics with Mongoose (advanced schemas, indexing, aggregation
pipelines, replica sets conceptual)
○ PostgreSQL basics (highly recommended, not optional): Advanced SQL queries,
Stored Procedures, Database Normalization, Transactions, Indexing, Joins
○ New: Caching Strategies: Redis/Memcached fundamentals (in-memory caching
for performance).
● Application Architecture & Security
○ Project Structuring (MERN Best Practices, modular design)
○ New: API Security: OWASP Top 10 for Web Applications, input validation, rate
limiting, CORS policies, secure authentication/authorization.
○ New: Introduction to Microservices Architecture: Concepts,
advantages/disadvantages, basic patterns (API Gateway, Service Discovery).
○ New: Database Security: SQL Injection prevention, NoSQL injection prevention,
data encryption.
○ New: Integration Testing (Supertest for APIs), End-to-End Testing
(Cypress/Playwright).

PHASE 3: AI/ML Fundamentals & Integration (Sep 16 - Oct 31)

Focus: Understanding fundamental AI/ML concepts and practical integration into full-stack
applications. This phase aims for practical application rather than deep ML research.

● Python Fundamentals: (If not already proficient) Syntax, data structures, functions,
OOP basics.
● Machine Learning Concepts (High-Level)
○ Supervised vs. Unsupervised Learning.
○ Common ML algorithms: Regression, Classification (conceptual understanding,
when to use).
○ Introduction to Deep Learning: Neural Networks, basic architecture (conceptual).
● Generative AI & LLMs
○ Understanding Large Language Models (LLMs): How they work (briefly), use
cases, limitations.
○ Embeddings and Vector Databases: Role in semantic search and RAG (Retrieval
Augmented Generation).
○ New: Vector Database Basics (e.g., Pinecone, ChromaDB, Weaviate): Storing
and querying embeddings.
● Practical AI Integration (API-First Approach)
○ Consuming AI APIs: Google Cloud AI Platform, OpenAI API, AWS
Rekognition/Comprehend (focus on practical use cases like text generation,
sentiment analysis, image recognition).
○ Building simple AI-integrated features into MERN apps:
■ Text summarization/generation using LLM APIs.
■ Image analysis (e.g., object detection, OCR) using cloud vision APIs.
 ■ Building a basic chatbot with conversational AI APIs.
● MLOps Fundamentals (Conceptual): Introduction to the lifecycle of ML models, model
deployment (conceptual), versioning.

PHASE 4: Extraordinary Cloud & DevOps Excellence (Nov 1 - Jan 15)

Focus: Achieving deep proficiency in cloud infrastructure, containerization, orchestration,
CI/CD, and observability for robust and scalable deployments.

● Containerization & Orchestration

○ Docker + Docker Compose (advanced concepts: multi-stage builds, networking,
volumes, best practices for production)
○ Basic Kubernetes concepts
○ New: Kubernetes Deep Dive:
■ Pods, Deployments, Services (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer),
Ingress Controllers.
■ Namespaces, ConfigMaps, Secrets.
■ Persistent Volumes & Claims (PV/PVC).
■ Scaling (Horizontal Pod Autoscaler - HPA).
■ Helm: Package manager for Kubernetes.
■ Troubleshooting Kubernetes deployments.
● Cloud Platform Mastery (Choose one: AWS or GCP for depth, familiarity with the
other)

