Kent C. Dodds - Epic Web. Ship Modern Full-Stack Web Applications

you and your team are working on an existing enterprise-scale web app, or you've just come up with an amazing idea for a new project , the one thing standing between you and your goals is efficiency.

Sure, you can definitely hack your way through the bramble to get to your destination, but at what cost? Time, energy, stress, and (heaven forbid) loss of user trust.

Nah, let's skip over that.

You want to get this project to a spot where it's easier to maintain and get your team to a place where you're all on the same page. Start the new project on a solid foundation, or patch up the cracks in the one you've already got.

Epic Web will get you and your team to create that excellent maintainable user experience.

Hey, I'm Kent. As a web developer for over a decade, I've built applications at every scale, enterprise apps, startups with dozens of users, internal tools, and consumer-facing giant tech co. apps with millions of users. I've managed to stay on top of what users have come to expect from applications. You know the feeling you get when an app gives you a modern user experience that just works? I know how to get your app there. And that's what this is all about.

I couldn't be more excited to have you join me for this experience. The educational content and open source software I've created has reached more software developers than I can count. I get really jazzed hearing back from developers who apply my ideas to their apps and get jobs, promotions, improved sales, and reduced shipping stress.


This is not a crash course. It's not "Web Dev 101".

Epic Web is an immersive deep-dive into full-stack development that uses modern technologies to implement first class user experiences at a level of collaborative maintainability and simplicity that you've never seen before.

This workshop series takes you from the frontend to the backend through building the Epic Stack app from scratch. Super practical exercises. Building up to exactly how I build Epic web apps.

You'll go from importing a stylesheet, to uploading files. You'll design a database schema, then interact with it with SQL. You'll build a user authentication system, then test it with automated tests. And so. much. more.

What's included

Full Stack Foundations

7 SECTIONS, 30 EXERCISES

• Styling: Modern practices for managing CSS.
• Routing: Plan and implement URL-driven navigation.
• Loading Data: Strategies for loading and rendering data.
• Data Mutations: Execute CRUD operations, safely.
• SEO: Ensure page content gets discovered, organically.
• Error Handling: Effective strategies, without the ambiguity.

Professional Web Forms

8 SECTIONS, 22 EXERCISES

• Input Validation: Real-time, schema-based user input validation.
• Accessibility: Making forms usable for everyone.
• File Uploads: Support more than just text in your forms.
• Complex Data Structures: Confidently handle the intricacies of nested data.
• Form Security: Prevent spam, XSS, and other malicious attacks.

Data Modeling Deep Dive

9 SECTIONS, 22 EXERCISES

• Database Schema: Craft a robust database architecture with future flexibility.
• Relationships: Know what and when for one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many.
• Migrations: Seamlessly transition your data.
• Seeding: Populate initial data for dev and test environments.
• Query Optimization: Fetch data as efficiently as possible.

Web Authentication

21 SECTIONS, 64 EXERCISES

• User Preferences: Store settings in the user’s browser.
• Session Management: Secure data storage done right the first time.
• Cookie-Based Identification: Identification that follows best practices.
• Password Storage: Safety beyond just hashing.
• Password Validation: Security that without inconvenience.
• Session Expiration: Auto-logout doesn't have to mean data loss.
• Permissions: Role-based access control.
• Verification: Verify user emails, support forgot password, 2FA–the works.
• Third Party Auth: OAuth, multi-connection, SSO-ready.

Full Stack Testing

11 SECTIONS, 28 EXERCISES

• Test Automation: Ditch manual test suites for scalable automatic ones.
• HTTP Mocks: Simulate server interactions for E2E tests.
• Authenticated Tests: Testing with user roles in mind.
• Unit Tests: Properly scoped and thoroughly executed.
• React Component Testing: Get into the UI specifics.
• Integration Testing: Strike a productive balance on test scope.

Each of these workshop modules has been meticulously designed to comprehensively upgrade your skills. We go deep.

There's No Replacement for Fundamentals

There's no denying that new tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT have been an incredible boon to developers, but they're not a replacement for the fundamentals.

You can't just copy-paste your way up the engineering ladder.

When you are responsible for implementing and maintaining web apps, you need to know what you're doing. You need to know how to do it right. Even if you're using third party libraries and services, you need to understand how they work, or you're gonna have a hard time.

Hacking solutions together works in the short term, but it can be costly for your future self.

If you and your team don't build properly, you'll lose time, increase stress, and risk your reputation with your clients and customers.

Your projects should be built to last, by a team that is all on the same page.

A New Kind of Workshop

The Epic Web experience isn't sitting and watching videos.

Each workshop is contained within a specially designed web app that contains all of the exercises, code, and instructions you need to complete the workshop. The app is tightly integrated with your local development environment, so you can code and test your work in real time, in your real world work environment.

If you ever find yourself getting stuck, you have easy access to resources and diffs to help you get back on track. You'll also be invited to join the Epic Web community, where you can ask questions, share your progress, and even find a cohort to work through the workshop with.

After completing a workshop module, you'll be able to download a certificate of completion. Each certificate is served with a mechanism that proves to your team, your manager, or your future employer that you actually did the work. Share it with pride. You earned it.

• Rising Full-Stack Devs: Get the foundations right.
• Veteran Coders: Fill in the knowledge gaps you didn't know you had.

Real-World Challenges with Immediate Applications

Whether you're a rising full-stack developer, a veteran coder, or something in-between, Epic Web is the workshop series you've been looking for.

Epic Web's Five workshop modules give you hands-on practice in multiple technologies, and the skills you need to build modern, secure, and scalable web apps:

• Practical Application: You're not just watching; you're coding for a real app with real requirements.
• Industry Standard Security: Protect your future apps like a fortress.
• Database Management: Schema design and optimization; ORM and raw SQL—the real deal.
• Full Stack Error Management: No more ambiguous "An error occurred" pop-ups.
• SEO and Accessibility: More than buzzwords; these skills are vital for any app.
• Confident Shipping: Testing that isn't a complete waste of time.

Dig Deep

You're not here to skim through another workshop; you're here to dig deep.

Epic Web isn't just about learning; it's about applying, about doing. At the end, you won't just have a certificate; you'll have code that does what it's supposed to do, efficiently and securely.

Ready to stop reading and start coding? Let's make web dev magic happen.