○ Core Services:
■ Compute: EC2/Compute Engine, AWS Lambda/Google Cloud Functions
(deeper dive into serverless architectures for specific use cases),
EKS/GKE.
■ Networking: VPCs, Subnets, Route Tables, Security Groups/Firewalls,
Load Balancers (ALB/NLB for AWS, HTTP(S)/TCP/SSL Proxy for GCP).
■ Databases: RDS/Cloud SQL (managed relational databases),
DynamoDB/Firestore (managed NoSQL options).
■ Storage: S3/Cloud Storage, Glacier/Coldline.
○ Identity & Access Management (IAM): Best practices for roles, policies, least
privilege.
○ Monitoring & Logging: CloudWatch/Cloud Monitoring, CloudTrail/Cloud Audit
Logs (event logging), Cloud Logging (centralized logging).
○ Security: WAF (Web Application Firewall), DDoS protection.
● Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
○ Terraform basics
○ New: Terraform Advanced: Modules, Workspaces, Remote State Management
(S3/GCS backend), provisioning complex multi-resource environments.
● CI/CD Pipelines
○ CI/CD Pipelines (GitHub Actions preferred for modern stack; Jenkins for
enterprise context)
○ New: Advanced GitHub Actions: Matrix builds, environments, integrating security
scans (SAST/DAST) in pipelines, artifact management.
○ New: GitOps Principles: Introduction to Git as the single source of truth for
declarative infrastructure and applications (e.g., FluxCD/ArgoCD concepts).
 ● Observability & Monitoring
○ Monitoring & Logging (Prometheus/Grafana as primary, not optional)
○ New: Distributed Tracing: OpenTelemetry/Jaeger for understanding request flow
in microservices.
○ New: Alerting strategies and incident response basics.
● Networking & Security
○ Reverse Proxy + Load Balancing (NGINX: advanced configurations, SSL
termination, caching)
○ SSH, Hosting practices
○ Domain + SSL Setup
○ New: VPNs, network security best practices, secrets management (HashiCorp
Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager).
● Deployment Strategies
○ Deploy full-stack app (Render/Vercel/GCP)
○ Environment variables & secrets management
○ New: Deploy MERN apps with DevOps best practices (CI/CD, containerized,
orchestrated, monitored)

PHASE 5: System Design, Interview Prep & Advanced Projects (Jan 16 -

Mar 31)
Focus: Integrating all learned knowledge into robust projects, mastering system design, and
preparing comprehensively for interviews.

● Deep DSA & Problem Solving

○ Dynamic Programming
○ Greedy Algorithms
○ Backtracking
○ Graph Revision (advanced graph algorithms)
○ 150-200+ LeetCode problems (focus on patterns, optimal solutions, and time
complexity)
● System Design Mastery
○ Dedicated study track on System Design:
■ Fundamental principles: Scalability, availability, reliability, consistency,
latency.
■ Key components: Load Balancers, Caching (CDN, Redis), Message
Queues (Kafka/RabbitMQ), Databases (SQL, NoSQL, Polyglot
Persistence), Microservices vs. Monolith.
■ Design common systems: URL Shortener, News Feed, Chat System,
Recommendation Engine.
■ Metrics and Monitoring in design.
○ Practice with mock system design interviews (draw diagrams, explain trade-offs).
● Project Portfolio Refinement
○ Polish 3 major projects:
■ Project 1 (Advanced MERN): A complex full-stack MERN application
incorporating WebSockets, GraphQL (optional), advanced authentication,
and robust testing.
 ■ Project 2 (AI-Integrated): An application showcasing practical AI
integration (e.g., using LLMs for a unique feature, image processing
pipeline).
■ Project 3 (DevOps Excellence): A scalable application deployed with full
CI/CD, Kubernetes, IaC (Terraform), comprehensive monitoring and
logging.
○ Ensure all projects have thorough documentation, clear commit history, and a
professional README.
○ Clean GitHub with meaningful commits & documentation
● Interview Preparation & Soft Skills
○ Mock interviews (record yourself, get feedback from peers/mentors)
○ Behavioral Interview Prep: STAR method for answering questions related to
teamwork, challenges, leadership.
○ Resume with impact metrics (quantify achievements)
○ 1-2 blog posts explaining your work/technical concepts (Aim for 3-5 high-quality
posts.)
○ LinkedIn update + start soft networking (Actively engage, connect with
recruiters/engineers).
○ New: Communication skills: Articulating technical concepts clearly, asking
clarifying questions.

PHASE 6: Aptitude, Final Polish & Application (Apr 1 - Apr 30)

Focus: Final preparation for cognitive assessments, polishing application materials, and
strategic job hunting.

● Aptitude & Logical Reasoning

○ Quantitative Aptitude
○ Logical Reasoning
○ Puzzle Practice
○ Timed aptitude mocks
● Final Review & Polish
○ Resume final version ready
○ Portfolio site updated (highly recommended, not optional) showcasing projects,
blog posts, and technical skills.
○ Final mocks (DSA + HR + system design)
○ Prepare referral + outreach messages
● Job Application Strategy
○ Apply to internships/entry-level roles (Google + other big tech and high-growth
companies)
○ Tailor applications to specific job descriptions.
○ Leverage professional network for referrals.
○ Continuous learning and iteration based on interview feedback.